Philadelphia

Review: ‘Cold Mountain’ at The Academy of Music in Philadelphia

Charles Frazier’s 1997 award-winning best-selling debut novel, adapted into an Oscar-winning feature film starring Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, and Renée Zellweger in 2003, is now a new American opera....

Review: ‘The Government Inspector’ at Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium in Philadelphia

First performed in 1836, The Government Inspector–playwright Nikolai Gogol’s unrelenting farce on socio-political corruption in Imperial Russia–has long been considered an important precursor to...

Review: ‘A Taste of Things to Come’ at Bucks County Playhouse

It’s not every day you see a musical with an all-female cast and a female-led creative team, but Bucks County Playhouse has given us one with their latest offering. A Taste of Things to Come depicts...

Review: ‘The Language Archive’ at Bristol Riverside Theatre in Bristol, PA

“I love you.” This simple, universal concept becomes one of the most multi-faceted phrases in all languages in Bristol Riverside Theatre’s recent production of Julia Cho’s The Language Archive. What...

Review: ‘Harvey’ at Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia

So what if he’s invisible? He’s still the best friend and constant companion of the lovably eccentric tippler Elwood P. Dowd in Harvey, a delightful revival of Mary Chase’s Pulitzer Prize-winning...

Review: ‘Oscar Wilde: From the Depths’ at Lantern Theater Company in Philadelphia

Oscar Wilde: From the Depths, Charles McMahon’s new play about the darkest period in Wilde’s life, is a play that’s brimming with intelligence and insight, and it’s beautifully performed and sometimes...

Review: ‘Funnyman’ at Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia

Funnyman is making its World Premiere at the Arden Theatre Company, and it’s a winner. The play follows an aging great comic actor who is yearning to know what it means to really be funny in a serious...

Review: ‘The Piano Lesson’ at McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, NJ

August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson is, on its surface, just a story about a brother and sister who argue over whether to sell a family heirloom. What makes the play so special is that the piano in...

Review: ‘On the Road Again’ at Act II Playhouse in Ambler, PA

On a damp, drizzly night in January, it’s hard to fight the impulse to want to jump on a plane in pursuit of a warmer, sunnier locale. Fortunately, On the Road Again, a world premiere now playing at...

Review: ‘A Moon for the Misbegotten’ at Walnut Street Theatre Independence Studio on 3 in Philadelphia

There’s no moon in the newest version of A Moon for the Misbegotten. The set, designed by Andrew Thompson, looks great, but because the ceiling of the Independence Studio on the Walnut Street...

Review: ‘The Hard Problem’ at The Wilma Theater in Philadelphia, PA

The head and the heart endeavor to coexist in the Wilma Theater’s latest production of Tom Stoppard’s newest work, The Hard Problem. Rich with provocative questions and challenging to the notions of...

‘Gentlemen Volunteers’ at Pig Iron Theatre Company in Philadelphia

For Pig Iron Theatre Company’s 20th Anniversary, the troupe is returning to a show it first presented in 1998 and which they have gone on to perform around the world. It’s Gentlemen Volunteers, a...

‘It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play’ at Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, PA

As far as enchanting holiday entertainment is considered, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at Bucks County Playhouse may just be the warm mug of cocoa you’re looking for this time of year. A...

‘Hansel and Gretel’ at Quintessence Theatre Group in Philadelphia, PA

While all of us are familiar with the story of the two siblings wandering into a witch’s candy house in the woods, Quintessence puts a fun spin on the story. With catchy songs, fun characters, and...

‘Diner: The Musical’ at Delaware Theatre Company

In a Grease meets Jersey Boys coming of age story, Diner: The Musical has a something for everyone. Following a group of friends living in Baltimore, December 1959, the gang confronts spurring...

‘Behind the Music: Holiday Edition’ at Act II Playhouse in Ambler, PA

Sonny Leo and April Woodall create a fun evening full of historical anecdotes, personal traditions, and holiday classics that are just as likely to melt your heart and make you laugh. Matt Silva boots...

‘A Christmas Carol’ at McCarter Theatre Center

As McCarter Theatre’s A Christmas Carol opens, the streets of London are bustling. Snow is falling lightly, and good will is in the air. A group of carolers gathers around a brightly decorated...

‘The Bald Soprano’ at Curio Theatre Company in Philadelphia

After a somber Handmaid’s Tale, Curio Theatre Company sure changes directions with Eugene Ionesco’s hilariously absurd The Bald Soprano. Director Charlotte Northeast updates this 1950’s English comedy...

‘Baskerville – A Sherlock Holmes Mystery’ at Philadelphia Theatre Company

If there’s one thing the recent spate of cinematic and televised incarnations of Sherlock Holmes has proven, it’s that after more than a century, the appeal of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s celebrated...

‘Becoming Dr. Ruth’ at Walnut Street Theatre Independence Studio on 3 in Philadelphia

Becoming Dr. Ruth is a cute little show about a cute little lady. A one-woman show about Ruth Westheimer, the world’s most famous “German-French-Israeli-American” TV sex therapist, Becoming Dr. Ruth...

‘A Christmas Story, The Musical’ at Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia

During intermission at A Christmas Story, The Musical, a woman sitting a few seats to my right marveled to me that her guest for the night had never seen the 1983 movie that inspired this musical....

‘Macbeth’ at Villanova Theatre at Villanova University

More than four hundred years after Shakespeare wrote it, Macbeth remains a potent play. Its tale of how the lust for power corrupts is timeless, made even more enduring by some of the most legendary...

‘Underneath the Lintel’ at Lantern Theater Company in Philadelphia

To quote Lantern Artistic Director and director of this production Kathryn MacMillan, “Time is the currency by which we negotiate all the relationships in our lives.” And Underneath the Lintel is...

‘Lights Rise on Grace’ at Azuka Theatre in Philadelphia

Lights Rise on Grace is a play that has a lot to say about race, sexuality and secrecy, but says it sparingly. Chad Beckim’s play depicts three characters who reveal a lot to the audience in speeches...

Oh What a Night at The 2015 Barrymores!

“It’s been a big year for me.” That was quite an understatement coming from Scott Greer. The veteran Philadelphia actor had just won his fifth Barrymore Award, named Outstanding Leading Actor in a...

Philadelphia’s 2015 Barrymore Awards Recipents Announced

Here are the 2015 Barrymore Awards Recipients, announced last night at The Merriam Theatre: Award Recipients are IN RED Outstanding Overall Production of a Play Caught (InterAct Theatre Company) The...

‘Equivocation’ at the Arden Theatre in Philadelphia

Equivocation, Bill Cain’s alternative history about William Shakespeare getting caught up in deadly royal court intrigue, is exceedingly clever and almost dizzyingly erudite. And it has some quite...

‘Fox on the Fairway’ at Act II Playhouse in Amber, PA

If The Fox on the Fairway shows how the other half lives, well, I don’t know if I want to be a part of that other half. But I certainly do want to watch those country club hijinks from afar. Ken...

‘A Comedy of Tenors’ at McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, NJ

Is A Comedy of Tenors, Ken Ludwig’s newest comedy, a worthy successor to Lend Me a Tenor, his knockabout farce that opened on Broadway in 1989 and has been produced in hundreds of theatres around the...

‘Playing the Assassin’ at Delaware Theatre Company in Wilmington, DE

In my experience, football fans and theater goers don’t frequently overlap, but Playing the Assassin combines these two vastly different fandoms surprisingly successfully. With the second production...

‘Rizzo’ at Theatre Exile in Philadelphia

Technically speaking, Rizzo isn’t a great play. Bruce Graham’s new play about the life of the late Philadelphia mayor Frank Rizzo doesn’t dig deeply enough into what made its main character tick. The...

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ at Curio Theatre Company in Philadelphia

As I walked through the narrow passageway leading into Curio’s space, I entered into a spacious, deteriorating church to an ominous red lit stage, hearing that it was a two hour and ten minute...

‘The Mandrake’ at Quintessence Theatre Group in Philadelphia

Sex sells, and this certainly true of Quintessence’s The Mandrake. Their 6th season starting off a “Love and Lust” theme, The Mandrake certainly fulfills the quota for lust, and then some. Originally...

‘Disgraced’ at Philadelphia Theatre Company

Disgraced is a play that pushes people’s buttons. Almost every character says something that is guaranteed to outrage somebody. But when you push too many buttons, a show can feel mechanical – and...

‘Hooked!’ at Inis Nua Theatre Company in Philadelphia

If there’s one thing the Irish are good at, it’s keeping – and creating, and gossiping about – secrets. (My Irish grandmother practically turned it into an art form.) In Hooked!, playwright Gillian...

‘Antigone’ at The Wilma Theater in Philadelphia

The Wilma is a theater known for being original and taking risks, and Antigone is no exception. As part of the larger Unburied Bodies project, this production of Sophocles’ classic Greek tragedy...

‘Shipwrecked!’ at Walnut Street Theatre Independence Studio on 3 in Philadelphia

At the beginning of Shipwrecked!, Greg Wood bounds onto the stage of the Walnut Street Theatre’s Independence Studio and greets the audience: “Hello,” he says, “and welcome to this temple of...

‘Metamorphoses’ at Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia

Watching Metamorphoses is a sensory experience. Mary Zimmerman’s play retells ancient myths with intelligence and invention, and that alone makes it memorable. But what you’ll remember most about the...

‘The Children’s Hour’ at EgoPo Classic Theater in Philadelphia

As EgoPo Classic Theater’s Artistic Director Lane Savadove said in his curtain speech, “Women play a big part of the American canon.” And the 2015-15 season’s theme, “American Giants II: Women,” a...

‘Eurydice’ at Villanova Theatre in Villanova, PA.

Eurydice, Sarah Ruhl’s fresh take on a classic Greek myth, is irreverent and deadly serious at the same time. It’s profound… and at times it’s also profoundly silly. And its willingness to jump...

‘Baby Doll’ at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ

You can cut the air – and the tension – with a knife in Princeton these days. The McCarter Theatre’s new production of Baby Doll, adapted from Tennessee Williams’ 1956 screenplay (and his short play...

‘Maurice Hines is Tappin’ Thru Life’ at Delaware Theatre Company in Wilmington, Delaware

Delaware Theatre Company perfectly kicks off its 37th season with Tappin’ Thru Life. A life as fascinating as Tony Nominated Maurice Hines’ deserves to be told in this theatrical manner. Tony-Award...

‘High Society’ at The Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia

Philip Barry’s 1939 play The Philadelphia Story has long been rightly celebrated as a model of wit and sophistication. It inspired a classic movie version the following year and then, in 1956, High...

Philadelphia Fringe Festival: ‘Andy: ‘A Popera’ at Opera Philadelphia and the Bearded Ladies

What’s art? The characters in Andy: A Popera, a new piece based on the life of the pop art pioneer Andy Warhol, get asked that question many times, and they have many answers. “An opportunity,” says...

‘Photograph 51’ at Lantern Theater Company in Philadelphia

Anna Ziegler’s Photograph 51 kicks off the Lantern’s 2015-2016 with a bang. Set in London 1953, this 2008 play tells the story of Dr. Rosalind Franklin and her surrounding colleagues racing to...

‘According to Goldman’ at Act II Playhouse in Philadelphia

While one often finds the journey to a Philly suburb arduous, According to Goldman makes the trip out to Ambler worth it. As a patron walks into the theater, people are socializing, cackling, and...

2015 Philadelphia Fringe Festival: ‘The Shoplifters’ at 1812 Productions

Mary Martello is a master thief. Anyone who’s seen her play supporting roles in shows as diverse as Memphis, 9 to 5, and Candide knows that this five-time Barrymore winner is an expert at stealing a...

‘Murder for Two’ at Philadelphia Theatre Company

Whodunit? Who killed the famous author? Was it his wife, his mistress, or his psychiatrist? Maybe it was the author’s friends Murray and Barb, the ones who introduce themselves as “the feisty old...

In the Moment: Walnut Street Theatre’s Touring Company Brings ‘A Life in the Theatre’ to GMU’s Center for the Arts on February 6th

America’s oldest theatre, Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, PA, also has a touring company component. The touring company is a regular presence at the George Mason University Center for the Arts,...

They’re Back! 2014 Barrymore Awards Nominations Announced for Excellence in Theatre for the Greater Philadelphia Region

Monday, October 27, 2014 at 7:00 pm The Merriam Theater · 250 S. Broad Street · Philadelphia, PA 19102 Followed by an After-Party at The Kimmel Center TICKETS ON SALE TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 at 12 NOON...