Buffalo Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations

Review: & JULIET at Shea's Buffalo Theatre
by Michael Rabice - November 20, 2024

Everything old is new again. That saucy playwright William Shakespeare continues to ignite audience's imagination, with two separate shows in Buffalo this month alone. But wait, not really his own plays, but plays based on the Bard's own writing. SOMETHING ROTTEN at Musicalfare has would be competit...

Review: WITCH at Road Less Traveled Theater
by Michael Rabice - November 18, 2024

With a penchant for the cutting edge and often obscure, Road Less Traveled Productions has programmed Jen Silverman's dark comedy WITCH in it's  regional premiere. Silverman is now represented on Broadway with the 2 person show THE ROOMMATE  with the unlikely duo of Patti LuPone and Mia Farrow.  Thi...

Review: SOMETHING ROTTEN at Musicalfare
by Michael Rabice - November 16, 2024

Something hilarious is playing out on stage of Musicalfare Theatre in their raucously funny production of SOMETHING ROTTEN. It’s a daring title that befits the silly musical that’s only purpose is to amuse....

Review: THE FITZGERALDS OF ST. PAUL at Irish Classical Theatre
by Michael Rabice - November 11, 2024

Witty, smart and heartbreaking. That about sums up the new musical THE FITZGERALDS OF ST. PAUL now playing as  a preview production at Buffalo's Irish Classical Theatre Company....

Review: 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE at 2nd Generation Theatre
by Michael Rabice - November 05, 2024

An utterly charming afternoon of fun perfectly sums up THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, now playing at Shea's Smith Theatre. Second Generation Theatre Company has a track record of presenting quality productions in this cozy theatre, and they continue to produce at a very high level...

Review: MY FAIR LADY at Shaw Festival
by Michael Rabice - October 21, 2024

MY FAIR LADY is quite obviously the most perfect choice of a musical that the SHAW FESTIVAL could program and this 2024 musical offering is a  delicious delight, sure to please. It plays through December 22, 2024 and is the perfect excuse to visit Niagara on the Lake for the holiday season....

Review: DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERRORS at Irish Classical Theatre
by Michael Rabice - September 20, 2024

Not only are the Halloween decorations out at Target and Walgreens, but theatre season  for Irish Classical Theatre is beginning with a macabre story in a comedian's clothes as they present the very silly DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERROR....

Review: SHIPWRECKED!- THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF LOUIS DE ROUGEMONT (AS TOLD BY HIMSELF) at Road Less Traveled Theater
by Michael Rabice - September 16, 2024

Rivaling the adventures of The Count of Monte Cristo, we now  hear the tale of a new found character who once took literary England by storm at the end of the 19th Century. SHIPWRECKED: THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF LOUIS DE ROUGEMONT (AS TOLD BY HIMSELF) has taken to the stage in 'an entertainment' wri...

Review: DISNEY'S NEWSIES THE MUSICAL at Shea's 710 Theatre
by Michael Rabice - September 13, 2024

The Buffalo theatre season is back in full swing and it's off to a great start, if the fine production of DISNEY'S NEWSIES THE MUSICAL is an indication. Playing at Shea's 710 Theatre alongside co presenter The D'Youville Kavinoky Theatre, the creative talent assembled showcases the best of Western N...

Review: SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE MYSTERY OF THE HUMAN HEART at Shaw Festival
by Michael Rabice - August 26, 2024

He's done it again! The famous sleuth and his sidekick are back at it, solving cases with cunning precision and insight. SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE MYSTERY OF THE HUMAN HEART is playing in a fabulous production at the SHAW FESTIVAL in Niagara on the Lake. Audiences are intrigued, captivated and thoroug...

Review: ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS at Shaw Festival
by Michael Rabice - August 06, 2024

Who doesn't love a good belly laugh, a groan and a perpetual smile on their face for 2-1/2 hours. That's exactly what you'll be in store for when attending the joyously silly production of ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS at the Shaw Festival in Niagara on the Lake....

Review: WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION at Shaw Festival
by Michael Rabice - June 17, 2024

Time travel back to the age of film noir when black and white movie dramas were played to the hilt with overarching mannerisms, full of prototypical characters and not too subtle close ups full of tension inducing musical scores. The Shaw Festival is producing one from that ilk with the classic Agat...

Review: MJ at Shea's Buffalo Theatre
by Michael Rabice - June 12, 2024

The king of pop surely had a storied musical career that went from child star to tabloid fodder in his all too short life. The life of Michael Jackson, now the Broadway musical MJ, is igniting the stage of Shea's Buffalo Theatre through June 16th. Fear not , the moon walk, the infamous sparkly glove...

Review: PRIVATE LIVES at Irish Classical Theatre
by Michael Rabice - June 09, 2024

Noel Coward may well have been the arbiter of all things regarding propriety , social class, and manners. So it may have come as a shock to some that his witty play PRIVATE LIVES, now playing at Irish Classical Theatre, makes it clear that his upper crust characters certainly  do NOT always behave w...

Review: THE PRICE at Irish Classical Theatre
by Michael Rabice - April 21, 2024

Something wonderful has taken to the stage at Buffalo ‘s Irish Classical Theatre, as Arthur Miller’s THE PRICE is being presented in a near perfect production. This seldom produced play may sound somewhat stilted in it’s formality of language, but the story continues to be captivating, all these yea...

Review: MAMMA MIA! at Shea's Buffalo Theatre
by Michael Rabice - April 10, 2024

Guilty as charged. I openly admit I really enjoy the ABBA musical, MAMMA MIA! There is a time and place for all kinds of entertainment, and the birth of the jukebox musical can almost certainly be attributed to kind of show MAMMA MIA has become. Now 25 years after it's opening, the national tour tha...

Review: THE PAJAMA GAME at Lancaster Opera House
by Michael Rabice - March 11, 2024

A breakdown of  union labor relations, abuse in the workplace and  demands for higher wages surely doesn't sound like the stuff of musical comedy. Unless you're speaking of the classic 1954 musical THE PAJAMA GAME, now playing at the Lancaster Opera House. ...

Review: BETRAYAL at Irish Classical Theatre
by Michael Rabice - March 04, 2024

Eavesdropping, snooping or just morbid curiosity seemed to be the scene set in Harold Pinter's play BETRAYAL now playing in a riveting production at Buffalo's Irish Classical Theatre. The playgoer sits on the sidelines, witnessing a deeply personal story of three  broken people, best kept behind clo...

Review: THE LIGHT FANTASTIC at Road Less Traveled Theater
by Michael Rabice - February 23, 2024

It's not often that  a horror story or the supernatural takes to the stage, so when a comedy turns dark, you know you're in for a night of the unknown. Ike Holter's play THE LIGHT FANTASTIC is full of surprises, twists and turns that kept the opening night audience engrossed in Road Less Traveled Pr...

Review: FUNNY GIRL at Shea's Buffalo Theatre
by Michael Rabice - February 14, 2024

Funny. In 1964 a newcomer named Barbra Streisand was the third or fourth choice  to take on the role of Fanny Brice in the new Jule Styne musical FUNNY GIRL. The result catapulted a gawky Jewish girl from Brooklyn to superstar status. And the musical has never been revived again on Broadway. ...

Review: ANNIE at Shea's Buffalo Theatre
by Michael Rabice - December 19, 2023

That famed comic strip red head Little Orphan Annie has returned to town just in time to celebrate Christmas in Buffalo. Charles Strouse's blockbuster musical ANNIE is touring the country again and the show will play at Shea's through December 23rd....

Review: AIR HEART at Revelation Theatre
by Michael Rabice - December 08, 2023

Buffalo's Revelation Theatre has chosen a intriguing piece of theatrical performance art in presenting the one woman play AIR HEART. The 65 minute show examines the life of Amelia Earhart, leading to her disappearance while on her famed  flight over the Pacific Ocean in 1937....

Review: BRIGADOON at Shaw Festival
by Michael Rabice - November 27, 2023

The golden age of Broadway found lilting infectious melodies melding with captivating, if often whimsical stories. Lerner and Loewe's 1947 BRIGADOON ticked all the boxes in a world fresh off of World War II. The Shaw Festival in Niagara on the Lake has revived it's 2019 production and this version s...

Review: 'MASTER HAROLD'...AND THE BOYS at Irish Classical Theatre
by Michael Rabice - November 20, 2023

As the audience grew restless awaiting the start of the play, the near twenty minute delay had me wondering if there would even be a production. Luckily, the play started and the wait, though unexplained, was worth it. Buffalo's Irish Classical Theatre's production of Athol Fugard's riveting 'MASTER...

Review: ALL MY SONS at Road Less Traveled Theater
by Michael Rabice - November 17, 2023

How an American dream ends up as an American tragedy pretty much sums up the gut wrenching production of ALL MY SONS now playing at Road Less Traveled Theater. Arthur Miller's 1947 classic immerses the audience is post World War II Americana, where the pangs of the war are still felt and a quest for...