Jeff Talbott's ‘The Submission’ at Quince Productions

Unmasking hidden prejudice

Playwright Jeff Talbott tackles a tough subject, and he should be given credit for what he was trying to say. Unfortunately, the way he said it leaves much to be desired: The Submission is not a particularly well-written play.

Gary L. Day

Apr 14, 2015 · Articles · 2 minute read

Plays are getting shorter

A lament for lost leisurely length

Norma Desmond famously said that she was still big, but it's the pictures that got small. That’s what’s been happening with theater, too.

Steve Cohen

Apr 14, 2015 · Articles · 3 minute read

Thomas Gibbons's 'Uncanny Valley' at InterAct (1st review)

The future is not us

Can billionaires buy their future — and ours? In Tom Gibbons’s new play, they’re doing it already.

Robert Zaller

Apr 12, 2015 · Articles · 5 minute read

'Sinatra: All or Nothing at All' on HBO

A man of contradictions

Frank Sinatra was born 100 years ago. HBO’s documentary reveals the flaws of this fascinating, contradictory man.

Steve Cohen

Apr 10, 2015 · Articles · 3 minute read

'Macbeth' at the Arden

'What bloody man is that?'

The Arden Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth has spectacle going for it, but pays less attention to the power couple, Macbeth and his lady, whose interaction is the center of the drama.

Robert Zaller

Apr 10, 2015 · Articles · 5 minute read

Vox Ama Deus presents Bach's Mass in B Minor

The Grand Unsurpassed J.S. Bach Variety Show and Cabaret

Valentin Radu added a touch of informality to the annual Vox Ama Deus Good Friday concert.

Tom Purdom

Apr 07, 2015 · Articles · 3 minute read

'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' at Paper Mill Playhouse

Dark Disney

Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame comes to the stage with more serious content than other Disney shows and with a superlative score by Stephen Schwartz and Alan Menken.

Steve Cohen

Apr 07, 2015 · Articles · 3 minute read

Landfill Harmonic

Turning trash into hope

The story of the Landfill Harmonic is inspiring, but the question remains — what is the true value of music in these children's lives? Playing those instruments seems to have given some of them a sense of meaning and hope. But in the long run, does that matter when their adulthood will probably include little time for practice, doomed as most of them are to lives of picking up garbage?

Maria Thompson Corley

Apr 07, 2015 · Articles · 5 minute read

'An Octoroon' and 'The Liquid Plain'

The race to write about racism

Racism in this country today and its origins in American slavery is apparently on everyone’s mind, if the theater is any reflection of the zeitgeist (and it should be).

Carol Rocamora

Apr 05, 2015 · Articles · 5 minute read

'Honeymoon in Vegas' on Broadway

Local boy makes good

Write down this prediction: South Philly’s Rob McClure will win this year’s Tony Award for best performance by a leading actor in a musical for his role in the otherwise disappointing Honeymoon in Vegas.

Steve Cohen

Apr 05, 2015 · Articles · 2 minute read