All stories by Milo Shapiro on BroadwayStars

Friday, December 22, 2023

Highly Recommended Theater: INTIMATE APPAREL (North Coast Repertory Theatre) by Milo Shapiro

There's no doubt why Lynn Nottage's drama Intimate Apparel won five national awards for best play, including the Drama Critics' Circle Award and American Theatre Critics Association's Primus…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 06:36PM[SHARE]
Saturday, October 7, 2023

Theater Review: THE ADDAMS FAMILY (San Diego Musical Theatre) by Milo Shapiro

ALTOGETHER OOKEY GOOD FUN When American cartoonist Charles Addams started drawing a family of moderately harmless ghoulish folks for The New Yorker in 1938, how could he have expected them t…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 05:50PM[SHARE]
Sunday, September 17, 2023

Theater Review: NUNSENSE (Coronado Playhouse in Coronado/San Diego) by Milo Shapiro

WHO LEFT FROWNING? NUN OF US! When you're picking shows for your season, you're off to a good start when you pick the second-longest-running show in Off-Broadway history. One that's been pro…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 02:59AM[SHARE]
Friday, September 8, 2023

Theater Review: THE SAVOYARD MURDERS (The Roustabouts Theatre Company at Scripps Ranch Theatre in San Diego) by Milo Shapiro

GIVE THREE CHEERS AND ONE CHEER MORE FOR SILLY GOOD FUN In the US, the term "Savoyard" generally means a person intensely interested in, and perhaps highly knowledgeable about, the works of …

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 08:02PM[SHARE]
Saturday, September 2, 2023

Theater Review: VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE (Lamplighters Community Theatre in La Mesa) by Milo Shapiro

MAKE THIS FUN SHOW ONE TO CHEKHOV YOUR LIST Any time you take one sibling out of a group of three, the remaining two are bound to talk about the missing one. Take that situation further, wit…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 04:25PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, August 22, 2023

Theater Review: CRY IT OUT (Moxie Theatre, San Diego) by Milo Shapiro

DON'T KNOW WHETHER TO LAUGH OR CRY You know that close friend or relative you have who they can talk about the most trivial stuff in their world and you'll still ask leading questions for mo…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 05:36PM[SHARE]
Thursday, July 20, 2023

Theater Review: IS IT THURSDAY YET? (La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego) by Milo Shapiro

DIAGNOSIS: DANCER Human nature loves to ponder the impossible to answer: What does food taste like to other people? What does a colorblind person imagine color looks like? What is it like to…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 02:21PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Recommended Theater: PIPPIN (North Coast Rep) by Milo Shapiro

DON'T BE SKIPPIN' PIPPIN Here's a can't-miss opportunity: Beginning tomorrow, July 19, North Coast Rep is presenting the perky but dark 1972 musical, Pippin. With a book by Roger O. Hirson,…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 02:58AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Theater Review: THE KITCHEN WITCHES (Lamplighters Community Theatre in La Mesa) by Milo Shapiro

BREWING UP SOME GOOD CHUCKLES IN THEIR KITCHEN Cooking shows are typically feel-good shows. The calm of Martha Stewart. The sweetness of Rachel Rae. The edge of Emeril Lagasse. Of course, it…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 02:34AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, July 4, 2023

Theater Review: PASSENGERS (Old Globe in San Diego) by Milo Shapiro

THESE PASSENGERS WON'T STAY IN THEIR SEATS! Die-hard fans of So You Think You Can Dance get to know their choreographers. For me, there was Sonya Tayeh (Moulin Rouge! The Musical) … and th…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 10:53PM[SHARE]
Thursday, June 15, 2023

Theater Review: LOVE ALL (La Jolla Playhouse) by Milo Shapiro

WHEN KING WAS THE QUEEN OF THE COURT Ask most people what they know about Billy Jean King, other than fact that she played tennis, and there's a good likelihood that you'll hear a story abou…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 03:01AM[SHARE]
Saturday, June 3, 2023

Theater Review: DESTINY OF DESIRE (The Old Globe in San Diego) by Milo Shapiro

AS IF TELENOVELAS WEREN'T MELODRAMATIC ENOUGH FOR YA'… As someone who blew off after-school activities because he just couldn't miss General Hospital (in the grand days of Luke and Laura v…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 07:32PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Theater Review: XANADU (San Diego Musical Theatre) by Milo Shapiro

XANA-DOOZY OF A MUSICAL Playwrights of musicals have frequently, with varying degrees of success, taken a successful non-musical movie and worked it into a staged musical. Billy Elliott, Wai…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 02:59AM[SHARE]

Theater Review: THE CHRONICLES OF KALKI (Moxie Theatre in San Diego) by Milo Shapiro

VISHNU WERE HERE First, a little history lesson:  In the Hindu religion, the god Vishnu incarnated ten times as different "avatara," which can be interpreted different ways, including "de…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 02:50AM[SHARE]
Monday, April 17, 2023

Theater Review: PRESENT LAUGHTER (Cygnet Theatre in San Diego) by Milo Shapiro

VISITING THE PAST FOR PRESENT LAUGHTER If you're looking to expose yourself to the plays of Noël Coward, this is where to start. Not only did he write Present Laughter (in six days!) to a…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 12:17AM[SHARE]
Monday, March 27, 2023

Theater Review: Rock of Ages (Wildsong Productions in Ocean Beach, San Diego) by Milo Shapiro

WE BUILT THIS SILLY ON ROCK AND ROLL Most musicals start with a premise, develop a plot, and then write songs to fit the themes. Rock of Ages flips the process by starting with class rock so…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 03:02AM[SHARE]
Sunday, March 19, 2023

Theater Review: THE CHERRY ORCHARD (North Coast Rep in Solana Beach/San Diego) by Milo Shapiro

LIFE AIN'T JUST A BOWL OF CHERRIES IN 1903 RUSSIA Written and set in 1903 Russia, Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard would be the master playwright's final creation. Unless one already has k…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 04:32PM[SHARE]
Friday, February 10, 2023

Theater Review: BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA (Moxie Theatre in San Diego) by Milo Shapiro

ANOTHER FEATHER IN MOXIE'S CAP Playwright Anna Ouyang Moench uses the setting of a wooded area " beautifully designed at MOXIE Theatre by Robin Sanford Roberts " as the backdrop of this beau…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 06:04PM[SHARE]
Sunday, February 5, 2023

Theater Review: EL HURACÁN (Cygnet in San Diego) by Milo Shapiro

A STORM IS BREWING IN THIS FAMILY Perhaps the two most chilling words that can be uttered in a family are "Alzheimer's" and "dementia."  Physical pain, as horrible as it may be, is someth…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 09:03PM[SHARE]
Sunday, January 29, 2023

Theater Review: BLUES IN THE NIGHT (North Coast Rep in Solana Beach / San Diego) by Milo Shapiro

NO ONE'S WEEPING ABOUT THESE GREAT BLUES Everything comes out in blues music: joy , pain , struggle. Blues is affirmation with absolute elegance. " Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis The blues is a s…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 04:30AM[SHARE]
Saturday, January 28, 2023

Theater Review: THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE (Wildsong at OB Playhouse) by Milo Shapiro

SPELL "DELIGHTFUL" "D-E-L-I-G-H-T-F-U-L" " DELIGHTFUL! OB Playhouse used to do all of their own productions, but nowadays it is primarily a rental space.  When I saw that The 25th Annual …

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 09:36PM[SHARE]
Sunday, December 11, 2022

Theater Review: 2 PIANOS, 4 HANDS (North Coast Rep in Solano Beach) by Milo Shapiro

2 PIANOS + 4 HANDS = 194 HAPPY ATTENDEES Around twenty years ago, piano bars started featuring "dueling pianists," who would go back and forth, taking turns playing pop songs and, occasio…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 04:24PM[SHARE]
Sunday, December 4, 2022

Theater Review: Big Fish (Coronado Playhouse in San Diego) by Milo Shapiro

REELING IN A SWEETLY SUNG FAIRY TALE Some theater should cause you to think deeply, stir your motivations, and cause you to be a better person for the ride you were on. And some theater is j…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 02:03AM[SHARE]
Friday, November 18, 2022

Theater Review: THE CHILDREN (Moxie Theatre in San Diego) by Milo Shapiro

THE CHILDREN IS NOT CHILD'S PLAY One of the challenges of reviewing theater is figuring out how much to divulge without giving away what the playwright wants to let unfold. The Children is o…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 03:07AM[SHARE]
Thursday, November 3, 2022

Opera Review: EL ÚLTIMO SUEÑO DE FRIDA Y DIEGO (San Diego Opera at the Civic Theatre) by Milo Shapiro

DAY OF THE DEAD, WITH A TOUCH OF KAHLO'S HUMOR If you think this is going to be the story of Frida Kahlo's life set to operatic music, you've got another think coming. Conversely, if you mig…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 04:20PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Theater Review: INTO THE BREECHES (North Coast Rep in Solana Beach) by Milo Shapiro

WOMEN IN PANTS? WHERE WILL IT ALL END? It's 1942 and most of the men in Rhode Island are off to war. As such, most theatres, especially those who focus on the heavily male casts of Shakespea…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 02:23AM[SHARE]
Thursday, October 20, 2022

Theater Review: BASKERVILLE (Lambs Players in Coronado) by Milo Shapiro

WHEN SHERLOCK ISN'T A SURE LOCK Arguably Arthur Conan Doyle's most successful Sherlock Holmes mystery The Hounds of the Baskervilles was actually first run as a serial from 1901-1902. It dre…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 07:19PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Theater Review: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (San Diego Musical Theatre in Kearny Mesa) by Milo Shapiro

PLANT YOURSELF AT SDMT Let's start with the fact that it's a show about a plant that craves human blood. Oh, and there's this nerdy botanist Seymour who raises him, whom the plant intimidate…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 02:59AM[SHARE]
Sunday, September 18, 2022

San Diego Theater Review: ASSASSINS (Wildsong Productions in Ocean Beach) by Milo Shapiro

A MUSICAL ABOUT PRESIDENTIAL ASSASSINS & ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS? WELL, SHOOT! At the very least, you have to give credit for anyone coming up with this bizarre idea: A musical about the …

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 03:57PM[SHARE]
Sunday, September 11, 2022

Theater Review: ANNABELLA IN JULY (North Coast Repertory in San Diego) by Milo Shapiro

SKI RESORT SKETCH SKILLFULLY SKIPS ALONG AND SKYROCKETS INTO OUR HEARTS Saturday Night Live has been notorious over the years for coming up with some bits that are funny enough to fill an en…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 08:11PM[SHARE]
Sunday, August 14, 2022

Theater Review: CABARET (Cygnet Theatre Company in San Diego) by Milo Shapiro

COME SEE THIS CABARET, MY FRIEND One of the wonderful things about period pieces, including musicals, is that they rarely feel dated because the book writer (Joe Masteroff, in this case) sta…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 02:24PM[SHARE]

All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off