‘Noises Off’ Broadway Review: Does Andrea Martin Lead a Laugh Riot or Smile Contest?
Return visitors to Michael Frayn’s three-act comedy may find watching its play within a play too much of a bad thing
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TheWrap Picks 10 Best and Worst in Theater 2015
TheWrap Rewind 2015: From “Hamilton” to “The King and I,” critic Robert Hofler looks backs at the highlights and lowlights of theater on and off Broadway
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‘These Paper Bullets!’ Theater Review: Billie Joe Armstrong Combines the Beatles and the Bard
There isn’t enough of Armstrong’s music and there’s way too much of Rolin Jones’ book, which achieves the uneasy feat of being both amateur and frenetic
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‘The Color Purple’ Broadway Review: Jennifer Hudson, Cynthia Erivo Lead Sexy Revival
Under John Doyle’s inspired direction, sex emerges as a major ingredient in this very adult musical, whether it’s sex to make love, to abuse someone, or just to have fun
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‘Lazarus’ Theater Review: David Bowie Revisits ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’
“Dexter” star Michael C. Hall plays the alien who wants to travel back to outer space, but this time it’s more a trip to our common inner space
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‘School of Rock’ Broadway Review: Julian Fellowes, Andrew Lloyd Webber Try to Rock
In a rock musical based on the 2003 American movie, you exit humming Mozart — yes, Mozart
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‘China Doll’ Broadway Review: Al Pacino, David Mamet Play With Politics and Greed
Pacino never hides his technique, which is what makes him so entertaining to watch. Here, he brings out his entire arsenal of shtick
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‘Invisible Thread’ Theater Review: Musical’s Uganda Is Far From ‘Book of Mormon’
Director Diane Paulus eschews the pyrotechnics of her recent Broadway outings to embrace a minimalist approach that suits this autobiographical musical to perfection
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‘Important Hats of the Twentieth Century’ Theater Review: Camp Meets High Fashion
“Orange Is the New Black” writer-producer Nick Jones has fashioned a hilarious, always hallucinatory new Off Broadway comedy about a time-traveling clothing designer
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‘Steve’ Theater Review: Same-Sex Marriage Can Be Anything But Gay
Mark Gerrard borrows from the Terrence McNally school of insult humor, with Kristin Chenoweth and Audra McDonald being trashed in jokes that don’t land
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‘Incident at Vichy’ Theater Review: Arthur Miller Rarity Looks Back at WWII France
The playwright is at his best with the back and forth on whether the Nazis have no table manners or are the best audiences for music in the world
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‘Misery’ Broadway Review: Bruce Willis, Laurie Metcalf Play Crazy Cat and Injured Mouse
Willis gives a credible performance, but as a stage actor he doesn’t show much invention or variety
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‘A View From the Bridge’ Broadway Review: Ivo van Hove Strips Arthur Miller to the Bare Bone
Mark Strong, in a powerful performance, turns Eddie Carbone’s tragedy into an utter inability and unwillingness to understand his own motives
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‘Dada Woof Papa Hot’ Theater Review: John Benjamin Hickey Grapples With New Kind of Marriage
Peter Parnell has a real ear for mixing up the new gay (family values) with the old gay (great, uninhibited sex), and having his lead character torn between the two
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‘Lost Girls’ Theater Review: Piper Perabo Is Mad as Hell at Men and Everybody Else
The men in John Pollono’s new play are so verbally battered by women they could qualify for FEMA
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‘Allegiance’ Broadway Review: George Takei Looks Back at World War II
Rather than focusing on the injustices suffered by Japanese Americans, this new musical finds its voice in the characters’ varied responses to discrimination
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‘On Your Feet!’ Broadway Review: Emilio and Gloria Estefan Pay Tribute to Their Own Success
As self-promoting hagiographies go, this new jukebox musical makes “Trump: The Art of the Deal” look modest
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‘King Charles III’ Broadway Review: Princess Di’s a Ghost and Kate’s a Real Witch
Mike Bartlett’s new play about the royal family has a smarmy appeal for theatergoers who’ve never read People magazine
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‘Therese Raquin’ Broadway Review: Keira Knightley Gets Caught Between Tragedy and Grand Guignol in Debut
Not everything goes wrong. As Therese’s lover, Matt Ryan is appropriately studly and manages to produce few laughs despite being stuck with clunky lines
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‘Sylvia’ Broadway Review: Matthew Broderick Must Choose Between Smart Wife or Sexy Talking Pooch
Broderick talks to his dog and his dog talks back to him in revival of 1995 comedy that first starred Sarah Jessica Parker
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‘The Humans’ Theater Review: Send in the Monsters. Don’t Bother They’re Here
Money doesn’t sound as scary as zombies, but the suspense in Stephen Karam’s new play builds right up to the moment that the lights go out
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‘Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King’ Theater Review: ‘Daily Show’ Star Skips Snark in Benign Comedy
Neither raunchy nor political, this one-man show is the Indian-American Muslim’s answer to Billy Crystal’s “700 Sundays”
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‘Dames at Sea’ Broadway Review: A Spoof of Classic Hollywood Musicals That’s More Numbing Than Fun
Director-choreographer Randy Skinner struggles to inject life into his revival of a nearly 50-year-old musical oddity
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‘First Daughter Suite’ Theater Review: Democrats Will Love It, Nancy Reagan Might Want to Sue
The Public Theater follows its “Hamilton” success with another look at American politics. But here it’s the women who count, from Pat Nixon to Laura Bush
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‘Ripcord’ Theater Review: Felix and Oscar Reborn as Older Women
Playwright David Lindsay-Abaire and director David Hyde-Pierce deliver a new odd couple, played by Marylouise Burke and Holland Taylor
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‘The Gin Game’ Broadway Review: James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson Play to Win
Two veteran stars make old age look easy, even in the relic that is D. L. Coburn’s Pulitzer-winning play
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‘Eclipsed’ Theater Review: Lupita Nyong’o Shines in Drama by ‘The Walking Dead’ Star Danai Gurira
Oscar winner impresses not only with her monologues of despair but with those moments of extended silence and joy in actor-playwright Gurira’s new work
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‘Clever Little Lies’ Theater Review: Is Marlo Thomas Really Telling the Awful Truth?
After the raunchiness of “Hand to God” and “Barbecue,” a new comedy about marital infidelity qualifies as simply good, clean fun
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‘Barbecue’ Theater Review: The Intervention Will Be Televised
In his wickedly funny new Off Broadway comedy, playwright Robert O’Hara believes that movie stars and memoirists are a match made in the ninth circle of publicity
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‘Fool for Love’ Broadway Review: Sam Shepard Separates the Men From the Guys
But whether it’s Sam Rockwell or Tom Pelphrey, no man stands a chance with Nina Arianda on stage — she’s the first actor to feature both arms and legs akimbo
