Reviews

865 results
Page 53
A graceful, silhouetted shadow-puppet scene of a realistic squid and octopus in a sea of transparent fabric.

Cannonball Festival 2022: Jim Julien presents The Squid and the Octopus

A show more interesting than calamari

Jim Julien’s wacky and well-executed story of cephalopod friends who find themselves in a Fishtown restaurant uses puppetry, lighting, and voice to great effect. Helen Walsh reviews.
Helen Walsh

Helen Walsh

Reviews 3 minute read
5 actors, 4 in red plaid shirts, stand around a grim war-scene engraving by Otto Dix, projected on the white wall of a bar

Philly Fringe 2022: Die-Cast presents Brenna Geffers’s Baal & Dix

Some degenerates walk into a bar

Die-Cast’s Baal & Dix is everything a Fringe show is supposed to be: immersive, imaginative, a little inscrutable … and short. Jill Ivey reviews.
Jillian Ashley Blair Ivey

Jillian Ashley Blair Ivey

Reviews 2 minute read
Scene from the film. A tattooed man tenderly hugs a woman in a plaid shirt. They stand in the hallway of the family house.

Our American Family zooms in on addiction in one real-life Philly home

A brave family

Substance abuse and addiction are common topics onscreen, but a new documentary about family life while striving for sobriety is an essential and intimate look at the struggle. Stephen Silver reviews.
Stephen Silver

Stephen Silver

Reviews 5 minute read
Weinman, dressed as Child, holds a small dog in one hand and a glass of wine in the other, a person in a facemask behind her

Aurora Classical of CultureTrust Greater Philadelphia presents “Bon Appétit!” By Julia Child and Lee Hoiby (During a Pandemic!)

From screen to stage to screen

Recording a Fringe performance means you can air it again in future festivals. But as “Bon Appétit!” By Julia Child and Lee Hoiby (During a Pandemic!) shows, that’s not always a good thing. Jill Ivey reviews.
Jillian Ashley Blair Ivey

Jillian Ashley Blair Ivey

Reviews 3 minute read
Holly Romano’s ‘Noodle Art,’ a color photo that feels like a snapshot of a child’s mealtime, described in the article.

Woodmere Art Museum presents The Photo Review Best of Show

The magic of accidents

A juried selection of photographs from under-represented artists at Woodmere Art Museum champions the creativity of older, more mercurial art forms. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.

Pamela J. Forsythe

Reviews 4 minute read
View of about fifty people sitting in small rows around a campfire at night, lit by additional yellow string lights above.

Theatre with a View presents Skylar Fox and Simon Henriques’s The Grown-Ups

Back to summer camp

The Grown-Ups, a thrilling new play developed in a Brooklyn backyard during the pandemic, gets its Pennsylvania premiere at Pottstown’s Theatre with a View. Josh Herren reviews.
Josh Herren

Josh Herren

Reviews 3 minute read
Full orchestra onstage at SPAC, all in white shirts. They appear tiny, in front of hundreds of silhouetted audience members.

Following the Philadelphia Orchestra to its summer residency in Saratoga Springs, NY

It’s their orchestra, too

After a season of covering the Philadelphia Orchestra at Verizon Hall, music critic Cameron Kelsall followed it to Saratoga Springs, New York. Programs spanning Beethoven to Barber and Valerie Coleman set a high standard for summer performances.
Cameron Kelsall

Cameron Kelsall

Reviews 4 minute read
Mitchell, Benson & Byrd, in matching pink dresses, lean smiling by Xavier-Mack, spreading his arms in a silver glitter jacket

Theatre in the X presents Dreamgirls

Perfectly Philadelphia theater in the park

Theatre in the X brings its immersive, innovative take to the showbiz musical Dreamgirls at Malcolm X Park, celebrating Black artists and audiences. Josh Herren reviews.
Josh Herren

Josh Herren

Reviews 3 minute read
Norman, a young white man in striped shirt & cast on one arm, sits in profile on a bed, under a bright spotlight in the dark.

The Kimmel Cultural Campus and the Shubert Organization present the national tour of Dear Evan Hansen

Truth without consequences

Once a cultural phenomenon, Dear Evan Hansen now feels manipulative and misguided as its national tour plays Philadelphia. Cameron Kelsall reviews.
Cameron Kelsall

Cameron Kelsall

Reviews 4 minute read
Scene from the show: photo from the back of the audience shows Lexi singing joyfully in a pink dress, against a red backdrop.

Lexi Schreiber presents Fitting In: Tales of the Fat Ingénue

Bringing fat representation to the Philly stage

With her new solo show, Philly performer Lexi Schreiber asks why fat actors have to create and star in their own shows, instead of simply being cast in roles that already exist. Alaina Johns reviews.
Alaina Johns

Alaina Johns

Reviews 4 minute read