LATEST REVIEWS

by Dominic Traini Last Thursday I had the pleasure of seeing Evil Dead at Haddonfield Plays and Players. I had never seen the original movie or any of its sequels or adaptations, so I was going in completely blind. All I knew was that the 1981 film was a campy cult classic and that the original Broadway production famously featured a “splash zone” for all the excessive blood. So when I walked into Haddonfield Plays and Players’ off-location home at the Deptford Community Ce

by Mike McKeon This past Saturday I had the pleasure of viewing The Memory of Water  directed by Susan Jami Paschkes  at Bridge Players Theatre Company in Historic Burlington City.  The Memory of Water is a family drama that centers on three sisters dealing with their mother's funeral. The play is structured around the emotional and often conflicting ways the sisters remember their past and navigate their grief and resentment, balancing humor and tragedy as they uncover lon

by Laura Duffy Ride the Cyclone is a 2009 musical  with lyrics and book by Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell, which has developed a cult following in recent years due to internet popularity. It follows six high school students who die in a roller coaster accident, and are left in limbo with a mysterious mechanical fortune telling machine who forces them to compete for a chance to escape the afterlife.  Barnstormers Theatre set the tone for their production with a simple but

by Aimee Renna The children’s series of Players Club of Swarthmore has brought another excellent performance together in their second stage. The production Curious George and the Golden Meatball follows our favorite little monkey as he takes his dear friend’s meatball recipe all the way to Rome for a competition. While originally he was created by Margaret and H.A. Rey in 1941, the musical was written by John Cavanaugh and the Books and Lyrics were by Jeremy Desmon.  The p

by Mike McKeon “Stick it to the man” has been melodically playing through my mind all weekend, in both the literal and metaphorical meanings, as this show hilariously drives that theme home. On Thursday evening I had the pleasure of viewing The Grand Theatre: Home of The Road Company’s musical production of School of Rock directed by Maria Panvini and musical direction by Ruslan Odintsov.   When I hear a theatre is producing School of Rock I can’t help but immediately thin

by Lori Clark Picture this: it’s opening night of Rocky Horror Show  at the Ritz Theatre, and we are at a nearby restaurant, enjoying pre-show margaritas.  I’m people watching and take notice of some fellow patrons decked out in what I initially assumed were Halloween costumes.  It was only after further inspection that it dawned on me…these people were in their Rocky Horror  finest - fishnets, glitter, sequins, hats. The WORKS! Their energy and excitement were palpable, and

by Josh Buffington South Pacific  is a 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical set during World War II on a South Pacific island. It explores themes of love, war, and racial prejudice. The story follows Nellie Forbush, a U.S. Navy nurse from Arkansas, who falls in love with Emile de Becque, a French plantation owner. Their romance is tested when Nellie discovers that Emile has mixed-race children from his late Polynesian wife, revealing her own ingrained prejudices. A parallel

by Meg Bryan “Is she kind as she is fair? For beauty lives with kindness. Love doth to her eyes repair, To help him of his blindness; And, being helped, inhabits there.” Who is Silvia? What is she: Shakespeare At its core, Sylvia  by A.R. Gurney is a story that showcases the well known relationship of man and man’s best friend, albeit in the most exaggerated sense. The show tackles love and conflict in multiple different senses as well as, sometimes quite accurately, depicti

by Stephen T. Kreal On Friday October 3 rd , I attended the opening night performance of Ghost: The Musical with a very enthusiastic...