All stories by Matt Wolf on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

The Antipodes, National Theatre review - mysterious and gently momentous by Matt Wolf

Annie Baker's latest will divide opinion but reward devotees The National Theatre is forging its own special relationship with American playwright Annie Baker, having now produced three of h…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 04:36AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Josh Piterman on 'Screaming Like a Soprano' When He Learned He Would Star in London's The Phantom of the Opera by Matt Wolf

London has seen numerous Phantoms in the 33-plus years since the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical The Phantom of the Opera had its world premiere before going on to become a global phenomenon. Bu…

SOURCE: Broadway.com at 01:18AM[SHARE]
Monday, October 28, 2019

Oliver Ormson on Bringing High Fidelity to London with a Fresh British Spin by Matt Wolf

High Fidelity didn't last long on Broadway in 2006, but the musical adaptation of the Nick Hornby novel has had plenty of airings elsewhere since that time and is now in previews at southwes…

SOURCE: Theatre.com at 02:59PM[SHARE]
Thursday, October 24, 2019

Little Baby Jesus, Orange Tree Theatre review - an early play thrillingly alive for now by Matt Wolf

Arinzé Kene play from 2011 packs a renewed punch Time has been not just kind but even crucial to Little Baby Jesus, the 2011 play from the multi-hyphenate talent Arinzé Kene, who…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 08:24AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Vassa, Almeida Theatre review - delayed opening doesn't land by Matt Wolf

Gorky play suffers an identity crisis in uneasily-pitched revival Even the mighty Almeida is allowed the occasional dud and it's sure as hell got one at the moment with Vassa. Maxim Gork…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 07:48PM[SHARE]
Friday, October 18, 2019

Longtime London The Lion King Star George Asprey Reflects on the Show's 20 Years in the West End by Matt Wolf

The Lion King this month marks 20 years on the London stage, during which time it has become the sixth longest-running West End musical ever, with no end in sight. The iconic Disney musical …

SOURCE: Theatre.com at 02:08PM[SHARE]

Female Playwrights Are on Form (for the Most Part) by Matt Wolf

Whether it's finishing what Jane Austen started, imagining the private conversations of first ladies or inserting the personal, on London stages female playwrights are mixing things up.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:33AM[SHARE]
Saturday, October 12, 2019

Tony Nominated Composer Dave Malloy on His Russian Inspiration and Hitting London with Preludes and Ghost Quartet by Matt Wolf

The Tony-nominated composer/lyricist Dave Malloy of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 fame hasn't had a London presence until this fall, when he is unexpectedly being represented…

SOURCE: Theatre.com at 12:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, October 11, 2019

Groan Ups, Vaudeville Theatre review - adding ambition and emotion to the mix by Matt Wolf

The ever-likable Mischief Theatre's latest stretches them in new if still-unfinished ways If ambition were all, Groan Ups would get an A*. Marking the first of a very welcome three-show res…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 07:48AM[SHARE]
Thursday, October 10, 2019

Assassins, Watermill Theatre, Newbury - Sondheim musical in scalding form by Matt Wolf

Sondheim's 1990 show gets more disturbingly pertinent with every revival "Every now and then the country goes a little wrong": so goes one of the many lyrics from the Stephen Sondheim-John W…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 05:06AM[SHARE]
Monday, October 7, 2019

Groan Ups Star Henry Shields on How It All Went Goes Wrong for Him on the London Stage by Matt Wolf

Henry Shields is an invaluable part of London's invaluable and in-demand Mischief Theatre Company, having long doubled as both a writer and actor on such hits as The Play That Goes Wrong, Pe…

SOURCE: Theatre.com at 04:36PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, October 2, 2019

'Master Harold' ... and the Boys, National Theatre review - timelessly moving by Matt Wolf

Athol Fugard's 1982 self-exorcism is searingly revived Time has been kind to Athol Fugard's "Master Harold"...and the Boys. It's a stealth bomb of a play that I saw in its world premiere pro…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 11:33AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, October 1, 2019

West End Star Lloyd Owen on Heather Headley, Renée Zellweger and the Joys of Noises Off by Matt Wolf

Lloyd Owen has one of the best, most resonant speaking voices in the business and has leant his vocal luster to such roles as Nick in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, opposite Diana Rigg, an…

SOURCE: Theatre.com at 04:31PM[SHARE]
Thursday, September 26, 2019

Political Plays for Political Times by Matt Wolf

From a member of Parliament in "Hansard" to the users of a threatened community center in "Faith, Hope and Charity," London theaters are exploring how power works.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:33AM[SHARE]
Thursday, September 19, 2019

Laurie Kynaston on Going Through a Tough Adolescence in Florian Zeller's The Son in the West End by Matt Wolf

The French writer Florian Zeller is rarely long absent from the London or New York stage. On Broadway he is represented at the moment by the transfer from the West End of The Height of the S…

SOURCE: Theatre.com at 03:47PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Big the Musical - sweet if wildly overstretched by Matt Wolf

Onetime Broadway flop has more charm in London but still needs work The work isn't finished on Big, if this stage musical of the beloved 1988 Tom Hanks film is ever to, um, make it big. A B…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 04:06AM[SHARE]
Sunday, September 15, 2019

Jay McGuiness Dusts Off His Dancing Shoes for the West End's Big the Musical by Matt Wolf

Jay McGuiness was a member of the popular English boy band The Wanted and won the 2015 edition of Strictly Come Dancing, the U.K. precursor to Dancing with the Stars. But he is currently ret…

SOURCE: Theatre.com at 06:00AM[SHARE]
Saturday, September 14, 2019

Amsterdam, Orange Tree Theatre review - suffocatingly mannered by Matt Wolf

A potentially compelling play is done in by its structure and an unhelpful staging An excellent director makes a rare misstep with Amsterdam, in which a compelling if tricksy play is given …

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 03:42AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, September 10, 2019

London Evita Headliner Samantha Pauly on Channeling Beyoncé and Ariana Grande to Find Her Inner Superstar by Matt Wolf

Chicago actress Samantha Pauly has been in three previous productions of Evita, none of which can have been as conceptually daring as the director Jamie Lloyd's provocative and edgy current …

SOURCE: Broadway.com at 12:03AM[SHARE]
Monday, September 9, 2019

London Evita Headliner Samantha Pauly on Channeling Beyoncé and Ariana Grande to Find Her Inner Superstar by Matt Wolf

Chicago actress Samantha Pauly has been in three previous productions of Evita, none of which can have been as conceptually daring as the director Jamie Lloyd's provocative and edgy current …

SOURCE: Theatre.com at 12:02PM[SHARE]
Thursday, September 5, 2019

Who Are We, and What Defines Us? Big Questions on the London Stage by Matt Wolf

Two new productions, "The Doctor" and "Appropriate," subvert ideas about identity.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:24AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Jac Yarrow on the Thrill of His Professional Stage Debut in London's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by Matt Wolf

The Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is a regular visitor to the London stage but there's never in my extensive experience been as likable an…

SOURCE: Theatre.com at 10:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, August 22, 2019

London Torch Song Star Matthew Needham on Making Harvey Fierstein's Iconic Protagonist His Own by Matt Wolf

Matthew Needham has cut quite a swath through the American repertoire of late, between the Olivier Award-winning revival of Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke and the U.S.-set stage adapta…

SOURCE: Theatre.com at 01:59PM[SHARE]
Friday, August 16, 2019

Laura Pitt-Pulford on Starring in the U.K. Premiere of Falsettos and What Makes Her Feel Like 'Breaking Down' in Real Life by Matt Wolf

Laura Pitt-Pulford was a 2016 Olivier nominee for her zesty alfresco performance at Regent's Park in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, but the English performer has cut a distinctive swathe f…

SOURCE: Broadway.com at 07:12AM[SHARE]

Laura Pitt-Pulford on Starring in the U.K. Premiere of Falsettos and What Makes Her Feel Like 'Breaking Down' in Real Life by Matt Wolf

Laura Pitt-Pulford was a 2016 Olivier nominee for her zesty alfresco performance at Regent's Park in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, but the English performer has cut a distinctive swathe f…

SOURCE: Theatre.com at 06:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, August 15, 2019

Onstage in Edinburgh, the Mood Is Grim by Matt Wolf

Theatrical productions at the Edinburgh International Festival and Fringe give the impression of a world coming apart at the seams.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:12AM[SHARE]
Saturday, August 3, 2019

London's Witness for the Prosecution Star Lewis Cope on His Famous Former Co-Star & Huge Family by Matt Wolf

Witness for the Prosecution, the Agatha Christie thriller directed by Lucy Bailey, has turned into a sleeper hit inside its unusual location of a onetime debating chamber at Westminster's Co…

SOURCE: Theatre.com at 06:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, July 25, 2019

London Equus Star Ethan Kai on Getting Comfortable with Onstage Nudity, Raves from Ian McKellen & More by Matt Wolf

Ethan Kai may be known to fans of British TV from the Yorkshire-set drama, Emmerdale, but the 25-year-old actor is making one of the most astonishing West End debuts in years playing the dis…

SOURCE: Theatre.com at 01:11PM[SHARE]

A Quiet Take on Tennessee Williams by Matt Wolf

A London production of "The Night of the Iguana" starring Clive Owen asks for the audience's patience, and rewards it.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:12AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, July 23, 2019

The View UpStairs, Soho Theatre review - well-intentioned but needs a rewrite by Matt Wolf

Name-heavy cast powers baggy, repetitive Off Broadway musical If good intentions were all, The View Upstairs would be Gypsy. As it is, the European premiere of this 2017 Off Broadway musica…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 10:12PM[SHARE]
Friday, July 19, 2019

Andy Mientus on Starring in London's The View UpStairs, Talking about Smash Every Day and Projects with Michael Arden by Matt Wolf

Andy Mientus has credits ranging from Spring Awakening and Les Miz to such TV series as Smash and Gone. But the Pittsburgh native can be found this summer within the intimate confines of Lon…

SOURCE: Theatre.com at 01:00PM[SHARE]

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