Deb Miller

Review: ‘Once On This Island’ at the Circle in the Square Theatre

The first Broadway revival of the 1990 Tony-nominated hit musical Once On This Island, with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty, brings an innovative vision to an old...

Review: ‘Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone?’ at The WorkShop Theater

One of the early, less-familiar works by Tony Award-winning playwright and librettist Terrence McNally (famed for his highly-acclaimed Love! Valour! Compassion!, Master Class, Kiss of the Spider...

Review: ‘This Is the Week That Is’ at 1812 Productions

If you’re looking for an evening of escapist entertainment at the theater this holiday season, 1812 Productions’ twelfth installment of its perennial hit This Is The Week That Is provides the...

Review: ‘Who’s Holiday!’ at Westside Theatre

If your fond childhood memories include Dr. Seuss The Grinch, his dog Max, and a Ville filled with Whos You might like a sequel from 40 years hence Though if you’re a Grinch, too, you might take...

Philadelphia’s ‘Christmas Village’ Returns to LOVE Park

Now celebrating its tenth year, Philadelphia’s Christmas Village – an open-air German-style holiday market – returns to the newly restored LOVE Park with more than 80 vendors offering authentic food,...

Review: ‘Harry Clarke’ at Vineyard Theatre

At the core of all great theater is the art of great storytelling. Harry Clarke, a solo show with a compelling story told by a riveting actor in a tour-de-force performance, is just that. Now in its...

Review: ‘What We’re Up Against’ at WP Theater

Office politics, gender-based inequality in the workplace, and self-damning outbursts of flagrant misogyny fuel the flames of Theresa Rebeck’s razor-sharp feminist comedy What We’re Up Against, making...

Review: ‘The Craftsman’ at Lantern Theater Company

Guilty or not guilty? And of what crime? An intriguing real-life episode from 20th-century Art History provides the basis for The Craftsman, Bruce Graham’s latest world-premiere play commissioned and...

Previewing ‘The Craftsman’ at Lantern Theater Company: An Interview with Artistic Director Charles McMahon and Playwright Bruce Graham

Philadelphia theater-goers have something extra to be thankful for this Thanksgiving month. Bruce Graham’s latest play The Craftsman, commissioned and developed through Lantern Theater Company’s New...

Book Review: ‘A Body of Work: Dancing to the Edge and Back’ by David Hallberg

In his stirring autobiography A Body of Work: Dancing to the Edge and Back, David Hallberg – a Principal Dancer with the American Ballet Theatre and the first American Principal Dancer with the...

Review: ‘Red Roses, Green Gold’ at Minetta Lane Theatre

Calling all Dead Heads! The classic songs of your favorite band have been reincarnated for the stage at Minetta Lane Theatre, in a new jukebox musical Red Roses, Green Gold, directed by Rachel Klein...

Review: ‘Pippin’ at Ritz Theatre Company

One of the most imaginative musicals ever to hit the Broadway stage, the Tony Award-winning Pippin, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Roger O. Hirson, is now dazzling audiences in...

Review: ‘This One’s for the Girls’ at St. Luke’s Theatre

Sociological research project meets PPT lecture meets jukebox musical in Professor and Playwright Dorothy Marcic’s This One’s for the Girls, produced by William Franzblau at St. Luke’s Theatre. Based...

Review: ‘Dracula’ at The Mechanical Theater

Adapted, designed, and directed by Loretta Vasile, The Mechanical Theater’s immersive site-specific production of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, performed at the solemn Neo-Classical Receiving Vault of Laurel...

Review: ‘Thing of Evil: Fantastic Tales of Terror’ at the Painted Bride Art Center

Long-time collaborators Phoebe Schaub and Emily R. Johnson, known to Philadelphia audiences for their haunting and transportive style as former members of Found Theater Company, have teamed up again...

Review: ‘Lights Out: The Nat “King” Cole Story’ at People’s Light

Known and beloved for his impeccably smooth baritone voice, suave stylings, and debonair elegance, Nat King Cole was a musical icon and TV trailblazer, making his indelible mark on our culture with a...

Review: ‘Ideation’ at Theatre Exile

Ethics, morality, self-interest, and accountability are the big issues addressed in Theatre Exile’s smashing production of Aaron Loeb’s Ideation, in a sardonic send-up of over-the-top ambition, greed,...

Review: ‘Fire’ by Chatillion Stage Company at Theatre 54 at Shetler Studios and Theatres

On March 25, 1911, fire raged through the 8th to 10th floors of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory by Washington Square Park. In less than 20 minutes, it claimed the lives of 146 people, mostly teenaged...

Fringe Encore Series 2017 Review: ‘Turbulence!’ at SoHo Playhouse

Musical-comedy improv troupe Robot Teammate has landed in New York with an energetic hour of silly sci-fi fun in Turbulence!, now performing at SoHo Playhouse for the final week of this year’s...

An Interview with Erik Ransom on the Development of His New Play ‘Civil Blood (The Resurrection of Romeo)’

Just back from a production of his musical GRINDR: The Opera in Florida, Erik Ransom organized a private developmental reading of his latest work Civil Blood (The Resurrection of Romeo) for an...

Fringe Encore Series 2017 Review: ‘Kafka and Son’ at SoHo Playhouse

In November 1919, the 36-year-old Modernist writer Franz Kafka wrote a searing 45-page letter to his domineering father Hermann, dissecting his tyrannical attitude and lifelong emotional abuse. That...

Celebrate Fall with Brauhaus Schmitz’ ‘Oktoberfest’ at the Armory

Enter the 23rd Street Armory this Columbus Day weekend and be transported to a Munich-style beer hall for the 2nd annual celebration of Oktoberfest, presented by Philadelphia’s own Brauhaus Schmitz....

Review: ‘Kinky Boots’ at the Academy of Music

Drag queens save the day and light up the stage in Kinky Boots, making its return to Philadelphia for a limited run this week at the Academy of Music. Presented in the Broadway Philadelphia series by...

Fringe Encore Series 2017 Review: ‘6 Guitars’ at SoHo Playhouse

Despite the hiatus of FringeNYC in 2017, SoHo Playhouse is presenting a full line-up for its 12th annual Fringe Encore Series in September and October, giving New York audiences a chance to see a...

Review: ‘A Clockwork Orange’ at New World Stages

Ranked among the greatest novels of the 20th century, A Clockwork Orange – British author Anthony Burgess’s alarming vision of a dystopian future fueled by ultra-violence, hyper-sexuality, and...

A Recap of The 2017 New York Innovative Theatre Awards at the Gerald W. Lynch Theatre

It was a night filled with excitement, laughs, and unbridled passion for indie theater as the New York Innovative Theatre Foundation celebrated the outstanding achievements of Off-Off-Broadway for its...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Kink Haüs’ by Gunnar Montana at The Latvian Society

Sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll have long been the rallying cry of post-modern youth, and Gunnar Montana takes that hedonistic call to its most emphatic, explicit, and artistic extremes in Kink Haüs....

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Cymbeline’ by Revolution Shakespeare at Hawthorne Park

For its fourth annual Fringe offering, Revolution Shakespeare returns to South Philadelphia’s Hawthorne Park with another free outdoor selection from the Bard’s canon. This year’s production (and the...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Joan Crawford in Her Own Words’ by JC Productions at Tabu Lounge & Bar

Created by Michael McHugh, directed by Peter Tupitza, and starring the fabulous Eric Singel, JC Productions’ revival of Joan Crawford in Her Own Words reunites the show’s original team for a revamped...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Bind’ by Corinna Burns at The Drake

Corinna Burns is not just skilled at acting, she’s also a superb writer and an enthralling storyteller, and she’s proving it once again in this year’s Fringe Festival with Bind. Her latest original...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘#CocktailPlays’ by Juniper Productions at Philadelphia Distilling

For its inaugural offering in the Fringe, Juniper Productions, founded earlier this year, partners with Philadelphia Distilling for a themed site-specific presentation of four commissioned short...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘(insert thoughts here)’ by Bradley’s Bucks at Franky Bradley’s

In a delectable mash-up of the 2017 Fringe with an extended Restaurant Week, Franky Bradley’s gives festival-goers the option of enjoying dinner while attending the latest all-new offering by its...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Marx in Soho’ by Iron Age Theatre/Radical Acts at the Ethical Society of Philadelphia

Actor and activist Bob Weick is back in the Fringe with his signature touring show Marx in Soho by Howard Zinn, which he first performed in the festival in 2004. Presented by Iron Age Theatre/Radical...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Mistress of the Maze’ by WeftWorks at CHI Movements Art Center

Hypnotic, transportive, and exquisitely beautiful, Mistress of the Maze marks the unforgettable debut of WeftWorks with its stunning world-premiere performance in the 2017 Fringe. Created,...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Death Is a Cabaret Ol’ Chum’ by REV Theatre Company at Laurel Hill Cemetery

As you enter through the gates and into the courtyard of historic Laurel Hill Cemetery, you are offered your choice of a complimentary cocktail with an appropriately lethal name, while listening to...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘The Groom’s a Fag; The Bride’s a Cunt; The Best Man’s a Whore; and the Maiden of Honor (Just) Hung Herself in the Closet’ by On the Rocks at The Beard Cave at St. Mary’s Church

What do you get when you mix over-the-top parody with uncensored vulgarity with pure poetry? The Groom’s a Fag; The Bride’s a Cunt; The Best Man’s a Whore; and the Maiden of Honor (Just) Hung Herself...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘These Terrible Things’ by the University of the Arts and The Berserker Residents at the Caplan Studio Theater

It’s a zany self-referencing case of art imitating life in These Terrible Things, as the University of the Arts and The Berserker Residents team up for an absolutely hilarious parody of training...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Tilda Swinton Adopt Me Please’ by The Greenfield Collective at the Asian Arts Initiative

Both laugh-out-loud funny and intensely affecting, The Greenfield Collective makes its powerful mark on the Fringe with Tilda Swinton Adopt Me Please, an original work devised by Nicholas Scheppard...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Iphigenia at Aulis’ by the Philadelphia Artists’ Collective at the USS Olympia

“What gods?” asks the devastated Clytemnestra after the sacrifice of her first-born daughter Iphigenia, in The Philadelphia Artists’ Collective’s Fringe adaptation of Iphigenia at Aulis. The ancient...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Leaps of Faith and Other Mistakes’ by Almanac at the Painted Bride Art Center

Did you ever want to sail away from it all and begin anew with a circle of like-minded friends? That’s what the figures in Almanac’s Leaps of Faith and Other Mistakes do, in a decision that tests...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Strange Tenants’ by Sam Tower + Ensemble at Power Plant Productions

Evincing the seminal inspiration of Fringe mainstays Pig Iron Theatre Company and New Paradise Laboratories, Strange Tenants is the latest original work developed in Sam Tower + Ensemble’s...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Labor of Love’ by The WaitStaff at L’Étage Cabaret

Philadelphia sketch-comedy icon, and longest-running annual act in the history of the Fringe, The WaitStaff marks its seventeenth year of participation with an all-new Labor of Love. Directed by the...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘. . . strand . . .’ by JUNK at Grays Ferry Crescent Trail Park

A transportive adventure awaits Fringe-goers in JUNK’s . . . strand . . ., as Brian Sanders and his stunning troupe contemplate the enigma of the time-space continuum in a dreamlike meditation on the...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘United’ by The Revivalists at the Betsy Ross House

Performed in the candlelit courtyard of the historic Betsy Ross House and opening in the 2017 Fringe on September 9 – the same date, in 1776, that the Second Continental Congress declared our Colonies...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Fishtown – A Hipster Noir’ by Tribe of Fools at the Louis Bluver Theatre at the Drake

A spot-on parody of the retro-style of film noir in a hilarious send-up of our ever-growing post-modern obsession with social media and technology, Fishtown – A Hipster Noir reaffirms Tribe of Fools’...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘As the Matzo Ball Turns – The Musical’ by Heart of a Lion Productions at the Independence Seaport Museum

A ten-year account of the failed pursuit of his Hollywood dreams, Gene Duffy’s As the Matzo Ball Turns – The Musical is an ambitious stage adaptation of the eponymous 2012 autobiographical chronicle...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Pericles’ by Die-Cast at The Rotunda

Brainchild of Director Brenna Geffers and Designer Thom Weaver, the newly-formed Die-Cast makes its public premiere in the 2017 Fringe Festival with an arresting re-envisioning of the rarely-produced...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Game Show Show’ by Found Theater Company at the MAAS Building

Seen through the lens of the popular phenomenon of the TV game show, Found Theater Company’s latest ensemble-devised Fringe offering, Game Show Show, considers the ethical dilemma of how far a person...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Eugène Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano’ by The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium at the Bethany Mission Gallery

The banality of bourgeois life, the futile desperation to find meaning in mundane existence, the trivial chatter and vapid clichés used to fill the emptiness of everyday being, and the failure of...

Doing Double Duty in the Philadelphia Fringe: An Interview with Jenna Kuerzi, Eric Singel, and Hannah Van Sciver

Three of the most enthusiastic veterans of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival are each doing not one, but two shows this year. Jenna Kuerzi finishes out the final installment of On the Rocks’ “Dead...