The Main Line - - Broadway Articles Page 9

HELL’S KITCHEN, the Alicia Keys jukebox musical now making its Chicago premiere as part of the first national tour, has a messy storyline wrapped in slick packaging. While the show is loosely based on Keys’s childhood in Manhattan, the storytelling is generic, and the songs are often awkwardly incorporated into the book. Admittedly, Kristoffer Diaz’s book is weak. It’s a flimsy vehicle for Keys’s song catalog. Huge Alicia Keys fans might enjoy hearing her biggest hits performed by musical theater actors, but the plot around them doesn’t hang together.

Filled with a seemingly non-stop parade of awww-shucks delivered puns—of both super naughty and super corny varieties—the show, for lack of a more eloquent description, is so frikkin silly and stupid in the best possible ways a comedy can get. Mind you, this isn't an insult at all—the show is so unapologetically and purposely silly, that the whole thing actually feels like savvy (and sassy) comedic gold, albeit the broad and dorky kind that audiences of all kinds will likely adore and appreciate. Unexpectedly weird in the most winning ways, SHUCKED had me laughing heartily at all of its strange, admirably sustained shenanigans and down-home humor, never once wavering from its 'corny' (haha) machinations not even for a millisecond. The show's rather enjoyable national tour production continues performances at OC's Segerstrom Center for the Arts through November 23, 2025.

Creede Repertory Theatre (CRT) will open its 61st season in late May and will include two musicals, a new Sherlock Holmes mystery from the mind of Ken Ludwig; and a hilarious one-person show.

Celebrities, rock stars, comedians, and raconteurs of all stripes will converge in Philadelphia for a tribute concert to legendary parody musician Allan Sherman at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History.

A self-admitted “crazy person” for J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels who “stood in line at a bookstore whenever a new volume was released,” performer Larry Yando knows that portraying Dumbledore – onetime headmaster of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – in the play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” is a high-profile piece of work.

Chicago Magic Lounge will present the debut of Magic is People, a new one-man show by founding company member and audience favorite Justin Purcell. Experience the magic of connection in Magic is People, a show that blurs the line between performer and audience.

The Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA) has announced the nominees for its 2025 ceremony recognizing composers, songwriters, and music supervisors for original music in film, television, video games, and other visual media.

Experience an unforgettable evening with John Cusack at UNSCRIPTED, featuring a screening of High Fidelity and live conversation on December 14.

Hackett didn’t fall below any standards; he set new ones. He delighted the crowd with electrifying solos and spread the spotlight around equally to the rest of the band.

David Byrne headlines the 2026 Latitude Festival in Suffolk, alongside Lewis Capaldi and more. Don't miss this celebration of creativity!

Sophie’s Surprise Party, at its core, is a cabaret line up show. For those not in the know, a line up show is just a bunch of acts, one after the other, sometimes with a host, sometimes not. It’s a format we love, and one that we all cut our teeth doing. But we wanted to elevate that format, and evolve it.

I have done (almost) every job in theater you could think of…. I’ve helped produce, done PR, play selection committees. I’ve written works, edited works, worked on staged readings, dramaturged…jack of all trades, master of some!

I’m beginning to learn there’s a sense of momentum in everything, even in my own emotions. Upon receiving the opportunity to review The Runarounds in Little Rock’s Rev Room, my reaction had layers of incremental excitement.

Ground Floor Theatre has unveiled the titles for the 2026 season including two Austin premieres, a regional premiere and a world premiere. Learn more and see how to purchase tickets.

The John W. Engeman Theater has revealed the cast and creative team of A CHRISTMAS CAROL. This is a lively musical adaptation of the classic Dickens tale that follows Ebenezer Scrooge. Learn more!

Husbands Sean Nyberg and Paul Danforth are following their dream. The two new producers have ventured into the world of theater, producing shows on Broadway, in London’s West End, Off-Broadway, and in the United Kingdom.

It is a show that is so close to my heart! When I was living in New York, from 2004 to 2008 was when it came to Broadway, and I saw it there. I was brought in quite a bit for Olive at the time. I'm too old for that [role] now!

What did our critic think of NIGHTFALL at Green-Wood Cemetery?

While different tryout theaters have different relationships to the development of new shows, it’s worth looking at both which commercial rental theaters and which non-profit theaters have had the most Best Musical Tony Award winners come from their stages.

Rise and shine, BroadwayWorld! It is October 23, 2025 and it's time to catch up on all of the theatrical happenings you may have missed in the last 24 hours.

This laugh-out-loud, heart-filled musical delivers two and a half hours of pure entertainment, sharp wit, and musical brilliance. From the clever book to the pitch-perfect performances, Tootsie proves why continues to charm audiences everywhere.

I have a love/hate relationship with Tennessee Williams. It's not really his fault, it's more thanks to my time working for a theater festival honoring the playwright. The work was incredible, but the work environment was, in a word, insufferable.

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) has announced the winners of the 52nd Annual Daytime Emmy® Awards, held on October 17 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California.

In June 2016, my mom and I went to New York during Tony Awards weekend. On the day of the telecast, we both walked all the way to the Beacon Theatre (where the ceremony was taking place) while rehearsal was going on

The curtain has risen on Ragtime, now running at Lincoln Center Theater on Broadway. Read all the reviews to see what the critics had to say about the new revival, directed by Lear deBessonet.