Raleigh Theater Reviews

Review: 2023 Triangle Rising Star Awards
by Jeffrey Kare - May 19, 2023

The Triangle Rising Star Awards is a regional competition that brings together high school musical theater students from Central and Eastern North Carolina to perform and compete for the chance to represent the Triangle in The National High School Musical Theater (otherwise known as The Jimmy) Award...

Review: MOULIN ROUGE! Is a Thrilling Spectacle
by Nicole Ackman - May 08, 2023

The cast of the musical Moulin Rouge! has a difficult task. The beloved 2001 movie directed by Baz Luhrmann has achieved near-cult status. Its cast included Ewan McGregor, Nicole Kidman, and Jim Broadbent, all at the top of their game. A musical based on a film so iconic has a lot to live up to....

Review: THE COLOR PURPLE Inspires At North Carolina Theatre
by Nicole Ackman - April 24, 2023

Whether you've read Alice Walker's novel or seen Spielberg's film adaptation, it's fair to assume that you might already know the main beats of this modern American classic. But seeing North Carolina Theatre's production of the musical adaptation will make you feel like you're experiencing the story...

Review: BEETLEJUICE National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - April 12, 2023

Based on Tim Burton's 1988 Academy Award-winning film of the same name, Lydia Deetz is a strange and unusual teenager who is obsessed with death. Luckily, her new house is haunted by a recently deceased couple and a degenerate demon. When Lydia calls on this ghost to scare away her insufferable pare...

Review: Theatre Raleigh's JERSEY BOYS
by Jeffrey Kare - April 07, 2023

Jersey Boys is presented in a documentary-style format that dramatizes the formation, success, and eventual breakup of The Four Seasons. I previously covered this show twice before. First, when the national tour came to DPAC in 2015. Then when it stopped at North Carolina Theatre back in 2018. Now, ...

Review: LES MISERABLES NATIONAL TOUR, at DPAC
by Nicole Ackman - April 12, 2023

The issues that LES MISÉRABLES touches on are unfortunately as relevant today as they were in 1862 when Victor Hugo’s novel was first published and in 1985 when the musical adaptation first opened in London....

Review: THE JUNGLE BOOK at Gamut Theatre's Young Acting Company and Rasika School of Dance
by Andrea Stephenson - April 01, 2023

This production of The Jungle Book is visually beautiful and engaging, and appeals to audiences of all ages. While this production is sold out, the caliber of this performance is a testament to the work of Gamut Theatre and Rasika School of Dance. Readers should plan to get tickets early for their u...

BWW Review: JAGGED LITTLE PILL National Tour, DPAC
by Nicole Ackman - March 01, 2023

The problem with jukebox musicals is that the music they use often takes away from the story that they're telling. It's not an issue with a show like MAMMA MIA, in which the plot is so light that the music complements it. However, when trying to tell a serious story, the songs can feel limiting and ...

Review: North Carolina Theatre's DREAMGIRLS
by Jeffrey Kare - February 08, 2023

Based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, and Jackie Wilson, Dreamgirls tells the story of a young female singing trio from Chicago, Illinois called 'The Dreams,' who become music superstars. Through gospel, R&B, smooth pop, di...

Review: COME FROM AWAY National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - January 19, 2023

Come From Away is based on a true story of when the isolated community of Gander, Newfoundland played host to the world. What started as an average day in a small Canadian town turned into an international sleep-over when 38 planes, carrying thousands of people from across the globe, were diverted t...

Review: TINA - THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - January 04, 2023

Tina - The Tina Turner Musical follows the life and career of legendary recording artist Tina Turner. The story begins with her upbringing in Nutbush, Tennessee, continues with her tumultuous relationship with Ike Turner, and ends with her transformation into the global queen of rock 'n' roll. In ca...

BWW Review: ELF THE MUSICAL National Tour, DPAC
by Nicole Ackman - December 01, 2022

Elf, which was released in 2003, has undoubtedly achieved that status with its endlessly quotable lines and endearingly funny performance by Will Ferrell as Buddy. Many of these beloved holiday films have been adapted for the stage, like White Christmas and A Christmas Story, so it’s natural that El...

Review: HAIRSPRAY National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - November 17, 2022

Based on John Waters' 1988 cult film of the same name, Hairspray takes place in Baltimore, Maryland in the year 1962. The story centers on a plump teenage girl named Tracy Turnblad, whose lifelong dream is to dance on the local TV dance program known as The Corny Collins Show. When Tracy wins a role...

Review: North Carolina Theatre's STEEL MAGNOLIAS
by Jeffrey Kare - November 06, 2022

Set in Chinquapin, Louisiana during the late 1980s, Steel Magnolias takes place in Truvy's beauty salon where all the ladies who are 'anybody' come to have their hair done. Helped by her eager new assistant, Annelle (who is not sure whether or not she is still married), the outspoken, wise-cracking ...

Review: SISTER ACT At Raleigh Memorial Auditorium At The Duke Energy Center
by Paul Bolton - October 13, 2022

What did our critic think of SISTER ACT at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium At The Duke Energy Center? Tour de force cast takes you to church in a fun comedic wild ride of a musical - Sister Act....

BWW Review: THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, Theatre Raleigh
by Nicole Ackman - September 17, 2022

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG might just be one of the funniest concepts to grace the stage of a theater in the past fifty years. The play, by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields, and Jonathan Sayer, depicts a theater group putting on a performance of “The Murder at Haversham Manor” that goes disastrously wrong f...

Review: FROZEN National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - September 16, 2022

Based on Disney's 2013 Academy Award-winning animated movie musical of the same name as well as Hans Christian Andersen's 1844 fairy tale, The Snow Queen, Frozen follows two royal sisters named Anna and Elsa. Read our review of the stage show, based on the blockbuster film, which eventually became t...

Review: ON YOUR FEET! at NCTHEATRE at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium
by Paul Bolton - August 13, 2022

Current production at North Carolina Theater features the music of 26-time Grammy Award-winning husband-and-wife team Gloria and Emilio Estefan. 'On Your Feet!' tells the story of two talented people who created an international sensation with their music. Featuring Estefan's hit songs, 'Anything fo...

BWW Review: CITY OF ANGELS, Theatre Raleigh
by Nicole Ackman - August 10, 2022

You could still smell the new paint in the newly refurbished theater during the opening night of Theatre Raleigh’s CITY OF ANGELS. It’s fitting that director and choreographer Lauren Kennedy Brady was fulfilling a dream of bringing this production to life while also debuting the company’s new theate...

BWW Review: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD National Tour, DPAC
by Nicole Ackman - August 05, 2022

Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s classic 1960 novel TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD opened on Broadway in 2018. (Yes, that Aaron Sorkin). Directed by Bartlett Sher, the play transports the audience to Alabama in 1934, where Atticus Finch is representing a Black man falsely accused of sexual assault....

Review: Theatre Raleigh's YELLOW FACE
by Jeffrey Kare - July 01, 2022

What did our critic think? Yellow Face follows Asian-American playwright DHH. Fresh off his Tony Award win for M. Butterfly, he leads a protest against the casting of Jonathan Pryce as the Eurasian pimp in the original Broadway production of Miss Saigon, condemning the practice as 'yellowface.' His ...

BWW Review: JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR National Tour, DPAC
by Nicole Ackman - June 19, 2022

When JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR first premiered in 1972, it was banned by the BBC for being “sacrilegious.” The musical, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, imagines the last week in the life of Jesus Christ in the form of a sung-through rock opera. The tour currently at DPAC play...

BWW Review: IN THE HEIGHTS, Raleigh Little Theatre
by Nicole Ackman - June 18, 2022

Raleigh Little Theatre’s production of IN THE HEIGHTS was initially announced in February 2020, just before the Coronavirus pandemic shut down theaters across the country. So it’s a joy to finally see it make its way to the stage in June 2022. Directed by Patrick Torres, the story of Washington Heig...

BWW Review: HAMILTON National Tour, DPAC
by Nicole Ackman - May 20, 2022

Read our critic's review. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical remains every bit as engaging and innovative today as it was seven years ago. Under Thomas Kail’s direction, the show is one of the most unique to have made it big on Broadway. ...

BWW Review: 2022 Triangle Rising Star Awards at DPAC
by Nicole Ackman - May 13, 2022

From the moment that the ceremony started with an upbeat rendition of “You Can’t Stop the Beat” from HAIRSPRAY by the twenty finalists, it was clear that the 2022 Triangle Rising Star Awards was going to be something special....