Central New York Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 5

BWW Review: CATS at Rochester Broadway Theatre League
by Colin Fleming-Stumpf - September 27, 2021

After an 18-month intermission, theatre is back once again in Rochester. Like thousands of other performance venues across the country, RBTL's Auditorium Theatre has been shuttered since March 2020 as New York State and the world grapple with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. While COVID is unfo...

BWW Review: LOVE LETTERS at JCC Centerstage Theatre (via Rochester Fringe Festival)
by Colin Fleming-Stumpf - September 20, 2021

As part of the annual Fringe Festival, Rochester's Jewish Community Center presented 'Love Letters', the popular 1988 two-person play by A. R. Gurney that follows two friends throughout the course of their lives told solely through the reading of letters that they wrote each other over the years. Th...

BWW Review: The REV Theatre Company Presents ALMOST HEAVEN, THE SONGS OF JOHN DENVER
by Natasha Ashley - September 13, 2021

The REV Theatre Company in Auburn, New York ends their 2021 summer season with Almost Heaven, The Songs of John Denver under the direction and choreography of Brett Smock. The title says it all, it is in fact over twenty songs by John Denver and others along with orchestrations and vocal arrangement...

BWW Review: MAN OF LAMANCHA at Mac-Haydn Theatre Makes a Delightful Return
by Marc Savitt - August 31, 2021

A moving tale about a man's refusal to give up his impossible dream, inspired by Miguel de Cervantes' masterpiece Don Quixote. Powerful, brutal, hilarious, and heartbreaking, MAN OF LA MANCHA celebrates the perseverance of someone who refuses to relinquish his ideals or his passion. The celebrated s...

BWW Review: PIPPIN at Mac-Haydn Theatre Brings the Magic.
by Marc Savitt - August 09, 2021

The 2020 season opened with one of my personal favorites, PIPPIN.  It was the first Broadway show I saw. PIPPIN uses the premise of a performance troupe, led by the Leading Player, to tell the story of a young prince (son of Charlemagne) on his search for meaning and significance.  ...

BWW Review: SOMETHING ROTTEN! at JCC Centerstage Theatre
by Colin Fleming-Stumpf - July 13, 2021

After nearly 16 months without setting foot in a physical performance venue, it was such a thrill to return to the 'theatre' this past weekend to enjoy an afternoon of Shakespeare-inspired absurdity, laughing and applauding in the company of *gasp* other human beings. No, it wasn't technically the C...

BWW Review: The Rev Theatre Company Presents 42ND STREET
by Natasha Ashley - July 06, 2021

42nd Street is without a doubt a must see at The Rev Theatre Company in Auburn, New York. The treat to see a live performance, or to perform in one, is something that I think we will not take for granted again. Theater is essential and this production proves that. The heart, songs, dancing, and the ...

BWW Review: “MASTER HAROLD”…and the Boys at Syracuse Stage
by Timothy Treanor - June 17, 2021

It is 1950, and on a rainy South African afternoon in the St. George’s Park Tea Room, Hally (Nick Apostolina) is becoming himself. He was a boy – one prone to arrogance and self-pity, certainly but vulnerable, and capable of sweetness and hope. But now he is becoming a man – a brutal man, “MASTER HA...

BWW Review: I AND YOU at Syracuse Stage
by Timothy Treanor - May 06, 2021

There is an astonishing turn of events toward the end of I and You, but let’s not talk about that. Let’s talk about Walt Whitman instead. Whitman was a revolutionary who overthrew poetry. He trashed the self-conscious, hyperstylized European tropes which had dominated the art and substituted some...

BWW Review: Syracuse Stage Presents a Virtual Streaming Production of ANNAPURNA
by Timothy Treanor - March 19, 2021

On June 3, 1950 the French mountaineer Maurice Herzog stood on the impossibly high summit of Annapurna I – and dropped his gloves into the yawning chasm below. Descending barehanded, he soon lost his fingers to frostbite; most of them were eventually amputated. He thus became the patron saint of all...

BWW Review: CONSTELLATIONS at Out Of Pocket Productions
by Colin Fleming-Stumpf - March 02, 2021

I learned early on in the pandemic (Spring 2020, aka COVID 1.0) that filmed/livestreamed/Zoomed theatre doesn't really do anything for me. That's not a knock against any particular show or performer or theatre company, just a reality of the medium itself. When you take the quintessential elements of...

BWW Review: Syracuse Stage Presents a Virtual Streaming Production of TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES, 1992
by Natasha Ashley - February 06, 2021

Syracuse Stage never ceases to amaze me with their eye for productions, casting, and unique presentations. I have to say I was concerned when I saw that this streaming production was three hours long. However, it was three hours very well spent. Syracuse Stage’s production of the stunning documentar...

BWW Review: Redhouse Presents IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY
by Natasha Ashley - December 13, 2020

Syracuse’s beloved Redhouse Arts Center once again let their creativity shine through as they found a way to still bring a production of the classic Holiday story, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play to virtual viewers....

BWW Review: Syracuse Stage Presents TALLEY'S FOLLY
by Natasha Ashley - November 11, 2020

Syracuse Stage is one of only a few theatres across the country currently producing stage productions. The first production of their mainstage season is Talley’s Folly under the always superb and detailed direction of Syracuse Stage’s Artistic Director Robert Hupp. This fully staged production of La...

BWW Review: Syracuse Stage Presents a Free Virtual Production of a New Play A GATHERIN' PLACE
by Natasha Ashley - October 19, 2020

Syracuse Stage and their re-imagined 20/21 season brings a real and raw original play beautifully written and directed by Dr. Juhanna Rogers titled A Gatherin' Place. The show highlights local Black women telling their own stories. It was filmed at Syracuse Stage's Archbold Theatre and is available ...

BWW Review: Syracuse Stage Presents Berkeley Rep's IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE
by Natasha Ashley - October 18, 2020

This 2020/2021 season at Syracuse Stage is obviously starting out a little different than usual as theaters all over are adapting to how they present stories to their audiences. Syracuse Stage opens its season with two productions available online (both free of charge). Syracuse Stage has partnered ...

BWW Review: The Cherry Arts Presents a Masked Outdoor Production of THE FAN
by Natasha Ashley - September 27, 2020

Theater audiences, performers, and creative teams have certainly been longing for a live onstage production since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, audiences in Ithaca, New York had their chance to see a creative approach to a live performance with The Cherry Arts fully masked production ...

BWW Review: Redhouse Arts Center Now Streaming The World Premiere of the Virtual Sequel STILL WAITING a Play Created for Zoom
by Natasha Ashley - June 26, 2020

Syracuse's Redhouse Arts Center is back at it again bringing theater to audiences virtually with their now streaming production of the world premiere of the virtual sequel Still Waiting a Play Created for Zoom by Marc Palmieri and wonderfully directed by Hunter Foster. The play is of course part II ...

BWW Review: Redhouse Arts Center Presents the New York Premiere of WAITING FOR THE HOST a Play Created for Zoom
by Natasha Ashley - May 29, 2020

Many theaters are all finding unique ways to still bring theater, concerts, and the arts to their audiences. Facebook live, Zoom, and other streaming services are certainly getting a work out as schools, theaters, performers, and many workplaces have all shifted online due to the Coronavirus pandemi...

BWW Feature: HERSHEY FELDER AS IRVING BERLIN: Live-Stream from Florence, Italy. 5/10/20
by Peter Danish - May 13, 2020

A BWW EXCLUSIVE: HERSHEY FELDER AS IRVING BERLIN at Florence, Italy...

BWW Review: Syracuse Stage's Stunning Production of AMADEUS Opens and Closes all in one Historical Performance
by Natasha Ashley - March 15, 2020

Syracuse Stage's stunning production of Amadeus under the always meticulous direction of Robert Hupp opened on Friday, March 13, 2020 and also closed on the same night due to the coronavirus outbreak. The decision to suspend the rest of the production's run was a choice that Hupp told the audience a...

BWW Review: CRY IT OUT at Geva Theatre Center
by Colin Fleming-Stumpf - March 11, 2020

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BWW Review: ONCE at Geva Theatre Center
by Colin Fleming-Stumpf - February 28, 2020

Continuing Geva Theatre's 2019-2020 season is the story of an unexpected meeting that blossoms into love, vibrant music, and a renewed vigor for life. It will warm your heart on a cold and dreary Rochester evening....

BWW Review: The Central New York Playhouse Presents SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE
by Natasha Ashley - February 22, 2020

The Central New York Playhouse is now entertaining audiences with the delightful romantic comedy Shakespeare in Love. The play by Lee Hall is adapted from the popular 1998 film of the same name. With numerous productions of Romeo and Juliet occurring throughout Central New York the timing is perfect...

BWW Review: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF at Proctors Maintains its Delicate Balance.
by Marc Savitt - February 20, 2020

I want to state clearly this a very good production with a large group of talented professionals. Notable performances include Yehezkel Lazarov as Tevye and Ms. Murphy, Froch, and Barenblat as his daughters, Tzeitel, Hodel, and Chava respectively. The choreography originally by Jerome Robbins, rec...