All stories by Brittani Samuel on BroadwayStars

Saturday, April 27, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘Illinoise’ is a rapturous album tenderly brought to life by Brittani Samuel

Director-choreographer Justin Peck’s unique dance-theater-concert hybrid is a commendable, imaginative rendering of Sufjan Stevens’ concept album.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 12:54AM
Friday, April 26, 2024

The Broadway Review:  With ‘The Great Gatsby,’ a production that’s more pyrite than treasure by Brittani Samuel

Director Marc Bruni mounts a sumptuous musical adaptation of the American classic that represents how dazzling theater can look, but now how impactful it can be.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 02:54AM

The Broadway Review: ‘Mother Play’ — Paula Vogel’s mother of a memory play by Brittani Samuel

Vogel’s nuanced exploration of her own family sets the stage for a profound and humorous new American play. 

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 12:34AM
Thursday, April 25, 2024

The Broadway Review: An amorphous ‘Uncle Vanya’ straddles different times and genres by Brittani Samuel

Heidi Schreck pens a comedy-bolstered but disorienting translation of Chekhov’s seminal play.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 01:14AM
Wednesday, April 24, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘Mary Jane’ — a heart-shattering drama that puts care at its core by Brittani Samuel

Amy Herzog’s play about a mother and her ill son is an expertly-crafted exploration of allegiance and love.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 12:00AM
Monday, April 22, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘The Heart of Rock and Roll’ is a greatest-hits album of Broadway cliches by Brittani Samuel

Jonathan A. Abrams’s offering is a rote but still rollickin’ musical scored to Huey Lewis and the News’ nostalgia-inducing discography. 

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 11:40PM

The Broadway Review: ‘Patriots’ is a bullish new play that doesn’t reach its epic ambitions by Brittani Samuel

In Peter Morgan’s latest, cartoonish versions of the red-blooded Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky and his political puppet, Vladimir Putin, go head-to-head.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 10:35PM

The Broadway Review: ‘Cabaret’ a carnal, queer hotbed of thrills by Brittani Samuel

Director Rebecca Frecknall’s creepy interpretation of the legendary classic pulls you in with fantasy, then crushes you with reality.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 01:00AM
Sunday, April 21, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ — A charming new musical told through bright eyes and big songs by Brittani Samuel

Alicia Keys’ new musical, freshly transferred from the Public Theater, is an adoring snapshot of young love and longing in ’90s New York.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 02:11AM
Saturday, April 20, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘Stereophonic’ is a strum of genius by Brittani Samuel

Naturalism has never looked or sounded as good as it does in David Adjmi’s ’70s-set, soft rock drama.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 10:41AM
Friday, April 19, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘Suffs’ is a sleek account of feminist history that’s liberating — but not just — for all by Brittani Samuel

Shaina Taub makes a strong Broadway debut as the writer, composer and lyricist of this new American musical.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 02:49AM
Monday, April 15, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘Lempicka’ is a seductive unpolished musical about a groundbreaking Polish painter by Brittani Samuel

Co-writers Carson Kreitzer and Matt Gould color outside the traditional lines, but are backed by enough talent to render a captivating portrait. 

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 12:47AM
Friday, April 12, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘The Outsiders,’ A rival-gang story void of any risk by Brittani Samuel

The Broadway adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s bestselling novel is a tame rendering of the American novel.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 01:07AM
Friday, March 29, 2024

‘Bathhouse.pptx’ Review: A Fever Dream, Both Poetic and Mystifying by Brittani Samuel

Jesús I. Valles’s prizewinning play gets a stage at the Flea, but the ambitious work about queer history proves too difficult to wrangle.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:12PM

‘The Who’s Tommy’: Maximum hertz, maximum heart by Brittani Samuel

Director Des McAnuff’s high-frequency revival pushes Broadway’s boundaries and possibly, its sound barriers.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 03:01AM
Friday, March 22, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘Water for Elephants’ explores familiar territory through novel theatrics by Brittani Samuel

Director Jessica Stone pitches an exciting circus tent on conventional musical theater grounds.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 08:30AM
Tuesday, March 19, 2024

The Broadway Review: In ‘Enemy of the People,’ a script brilliant as ever but a production begging for more bite by Brittani Samuel

Playwright Amy Herzog modernizes Ibsen’s original play while director Sam Gold pacifies it.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 02:35AM
Friday, March 15, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘The Notebook,’ a swoonful new musical that conjures its former selves by Brittani Samuel

The theatrical adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ landmark novel keeps audiences laughing through the love and weeping through the grief.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 08:49AM
Friday, March 8, 2024

The Broadway Review: Under Scott Ellis’ direction, ‘Doubt’ is missing a tonal pulse by Brittani Samuel

Ellis’ staging of this tense drama begs for more traction, energy and, ultimately, direction.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 09:08AM
Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Camille A. Brown Is Bringing '90s New York Back to Broadway in Hell's Kitchen by Brittani Samuel

The choreographer used to dance on her way to school. Now she's bringing those same movements to the new Alicia Keys musical.

SOURCE: Playbill at 11:42AM
Monday, January 29, 2024

The Broadway Review: In ‘Days of Wine and Roses,’ bottomless booze and underbaked romance by Brittani Samuel

The new musical from “Light in the Piazza” creators Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas is a shallow exploration of intoxicating love.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 12:01AM
Friday, January 26, 2024

‘Zoomers’ Review: Just Don’t Kill the Vibes by Brittani Samuel

Gen Z’s reputation for conflict avoidance, and the way digital media abets it, is a recurring theme in the latest by the “Dimes Square” playwright Matthew Gasda.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:06AM
Wednesday, January 10, 2024

The Broadway Review: In the stately family epic ‘Prayer for the French Republic,’ history has some explaining to do by Brittani Samuel

Joshua Harmon’s mature, time-sweeping drama traces a French Jewish family’s decades-long search for an impregnable place to call home.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 09:28AM
Tuesday, December 19, 2023

The Broadway Review: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ ‘Appropriate’ is a paragon of Southern drama by Brittani Samuel

A relentless probe into the wickedness of one family’s history and the intoxication of their ignorance. 

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 07:50AM
Friday, December 15, 2023

Theater Review: In ‘White Gold,’ Rice Is a Sacred Starch by Brittani Samuel

The family-friendly circus troupe Phare highlights the richness of Cambodian culture with gravity-defying acrobatics, Indigenous music and rousing choreography.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:02AM
Monday, December 11, 2023

The Broadway Review: ‘How to Dance in Ohio’ is unable to resist relatability by Brittani Samuel

The heartwarming new Broadway musical offers insight into seven autistic young adults’ pursuit of self-determination.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 09:06AM
Friday, November 17, 2023

‘Arcadia’ Review: Artistic Ambition Gets Thrown Into Chaos by Brittani Samuel

Bedlam’s revival of Tom Stoppard’s time-traveling mind-bender of a play is a meditation on uncertainty.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:54PM

The Broadway Review: Monty Python’s ‘Spamalot’ serves broad hilarity at breakneck speed by Brittani Samuel

Goofiness is at an all-time high in director Josh Rhodes’ iteration of the time-cherished musical comedy.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 08:51AM
Tuesday, November 14, 2023

The Broadway Review: Broadway’s ‘Harmony,’ traditional but still on time by Brittani Samuel

Bruce Sussman and Barry Manilow’s conventional new musical does a rudimentary but essential job of reviving a dead historical act.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 09:40AM
Friday, November 3, 2023

The Broadway Review: In ‘I Need That,’ a home cluttered with rubbish and a play void of resonance by Brittani Samuel

Theresa Rebeck’s latest theatrical venture is one of her limpest — a frustratingly monotone, predictable and seasonless dose of comfort theater.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 07:50AM
Monday, October 30, 2023

How Savion Glover and Tony Goldwyn Are Creating a New Pal Joey by Brittani Samuel

In this new version of the classic Rodgers and Hart musical, Joey is now a Black nightclub singer played by Ephraim Sykes.

SOURCE: Playbill at 02:07PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards