All stories by Charles McNulty on BroadwayStars

Monday, May 12, 2025

'White Rabbit Red Rabbit,' with a new star every night, opens at the Fountain by Charles McNulty

Playwright Nassim Soleimanpour's global hit 'White Rabbit Red Rabbit,' a theatrical experiment swathed in mystery, opens at the Fountain Theatre with a different actor handed the script righ…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:11PM[SHARE]
Saturday, May 10, 2025

'Life of Pi' at the Ahmanson: An enchanting journey on the high seas by Charles McNulty

Yann Martel's 2002 novel, also made into a 2012 Ang Lee film, gets a stage adaptation that is wondrously dreamy and profound. As the tale's shipwrecked teen, Taha Mandviwala is mesmerizing.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:39PM[SHARE]
Friday, May 2, 2025

Tony nominations reward audacious risk-taking on Broadway by Charles McNulty

'Maybe Happy Ending,' 'Dead Outlaw,' Cole Escola's 'Oh, Mary!' and 'John Proctor Is the Villain' lead the competition for best musical and best play, with Audra McDonald in 'Gypsy' and Nicol…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:16PM[SHARE]
Monday, April 28, 2025

'Furlough's Paradise' imagines utopia for two Black cousins on a quest for liberty by Charles McNulty

a.k. payne's 'Furlough's Paradise,' winner of the 2025 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, opens at the Geffen Playhouse under the direction of Tinashe Kajese-Bolden.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:13PM[SHARE]
Sunday, April 27, 2025

'Dead Outlaw,' a musical about a famous corpse discovered in Long Beach, makes its way to Broadway by Charles McNulty

"Dead Outlaw," a Broadway musical about a famous corpse discovered in Long Beach from the team behind the Tony-winning musical "The Band's Visit," opens on Broadway.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:05PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Netflix and 'Stranger Things' take on Broadway. Enter at your own peril by Charles McNulty

'Stranger Things: The First Shadow,' a prequel to the hit streaming series, opens at the Marquis Theatre, bringing Netflix branding to Broadway.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:32AM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 17, 2025

Playwright Keiko Green invites audiences to party like it's the apocalypse by Charles McNulty

Keiko Green's 'You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World,' a comedy about family, loss and environmental destruction, has its world premiere at South Coast Repertory in a production …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:32AM[SHARE]
Monday, April 14, 2025

In the new musical 'Regency Girls,' young women in trouble discover empowerment on a road trip by Charles McNulty

"Regency Girls," a musical comedy about young women on a wild road trip in the Jane Austen-era, has its world premiere at the Old Globe in a production directed by Josh Rhodes.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:09PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Who's afraid of James Joyce? Elevator Repair Service takes a tour of 'Ulysses' by Charles McNulty

Elevator Repair Service's stage adaptation of 'Ulysses,' presented by UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance, inspires a rereading of the James Joyce classic. Years later, the takeaways ar…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:36AM[SHARE]
Monday, March 31, 2025

In Broadway's latest 'Gypsy,' Audra McDonald takes our critic from doubt to spiritual epiphany by Charles McNulty

George C. Wolfe directs the new Broadway revival of "Gypsy" starring six-time Tony-winner Audra McDonald.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:18PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, March 26, 2025

All's unfair in love and identity politics in Echo Theater Company's 'One Jewish Boy' by Charles McNulty

Echo Theater Company artistic director Chris Fields directs the West Coast premiere of 'One Jewish Boy,' Stephen Laughton's two-hander starring Sharae Foxie and Zeke Goodman

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:42PM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 20, 2025

Hugh Bonneville stars in an impressively poised revival of 'Uncle Vanya' at Berkeley Rep by Charles McNulty

Hugh Bonneville stars in 'Uncle Vanya,' a co-production between Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Washington, D.C.'s Shakespeare Theatre Company, directed by Simon Godwin.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:42AM[SHARE]
Sunday, March 16, 2025

Now streaming, Irish Rep's 'Beckett Briefs,' headlined by F. Murray Abraham, asks the essential questions by Charles McNulty

Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham stars in 'Krapp's Last Tape,' one of three short Samuel Beckett plays on offer in 'Beckett Briefs,' an Irish Rep production now available for streaming via the…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:25PM[SHARE]
Saturday, March 15, 2025

How a photo of Nazis eating blueberries inspired Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich's Holocaust play by Charles McNulty

'Here There Are Blueberries' tells the story of an album of historical photos documenting the lives of ordinary Germans who were part of the bureaucracy of the Holocaust. Authors Moisés Kau…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:50PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Paul Mescal and Patsy Ferran deliver 'A Streetcar Named Desire' for the ages by Charles McNulty

Paul Mescal and Patsy Ferran star in Rebecca Frecknall's production of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire" at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:38PM[SHARE]
Monday, March 10, 2025

Appreciation: Playwright Athol Fugard proved the pen could be mightier than the sword by Charles McNulty

An appreciation of South African playwright Athol Fugard, whose plays that bore witness to the cruelty of apartheid, including 'Blood Knot,' 'Boesman and Lena,' 'A Lesson From Aloes' and 'My…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:34PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, March 5, 2025

A new revival of Suzan-Lori Parks' 'Topdog/Underdog' misses the beat at Pasadena Playhouse by Charles McNulty

Pasadena Playhouse revival of 'Topdog/Underdog,' Suzan-Lori Parks' Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, stars Brandon Gill and Brandon Micheal Hall in a production directed by Gregg T. Daniel.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 05:06PM[SHARE]
Sunday, March 2, 2025

Review: '44,' a musical satire about Barack Obama by one of his campaign insiders, cuts up at the Kirk Douglas by Charles McNulty

Written, composed and directed by Eli Bauman, a former Obama campaign organizer, '44,' about Barack Obama's presidency, returns to L.A. at Kirk Douglas Theatre.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:26PM[SHARE]
Friday, February 21, 2025

Review: 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' brings authentic magic to the Hollywood Pantages by Charles McNulty

The Tony-winning play 'Harry Potter and Cursed Child' has its Los Angeles premiere at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:17AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Commentary: Shakespeare's portrait of an insecure, paranoid tyrant makes this the perfect time for 'Macbeth' by Charles McNulty

David Tennant and Cush Jumbo deliver a 'Macbeth' for the ages, but the curse of Shakespeare's tragedy isn't easy to avoid.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:44AM[SHARE]
Saturday, February 15, 2025

Review: 'Old Friends' pay tribute to Sondheim in a luxurious pre-Broadway celebration at the Ahmanson by Charles McNulty

Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga star in 'Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends' in a pre-Broadway run at the Ahmanson Theatre.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:52AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Review: 'Bacon' treads the line between love and abuse for teenage boys in a Rogue Machine powerhouse by Charles McNulty

Rogue Machine Theatre presents the West Coast premiere of Sophie Swithinbank's 'Bacon,' a two-hander directed by Michael Matthews that explores masculinity, bullying, sexuality and trauma.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:50AM[SHARE]
Monday, February 10, 2025

Review: 'Noises Off,' Michael Frayn's ingenious farce, doesn't have to be perfect to succeed by Charles McNulty

Tony winner Anna D. Shapiro directs a revival of Michael Frayn's backstage farce at the Geffen Playhouse in a co-production with Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:33PM[SHARE]
Saturday, February 8, 2025

Review: Larissa FastHorse's 'Fake It Until You Make It' has its historic premiere at the Taper by Charles McNulty

'Fake It Until You Make It,' a satiric farce by Larissa FastHorse ('The Thanksgiving Play'), has its world premiere at the Mark Taper Forum, in a production directed by Michael John Garcés.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:58PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Review: Will Arbery's 'Evanston Salt Costs Climbing' combines despair with tender absurdity at Rogue Machine by Charles McNulty

Rogue Machine presents the Southern California premiere of Will Arbery's 'Evanston Salt Costs Climbing' in a Rogue Machine Theatre production at the Matrix Theatre directed by Guillermo Cien…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 05:51PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Review: Sanaz Toossi's 'Wish You Were Here' at South Coast Rep traces the faltering dreams of young Iranian women by Charles McNulty

Pulitzer Prize-winner Sanaz Toossi, who grew up in Orange County, has a homecoming of sorts with the West Coast premiere of "Wish You Were Here" at South Coast Repertory.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:22PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 14, 2025

Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' illuminates an existential truth revealed by the Los Angeles fires by Charles McNulty

Theater critic Charles McNulty writes on how Shakespeare, and 'The Tempest' in particular, is helping him bear witness to the scale of loss caused by the Los Angeles wildfires.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:25AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 7, 2025

Appreciation: Richard Foreman, an auteur of consciousness, did things his way by Charles McNulty

Playwright and director Richard Foreman, one of the pillars of New York's downtown theater scene, dies at 87.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:12AM[SHARE]
Monday, December 16, 2024

Review: Sutton Foster delights in Carol Burnett's role in 'Once Upon a Mattress' at the Ahmanson by Charles McNulty

New York City Center Encores! production of 'Once Upon a Mattress,' starring Sutton Foster, arrives at the Ahmanson Theatre direct from Broadway.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 01:56PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, December 10, 2024

'Wicked,' back at the Pantages Theatre, is as popular as ever. But is it a good musical? by Charles McNulty

'Wicked,' soaring onscreen, has returned to the Hollywood Pantages Theatre. This production reveals what the movie gets right, as well as weaknesses neither version can overcome.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, December 9, 2024

Theater in 2024 " the silver lining of a challenging year by Charles McNulty

The Times' theater critic selects his top SoCal stage productions for 2024, including 'Funny Girl,' 'Fat Ham,' 'Primary Trust,' 'Pacific Overtures,' 'The Brothers Size' and 'Company.'

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM[SHARE]

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