Philadelphia Theater Reviews

Review: THE LIGHT at Theatre Exile
by G K Schatzman - February 10, 2023

Directed by J. Paul Nicholas and starring Abdul Sesay and Angela Bey, The Light centers on the hot-and-cold engagement night of two youngish Chicagoans as they wind up reliving their romantic pinnacles alongside their separate, secreted traumas around sexual assault. ...

Photos: Go Inside FORWARD MOTION at Perelman Theater
by Scott Serio - February 05, 2023

The New Works series for the Philadelphia Ballet brings Forward Motion to the stage with three new conceptualizations by highly respected choreographers. Check out our exclusive photos from the production here!...

Review: THE GLASS MENAGERIE Opens The Arden Theatre Company's 35th Anniversary Season
by Chloe Rabinowitz - October 13, 2022

The Arden Theatre Company's 35th Anniversary season opened with Tennessee Williams' heart-wrenching memory play, The Glass Menagerie, and is marking the Arden's first post-pandemic return to a full five-show lineup. Read BroadwayWorld's review of The Glass Menagerie here!...

Review: TRAVESTIES at Lantern Theater
by G K Schatzman - October 05, 2022

Tom Stoppard's 'Earnest'-inspired smartypants play 'Travesties' finishes its run on October 9th at the Lantern Theater....

Review: Reimagined EVITA 'High Flying, Adored' at Bucks County Playhouse
by Chloe Rabinowitz - September 26, 2022

Bucks County Playhouse's reimagined Evita, directed by Will Pomerantz, is one of the most creatively staged productions of the Andrew Lloyd Webber hit to come along in years. Evita, which chronicles the rise and fall of Eva Perón, shines a spotlight on the controversial icon whose life and death lit...

REVIEW: DEAR EVAN HANSEN Hits Philly Right in the Feels
by G K Schatzman - August 21, 2022

Dear Evan Hansen will pour your heart fit to overflow and then spend an hour eyedroppering it over the brim. The Tony-hoarding show has juggernaut bones and design. Despite less-than-lustrous vocal performance from greenhorn show star Anthony Norman, the touring cast does it earnest justice with sta...

BWW Review: INTO THE WOODS at Arden Theatre
by Tony Oriente - June 10, 2022

What did our critic think of INTO THE WOODS at Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia? A fresh and innovative take on the Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine classical musical. The acting and vocal delivery from the ensemble cast let the James Lapine book shine through while giving the audience a lavis...

BWW Review: World Premiere of Seth Rozin's SETTLEMENTS Opens at InterAct Theatre Company
by Chloe Rabinowitz - April 08, 2022

There is no easy or simple way to discuss the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Seth Rozin’s world premiere play, Settlements, which opened last night at InterAct Theatre Company, centers on exactly that—not the conflict itself, but the discussion around it....

BWW Review: The National Tour of WAITRESS Comes to the Academy of Music
by Chloe Rabinowitz - March 30, 2022

The national tour of Waitress, featuring music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles, opened at the Kimmel Cultural Campus’ Academy of Music last night, where it is set to run through Sunday, April 3....

BWW Review: World Premiere of R. Eric Thomas' BACKING TRACK at Arden Theatre Company
by Chloe Rabinowitz - March 11, 2022

Arden Theatre Company, which returned to the stage this past January with a triumphant production of A Streetcar Named Desire, is back with the world premiere of R. Eric Thomas’ Backing Track....

BWW Review: The National Tour of OKLAHOMA! Opens at the Forrest Theatre
by Chloe Rabinowitz - March 10, 2022

The national tour of Daniel Fish’s reimagined Oklahoma!, now playing at the Forrest Theatre, is Oklahoma! like you’ve never seen it. Darker and sultrier than you ever imagined Rodgers & Hammerstein’s magnum opus could be, this production makes an almost 80-year-old musical feel not only modern, but ...

BWW Review: The National Tour of BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL Opens at the Academy of Music
by Chloe Rabinowitz - February 23, 2022

The jukebox musical is a genre of musical theatre that is not always easy to get right. Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, which opened last night at the Kimmel Cultural Campus' Academy of Music, is an example of a jukebox musical done perfectly....

BWW Review: HADESTOWN Can't Get Much Hotter
by G K Schatzman - February 10, 2022

The Tony Award-winning Hadestown gets the audience on their feet on opening night at the Kimmel Cultural Campus' Academy of Music. Don't miss Broadway's deviously upbeat mythical musical tragedy, here through Feb. 20....

BWW Review: The Road to Hell Feels a Lot Like Heaven With HADESTOWN
by Chloe Rabinowitz - February 10, 2022

The underworld has never felt hotter. The first national tour of Hadestown, the eight-time Tony Award-winning musical by Anaïs Mitchell and director Rachel Chavkin, opened last night, Wednesday, February 9th at the Academy of Music on the Kimmel Cultural Campus and is set to run through Sunday, Febr...

Review: The Cure at Troy at Quintessence Theater
by G K Schatzman - February 06, 2022

A modest audience was drawn into the reeks and roars of a rare production of Seamus Heaney’s The Cure at Troy on Saturday night around the intimate, runway-style stage at Quintessence Theater in Philadelphia, directed by Alexaner Burns. Actor Steven Anthony Wright leaving a definitive stamp on a cha...

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Warms Up in Philly on First Tour Stop
by G K Schatzman - January 30, 2022

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater heated up a subdued and snow-drenched Philly audience January 28 – 30 with an admirable, often stunning return to the stage at the Kimmel Cultural Campus’ Academy of Music, ending a long, pandemic-driven tour hiatus....

BWW Review: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE Roars to Life at The Arden Theatre Company
by Chloe Rabinowitz - January 20, 2022

After a long two-year wait, the Arden Theatre Company has finally brought the curtain up on its highly anticipated production of Tennessee Williams' 'A Streetcar Named Desire.' Originally slated for March 2020, the Arden's 'Streetcar' officially opened last night to a packed, masked, and vaxxed hous...

BWW Review: PHILADELPHIA BALLET PRESENTS THE NUTCRACKER at The Academy Of Music
by Scott Serio - December 11, 2021

Philadelphia Ballet Presents The Nutcracker at The Academy of Music in Center City. For the first time since COVID, the ballet returns to the Kimmel Campus...

BWW Review: ANASTASIA North American Tour Journeys to Philadelphia's Merriam Theater
by Chloe Rabinowitz - November 24, 2021

The North American Tour of Anastasia-the sweeping, alternate-history/fairytale musical based on the animated 1997 film-journeyed to Philadelphia's Merriam Theater last night. Anastasia features a book by theatre luminary Terrence McNally, and a score by the Tony Award -winning team of Stephen Flaher...

BWW Review: THE GARBOLOGIST at Philadelphia Theatre Company-A Must See
by Marina Kennedy - November 23, 2021

The Garbologist, a captivating and entertaining new play written by Lindsay Joelle opens the 2021-2022 Season by the Philadelphia Theatre Company (PTC).  It will be onstage through December 5th.  Don’t miss this two-hander! ...

BWW Review: THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO at Home Computer Screens
by Maria Nockin - October 24, 2021

On October 22, 2021, Opera Philadelphia began streaming its rendition of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. This staging is a judiciously cut two-hour-and-forty-eight-minute production by Opera Philadelphia, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, San Diego Opera, and Palm Beach Opera. Each company is choosing it...

BWW Review: The National Tour of HAMILTON Takes the Stage at Philadelphia's Academy of Music
by Chloe Rabinowitz - October 22, 2021

Hamilton is being presented at the Kimmel Cultural Campus' Academy of Music from Wednesday, October 20, 2021 - Sunday, November 28, 2021. ...

BWW Interview & Review: Brian Sanders' DRAGONBUTTER Flies to the Top of Philly's List of Must-See Theatre
by Amber Kusching - July 20, 2021

Dragonbutter is a multi-sensory experience is an ambitious project set in an 8,000-square-foot warehouse located at 200 Spring Garden Street. Dragonbutter is spread out through multiple themed rooms where each room challenges players with mini-riddles, and dramatic physical performances, leading up ...

BWW Review: What a Piece of Work is FAT HAM at Wilma Theater
by Amber Kusching - May 20, 2021

Wilma Theater’s Fat Ham is a witty take on Shakespeare’s Hamlet where the only death is the patriarchy.Let's see what BWW's critic had to say......

BWW Review: ZOO MOTEL at Theatre Exile is a Virtual Production to Check In and Check Out
by Amber Kusching - April 08, 2021

Theatre Exile invites you to check into Zoo Motel, a virtual odyssey that combines interactive live theater, gripping storytelling, cinematic illusions, and magic all in one creative hour of surprises....