Rockland / Westchester Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 2

Review: A DIVINE SISTER ACT at Actors Conservatory Theatre
by Pia Haas - November 17, 2023

What did our critic think of A DIVINE SISTER ACT AT ACT at Actors Conservatory Theatre? Actors Conservatory Theatre brings a delightfully entertaining production to Bronxville’s Taylor Hall. Based on the hilarious 1992 hit film starring Whoopi Goldberg, Sister Act, received five Tony Award nominatio...

Review: THE DUMB WAITER at Katonah Classic Stage
by Bruce Apar - October 26, 2023

The Dumb Waiter is built with the trademark tropes and techniques that comprise a vintage Pinter. There is no room – or need – for exposition, so if you’re waiting to discern a decipherable story line, you might as well be waiting for Godot....

Review: 3-WAY STOP at Schoolhouse Theater in Croton Falls
by Bruce Apar - October 19, 2023

In 3-Way Stop, a threesome of short plays on stage through Oct. 29 at Schoolhouse Theater in Croton Falls (Putnam County, N.Y.), playwright James Sheldon brings to the fore miniature slices of life that cut close to the bone – sibling rivalry, marital meanderings, the search for life’s meaning (or a...

Review: THE TOXIC AVENGER at Town Players Of New Canaan
by Pia Haas - October 19, 2023

What did our critic think of THE TOXIC AVENGER at Town Players Of New Canaan? The show is a comic satire with an irreverent, kooky edge, similar in style to “Little Shop of Horrors,” “Urinetown” and “Zombie Prom”. The opening number describes the play’s setting as “a place between heaven and hell”:...

Review: BETRAYAL at Katonah Classic Stage
by Pia Haas - October 15, 2023

When I heard that The Katonah Classic stage was doing a Harold Pinter Festival, I was pleasantly surprised! Pinter in the Hudson Valley? The last time I saw any Pinter was on a long-ago trip to London....

Review: LET THERE BE LOVE at Penguin Rep
by Peter Danish - October 09, 2023

What did our critic think of LET THERE BE LOVE at Penguin Rep? Quite often dramas concerning race, immigration, family squabbles (and other issues that we can’t reveal here without spoiling) tend to be in-your-face, preachy and heavy-handed.  “Let There Be Love” is a play about all of the former, wi...

Review: DRACULA at Elmwood Playhouse
by Pia Haas - September 23, 2023

What did our critic think of DRACULA at Elmwood Playhouse?...

Review: GENE AND GILDA at Penguin Rep
by Peter Danish - August 21, 2023

What did our critic think of GENE AND GILDA at Penguin Rep?...

Review: INCIDENT AT OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP at Penguin Rep
by Bruce Apar - June 29, 2023

In 'Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help,' playwright Katie Forgette mixes nostalgia with timeless lessons about the folly and disservice of parental stereotypes, and the abuse of power by the powers that be, a role that, in this case, is portrayed by organized religion....

Review: Audra Mcdonald Opens Caramoor's Season with A Gala Concert
by Peter Danish - June 22, 2023

1994, I was crazy in love with Sally Murphy.  She was starring in the Lincoln Center theater import of Nicholas Hytner’s National Theater production of Carousel.  I got a friend who works at Lincoln Center to give me a tour backstage, in hope of “running into” Sally.   Long story short, I got lost a...

Review: NEXT TO NORMAL At Ridgefield Theater Barn
by Bruce Apar - June 13, 2023

For this production, tables and chairs have been pushed to the perimeter, lining the parallel side walls that face each other. That leaves the middle of the room and the fore and aft walls for the performers to move about, and move they do, in constantly fluid motion, under the sure-handed and sure-...

Review: POPCORN FALLS at Penguin Rep
by Peter Danish - May 07, 2023

What did our critic think of POPCORN FALLS at Penguin Rep?...

Review: RED at The Schoolhouse Theater
by Bruce Apar - April 20, 2023

Whether or not you've heard of art immortal Mark Rothko, John Logan's 'Red' is thrilling, mind-expanding theater that plumbs the human condition with vibrant dramaturgy and acting and stagecraft...

Review: AN EVENING OF ONE-ACTS at Ridgefield Theater Barn
by Bruce Apar - March 15, 2023

The good news is that almost all the seven short pieces (averaging 10 minutes each) in RTB’s 2023 menu of theatrical hor d'oeuvres justify their place in the program well enough. Nobody will leave hungry for diverting entertainment.  ...

Review: THE VIRTUOUS LIFE OF JOSEPH ANDREWS at Penguin Rep Theatre
by Bruce Apar - August 18, 2022

Henry Fielding's picaresque plot animated by witty lyrics from playwright Cary Gitter and ear-pleasing music by Max Silverman performed by a standout quintet of singing actors add up to a tour de force of a farce....

Review: SAFE HOME at Shadowland Stages Is Based on Short Stories by Tom Hanks
by Bruce Apar - August 04, 2022

Creating an ambitious odyssey of time travel based on three short stories from Tom Hanks's collection 'Uncommon Type' sounds like an intriguing idea ... on paper. The challenge is how to transfer it effectively from page to stage. In its current form, it feels more like a workshop than a ready-for-p...

BWW Review: Pan Origin Story PETER AND THE STARCATCHER at Ridgefield Theater Barn
by Bruce Apar - June 09, 2022

The show made a splash on Broadway a dozen years ago, garnering several Tony Awards, mainly in the craft categories (scenic design, sound, lighting, choreography). The sketchy book is like a sketchbook of rapid-fire episodes that leans heavily on the strength of the ensemble to pull it off. This ens...

BWW Review: I AND YOU at Penguin Rep Theatre Climaxes in a Surreal Reveal
by Bruce Apar - May 11, 2022

Gunderson’s characters are two high school seniors who could not be more unlike each other. Yet, as we find out, they end up soulmates in the most surreal way imaginable....

BWW Review: Jukebox Musical MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET at Chappaqua Performing Arts Center
by Bruce Apar - May 04, 2022

Apart from the infectious, wall-to-wall music, which is rousingly played live on stage by all the actors, what makes Million Dollar Quartet a crowd-pleaser is the interpersonal dramas driven by the egos of four pop music pioneers.  ...

BWW Review: OFF PEAK Finds Hudson Stage in Peak Form
by Bruce Apar - April 27, 2022

After 23 years and 37 productions, Hudson Stage producers Denise Bessette and Olivia Sklar have decided it’s time they gave themselves some well-deserved R&R....

BWW REVIEWS: Sunday Afternoon With LIMELIGHT THEATRE COMPANY'S MARRY ME A LITTLE
by Kristen Morale - March 04, 2022

Directed by Stephanie Scuderi, Marry Me a Little is Limelight Theatre Company’s next venture in bringing more inclusive and affordable performing arts to the greater NYC area....

BWW Review: Livin' La Vida DIVAS at Ridgefield Theater Barn
by Bruce Apar - February 15, 2022

There are no weighty messages here. No high drama. Just fun stuff, listening to a couple of 60ish female actors, virtually joined at the hip, tease and tolerate each other with all manner of jokey repartee, acid-laced with rapier ripostes that cut to the quick....

BWW Review: DINERS, DIVES, AND DREAMERS at Westchester Collaborative Theater
by Bruce Apar - December 07, 2021

Authored by five writers of diverse voices, styles and skillsets, tying the eclectic tales together is a uniform fascination with the meaning of existence, notably the randomness and revelations inherent in human interaction....

BWW Review: MASQUERADE: THE MUSIC OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER at White Plains Performing Arts Center
by Peter Danish - October 12, 2021

That said, any review of the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, (for readers who have been on Mars for the last half century: 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,' 'Jesus Christ Superstar,' 'Song and Dance', 'Aspects of Love', 'Evita,' 'The Phantom of the Opera,' 'Sunset Boulevard,' and 'School...