Perry Tannenbaum

Musically and dramatically, THE OUTSIDERS plays like a top-notch chamber version of WEST SIDE STORY: less-heated animosities between the gangs, no symphonic aspirations to the music, and no hormones - none of these Greaser dudes has a girl! But when the music, the jagged choreography, and the special effects get cranked up, the fanaticism of the pre-sold audience is irresistibly contagious.

Yes, Davidson Community Players’ executive director Steve Kaliski certainly had a point this past weekend when he declared, “My kingdom for The Autumn’s Tale!” DCP had invited Shepherd Shakespeare Company, which normally performs outdoors at The Barn on Monroe Road, to perform THE WINTER’S TALE indoors at the Armour Street Theatre, out of the cold winter.

What did our critic think of THE SUNSET LIMITED at The Arts Factory?

What better way to celebrate Jane Austen's 250th anniversary than to introduce an admirable musical adaptation of her most beloved book, Pride and Prejudice? Thanks to Lindsay Warren Baker & Amanda Jacobs' AUSTEN PRIDE, we have a near-perfect celebration, beautifully balancing P&P's exquisite comedy and romance.

Lolita Chakrabarti, in her stage adaptation of LIFE OF PI seems to wish for a more delicate balance between the veracity of Pi’s two different tales of his harrowing sea adventure. Yet all the Award-winning artifices of puppetry, lighting, and projection that accompany his more fantastical version make us want to believe Pi’s unrevised story more and more.

Spoleto Festival USA's bipolar weekend of WHITE BOX and POLAR BEAR & PENGUIN was an admirable pairing for young and old -but not as grippingly theatrical as the world premiere staging of Benjamin Britten's opera, THE TURN OF THE SCREW, retelling the ghostly Henry James novella under the direction of Rodula Gaitanou

As a Yeshiva boy with Ashkenazi DNA, my reaction to PARADE may have been more visceral than that of people who dislike OUR TOWN staging, see no reason for Leo Frank's lynching to become a big musical, or simply don't have Jewish skin and blood in the game.

What did our critic think of MARY JANE at Three Bone Theatre?

Bach Akademie Charlotte brought a wondrous quintet to St. Mark's Lutheran for a rare live performance of A MUSICAL OFFERING - plus three other gems from three other composers in the court of Frederick the Great

While Marc Shaiman's score often sounds effortful in striving to make SOME LIKE IT HOT what it was in the first place—a musical with cherry-picked hits for Marilyn Monroe to sing—the book by Matthew Lopez and Amber Ruffin helps the story and its main characters diversify and evolve. Director Casey Nicholaw's high-heel tap choreography further assures high energy all evening long.

What did our critic think of & JULIET at Belk Theater?

At Belk Theater, with a house twice as large as the venues where GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY played London and Broadway, the touring musical seems more like a distant mirage than a precious rolling stone by a dream team.The Belk's wretched sound further hamstrings Conor McPherson's book and Bob Dylan's music and lyrics.

Wiancko is more about theming each of the 11 concerts in the chamber series, more about the Zen of each program. Nuttall was laid-back and West Coast in his attitude: If you want to applaud between movements, go right ahead. A couple of times, Wiancko took what seemed like a Far Eastern approach, requesting that we withhold applause between works.

What did our critic think of HADESTOWN at Belk Theater?

Pardon me a second, but I seem to be noticing stretch marks on my suspension of disbelief. Three nights before the curtain rose on the touring version of MRS. DOUBTFIRE that rolled into Belk Theater, I saw a rather fine production of Twelfth Night across town at Central Piedmont College. Since both of the brief runs include at least one matinee between now and Sunday, my experience of seeing two wives who fail to identify their true husbands can be intensified, compressed into the space eight hours, if you wish, after my relatively relaxed 75-hour exercise.

Yes, a grand opera was inserted at Belk Theater as the clock or calendar was winding down! Around the world, Callas, Nilsson, and Sutherland are among the divas who have graced the powerhouse role of TURANDOT, and Franco Zeffirelli's production at the Met is as revered for its stateliness and splendor as the Notre Dame Cathedral. Grand? Monumental.

Injecting diversity, switching genders pell-mell, and even gifting us with a gay couple, Marianne Elliott's overhaul of Stephen Sondheim's COMPANY isn't more illuminating or revelatory than the 1970 original. But the horseplay and the gay wedding-day shenanigans are wildly entertaining - and the superb score still transcends the George Furth book.

They haven't fixed the clunky storytelling or finally used actual Fanny Brice material, but FUNNY GIRL still scores big when it comes equipped with an electrifying lead and a top-notch cast.

What did our critic think of SIX THE MUSICAL at Blumenthal Performing Arts?