All stories by Charles McNulty on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Critic's Notebook: Star turns that serve the Broadway play — Elaine May, Daniel Radcliffe and Janet McTeer show how it's done by Charles McNulty

When it comes to playwriting, Broadway has a supply problem. Although the new generation of American dramatists is blazingly talented, the great majority of these writers prefer the creative…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:39AM
Friday, November 16, 2018

Review: In a Geffen Playhouse double bill, actor Brian Dennehy soars in O'Neill, survives in Beckett by Charles McNulty

Tony-winner Brian Dennehy stars in a double-bill of short works by Eugene O'Neill and Samuel Beckett

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:47PM

Review: In a Geffen Playhouse double bill, actor Brian Dennehy soars in O'Neill, survives in Beckett by Charles McNulty

Brian Dennehy needs no coddling from critics. A two-time Tony-winning heavyweight, he has nothing left to prove, having triumphed (through the blunt force of his acting) in Eugene O’Neill�…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:30PM
Monday, November 12, 2018

Review: Martyna Majok's Pulitzer-winning drama 'Cost of Living' has found an ideal home at Fountain Theatre by Charles McNulty

Review: 'Cost of Living': Martyna Majok's 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama brings an unflinching realism about the disabled and their caregivers to the Fountain Theatre.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:37PM

Review: Martyna Majok's Pulitzer-winning drama 'Cost of Living' has found an ideal home at Fountain Theatre by Charles McNulty

Two of the best productions this fall have happened at intimate theaters that are keeping up with the exciting developments in American playwriting. Earlier this season, Branden Jacobs-Jenki…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:35PM
Saturday, November 10, 2018

Review: Tony-winner Jefferson Mays, a virtuoso working solo, brings ‘A Christmas Carol’ back from the dead by Charles McNulty

Tony-winner Jefferson Mays single-handedly populates "Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol" at the Geffen Playhouse

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:00AM

Review: Tony-winner Jefferson Mays, a virtuoso working solo, brings 'A Christmas Carol' back from the dead by Charles McNulty

Charles Dickens has become so yawningly familiar through adaptations that it can be jolting to experience his storytelling genius directly from the fictional works themselves. No literary pr…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:00AM
Friday, November 9, 2018

Review: Luis Valdez's 'Valley of the Heart' shares an immigrant story from California's past by Charles McNulty

Luis Valdez's new play explores immigration and the reality of the American dream in a story set during World War II about two families, one of Japanese heritage, the other of Mexican.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00AM
Thursday, November 8, 2018

Review: 'King Kong,' a giant animatronic ape with soulful eyes, crashes down on Broadway by Charles McNulty

“King Kong,” the stage animal first seen wreaking havoc in Australia, has arrived on Broadway with a seismic thud and a thundering roar. Just how horrifying is the new show? It has turne…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:48PM

Review: 'King Kong,' a giant animatronic ape with soulful eyes, crashes down on Broadway by Charles McNulty

"King Kong,” the stage animal first seen wreaking havoc in Australia, has arrived on Broadway with a seismic thud and a thundering roar.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:00PM
Sunday, November 4, 2018

Review: 'American Son,' with Kerry Washington, is a painfully topical, if imperfect, Broadway drama by Charles McNulty

NEW YORK — The setting is uncertain in the opening moments of “American Son,” an acutely topical new Broadway drama by Christopher Demos-Brown. But it is clear from the intense perform…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:48PM

Review: 'American Son,' with Kerry Washington, is a painfully topical, if imperfect, Broadway drama by Charles McNulty

In 'American Son,' a raw Kerry Washington returns to Broadway as an anguished mother seeking answers from the police about her missing son . It's a painfully topical, if imperfect, drama

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:00PM
Thursday, November 1, 2018
Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Obie-winning playwright María Irene Fornés, a transformative off-Broadway figure, dies at 88 by Charles McNulty

María Irene Fornés, a pivotal figure in the off-off Broadway movement, wrote diverse and profoundly humane plays that should be part of the American canon.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:15PM
Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Review: Eliza Clark's new comedy 'Quack' takes the temperature of the feverish wellness industry by Charles McNulty

'Quack,' Eliza Clark's comedy having its world premiere at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, takes the temperature of the feverish wellness industry.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:43PM

Review: Eliza Clark's new comedy 'Quack' takes the temperature of the feverish wellness industry by Charles McNulty

“Quack,” the lively, irritating and ultimately chilling new comedy by Eliza Clark about a TV medical guru in the mode of Dr. Oz, skips the introductory pleasantries and plunges straight …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:40PM
Saturday, October 27, 2018

Review: In 'Vietgone,' East West Players takes audiences on the wild ride of Qui Nguyen's rambunctious drama about refugees in love by Charles McNulty

Qui Nguyen's touted drama about refugees who fall in love in 1970s America after fleeing the Vietnam war, arrives in Los Angeles in an East West Players production

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:00AM

Review: In 'Vietgone,' East West Players takes audiences on the wild ride of Qui Nguyen's rambunctious drama about refugees in love by Charles McNulty

Reencountering Qui Nguyen’s “Vietgone” in the new East West Players production, I am struck once again by the originality of the playwriting. A quick synopsis of the play might yield t…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:00AM
Friday, October 26, 2018

Perspective: Why political pundits give drama critics a bad name - Los Angeles Times by Charles McNulty

Political pundits have long been giving drama critics a bad name. Inevitably, in the run-up to an election, some op-ed columnist will make a crack comparing recent political coverage to thea…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:59AM

Perspective: Why political pundits give drama critics a bad name by Charles McNulty

A critic's plan to rescue democracy, reclaim the power of theater and cast young artists as the leads in an extravaganza that turns voting into an act of performance.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:00AM

Perspective: Why political pundits give drama critics a bad name by Charles McNulty

Political pundits have long been giving drama critics a bad name. Inevitably, in the run-up to an election, some op-ed columnist will make a crack comparing recent political coverage to thea…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:00AM
Sunday, October 21, 2018

Review: A social media star is born in 'Dear Evan Hansen,' as the hit Broadway musical arrives in L.A. in tip-top form by Charles McNulty

There are many reasons “Dear Evan Hansen,” the Tony-winning musical that more than lived up to expectations at its glorious opening Friday at the Ahmanson Theatre, has become a cultural …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 05:33PM

Review: A social media star is born in 'Dear Evan Hansen,' as the hit Broadway musical arrives in L.A. in tip-top form by Charles McNulty

'Dear Evan Hansen,' the Tony-winning musical about a high school outcast who become a hero under false pretenses, arrives at the Ahmanson Theatre with Ben Levi Ross in the title role

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:51PM
Friday, October 19, 2018

Review: A shave and a haircut — and bonding time for African-heritage men in 'Barber Shop Chronicles' at Freud Playhouse by Charles McNulty

The critically acclaimed play by Nigerian playwright and poet Inua Ellams leaps from a barbershop in London to Johannesburg, Harare, Kampala, Lagos and Accra, exploring the African immigrati…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:27PM

Review: A shave and a haircut — and bonding time for African-heritage men in 'Barber Shop Chronicles' at Freud Playhouse by Charles McNulty

“Barber Shop Chronicles” takes place in a series of barbershops, where men of African heritage gather for fellowship along with a trim in African countries still traumatized by coloniali…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:50AM
Monday, October 15, 2018

Review: Playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury daringly deconstructs the theater of black identity in 'Fairview' at Berkeley Rep by Charles McNulty

Jackie Sibblies Drury's drama, which riveted and riled New York audiences this summer at Soho Rep, sparks difficult conversations about race at Berkeley Rep.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:50PM

Review: Playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury daringly deconstructs the theater of black identity in 'Fairview' at Berkeley Rep by Charles McNulty

Something is intentionally askew about the opening scene of “Fairview,” Jackie Sibblies Drury’s blazingly inventive new play, which is now at Berkeley Rep after setting New York abuzz …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:45PM
Monday, October 8, 2018

Review: Tom Morton-Smith's drama 'Oppenheimer' dissects the conscience of the father of the atomic bomb by Charles McNulty

'Oppenheimer," Tom Morton-Smith's acclaimed play about "the father of the atomic bomb," has its American premiere courtesy of Rogue Machine Theatre.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:19PM

Review: Tom Morton-Smith's drama 'Oppenheimer' dissects the conscience of the father of the atomic bomb by Charles McNulty

The most gripping moments in “Oppenheimer,” the sprawling drama by British playwright Tom Morton-Smith about the man dubbed “the father of the atomic bomb,” are the brainstorming mee…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:15PM
Friday, October 5, 2018

'The Cake' returns to L.A., and Debra Jo Rupp is once again the icing by Charles McNulty

Bekah Brunstetter's "The Cake" returns to The Geffen Playhouse, a tasty confection to appeal to red and and blue state appetites alike.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00AM

Actors Lucas Hedges and Michael Cera share what it's like to be onstage with Elaine May by Charles McNulty

Charles McNulty talks with Lucas Hedges and Michael Cera about starring in the Kenneth Lonergan play "The Waverly Gallery," now in previews on Broadway with Elaine May and Joan Allen. Hedges…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00AM

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