Tampa Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 3

Review: Breathtaking 50th Anniversary Tour of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR at Straz Center
by Drew Eberhard - March 07, 2024

An explosive 90-minute sung-through Rock Opera written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice, took the Carol Morsani Hall by storm Tuesday evening. This reimagined 50th Anniversary Tour, is the story loosely based on the Gospels’ accounts of the Passion. It works to interpret the psycholog...

Review: Societal Consciousness in A Political Era With GOD BLESS YOU, MR. ROSEWATER at freeFall Theatre
by Drew Eberhard - March 04, 2024

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater is Kurt Vonnegut’s fifth novel and was published in 1965. Its Post-Modern Satire context paved way for Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, arguably his most well-known work. In the novel, Vonnegut highlights the life and times of the consciously-bound multi-millionaire Elio...

Review: Find Yourself on 'Island Time' with ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE at Eight O'Clock Theatre
by Drew Eberhard - March 03, 2024

Escape to Margaritaville, is a 2017 Jukebox Musical written by Greg Garcia, and Mike O’Malley, and based on songs by Jimmy Buffett....

Review: BYE BYE BIRDIE at the Haines City Theatre
by Peter Nason - March 02, 2024

HCT is a small theatre with a big heart, and their production spotlights the show's strengths and weaknesses....

Review: A Powerhouse Performance by Rp Mclaughlin, a Story of Identity with I AM MY OWN WIFE at Stageworks Theatre
by Drew Eberhard - February 20, 2024

Doug Wright a Drama Desk Nominated and Tony Award-winning Playwright wrote I Am My Own Wife, based on his conversations with German Antiquarian Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. It premiered off-Broadway at Playwright Horizons in 2003....

Review: Land O Lakes High School Presents MAMMA MIA! at the Wesley Chapel Performing Arts Center
by Peter Nason - February 17, 2024

What did our critic think of MAMMA MIA! at the Wesley Chapel Performing Arts Center?...

Review: Lloyd Suh's Unforgettable THE CHINESE LADY at American Stage
by Peter Nason - February 13, 2024

A brilliant and thought-provoking production about the first Chinese woman to set foot on American soil....

Review: MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL at Straz Center
by Deborah Bostock-Kelley - February 10, 2024

Throughout the entire production, the energy remains electric, fueled by exceptional lead performers and a truly astonishing ensemble. The choreography, costumes, and sets weave together seamlessly, creating an irresistible tapestry of entertainment that demands the audience's undivided attention. ...

Review: MOULIN ROUGE! At Straz Center For The Performing Arts Is A Dazzling, Romantic, Bohemian Affair
by Drew Eberhard - February 09, 2024

What did our critic think of MOULIN ROUGE! At Straz Center For The Performing Arts....

Review: An Eye-Opening STRAIGHT WHITE MEN by Young Jean Lee Premieres at Tamparep
by Drew Eberhard - February 05, 2024

Young Jean Lee’s Straight White Men is a 2014 Dramatic Comedy that premiered off-Broadway at the Public Theatre in New York City on November 7, 2014. Directed by the playwright Lee, and featuring Austin Pendleton as “Ed”, Pete Simpson, James Stanely, and Gary Wilmes. Following its run off Broadway, ...

Review: New Tampa Players Production of DREAMGIRLS at the New Tampa Performing Arts Center
by Peter Nason - February 04, 2024

It's a dream of a musical with nightmarish sound issues....

Review: A Dynamic and Galvanizing CABARET at the Studio Theatre Tierra Del Sol in the Villages
by Peter Nason - February 03, 2024

Terrifically terrifying and timely!...

Review: WHISKEY & SODA at The Off-Central Players
by Drew Eberhard - February 03, 2024

“IMAGINE...” a table is set, where a meeting is to soon take place between Britain’s First Female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, and an Ex-Beatle, John Lennon. This is what is laid forth in Ben Randall’s Whiskey & Soda currently onstage at the Off-Central Players....

Review: Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT Proves to Be a Romantic Case of Mistaken Identities at Jobsite Theatre
by Drew Eberhard - January 28, 2024

Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy written by William Shakespeare. Its central story revolves around twins Viola and Sebastian who were separated in a shipwreck. Viola (disguised as Cesario) falls in love with Count Orsino, who also happens to be in love with Olivia. ...

Review: MAD Theatre Presents THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE at the Straz Center's Shimberg Playhouse
by Peter Nason - January 28, 2024

Quirky, irreverent, and so much fun, the show even offers audience members the chance to go onstage to be a part of the Bee....

Review: Adam Rapp's NOCTURNE Starring Drew Eberhard Will Break Your Heart
by Peter Nason - January 24, 2024

My father’s mom died in 1955.  After my own mother passed away fifty-one years later, one of my sisters asked my father the following question: “How long did it take you to get over the loss of your mother?”  My father, now an old man, pondered the question, remembering his mother who had died a hal...

Review: A Gripping, Thought-Provoking & Highly Entertaining INHERIT THE WIND at the Asolo Repertory Theatre
by Peter Nason - January 22, 2024

Led by two incredible performances and a visionary director, it's a production where everything goes right....

Review: A Dazzling, Inventive Adaptation Of Sondheim's COMPANY Lights Up The Room And Our Hearts At Straz Center For The Performing Arts
by Drew Eberhard - January 12, 2024

What did our critic think of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's COMPANY at Straz Center For The Performing Arts?...

Review: SCROOGE MACBETH: A MASHUP OF SHAKESPEARE AND CHRISTMAS SHOULD BE ON EVERYONE'S LIST at OFF-CENTRAL PLAYERS
by Drew Eberhard - December 14, 2023

David MacGregor’s Scrooge Macbeth, is a Comedic Holiday Comedy set to the tune of two things... everything Christmas and the most prolific playwright ever known to classical theatre, William Shakespeare. Now I know what your thinking, how can the works of the Bard possibly coincide with that of Holi...

Review: MIRACLE ON 34TH ST: A LIVE MUSICAL RADIO PLAY HERALDS IN THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT at FreeFall Theatre
by Drew Eberhard - December 04, 2023

Miracle on 34th Street is an American Christmas comedic/drama from 1947 that was produced by 20th century Fox. Based on the story by by Valentine Davies, the film was directed by George Seaton and features Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood, and Edmund Gwenn. Winning three Academy Awards, Mira...

Review: THE GREAT CHRISTMAS COOKIE BAKEOFF is Sugar-Filled Holiday Fun at StageWorks Theatre
by Drew Eberhard - December 02, 2023

The Great Christmas Cookie Bakeoff is a one-act Holiday musical created by Rick Hip-Flore. Featuring a cast of 8 talented students and 4 adults, this whimsical musical is the perfect sugary delight to usher in the Holiday Season. ...

Review: A Dazzling Revival of FUNNY GIRL Ushers in All the Laughs at Straz Center for The Performing Arts
by Drew Eberhard - December 01, 2023

Funny Girl is a semi-autobiographical comedic musical about the life and times of comedian and Broadway star Fanny Brice, and her tumultuous relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nick Arnstein. With a musical score by Jules Styne, lyrics by Bob Merill, and featuring a book by Isobel Lennart, Fu...

Review: The Incomparable Jeffrey Walker Stands Out in the Center Stage Youth Theatre's Production of LES MISERABLES
by Peter Nason - November 21, 2023

The young cast brings the iconic musical to life, with a lead performance that will not soon be forgotten....

Review: A Powerful Staging Of Jean-Paul Sartre's NO EXIT Takes Center Stage At The Off-Central Players
by Drew Eberhard - November 10, 2023

No Exit is an Existentialist French play from 1944 written by Jean-Paul Sartre. The play had its first performance at the Theatre du Vieux-Colombier in May of the same year. Sartre’s inception of the play centered around this idea of the look and the ontological struggle of being caused to see onese...

Review: A Unique Telling Of A Poirot Mystery as POIROT RETURNS Continues Their Sleuthing at Stageworks Theatre
by Drew Eberhard - November 04, 2023

Playwright Larry Alexander has always been a fan of Agatha Christie and over the years has read and re-read her work. At the height of the Pandemic, Larry was in rehearsal for a new musical that was shuttered into the second week of rehearsal. With no idea when the musical would remount, Larry was t...