TAMPA THEATER REVIEWS

Maximum entertainment in the hands of a master storyteller....

I wish more people in the world were like Claire Wilson. As the central character in Pam Harbaugh's endearing, award-winning CASSEROLE, she exudes such enthusiasm, liveliness, acceptance, strength, quirkiness and, best of all, love. Speaking in a midwestern accent with enough 'doncha knows' and 'You...

Though Sunday was the closing show of Gypsy at Carrollwood Cultural Center, the talent on that stage will live on indefinitely....

A CWP Black Box Production at Carrollwood Players, The Devil’s Staircase, written and directed by Gabriel Flores, had its world debut on Friday night and runs through May 13....

Ain’t Too Proud is a 2018 Jukebox Musical with original music and lyrics by the Temptations and a book written by Dominique Morisseau. It opened on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre in March of 2019....

The musical may have many flaws, but this is one stellar production of it featuring so many fabulously talented teens....

Despite some issues, it's a dream of a show!...

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird was adapted for the stage by Aaron Sorkin and opened on Broadway at the Schubert Theatre in December of 2018. The play is set in 1930s Alabama and follows the story of Atticus Finch, a small-town lawyer in his defense trial of Tom Robinson, an African American ma...

Hits! The Musical is a two-hour extraordinary masterpiece of singing and dance that is unlike anything that exists on stage today....

The Off-Central Players continue their Spring Season with Karen Zacarias’ “hot-button”comedy that packs all of the punches. Onstage from March 15-26, and directed by Jack Holloway, Native Gardens is not your average comedy. During its prologue, we meet Tanya and Pablo, a young “Millennial,�...

Shear Madness is a great show for anyone who enjoys a good murder mystery and wants a good laugh. Full of improv, zinger one-liners, and suspense, it will keep you entertained from beginning to end....

Misery written by the incomparable “Master of Horror” Stephen King was first released via Viking Press on June 8, 1987. The story revolves around the main character, romance novelist Paul Sheldon, and his self-proclaimed number-one fan Annie Wilkes. Paul is seriously injured in a car crash, and ...

Gutsy. Heartbreaking. Life-affirming. Meaningful. Deep. Painful. And brilliant....

It's a courageous musical to perform, especially in Florida, especially this year. Kudos to all!...

Wicked is a superb production, in every area from lighting and costume to choreography and special effects. And of course, the cast is second to none. Through March 26, Wicked soars into Straz Center for the second time, which is magical. A prequel to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Wicked gives us a di...

Directed and choreographed by Rick Kerby, this production of Sondheim's groundbreaking musical is given an A+ treatment....

CHICAGO delights new and returning musical fans with choreography, performance, and singing that sizzles and 'razzle dazzles.'...

As its title suggests, it's like theatrical comfort food....

Shear Madness an audience interactive murder mystery whodunit play is the second of this seasons Straz-Produced productions produced fully in-house in the Straz Center’s Jaeb Theatre. Featuring a cast of local area talent, and spotlighting the incredible performers residing here in the bay area, S...

Michele Lowe’s calculated and chilly dark comedy The Smell of the Kill premiered at the Cleveland Playhouse in 1999. It later transferred to Broadway to the Helen Hayes Theatre in 2022 where it played only 40 performances....

This is Our Youth, is a play written by Playwright Kenneth Lonergan (The Waverly Gallery) and Screenwriter (Manchester by the Sea). Youth premiered off-Broadway in 1996, and since its premiere has seen productions all over the world on Broadway, in Sydney and Toronto. The most recent Broadway reviva...

Based on the classic 1967 film, it's mightily entertaining with a great message and a strong cast led by Kym Welch....

Sometimes a show comes along that is so powerful, at times shattering, with a top-flight cast, that it deserves two Broadway World reviews. Tampa Rep's production of THE ELEPHANT MAN certainly fits into that category. My BWW colleague, Drew Eberhard, saw the show at its final preview, and I had the ...

Falsettos, a primarily sung-through musical was written by William Finn and James Lapine and features two one-act installments March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland. The aforementioned are the last two additions to a trio of one-act musicals by Finn and Lapine, the other being called In Trousers. ...

Bernard Pomerance’s The Elephant Man, premiered at the Hampstead Theatre in London in November of 1977. Pomerance’s play also transferred to the National Theatre in London for an “In Rep” residency. From January to March of 1979 it played off-Broadway, and made a transfer to the Booth Theatr...