Greg Kerestan - Page 3

The new biomusical elevates one of popular music's cult figures to the forefront with wondrous results. There's a popular witticism that the musical biopic was almost killed by Walk Hard, which skewered each and every convention of the genre so thoroughly that everything since has just seemed like a rehash of Walk Hard.

It's not every day you get to see the development of a new musical in real time, let alone one with major Broadway talent attached. I've been lucky enough to see the development of The Crinolynns, a new musical by composer Aaron Gandy and librettist/lyricist Scott Logdson, through the first stages of its development.

Pittsburgh CLO took a huge risk with this one, but the rewards are almost immeasurable. Based roughly on the first half of Tolstoy's most famous novel, Great Comet (as it is most commonly called) tells the story of a group of mid-tier Russian aristocrats passing their time in Moscow during the Napoleonic Wars.

Sondheim's backwards tragicomedy may be notoriously prickly, but Daina Michelle Griffith's production shines by emphasizing the humor over the nihilism.

The time period may be ambiguous in the classic Damon Runyon musical, but the laughs are undeniable.

The CLO production proves once and for all that this is the best musical you've never heard of.

After two pandemic years, life has returned, sometimes better than ever, at Pittsburgh's theme park staple.

The summer institution shakes up its image with a lightly sophisticated musical revue.

A heightened comic sensibility makes this old classic feel fresh to even the most cynical viewer (namely, me).

Summer isn't summer until there's a classic farce onstage at Saint Vincent.

Forty years of productions and a Disney movie have made the show cuddly, but this CLO production restores the weirdness and wackiness at the show's edges.

Almost every time you see a major production of Anything Goes, it'll vary in some way from the last one you saw. There are at least three licensable editions of the show, from as far back as the 1930s and as recent as 2022. The song stack is in perpetual flux between a long list of Cole Porter greatest hits and B-sides, and there are several characters who appear only in certain editions of the show. About a decade ago, the show underwent a reputation update from 'park and bark' diva and vaudeville standard to an all-singing-all-dancing showcase for triple-threat performers. It's a lot of wigs on a very old head, but somehow the show still works.

The summer institution's season opener effortlessly blends the two genres the venue is most famous for.

William Finn's neurotic queer musical epic isn't necessarily user-friendly, but Pittsburgh's best local playhouse still manages to find the warmth amidst the dysfunction.

Lauren Yee's time-bending new play shows the power of identity, family and a really good mixtape.

There's a reason Patinkin is a legend, and it's because he is so permanently himself and no one else.

This jukebox rocker may not be 'simply the best' in the genre, but its energy and surreal touches make it stand out from the pack.

Go see Beetlejuice. Go see Beetlejuice. Go see Beetlejuice. Okay, storytime! I have a personal connection to the Beetlejuice musical on two levels. First, when I was a senior in high school and a freshman in college, I followed Stephen Sondheim's advice on learning how to write by adapting an existing work solely for educational purposes, to learn 'how' to do it. My 'untitled unauthorized Beetlejuice musical' project was almost uniformly bad, but it taught me a lot; the two songs from it that showed any promise both wound up revised and repurposed into the musical I wrote during the pandemic. Second... I'm the guy who named the Netherlings. Yes, the devoted, rabid and sometimes frightening Beetlejuice musical fan club is named after a term I coined online. Naturally, when the tour came to town, I had to see it, and believe me: it did not disappoint.

Justin Emeka's riotous reimagining is the best Shakespeare in Pittsburgh since 'Othello' at the Public.

Pleasantly disorienting, this pseudo-docutheatre raises questions large and small.