Tampa Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 10

BWW Review: Don't Miss the Terrific Cast in Vivid Theatre's Production of Neil Simon's BILOXI BLUES at the JCC - One Performance Remaining
by Peter Nason - November 08, 2021

A top-notch cast brings Simon's words to life!...

BWW Review: The Royal Knight Stage Company of River Ridge High School Bravely Tackles Anne Washburn's MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY
by Peter Nason - October 24, 2021

When I was visiting the Sistine Chapel several decades ago, an elderly American couple walked up to me and said, 'We don't understand any of this. Can you explain it to us?' So, I toured these two tourists, complete strangers, around Michelangelo's masterpiece, describing everything from the Creatio...

BWW Review: EVIL DEAD THE MUSICAL is a Camp-Filled Bloody Brilliant Masterpiece at StageWorks Theatre
by Drew Eberhard - October 16, 2021

Somewhere in a world on a road less traveled, between the likes of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, American Psycho, Carrie, and the more recently conceptualized Beetlejuice lies the twisted campy world in which the characters of Evil Dead the Musical reside. First performed in 2003 in Toronto, this c...

BWW Review: DR. RIDE'S AMERICAN BEACH HOUSE is an Out of This World, Feel-Good, Euphoric Knockout at Jobsite Theater
by Drew Eberhard - October 02, 2021

In 1983, Sally Ride, or as proclaimed in the play, “She should be called Dr. Ride,” an Astrophysicist became the first and youngest American woman in Space aboard the Orbiter Challenger. Liza Birkenmeier’s play is not about Sally Ride, even though her name is mentioned throughout the 85 minutes. How...

BWW Review: Playwright Natalie Symons Scores Another Winner with THE PEOPLE DOWNSTAIRS at American Stage
by Peter Nason - September 26, 2021

It has everything you want in a show: Laughter, tears, bizarre stories, memorable characters, and even a dog on the loose. Don't miss it!...

BWW Review: OPEN BY CRYSTAL SKILLMAN CAST A MAGICAL SPELL at TAMPARep
by Drew Eberhard - September 17, 2021

An empty stage is all the stands before us, at its center a girl on the floor in a daydream, or just merely sleeping. After a few brief moments of staring at her like we’ve just seen an accident that we cannot turn away from; the lights dim and she awakens. “I am here, your Magician.” A few moments ...

BWW Review: Willkommen! Bienvenue! Welcome! Come to the CABARET at the Carrollwood Players!
by Peter Nason - September 11, 2021

Anita Kollinger is a standout in a powerful show that features some interesting and questionable interpretations from director Gabe Flores....

BWW Review: RASHEEDA SPEAKING IS A POWERFUL, ANXIETY DRIVEN RESTROSPECTIVE at OFF-CENTRAL PLAYERS
by Drew Eberhard - August 30, 2021

Our central characters Ileen and Jaclyn work togther a meer desk apart in a small and conservative Medical Office in Chicago. As the story opens we find out that Ileen has recently been made office manager by Dr. Williams, and over coffee and sweet rolls they discuss the days upcomings. By a watch u...

BWW Review: Eight O'Clock Theatre Presents ONCE, a Musical So Good That You May Have to See It Twice
by Peter Nason - August 07, 2021

One of the finest community theatre shows I've ever seen....

BWW Review: Bridget Bean's Marvelous One-Woman Show, MRS. BLISS'S TITANIC ADVENTURE, Is a Must-See at the Tampa Fringe
by Peter Nason - August 01, 2021

Written and performed by Ms. Bean, it’s hilarious at times, appropriately heartbreaking at others....

BWW Review: Think Tank Theatre Presents the Teen-Created CAN(T) RELATE at the Tampa Fringe
by Peter Nason - July 31, 2021

If you are a theatre teacher, past or present, or a student who takes theatre in middle school or high school, then you need to hurry to the Tampa Fringe to watch this show....

BWW Review: DIONYSUS ON THE DOWN LOW at Outcast Theatre Collective
by Drew Eberhard - July 24, 2021

When playwright Michael Proft was introduced to the back story behind this gripping tell-all piece, he learned of a documentary entitled 'Worst Places in the World to be Gay.'...

BWW Review: Turkey Creek Collective Presents the Local Premiere of the Odd and Moving (I AM) NOBODY'S LUNCH
by Peter Nason - July 24, 2021

It's a cabaret, with songs both bouncy and torchy, but it’s more than that.  It’s like a quirky collage, a found object performance piece. And there's nothing else quite like it....

BWW Review: William Shakespeare's Delightful A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at the Carrollwood Players
by Peter Nason - July 17, 2021

Despite being severely edited, the play features a marvelous cast in what is perhaps the Bard's most beloved work....

BWW Review: Director Scott Cooper Guides Another Winner with SPC Theater Department's Production of THE WORLD GOES 'ROUND: THE MUSIC OF KANDER & EBB
by Peter Nason - July 11, 2021

It's one hell of a moving, thrilling, never-want-it-to-end evening of theatre!...

BWW Review: Don't Miss THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE Presented by the Marcia P. Hoffman School of the Arts at Ruth Eckerd Hall
by Peter Nason - July 09, 2021

A talented young cast, led by the incredible Lindsey Fabian, brings this SPELLING BEE to life!...

BWW Review: A Technically Beautiful Menagerie of Warped Perspective in THE ROSE AND THE BEAST at FreeFall Theatre
by Drew Eberhard - June 28, 2021

“She wanted them the way she needed the earth and the flowers and the sky and the sea from her tower room and food and sleep and warmth and light and nights by the fire and poetry and the stories of going out in the world and almost being destroyed by it and returning to find comfort and the real me...

BWW Review: SHOCKHEADED PETER MARVELS IN THE STRANGE AND WEIRD WITH JOBSITE THEATER at Straz Center For Performing Arts
by Drew Eberhard - June 21, 2021

“WHAT BECOMES OF A CHILD THAT STARVED FOR AFFECTION?” -M.C. IN SHOCKHEADED PETER “YOU’VE GOT TO BE CRUEL TO BE KIND, IN THE RIGHT MEASURE. CRUEL TO BE KIND, IT’S A VERY GOOD SIGN....” -NICK LOWE FROM “JESUS OF COOL” ALBUM (1978). Once every so often audiences of a theatre...

BWW Review: Vivid Theatre Productions Presents Arthur Miller's ALL MY SONS at the JCC
by Peter Nason - June 20, 2021

The acting is all over the place, hit and miss, in this production of an American classic....

BWW Review: You've Never Seen Anything Like Jobsite Theater's SHOCKHEADED PETER
by Peter Nason - June 12, 2021

Based on a notoriously deranged German children's book, it's a theatrical marvel...but will audiences get it?...

BWW Review: A SOBERING BUT JOYOUS EVERY BRILLIANT THING BRINGS TO LIGHT REVELATIONS DEEPLY ROOTED IN HARD LESSONS at TAMPAREP
by Drew Eberhard - June 07, 2021

“Things get better. They may not always get brilliant, but they get better.” -Narrator, Every Brilliant Thing In its first Live-Audience mounting since the novel-Coronavirus Pandemic shut down the world as we know it, TampaRep has chosen a marvel of a production. In doing so invited audie...

BWW Review: Pastelitos, Family Values, and Tough Lessons Delivered in Abundance With THE LADY FROM HAVANA at Stageworks Theatre
by Drew Eberhard - June 05, 2021

Like the classic movies and tv shows of yesteryear, every once in awhile something comes along that takes you down memory lane and allows you for even just a fleeting moment to live outside of your present tense. Like a warm blanket just out of the dryer the memories envelop themselves around you an...

BWW Review: GODSPELL is a Timeless Tale With Unique Staging, and Full of Music to Set Your Soul on Fire at Eight O'Clock Theatre
by Drew Eberhard - May 22, 2021

Every so often we in the Theatre-going community find a show or two that “makes its rounds” so to speak within the area. Godspell happens to be one of those shows. Having been done numerous times, a show that could be considered timeless, can also pose the question, “how are they going to make it st...

BWW Review: SNOOPY: THE MUSICAL is a Delightful Trip Down Memory Lane With an Extremely Talented Cast at ThinkTankYAE
by Drew Eberhard - May 15, 2021

Familiar faces, familiar characters, and a familiar red dog house with a delightful white beagle and a fleeting yellow bird make up the musical sequel to the ever so popular You’re a Good Man Charley Brown. This time the tables are turned on Charley Brown and the gang and we hear the story of Snoopy...

BWW Review: ​​​​​​​Jobsite Theater Conquers Shakespeare's Dive Unto The Breach With A Modern Telling Of HENRY V at Straz Center
by Drew Eberhard - April 08, 2021

Jobsite the Independent In-Resident Theatre Company of the Straz Center as by annual tradition brought Shakespeare to Tampa Bay once again with the first of Shakespeare’s History offerings to be staged locally. For me, Jobsite is the “Cream of the Crop” when it comes to presenting Shakespeare’s work...