by Colin Thomas | Dec 1, 2024 | Review
Perhaps the kindest way to start is to say that, artistically, Miracle on 34th Street is a tough sell in 2024. (And the realistic way to start is to say that this Arts Club production fails to sell it.) Miracle on 34th Street is thin, sentimental, and painfully...
by Colin Thomas | Nov 23, 2024 | Review
Well, that was a journey. In Act 1, I admired the performances but was so uninterested in the storytelling that I wrote in my notebook, “Why am I here?” But, by the emotional climax of Act 2, tears were streaming down my face and, when they stopped, I felt cleansed....
by Colin Thomas | Sep 12, 2024 | Review
There is a particular kind of pleasure that comes from just giving yourself to a show because it’s so seamlessly assured and stimulating. It’s what folks are talking about when they say they were spellbound by a performance. For almost all its running time, that’s the...
by Colin Thomas | Jun 28, 2024 | Review
If you’re looking for a musical revue with no story or ideas, you’re in luck. This Arts Club production of Ring of Fire is well staged, well designed, it contains some strong performances and, of course, it features a bunch of great songs by Johnny Cash and others,...
by Colin Thomas | May 25, 2024 | Review
Madeleine Suddaby’s performance as Adelaide is worth the price of admission. Literally. Lay down that dough! Guys and Dolls premiered in 1950, but it’s based on work by Damon Runyon set two and three decades earlier. In the underworld of gamblers, strippers, and...
