Hello theater lovers! I’m Katie, and I see a lot of theater! Currently, I’m seeing 0-2 shows a week, depending on my schedule.
Thank you to everyone who has filled out the reader survey so far! The insight has been really valuable. From that, I’m switching up the format a little bit, and let me know if you like it. Instead of having the entirety of old blurbs for shows that are still running, I’m including an abbreviated version, with a link to the first time said blurb appeared in a Theater Digest. Hopefully, this makes for an easier read, and a shorter email (thus appeasing the email servers). Also, please feel free to still fill out the (very brief) survey!
As a rule, I won't be talking about any Disney/Fox/Hulu shows. Since this newsletter is geared towards people in the entertainment industry, there's a good chance I won't like a show that you or someone you know was involved in. I'm sure that you/your friend put a lot of effort into your/their work! I've been in a few shows, I know how much work goes into putting on a show. But just as you're entitled to dislike TV shows your friends worked on, I'm allowed to dislike theater you/your friends may have worked on. I try not to be vindictive, but I also do make it clear when I don't think a show is worth the price of a ticket or the time spent watching it.
I won't be writing much/any synopsis in these blurbs, but feel free to check out other reviews for synopses! Or just check out other reviews in general! Keep theater journalism alive & well!
Worth seeing:
Six on Broadway [NY], and on the West End [London]. Read my thoughts on it here!
Mac King Comedy Magic Show at Excalibur [Vegas]. Read my thoughts on it here!
Magic Mike Live in Las Vegas and London [Vegas/London]. Read my thoughts on it here!
A Mixed Bag:
**Mercury at the Road on Magnolia [LA]. I’ve been a fan of Steve Yockey’s writing for a while; I reviewed and enjoyed Wolves at Celebration a decade ago, as well as a digital production of Reykjavík in 2021, and I love The Flight Attendant on Max, so I was excited to see this. The text takes a while to warm up; Yockey drops the audience in medias res, and it took me a few scenes to understand what was going on, how any of these scenes were related, which characters do and don’t know each other. But once I got my bearings and things leave a slightly heightened reality and enter hyperreality, I started really enjoying it. Unfortunately, I think the text was stronger than most of the performances. Yockey writes a specific kind of weirdness that might not be for everyone, but it works for me!
Closes Feb 18 at the Road in North Hollywood.
Back to the Future on the West End [London] and on Broadway [NY]. Read my thoughts on it here!
Mad Apple at New York New York [Vegas]. Read my thoughts on it here!
Hadestown on tour and on Broadway [NY]. Read my thoughts on it here!
& Juliet on Broadway [NY]. Read my thoughts on it from when I saw it in London in 2019 here!
The Play That Goes Wrong off-Broadway and on the West End [NY/London]. Read my thoughts on the 2019 tour national tour here, or my full review for Stage Raw here.
On my radar:
Kate at the Pasadena Playhouse
POTUS at the Geffen Playhouse
Kimberly Akimbo on Broadway (closes Apr 28)
Mamma Mia: The Party in London
Cabaret on the West End (and soon on Broadway)
Merrily We Roll Along on Broadway
The Motive and the Cue on the West End
Here We Are off-Broadway (closes Jan 21)
Sunset Boulevard coming soon to Broadway
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