Memphis Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 3

BWW Review: YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU at Theatre Memphis
by Kevin Shaw - April 28, 2022

After 100 years of producing musicals, comedies and dramas, Theatre Memphis has (like any other theatre lucky enough to be around this long) produced its fair share of 'clunkers' and 'classics.' Some of them were 'classics' which turned out to be 'clunkers,' but many of them, as of late, have turned...

BWW Review: MEMPHIS IS TICKLED PINK TO WELCOME MEAN GIRLS at The Orpheum Theatre Memphis
by AniKatrina Fageol - April 27, 2022

'Fetch' might not be happening Mean Girls at the Orpheum Theatre is THE thing to do this week!...

BWW Review: THE BAND'S VISIT at The Orpheum Theatre Memphis
by AniKatrina Fageol - April 14, 2022

The Band's Visit is an intimate 90 minute musical with no intermission, no big show-stopping numbers, and no 'flash' as we say in show biz. It is a very real performance about a random moment in history, based on the 2007 Israeli film of the same name. ...

BWW Review: CICADA at Theatre Memphis
by Kevin Shaw - April 08, 2022

Theatre Memphis’ newest production (CICADA) which opened this past weekend and runs through April 16th explores the difference between a memory and a ghost and what it means to be haunted by both. Memories, like ghosts, are just manifestations (internal versus external) of the people in our lives (o...

BWW Review: CATS at The Orpheum Theatre Memphis
by AniKatrina Fageol - March 24, 2022

It's a fan-favorite and it's back at the Orpheum Theatre Memphis! Cats is the 4th longest-running Broadway show, coming in behind The Lion King, and is a sung-through musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The musical opened at the Orpheum Theatre on Webber's birthday and continues to dazzle audie...

BWW Review: TOOTSIE at The Orpheum Theatre Memphis
by AniKatrina Fageol - February 16, 2022

Tootsie is a new musical based on the 1982 film starring Dustin Hoffman. The story follows Michael Dorsey ('Is he an actor? Yes, of course, he is. Is he successful? Yes, of course, he's not') and the opening number immediately makes his rotten reputation evident and known. ...

BWW Review: AMERICAN SON at Theatre Memphis
by Kevin Shaw - February 07, 2022

Between 24-hour news and omnipresent social media infiltrating our every waking hour, it would seem that we are talking more about race in 2022 than ever before. Weren't we supposed to have moved past all of this by now? The race riots of the 1960's, Jim Crow, segregation was history, wasn't it? Ame...

BWW Review: HADESTOWN at The Orpheum Theatre Memphis
by AniKatrina Fageol - February 03, 2022

Way down in Memphis, there's a poor boy working on a song. If you are at all familiar with the Tony-award winning musical Hadestown, you know you can expect laughs, tears, gorgeous songs, and a story that's as ancient as, well, the gods....

BWW Review: OUR TOWN at Theatre Memphis
by Kevin Shaw - January 20, 2022

What a conundrum for an artist. Is it more effective to deliver art to an audience by any means necessary or to have the 'vehicle' for displaying it match the work itself? For example, when it comes to the theatre, can a whisper ever truly be a whisper? Such is the dilemma for any theatre since 1938...

BWW Review: HAMILTON at The Orpheum Theatre Memphis
by AniKatrina Fageol - December 27, 2021

In 2009, at the peak of his Broadway musical In The Heights, Lin Manuel Miranda took a little vacation and started to read a copy of the 2004 biography Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. Shortly after, he began to work on a project entitled The Hamilton Mixtape....

BWW Review: DISNEY'S THE LION KING at The Orpheum Theatre Memphis
by AniKatrina Fageol - November 13, 2021

Disney's The Lion King roars its way back into Memphis and audiences are thrilled to welcome the popular show back to the Orpheum stage! Always a Memphis favorite, the show is pure magic for its audiences, adults and children alike. ...

BWW Review: URINETOWN, THE MUSICAL at Theatre Memphis
by Kevin Shaw - October 27, 2021

I pride myself on not being a paranoid person. I really don't want to become a conspiracy theorist (seems like a lot of work). I like to believe the world is basically safe and that people are inherently good and trustworthy. When I see some people argue that 9/11 was a government plot to...actually...

BWW Review: COME FROM AWAY at The Orpheum Theatre Memphis
by AniKatrina Fageol - October 06, 2021

Come From Away is open and everyone NEEDS to fly to the Orpheum to catch this spectacular show!...

BWW Review: HELLO, DOLLY! at Theatre Memphis
by Kevin Shaw - September 10, 2021

Everything these days seems to be ephemeral. With the attention span of a gnat, Americans lose interest faster than it took to write this sentence. Squirrel! Platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Tinder (swiping for love based on appearances alone) is ever-shortening society's ability to focus and...

BWW Review: DAYS OF RAGE at Playhouse On The Square
by Kevin Shaw - August 27, 2021

After a 17-month pandemic-induced hiatus, Playhouse on the Square has finally opened its doors again to an in-person audience with its season premiere of DAYS OF RAGE (now through September 19th). But just when we thought it was safe to congregate again, Shelby County is now wrestling with the ongoi...

BWW Review: IVANKA VS. REALITY at TheatreWorks
by Kevin Shaw - July 15, 2021

I think it's time I came out of the closet. I've lived in the shadows for years and only a few of my closest friends know the truth. After hiding and wallowing in deep shame for far too long, I'm ready to admit I'm an addict. That's right-a reality TV addict. I know. I know. I can already feel your ...

BWW Review: IN REAL LIFE at Hattiloo Theatre
by Kevin Shaw - June 04, 2021

There's an old cliché that says, 'If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.' Although it's basically another way to say that what you plan for and what actually happens to you can be vastly different, it can ease the sting a bit, if you'll let it. That's a big 'if.' Ironically though, not ...