The jewelbox Jungle on a stinky, gruesomely hot summer evening: the gorgeous lobby, perfectly sized with actual comfy furniture; then the beautiful performing space, polished wood and rich lighting, small but substantial, highlighting the always wonderful set design, in this…
Category: Reviews
Review | To Let Go And Fall: an affecting study of love and aging
Cello music is, it has to be said, mournful, lugubrious and, well, a little creepy. “It’s not gloomy,” asserts the young son in A Little Night Music. “It’s profound.” IOW, ya gotta be in the mood and, luckily, at the…
Review | Dear Evan Hansen: a musical for today
“Dear Evan Hansen†has arrived in Minneapolis and it’s a hot ticket; the Orpheum Theatre was packed for opening night. Winner of multiple 2017 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Score, the show astonishing technical flash with a moving…
Review | Blood Knot: apartheid redux
What a difference a production can make. I saw Blood Knot by Athol Fugard some time ago at an out of state venue and was not impressed. The play seemed to have little depth past the rather obvious conceit of…
Review | Small Mouth Sounds: meditative comedy
Six characters in search of an authorial presence. Bess Wohl‘s amusing Small Mouth Sounds (at the Jungle, through June 16) suffers from this. The primary problem with the play – essentially a portrait of six people at a wilderness (apparently;…
Review | The Sins Of Sor Juana: a nifty combination of religious and poetic fervor
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was a gifted poet in Nueva España (as México was called in the olden days). Born a bit too late to be part of the Spanish Golden Age (Lope de Vega, Miguel de Cervantes,…
Review | The Brothers Paranormal: possessed by dispossession
Billed as a ghost story The Brothers Paranormal begins lightly, with humor and a comic set-up. But scene by scene the play becomes more serious as playwright Prince Golmolvilas draws parallel worlds of reality. Max, a Thai-American, and his brother own…
Review | Marjorie Prime: evocative and poignant
What does it meant to be human? Is it the small changes in our DNA that separate us from our close animal kingdom relatives? Or is it the experiences, memories and moments we accumulate day by day, everything from the…
Review | Hello, Dolly!: Betty Buckley sparkles in a delightful production
Once proclaimed the “Voice of Broadway†by New York Magazine, Tony award-winning legend Betty Buckley is here for a short time at the Orpheum for the touring revival production of Hello Dolly. Put on your Sunday clothes and get your…
Review | Hedwig And The Angry Inch: this one will rock you right to the end
Hedwig and the Angry Inch is not an easy show to pull off. But when it’s done right, it pulls you in, sinking its Aqua Net misted hooks into you and will stay with you long after the final curtain.…