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In early 1753, two men – a footman named William Critchard and a sailor named Richard Arnold – were arrested and executed for ‘buggery’ in the Bristol suburb of Redcliffe. The story, recently uncovered through court documents in local archives, is an unusually detailed account of the prosecution of homosexuality in Britain, and forms the basis of a new musical fable.

'Family is a loaded word.' This line from Douglas Lyons's script for Chicken & Biscuits epitomizes the play. At the funeral for the patriarch of the Jenkins clan, the question of 'family' loads every scene with meaning and humor. At the Springer Opera House, Chicken & Biscuits is a comedy about family that makes its audience think, even while they laugh.

On Friday, April 17th, I had the pleasure of seeing a phenomenal show at the Warner (specifically the Nancy Marine Studio Theatre) in Torrington, CT, THE WEDDING SINGER, based on the 1998 movie that is set in 1985. The book for this stage adaptation of the film written by Chris Herlihy is written by Chad Beguelin and Chris Herlihy, with music by Matthew Sklar and lyrics by Chad Beguelin. Director and choreographer Travis Kendrick-Castanho combines his strong directing talents with those of the associate Emily Rafala and the musical director Nate McCuin to help bring out the best in this first-rate cast! Without exception, every lead and ensemble cast member absolutely excels in his or her role or roles!

Cindy Marcolina’s journal. (Not kept in shorthand.) 30 October. London. Left Warren Street Station at 6:42pm, arriving at Camden People’s Theatre at 6:47pm; should have arrived at 6:45, but the streets were busy. Countess Dracula was waiting. Joanna Holden and Jack Kelly team up for a brash look at ageing and menopause in the shape of a quirky adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic novel. There’s a grotesque vaudeville aura to it, with the duo using meta-performance as the supporting framework for their jolly 45-minute show.

We caught up with actor Ben Ahlers, who shed light on portraying Jack's latest arc in The Gilded Age, unpacked what might be next in store for the character, and discussed both the current and past complications of living in New York City. 

Over 300 years after its publication, Charles Perrault’s Bluebeard remains a staple in gothic literature. The story follows a nobleman who brings home his much-younger bride, Judith, for the first time. He forbids her from entering seven different locked rooms only to give in to her curiosity, handing her the keys. To Judith’s horror, she discovers the bodies of her new husband’s three past wives. The chilling tale has been adapted time and again, inspiring books, movies, paintings, and stagings including the 1918 Hungarian opera, Bluebeard’s Castle. 

What did our critic have to say about Toronto's Top Theatre of 2024?

It comes in many forms, each one its own type of exquisitely agonizing rejection. The job application or the one to the program that could define your future, thrown out, perhaps unanswered. The child forced to walk behind their two closer friends when there’s not enough room on the sidewalk. The feeling of being found wanting for the simple quality of being yourself, relatives and supposed friends turning away, or of being judged inadequate and dismissed out of hand before you’ve even been met.. The romantic brush-off. The birthday party attended only by the celebrant.

The award-winning TV pilot, GOOD GUY WITH A PUN, is an engaging and revelatory narrative about an endearing character whose story line we are eager to follow. Film maker Dmitry Milkin has created a story about resilience and positivity in a digital age.

Get all the scoop on THE CLEANING LADY, airing on FOX on Tuesday, March 19, 2024! Brandon Jay McLaren and Clayton Cardenas Join as Guest Stars. When Thony is tasked with cleaning cars for Ramona, she comes across a distressed woman in need of medical attention. Watch a video preview of the new season!

What did our critic think of BEFORE THE SWORD at New Conservatory Theatre Center? An eccentric author takes on a troubled teen in NCTC’s World Premiere of Andrew Alty’s fictionalized account of the inspiration of the writing of T. H. White’s The Sword and the Stone. Well-researched and lovingly realized, Before the Sword becomes a metaphor for people struggling with their identities and becoming the people they were meant to be.

TWSTL’s SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER is a fairly well-constructed production of Tennessee William’s play. There is a lot to unpack in the 90-minute psychological drama including maternal obsession, malice, repressed homosexuality, mental illness, manipulation, pedophilia, greed, and cannibalism. Most of it works, some of it doesn’t, and leads to a conclusion that may leave the audience unsatisfied.

As a first taster to opera, Opera Holland Park's Hansel and Gretel isn't a bad place to start.

International drag chanteuse Varla Jean Merman is a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown! After the craziest time in memory, the loosest gal in town is at loose ends. What's a distressed diva to do? Tease her hair, steal someone's Ativan, and get on with the show, of course!

The first line you'll hear when noted actor LeLand Gantt brings his inspirational life story to the Gracie Theatre on Friday, February 24, 2023 at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., in celebration of Black History Month is, 'I just want to start a conversation.'

Si, se puede. Three words that inspired a movement and  defined the legacy of civil rights icon and American living legend Dolores Huerta. On Sunday,  Nov 13 at 7pm, the Younes and Soraya Center for the Performing Arts will honor her with  Concierto para Dolores: A Musical Tribute to Dolores Huerta, a one-night celebration of the social justice trailblazer. 

Lindsay Duncan is magnetic in this revival of Strindberg's black comedy. Read our BWW critic's review.

According to Google, an artist is “a person who creates paintings or drawings as a profession (or hobby)”. It’s hard to be one on a creative level, but it’s even harder when your livelihood strictly depends on your ability to create. Inspiration needs to take a backseat and discipline take over.

Theatre Artists Studio is premiering Kirt Shineman's crisp and riveting new play, THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE, directed by Janis Webb and featuring a commanding performance by Pamela Fields as Dame Christie. The show runs through November 21st.

Summer's heat can sometimes sneak up on you, as the days get longer and the sun seems to burn brighter and higher in the sky each day, the temperature rising until it becomes stifling, sweltering. Suddenly Last Summer, a one-act play by Tennessee Williams that currently being presented by Epic Theatre Company, also sneaks up on you, raising its own temperature ever so slightly during it's run time, until it boils over into the final shocking revelations of the final moments.

If there's one thing Tennessee Williams is known for, it's the emotional suffering he forces upon his characters. In honor of The Rose Tattoo's Broadway revival, we're looking back at some of his most distressed leading ladies.

Athol Fugard's semi-autobiographical play seeks to 'exorcise' the demons of his upbringing.

Colm Feore will utter the first words on the Stratford Festival's newest stage, an echo of the inaugural performance in 1953, when Alec Guinness's opening speech in Richard III anticipated the a?oeglorious summera?? that was to come for Stratford. Feore, an internationally acclaimed stage and screen actor, is just one of a diverse company of accomplished actors who will present a repertory season of 15 productions in four remarkable theatres.

Coming off the release of their first single with select fans getting their hands on the select newly minted USB dog tags that featured all 6 songs from their forthcoming EP along with bonus material, lyrics, and album artwork - Disco/Symphonic Metal band Makes My Blood Dance is getting ready to deliver even more! As they continue to add new live shows throughout the Northeastern U.S., the band just released their new “Beaming Right Up” Music Video exclusively via Medium, which called it “unquestionably terrific, full of unbridled, reckless dynamism and muscular tumescence”!

The specific highs and lows---and all the cloudy, uneasy details in between---of a failed relationship are all picked apart and analyzed by a pair of distressed former lovers in British playwright David Hare's absorbing 1995 play SKYLIGHT, currently on stage at Anaheim's Chance Theater through May 19, 2019. Directed with an appealing yet captivating casualness by Chance Theater's own artistic director Oanh Nguyen, this excellent, beautifully-acted new local revival of the Olivier and Tony Award-winning drama focuses on a pair of deeply flawed individuals who have been trying their best to move on separately with their respective lives despite the deep scars that continue to haunt them. After three years apart, could a resuscitation of their past relationship be the key to put them both back in the right frame of mind again---or is their love unsalvageable?