Alexander Hamilton: A Favorite Before It Was Fashionable
Lin-Manuel Miranda did Alexander Hamilton, and students of American history, a gratifying favor. Reading Ron Chernow’s excellent biography of Hamilton earlier in this decade, Miranda saw a life of drama … Continue reading
Nominees — Helen and Morris Zoren World Theater Award 2018-2019
Two awards are issued a year. At the beginning of each year, the Philadelphia Theater Critic’s Award is bestowed to productions and performers appearing between New Brunswick, N.J. and Wilmington, … Continue reading
Romeo and Juliet — Wilma Theater
Forget the bold but unnecessary opening that has a stomping group of chanters pulsating through a mostly alphabetized litany of key words and themes from “Romeo and Juliet,” punctuating every … Continue reading
The Niceties — McCarter Theatre
Oooh, those asterisks. They sneak in everywhere these days. Heck, they’re practically de rigueur. The first asterisk I disliked was the one I felt minimized Roger Maris’s slugging achievement because … Continue reading
2018 Philadelphia Theater Critic’s Awards — The Recipients
Excellence, bred from assurance, has become a constant in Philadelphia theater. Gone, in particular, is the self-consciousness that plagued the early years when Philadelphia morphed from a touring town to … Continue reading
2018 Philadelphia Theater Critic’s Awards — The Nominees
2018 was chocked with good productions and fine performances. Choosing nominees, let alone recipients, required a battery of combinations and permutations until the lists were set. Here, in each of … Continue reading
2018 Philadelphia Theater Critic’s Awards — The Qualifiers
Yes, I’m alive. And going to the theater. But less. Taking on a new career and working 70 hours a week besides writing, while working on some creative material, including … Continue reading
April Catch-Up I — Ella: First Lady of Song and Bullets Over Broadway
ELLA: FIRST LADY OF SONG — Delaware Theatre Company, 200 Water Street, Wilmington, Del. Through Sunday, May 13 — Freda Payne does some lovely singing in “Ella: First Lady of … Continue reading
A Bard Birthday Present — Julius Caesar –Quintessence Theatre at Sedgwick
Alexander Burns is a scholarly lad, and with the right kind of audacity. Summoning his acquired knowledge of classic and contemporary literature, he enlisted 20th century poet John Masefield (He … Continue reading