Sacramento Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 7

BWW Review: A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER Slays Audiences at the 10th Annual Davis Shakespeare Festival
by Courtney Symes - July 02, 2019

Move over, Sweeney Todd. There's a new serial killer in town by the name of Monty Navarro. Yet, you need not fear if you aren't a D'Ysquith (yes, that's pronounced die-squith). A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder is based on the 1907 novel Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal by Roy Horni...

BWW Review: We Cain't Say No to OKLAHOMA! at Broadway At Music Circus
by Courtney Symes - June 26, 2019

Oklahoma!, Rodgers and Hammerstein's first collaboration, is a cornerstone of American theatre. According to The New York Times, it 'changed the course of the Broadway musical.' Groundbreaking in its day of conception, it continues to resonate with audiences of all ages for its timeless music, stron...

BWW Review: Transcendence Theatre Presents 'Sensational' Inaugural Production of A CHORUS LINE
by Christina Mancuso - June 25, 2019

After eight seasons of presenting phonenomal musical revues in its award-winning 'Broadway Under the Stars' performances, the Transcendence Theatre seamlessly transcends into its inaugural full Broadway production of the mega-hit musical, A CHORUS LINE. A...

BWW Review: SHREK Kicks Off The 69th Season of Broadway At Music Circus
by Courtney Symes - June 12, 2019

As parents, we try to instill in our children the idea that it is what's inside a person that counts. Shrek the Musical is certainly an apropos vessel in which to deliver this message when its green, bulbous-nosed, full-of-gas star is a sensitive and clever romantic wrapped up in a gloriously hideou...

BWW Review: ALADDIN Brings a Whole New World to Broadway Sacramento
by Courtney Symes - May 19, 2019

According to Genie, 'Agrabah has more glitz and glamour than any other fictional city in the world.' He's not lying. Aladdin is a veritable dreamscape of color, light, and shimmering costumes. The animated movie has been brought to life on the stage by six-time Tony-winning lighting designer Natasha...

BWW Review: DISASTER! Shakes Up the Sacramento Theatre Company
by Courtney Symes - April 23, 2019

Sacramento Theatre Company is ending their 74th season of Love, Loss, & Laughter with an homage to the popular 'disaster' movies of the '70s. Disaster! follows closely along the lines of The Poseidon Adventure, with some Jaws and The Towering Inferno sprinkled in. After enjoying two runs Off-Broadwa...

BWW Review: THE LIGHTNING THIEF: THE PERCY JACKSON MUSICAL Electrifies Broadway Sacramento in its California Debut
by Courtney Symes - April 19, 2019

Percy Jackson has come to life! Our favorite demigod from the best-selling Rick Riordan series hits the stage in Sacramento for his California premiere. The Lightning Thief was nominated for 3 Drama Desk Awards during its critically acclaimed New York run, including Outstanding Musical. It comes to ...

BWW Review: RANKED, A NEW MUSICAL, Premieres at the Theatre At Granite Bay
by Courtney Symes - April 08, 2019

David Taylor-Gomes and Kyle Holmes have done it again. After collaborating on their 2017 musical comedy, Boxed Up: The Musical, they have joined forces at Granite Bay High School to present to you another original work. This time, in a shockingly serendipitous twist, Ranked, A New Musical debuted ju...

BWW Review: Those Mischievous CATS Land on Their Feet at Broadway Sacramento
by Courtney Symes - April 04, 2019

CATS, the fourth longest-running show in Broadway history, has arrived in Sacramento on its fresh, new national tour. When it first opened on Broadway in 1982, it won 7 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score. Now it features exciting, updated choreograph...

BWW Review: WHEN WE WERE COLORED Premieres at Sacramento Theatre Company
by Courtney Symes - March 25, 2019

On the heels of Black History Month comes When We Were Colored: A Mother's Story, a play by Sacramento's own Ginger Rutland that is adapted from a memoir that her mother, Eva Rutland, wrote. The memoir was originally titled 'The Trouble With Being a Mama' and was first published in 1964. It highligh...

BWW Review: CHEATERS Explores the Intricacies of Intimacy at the Ooley Theatre
by Courtney Symes - March 19, 2019

'Oh! What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!' Sir Walter Scott said it best, 170 years before Michael Jacobs' Cheaters was first produced on Broadway in 1978. Cheaters is an amusing look at three couples whose lives intertwine in the most awkward and unbelievable way. EMH Pro...

BWW Review: Broadway Sacramento Welcomes FALSETTOS
by Courtney Symes - March 15, 2019

William Finn and James Lapine's Tony-nominated revival of Falsettos has embarked on its national tour and will be in Sacramento through March 17. It originally premiered on Broadway in 1992 and won Tonys for Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score. This tour of the revival boasts a cast of ac...

BWW Review: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM Brings Magic to Sacramento Theatre Company
by Courtney Symes - February 25, 2019

A Midsummer Night's Dream, one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies, brings to us a night of frivolity and fun peppered with love. A favorite subject of the Bard, this work explores the staying power of true love and the measures that we will take to ensure that it happens. Although it is believed...

BWW Review: STOMP Storms into Broadway Sacramento
by Courtney Symes - February 03, 2019

Boom! Swish. Crash! The percussive phenomenon that is Stomp has arrived in Sacramento, fittingly, in the arms of a storm. The explosive energy has been riveting audiences since its inception in 1991. Stomp currently has four productions running concurrently: the ongoing show at the Orpheum Theatre i...

BWW Review: MURDER FOR TWO Kicks Off the New Year With a Bang at Sacramento Theatre Company
by Courtney Symes - January 14, 2019

Mix Vaudeville, Agatha Christie, and the board game Clue, and you come up with the hilariously clever Murder For Two. Written by award-winning duo Joe Kinosian and Kellen Blair, this show highlights just two actors who play ALL of the parts-10, to be exact. 90 minutes of zany comedy come to the shoc...

BWW Review: WAITRESS Serves Up a Delicious Treat at Broadway Sacramento
by Courtney Symes - December 28, 2018

Waitress has finally made its way to Sacramento, bringing with it all the ingredients a pie should have-sugar, spice, fluff and substance-blended perfectly in a feel-good, empowering show. Nominated for 4 Tony Awards, Waitress is groundbreaking for boasting an all-female creative team: music and lyr...

BWW Review: A CHRISTMAS CAROL Kicks Off the Holiday Season at Sacramento Theatre Company
by Courtney Symes - December 05, 2018

The holiday season is a time when we all reflect upon the past year. The good, the bad, and everything in between comes up for dissection as we are influenced to improve in the new year. No tale conveys this idea more clearly than Charles Dickens' classic, A Christmas Carol. Sacramento Theatre Compa...

BWW Review: STEEL MAGNOLIAS Brings Laughter Through Tears at Sacramento Theatre Company
by Courtney Symes - November 06, 2018

We hear a lot about women tearing each other down-working mom vs. stay-at-home mom, breastfeeding vs. bottle-feeding, the way other women dress or style their hair. Steel Magnolias is a lesson in the opposite-the power of positive female relationships. A celebration of strong women and set in a beau...

BWW Review: The Rhythm is Gonna Get You ON YOUR FEET! at Broadway Sacramento
by Courtney Symes - October 31, 2018

In a time of national uncertainty and division, it is refreshing to witness a story of what America means to me-unlimited possibilities for everyone, regardless of race, gender, or creed. It used to be known as a land of refuge and hope, and the rags-to-riches story of Cuban immigrants Gloria and Em...

BWW Review: THE CRUCIBLE Opens the New Season of Love, Loss, and Laughter at Sacramento Theatre Company
by Courtney Symes - October 02, 2018

The world in 1692 and the world today are, unfortunately, not entirely different. Some things have improved, certainly (modern plumbing, anyone?), but as Arthur Miller illustrated in his timeless piece, The Crucible, a witch hunt can happen anytime and anywhere. Miller cleverly used the Salem Witch ...

BWW Review: Davis Shakespeare Festival Closes Out Its 9th Season With AS YOU LIKE IT
by Courtney Symes - September 26, 2018

The Davis Shakespeare Festival is wrapping up its 9th season with the comedy As You Like It. It is one of Shakespeare's audience-pleasers and, interestingly, has the most songs in it of any Shakespeare play. The entire show is infused with pastoral music that has been modernized to a folk rock style...

BWW Review: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS Brings a Big Appetite to Broadway At Music Circus
by Courtney Symes - August 22, 2018

What do a sadistic dentist, a floral shop owner, a meek plant-lover, and a girl with low self-esteem all have in common? Find out when you see the Music Circus premiere of Little Shop of Horrors at Broadway at Music Circus! Based on the 1966 cult-classic film of the same name, the musical features a...

BWW Review: MAMMA MIA Dances Into Broadway At Music Circus
by Courtney Symes - August 08, 2018

A glorious two hours to lose yourself and revert to your carefree younger years-that is what Mamma Mia delivers with gusto. It's a sublime soundtrack of the 70's, complete with platform heels and free love. Comprised entirely of songs from the Swedish pop group, ABBA, Mamma Mia transports you from s...

BWW Review: Let GYPSY Entertain You at Broadway At Music Circus
by Courtney Symes - July 26, 2018

How far would you go to ensure your child's success? That's the question at the center of this classic 1959 show, which was nominated for 8 Tony Awards. It is based on the 1957 memoir of American burlesque star, Gypsy Rose Lee. The musical focuses on Gypsy's overbearing mother, Mama Rose, and the jo...

BWW Review: NEWSIES Delivers at Broadway At Music Circus
by Courtney Symes - July 11, 2018

You would never guess it, but Newsies was originally a flop when it came out as a Disney movie in 1992. It gained credibility and a cult following after being released to home video. The stage musical came several years later and opened on Broadway in 2012, where it was nominated for eight Tony Awar...