Tampa Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 9

BWW Review: Breathing Fresh Air Into a Cult Classic with LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS at Straz Center
by Drew Eberhard - April 09, 2022

Little Shop of Horrors is a horror comedy rock musical with somewhat of a cult following much like Hedwig & the Angry Inch, and Rocky Horror Show. Read our critic's review. ...

BWW Review: Ken Ludwig's MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS at Stageworks Theatre
by Drew Eberhard - April 03, 2022

Murder on the Orient Express a stage adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel was written and adapted by Ken Ludwig and premiered in New Jersey in 2017. Based on the Christie novel that was first published in the United States in February 1934, and originally published under the name Murder on the Ca...

BWW Review: LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR AND GRILL at FreeFall Theatre
by Drew Eberhard - April 01, 2022

Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill is a play with music written by Lanie Robertson and this production is directed by Wren T. Brown. The musical premiered in 1986 in Atlanta, Georgia and its story recounts some events of Billie Holiday’s life leading up to this performance at Emerson’s four months ...

BWW Review: TITANIC THE MUSICAL at Carrollwood Cultural Center
by Deborah Bostock-Kelley - March 25, 2022

Though the play was performed on stage to a live audience, the Center also made it possible to enjoy the musical live-streamed from the comfort of our homes. Images of the ship and the sounds of clanging bells, water, and seagulls prepared us for the coming story. Every actor in the show played a ...

BWW Review: DISNEY'S FROZEN CASTS A MAGICAL SPELL at Straz Center For The Performing Arts
by Drew Eberhard - March 25, 2022

For Thursday evening’s performance of Frozen the Musical the crowd was buzzing, little girls and women of all ages appeared in Elsa and Anna dresses, and some were carrying Olafs by their side in anticipation of a magical trip to the fictional Arendelle. Like many of us immersed in pop culture and e...

BWW Review: TITANIC THE MUSICAL Gets its Maiden Voyage at Carollwood Cultural Center
by Drew Eberhard - March 19, 2022

Titanic the Musical opened on Broadway in April of 1997. The musical tells the story of the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic, or what would soon be aptly named “The Unsinkable Ship.” However, as history tells us the ship sank on its maiden voyage on April 15, 1912. The 1997 Broadway production won f...

BWW Review: BREADCRUMBS at Straz Center
by Drew Eberhard - March 15, 2022

Jennifer Haley’s haunting and sensitively-driven script dive deep into the middle of the human experience as it examines it from one of the hardest perspectives, dealing with a crippling disease. Some diseases render a person defenseless in body and in mind, but then there are diseases such as Demen...

BWW Review: THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME at Skycrest United Methodist Church
by Drew Eberhard - March 12, 2022

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a musical inspired by the Victor Hugo novel of 1831, with music primarily featured in the 1996 Disney film adaptation. With music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, and book by James Lapine and Peter Parnell The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 2.5 hour deep dive ...

BWW Review: Hey, Big Spender...Spend a Little Time with Eight O'Clock Theatre's Splendid SWEET CHARITY
by Peter Nason - March 05, 2022

Take a dive and swim to Fosse Land!...

BWW Review: A CLOCKWORK ORANGE Takes Center Stage at Jobsite Theater
by Drew Eberhard - March 04, 2022

In 1962 English author Anthony Burgess published the Dystopian-Black Comedy novel entitled A Clockwork Orange. The novel itself was partially written in a Russian-influence argot called “Nadsat” which in a Russian suffix took on its namesake for the equivalent of “TEEN” in English. In 2005 the novel...

BWW Review: THE PROM Sparkles and Shines at Straz Center For Performing Arts
by Drew Eberhard - February 16, 2022

The Prom a new musical with music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin, and a book by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin is based on an original concept by Jack Viertel. Directed and Choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, this explosive new musical took the stage by storm Tuesday night at the Straz Center,...

BWW Review: The Brilliant GILES DAVIES Will Take Your Breath Away in Ronan Noone's THE SMUGGLER at Urbanite Theatre
by Peter Nason - February 13, 2022

Davies is animated, charismatic, and a force of nature that keeps you on the edge of your seat with Noone's ultra-clever script....

BWW Review: A Classic, Timeless Tale Still Proves as Relevant as Ever with THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK
by Drew Eberhard - February 12, 2022

We all know the story, have studied it in High School English, and for some even had the experience of visiting the Annex itself in Amsterdam. For Anne Frank and her family, the time spent in the “Annex” in hiding goes down in history as a timeless story that is still being told and is still as rele...

BWW Review: LOLHS Turns Lemons Into Lemonade with Their Marvelously Morbid Production of THE ADDAMS FAMILY: THE MUSICAL
by Peter Nason - February 12, 2022

Jonathan Garcia and Mckenna Knouse are standouts in a talented cast that brings this joyfully macabre show to life....

BWW Review: I LOVE TO EAT IS A FEAST OF GRANDEUR at FreeFall Theatre
by Drew Eberhard - February 10, 2022

In 1946 before Julia Child rose to fame James Andrew Beard became the first “celebrity” cook with the premiere of his NBC cooking show, “I Love to Eat.” Television sets were still black and white back then and there may have been 1000 sets total in all of Metropolitan New York, but between Howdy...

BWW Review: Yasmina Reza's Winning ART at the Carrollwood Cultural Center
by Peter Nason - February 06, 2022

Director Derek Baxter leads three terrific actors--Jeremiah Murzinsky, David the Day, and Steven C. Fox--in this acerbically hilarious show....

BWW Review: Tampa Repertory Theatre's Production of Perhaps William Shakespeare's Greatest Tragedy: KING LEAR
by Peter Nason - February 05, 2022

Dedicated to the late C. David Frankel, this is the first KING LEAR produced locally in almost 30 years....

BWW Review: ANTIONETTE NWANDU'S PASSOVER STRIKES A POWERFUL CHORD at OUTCAST THEATRE COLLECTIVE
by Drew Eberhard - February 05, 2022

Kitch and Moses sit on the corner of a nondescript street, underneath a streetlight adorned with an old tire and over-turned shopping cart. “The Block” is what they call this specific corner. No city has been identified, but we know the time is now, but also 1855, but also 13th Century BCE. Like I s...

BWW Review: DEAR EVAN HANSEN RETURNS REFRESHED, RENEWED AND BETTER THAN EVER! at Straz Center For Performing Arts
by Drew Eberhard - February 03, 2022

Almost exactly two years since Dear Evan Hansen first stepped onto the Straz Center stage and into our hearts, the show that has left a mark on everyone that has seen it, or heard the soundtrack is back under the lights of Carol Morsani Hall. It’s hard to imagine two years, and yet here we are. It f...

BWW Review: BOASTING A BOLD AND DIVERSE CAST JOBSITE TACKLES SHAKESPEARE'S MOST “FAMOUS PLAY” WITH ROMEO & JULIET at JOBSITE THEATER
by Drew Eberhard - January 21, 2022

The year 1985, the setting Fair Verona where we lay our scene. Over the years Romeo & Juliet has been translated, interpreted and conceived in many different forms and fashion. Outside of literature none more so than that of film and stage. Diverting back to literature briefly, Romeo & Juliet was f...

BWW Review: SUMMER: THE DONNA SUMMER MUSICAL DAZZLES AND SPARKLES at Straz Center For Performing Arts
by Drew Eberhard - January 12, 2022

Over the past several years, one thing is for certain Broadway audiences and Regional audiences alike come out in droves to witness, experience, dance, and sing along with well known songs that have defined music across many generations. With shows like Ain’t too Proud: Life and Times of the Temptat...

BWW Review: 12 Reasons Why You Should See Stageworks' Explosive Production of 12 ANGRY MEN
by Peter Nason - January 08, 2022

A stellar cast led by Ned Averill-Snell and Jim Wicker bring Reginald Rose's iconic drama to life....

BWW Review: Some of the Most Memorable Moments & Local Performances of the Year
by Peter Nason - December 30, 2021

These are the things that helped get us through a tough year....

BWW Review: Will the Asolo Rep's HAIR, set during the Age of Aquarius, Succeed in the Age of Covid?
by Peter Nason - December 19, 2021

Although edited heavily for brevity, it's like a giant kaleidoscopic jigsaw puzzle that comes to life before our eyes....

BWW Review: Larry Kramer's Powerful THE NORMAL HEART Is an Emotional Punch in the Gut at the Carrollwood Players
by Peter Nason - November 14, 2021

Certainly the most powerful show I've seen at the Carrollwood Players....