Tampa Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 8

Review: Stephen Sondheim's INTO THE WOODS at the Marcia P. Hoffman School of the Arts at Ruth Eckerd Hall Is Filled with an Abundance of Heart and Soul
by Peter Nason - August 07, 2022

The wonderful young cast makes this show feel entirely fresh and new!...

Review: Theatre eXceptional's INTO THE NIGHT at the Tampa Fringe Will Make Your Heart Sing
by Peter Nason - August 01, 2022

A wonderful cast, led by Nicole Jeannine Smith and Ryan Prince, brings this sweet show to life, another treasure at the Fringe....

Review: NEIL SIMON'S ROSE &WALSH WILL STIR THE SOUL AND WARM THE HEART at FreeFall Theatre Company
by Drew Eberhard - August 01, 2022

As the final play written by the great Neil Simon, Rose & Walsh previously entitled Rose’s Dilemma ran in Los Angeles and Off-Broadway in 2003. Originally starring Mary Tyler Moore in early previews, Moore left the production when Simon sent a letter citing her to learn her lines. Neil Simon’s work...

Review: Spanish Lyric Theatre's Production of Lin-Manuel Miranda's IN THE HEIGHTS Roars with Energy
by Peter Nason - August 01, 2022

Doug Buffaloe, Elizabeth Sierra Cabrera and a marvelous ensemble stand out in a musical that's wonderfully alive....

Review: STRANGE GIRLS at the Tampa Fringe with Bridget Bean, Dawn Truax, Laila Lee and Madison LeVine
by Peter Nason - July 30, 2022

Some of the monologues are more gripping than others, but they are all captivating....

Review: Matthew Belopavlovich's GOING TO THE TOP at the Tampa Fringe
by Peter Nason - July 30, 2022

Based on real life events, it's a coming out story that needs to be expanded to be able to feel the full emotional weight....

Review: Taryn Lumia and Todd William Donovan Dazzle in the Tarpon Arts Production of Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
by Peter Nason - July 25, 2022

It's mostly a beauty of a production with some beastly issues that get in the way. I have seen dozens of productions of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST over the years, but rarely if ever have I seen Belle connect with the title Beast. Usually the two come across as distant cousins at best, not a romantic pairi...

Review: RAJIV JOSEPH'S ANIMALS OUT OF PAPER PROVES TO BE A MASTERCLASS FOLLOWING A 4 YEAR HIATUS at JOBSITE THEATER
by Drew Eberhard - July 16, 2022

In its complexities of storytelling, we find a narrative grounded in teacher-student relationships that surround the 100-minute One-Act currently onstage at the Shimberg Playhouse at Tampa’s Straz Center. Written by Rajiv Joseph in 2008 this one-act quirky romantic comedy packs a punch just boiling ...

Review: NUNSENSE A-MEN Proves to Be a Confession Full of Laughs, and Just What We Needed at Straz Center for The Performing Arts
by Drew Eberhard - July 15, 2022

Nunsense premiered off-Broadway in 1985 with music, lyrics, and a book by Dan Goggin. The show ran for 3,672 performances and became the second longest-running off-Broadway show in history. Nunsense was then adapted for television starring everyone’s favorite Golden Girl Rue McClanahan and has since...

Review: Amiri Baraka/Leroi Jones' DUTCHMAN Is a Powerful Punch in the Gut at American Stage
by Peter Nason - July 02, 2022

Led by a visionary, risk-taking director, Erica Sutherlin, this important work will rattle you to your core....

Review: Stephen Sondheim's SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE Thrills at the Marcia P. Hoffman School of the Arts at Ruth Eckerd Hall
by Peter Nason - July 01, 2022

What did our critic think? Chris Cavazza as George and Lindsey Fabian as Dot are stellar in this production of one of Sondheim's most uncompromising shows....

Review: Party Hearty Like It's 1985 with THE WEDDING SINGER at the Carrollwood Players
by Peter Nason - June 27, 2022

It's a feel-good retro-musical set in the era of Miami Vice jackets and Flock of Seagulls haircuts, parachute pants and Rubik's Cubes....

Review: Young Performers Shine in LES MISERABLES, SCHOOL EDITION at the Tota Music and Theatre Conservatory
by Peter Nason - June 26, 2022

A heartbreaking and potent production featuring students who prove that the future of the performing arts is in good hands!...

Review: Attend the Tale of Stephen Sondheim's Masterpiece at SPC: SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET
by Peter Nason - June 25, 2022

Director Scott Cooper has done it again with this incredible production!...

BWW Review: 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE SHINES at STAGEWORKS THEATRE
by Drew Eberhard - June 04, 2022

Every so often in our lives along comes a musical full of heart. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, is a musical comedy with Music & Lyrics by William Finn, with a book by Rachel Sheinkin. The Broadway Production opened in 2005 and was directed by James Lapine. Since its opening, many prod...

BWW Review: John Patrick Shanley's THE DREAMER EXAMINES HIS PILLOW Delivers a Captivating Blow of Reality at Tampa Rep
by Drew Eberhard - June 03, 2022

John Patrick Shanley’s The Dreamer Examines His Pillow, is a complex and intricate story that dives not only into the depths of our subconscious but boldly sits on the surface level of our emotions as well. Allowing us as the audience to not only deep dive within the minds of these characters, but i...

BWW Review: Arts in Motion Presents an Adorable SHREK THE MUSICAL at the PHSC Instructional Performing Arts Center in Wesley Chapel
by Peter Nason - May 27, 2022

Director Mitchell Gonzalez leads his young cast in bringing to life this audience favorite....

BWW Review: THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT, LEAVE YOU FEELING YOU'RE NOT ALONE WITH “A SKEPTIC and a BRUJA' at FreeFall Theatre Company
by Drew Eberhard - May 27, 2022

A Skeptic and a Bruja by Rosa Fernandez makes its world premiere with Urbanite Theatre in Sarasota, and in Cooperation with freeFall Theatre Company across the bay. The last time freeFall worked in conjuncture with another company was their collaboration with the Hippodrome and their production of ...

BWW Review: “THE RESISTIBLE RISE OF ARTURO UI” Stakes Claim to His Name at Jobsite Theater
by Drew Eberhard - May 22, 2022

The show opens with a Ghost Light center stage. As most shows of a Brechtian nature go, characters of nondescript fashion layout the evening events in the manner of Prologue. The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, or as it is subtitled “The Parable Play,” tells the story of the rise of Arturo Ui a fic...

BWW Review: Dazzling PRETTY WOMAN THE MUSICAL Stops At Straz Center For The Performing Arts
by Drew Eberhard - May 18, 2022

Anyone who has been immersed in “Pop Culture” over the last 30+ years has seen, heard, or knows every line and sequence of the 1990 Romantic Comedy Pretty Woman starring the iconic duo of Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. Read our critic's review of the new stage musical. ...

BWW Review: A Soaring, Powerful TITANIC THE MUSICAL at the Manatee Players
by Peter Nason - May 15, 2022

No matter how much you know about the Titanic disaster, the musical grounds the story, humanizes it, and you leave the theatre an emotional wreck....

BWW Review: FAMILY VALUES AND THE SUGAR RIDGE RAG at LAB Theater Project
by Drew Eberhard - May 08, 2022

The Sugar Ridge Rag, a play by Philip Middleton Williams, premiered at LAB Theater Project in Tampa’s Historic Ybor City on April 28, 2022. The story is a complex, yet simplistic study of the life of an average family in rural Ohio, and what lies at the depths of family values and the definition of ...

BWW Review: A Visually Stunning THE BAND'S VISIT Makes a Stop at Straz Center For The Performing Arts
by Drew Eberhard - May 06, 2022

'Do yourself a favor, DO NOT miss this incredibly sobering production.' says BWW's critic. ...

BWW Review: TICK,TICK...BOOM! Is as Powerful as Ever at Spanish Lyric Theatre/S.L.T. Productions
by Drew Eberhard - May 01, 2022

Over the course of the last 26 years somewhere along the line of learned history in the depths of musical theatre you have heard the name Jonathan Larson, synonymous with the 1996 Rock musical RENT that changed the face of musical theatre in its time. Boasting a rock score and groundbreaking storyli...

BWW Review: The 80s Are Back! With FOOTLOOSE THE MUSICAL at American Stage
by Drew Eberhard - April 11, 2022

Read our critic's review! Over the years and throughout the History of the stage musical, certain shows come along and start as films before moving into an adaptation for the stage. Shows such as Grease, The Bodyguard, Ghost, and more recently Moulin Rouge, Beetlejuice, and Back to the Future. One t...