The audience is sent to 1930s Paris where the story unfolds around four tenors, two wives, and three girlfriends in one hotel room while there’s preparations for the concert of a lifetime in a packed soccer stadium. As long as… Read More ›
Archived Reviews
Archived from Pittsburgh in the Round
PNWF Program B: 2019
By Brian Pope What’s better than one opening night? Four opening nights! For the last 29 years, the Pittsburgh New Works Festival has been a champion of the one act play. Each festival sees 12 plays receive full productions across… Read More ›
“Julius Caesar” Slays Expectations in PSIP’s All-Female Adaptation
By Eva Phillips The balance of power is erratic and volatile. Can those who thirst for power and reign over others ever do so without corruption, or without the megrims of self-interest overtaking the objectiveness of their rule? And when… Read More ›
Arcade Comedy Theater Mines Comedy Gold in “Bubble Boy: The Musical”
By Brian Pope In her ever increasingly maniacal efforts to cloister her son safely in the nest (or bubble, as it were), the conservatively hardwired Mrs. Livingston carefully curates (or rather cruelly censors) the culture he consumes. Jimmy grows up… Read More ›
“The Lion King” Roars Majestically at the Benedum
By Eva Phillips At this point, writing a review of the astronomically popular and enormously profitable onstage adaptation of The Lion King feels a bit superfluous. 25 years after the world was introduced to Simba, Mufasa, Zazu, Timon and Pumba,… Read More ›
Pittsburgh Playwright Theatre’s “Gem of the Ocean” Triumphs
A shaky sound system. Neighborhood kids shouting. Three quick explosions of firecrackers. Honking of car horns. Emergency sirens. A noisy low-flying helicopter. It was opening night and the show must go on – and so it did with power and… Read More ›
All the Fun, Straight, No Chaser in “Savannah Sipping Society”
By Eva Phillips Randa is an unstoppable career woman whose prosperous career as an architect has just been, well, stopped after an unfortunate (but justifiable) at-work eruption. Dot is a vibrant woman in her 60s who, despite her chutzpah, feels… Read More ›
Farce, Family, and Melodrama in Cup-A-Jo’s “Tartuffe”
Cup-A-Jo’s latest production is one of Moliere’s most famous theatrical comedies, Tartuffe. Adapted by Richard Wilbur, Tartuffe follows a family who is desperate to expose an outwardly pious man for the deceitful and egregious person he is. Melodramatic and… Read More ›
Leave Your Troubles at the Door? Haunting Splendor in Little Lake’s “Cabaret”
By Eva Phillips The first time I ever encountered Cabaret, I was a severely depressed 19-year-old, being moved to tears in a Dunkin Donuts at 2 AM as I watched Bob Fosse-directed, spectacularly manic Liza Minelli, and still-closeted Joel Grey… Read More ›
“Fun Home” Reveals More than Family Secrets at Front Porch
Clever and cathartic, Fun Home at Front Porch Theatricals stirs the heart and memories of growing up despite the foibles of the grown-ups around us. Full of longing and never short on irony, Fun Home delivers the laughter, regret, and… Read More ›