Review: ANNIE at Broadway San JoseJanuary 13, 2023What did our critic Linda Hodgesthink of ANNIE at Broadway San Jose? It's a hard knock life for sure, but Broadway San Jose's ANNIE infuses even today's troubled times with unrestrained optimism. And even though the sun isn't really shining in rain ravaged Northern California, it didn't stop the carloads of boys and girls and their adults from streaming into San Jose for the show.
Review: BEETLEJUICE at Golden Gate TheatreDecember 19, 2022What did our critic think of BEETLEJUICE at Golden Gate Theatre? Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, beat a path to San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre for a night of frighteningly funny laughs about death.
Review: MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL at Orpheum TheatreSeptember 14, 2022What did our critic think of MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL at Orpheum Theatre? Sometimes a show happily checks all the boxes for a satisfying performance, but then there is that rare creature that rises above the rest to so thoroughly dazzle, delight and enchant theatergoers that it leaves an indelible imprint on their minds forever. And what is the show? Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Moulin Rouge! The Musical, a jukebox musical like no other. Prepare to be dazzled! Playing now through November 6, BroadwaySF's Moulin Rouge! The Musical will take your breath away.
Review: COME FROM AWAY at Broadway San JoseJuly 18, 2022What did our critic think of COME FROM AWAY at Broadway San Jose? Broadway San Jose's Come From Away is far and away a show of delight, laughter, pathos and altogether great story-telling. The show - with book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein - 'tells the true story of 38 planes and almost 7,000 passengers from around the world that were diverted to the small community of Gander, Newfoundland on September 11, 2001, doubling its population in an instant.' Using a documentary theater approach, Sankoff and Hein drew from interviews with the people of Gander and 'the plane people,' as they affectionately came to be called, to craft their loving, hugely funny and deeply touching show.
BWW Review: HADESTOWN Is Out-Of-This-World Spectacular at BroadwaySF's Orpheum TheatreJune 9, 2022What did our critic Linda Hodges think of HADESTOWN at Orpheum Theatre? Right now, before reading the rest of this review, go online and buy your BroadwaySF tickets for Hadestown before the show sells out. It is that good. Playing now through July 3, 2022, Hadestown is song and story woven together then ripped apart and put back together again, all conspiring to grip your heart. And grip your heart it will.
BWW Review: TOOTSIE at Broadway San JoseApril 21, 2022Tootsie made its Northern California premiere at San Jose's Center for the Performing Arts and will be there now through April 24. With a Tony-winning book by Robert Horn, and with music and lyrics by the clever David Yazbek (The Band's Visit, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) Tootsie garnered eleven Tony nominations, two wins and much acclaim, as well as pointed critique centered on transmisogyny. There are other problems as well.
BWW Review: Broadway San Jose's Limited Run of RENT is GloriousApril 9, 2022Broadway San Jose's limited run of Jonathan Larson's RENT is a glorious time of raw-energy rock, as well as a heartrending reminder to measure your life in love. Billed as the 'Farewell Tour,' supposedly being the final time the original Michael Greif staging will travel North America, the show packs up its bags after Sunday, April 10 - and you do not want to miss it.
BWW Review: HAIRSPRAY SINGS AT BROADWAY SAN JOSE at Broadway San JoseNovember 26, 2021It’s 1962 and perky, pretty and plump teen Tracy Turnblad has dance moves that will never be seen unless she can find a way to get on the local teen dance show, “The Corny Collins Show.” Niki Metcalf shines as the effervescent, strong and kind Tracy Turnblad who dares to cross boundaries (she’s often in detention for her big hair-don’t) to stay true to herself.
Playing now thru November 28th at Broadway San Jose, there’s still time to get your tickets and be carried away on dance wave of laughter and music from a phenomenal show with a stellar cast. Review by Linda Hodges
BWW Review: Mask UP! HAMILTON Lights Up the Stage as Live Theatre Returns to Broadway San JoseOctober 16, 2021Lin-Manuel Miranda’s HAMILTON triumphantly took the stage at Broadway San Jose, returning to a changed world - as the masked patrons showing proof of vaccination at the door attested to.
But more than that, in the intervening years since Miranda and his intrepid band of brothers (Alex Lacamoire, Andy Blankenbuehler and Thomas Kail) created the sound, look and feel of the nation’s origin story, the country today has undergone seismic shifts of great magnitudes.