Delve into what it’s really like to be “living in America, at the end of the millenium” with the 20th anniversary tour of Jonathan Larson’s RENT, the rock opera that has maintained a cult following since its’ debut in the 1990s. RENT takes its’ plot from Giacomo Puccini’s 1896 opera La Boheme, which follows the lives of starving artists as they face difficult circumstances. Larson’s rendition, however, sets the story in New York during the peak of the AIDS epidemic: 1989. Whi

From which an excerpt was published in The Capital Times on May 14th, 2017. Glitzy tap sequences, flaming maple donuts, a tribe plagued by AIDS and scrotum maggots, and a whole lot of pressed white shirts make The Book of Mormon a fabulous night of laughter and religious satire. From the makers of South Park, this musical is built for a similar audience (and is definitely not one to bring Grandma to). Photo by Joan Marcus This 2011 Broadway hit follows a pair of incompatible

Photo by Joan Marcus The girls are beautiful, the orchestra is beautiful… The era is ugly. Cabaret gives an unforgiving stare at 1931 Berlin through the thick, smoky glasses of the Kit Kat Klub. This Roundabout Theatre Company tour of the 1966 Kander and Ebb hit quickly desensitizes audiences to the vulgarity of the night life, empathizing viewers to the unsuspecting Germans as the political climate takes a turn for the worse. Photo by Joan Marcus In the role of cabaret perfo

While the “music of the night” in The Phantom of the Opera tour sweeps away audience hearts and souls, it can’t quite sweep away the numerous distracting technical failures throughout this reimagined 1986 classic. The leading cast carries the production with their flawless arias and heart wrenching dramatics. Katie Travis, as Christine Daaé, introduces the leading lady with a vocal brightness which contrasts the iconic work of predecessors Sarah Brightman and Sierra Boggess.

“When everything dropped away and all there was was the music. That was the best.” Jersey Boys brings to Madison a raw portrayal of the pursuit of success, family, and (of course) the iconic music of The Four Seasons. Photo: Jeremy Daniel The actors stepping into the shoes of these Rock and Roll Hall of Famers live up to and exceed expectations. Aaron De Jesus, playing frontman Frankie Valli, embodies 30 years of character development in a matter of hours onstage. De Jesus tr

When an escape artist has to say a prayer before getting locked into a Houdini-style restraining apparatus, theatergoers know The Illusionists is the real deal. When a sleight-of-hand magician brings a shotgun and a bloody rag onstage, theatergoers regret bringing their families. The Illusionists, hitting Madison this week, is marketed as a series of “stunning acts of grand illusion, levitation, mind-reading, disappearance and, for the first time ever in history, a full view

“That man, a world leader? But he appears to have a heart, mind, and soul!” Not how a blushing bride of the 17th century is expected to address her prince and future lover… But in Madison this week, it is. Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella takes a Disney classic and turns it upside down and inside out. The tale of a sweet, mild-mannered peasant marrying a stately, noble prince is far from the story being told at the Overture Center. Instead, an empowered, compassionate woman