All stories by Tim Dunleavy on BroadwayStars

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Review: ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ at the Walnut Street Theatre by Tim Dunleavy

The Walnut Street Theatre is doing The Importance of Being Earnest in high style. The Victorian era was noted for its excesses in decoration and costume, and Robert Koharchik’s set design…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:17PM
Monday, March 20, 2017

Review: ‘Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express’ at McCarter Theatre Center by Tim Dunleavy

One afternoon in 1979 or 1980, I saw Orson Welles on The Merv Griffin Show discussing his love of mystery stories. One of his favorites, he said, was Murder on the Orient Express. I was youn…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:40PM
Sunday, March 19, 2017

Review: ‘Coriolanus’ at Lantern Theater by Tim Dunleavy

Coriolanus is one of Shakespeare’s least-performed plays – probably because it doesn’t fit easily into any of the standard Shakespearean categories. It’s a tragedy, but one without t…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:09PM
Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Review: ‘John & Jen’ at The Eagle Theatre by Tim Dunleavy

Welcome to the world It’s such a funny place The people who you love the most Are also the ones Who make you cry I’m not sure why A girl sings these lines to her newborn brother in the o…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:33PM

Review: ‘The Miss Firecracker Contest’ at South Camden Theatre Company by Tim Dunleavy

Beth Henley stocks her plays with characters that are distinctive and outlandish, right down to their names. The Miss Firecracker Contest, her wily and witty comedy now being revived at Sout…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:07PM
Thursday, March 9, 2017

Review: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at Arden Theatre Company by Tim Dunleavy

In 1998, Arden Theatre Company opened their F. Otto Haas Stage with a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Widely considered one of William Shakespeare’s lightest and most accessible…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 09:47PM
Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Review: ‘Sh*theads’ at Azuka Theatre by Tim Dunleavy

The characters in Sh*theads don’t mind being called shitheads. True, that may not be a word you’d use in polite company… but these people aren’t polite company. They’re the employ…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 06:04PM
Saturday, February 25, 2017

Review: ‘Lost Girls’ at Theatre Exile by Tim Dunleavy

For Maggie, life has been, ever since childhood, one crisis after another. Now, as a winter storm is blanketing her New Hampshire hometown, several more crises have struck at once: her car h…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:14PM
Sunday, February 19, 2017

Review: ‘Mary Martello: Songs My Mother Taught Me’ at the Arden Theatre Cabaret Series by Tim Dunleavy

I’ve seen Mary Martello onstage more times than I can count. The 5-time Barrymore Award winner has played everyone from Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd to Queen Gertrude in Hamlet, from Abby B…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:59PM
Saturday, February 18, 2017

Music with a Mission: Interview with Last Chance, a Great American Musical Duo by Tim Dunleavy

Last Chance, Philadelphia’s much-talked-about musical duo of singer-songwriter Jack Scott (vocals, banjo, and guitar) and Ingrid Rosenback (vocals, fiddle, and harmonica), has been perform…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 06:34PM
Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Review: ‘Waiting for Godot’ at Curio Theatre Company by Tim Dunleavy

Waiting for Godot is generally considered a comedy. Samuel Beckett himself called this, his most famous play, a “tragicomedy.” But its reputation as an important, monumental piece of art…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:03AM
Friday, February 10, 2017

Review: ‘Grand Concourse’ at Theatre Horizon by Tim Dunleavy

Heidi Schreck’s fascinating play Grand Concourse is set in a church soup kitchen, among people who need a hand and those who help them. The play deals with poverty, but its biggest concern…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 04:16PM
Thursday, February 9, 2017

‘The Seagull’ at EgoPo Classic Theater by Tim Dunleavy

Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull is one of the most durable of all 19th century plays. But it’s a play that producers, directors, and playwrights love to tinker with. In the last few years, …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:04PM
Sunday, February 5, 2017

Review: ‘Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years’ at Philadelphia Theatre Company by Tim Dunleavy

Sadie and Bessie Delany were one of a kind. Well, two of a kind. When we meet these two sisters, it’s 1993; Sadie is 103 years old, and Bessie is 101. (They both lived a few more years, wi…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 06:46PM

Review: ‘Any Given Monday’ at the Stagecrafters Theater by Tim Dunleavy

“If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh. Otherwise they’ll kill you.” That quote, usually attributed to George Bernard Shaw, aptly describes Any Given Monday, a play by …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:38PM
Sunday, January 29, 2017

Review: ‘Marcus/Emma’ at InterAct Theatre Company by Tim Dunleavy

Marcus Garvey and Emma Goldman were known for their stirring, provocative speeches. But I doubt that, in any of her speeches, Goldman ever said anything as provocative as “Solidarity is se…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:27PM
Friday, January 27, 2017

Review: Bedlam: ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Saint Joan’ at McCarter Theatre Center by Tim Dunleavy

There’s nothing extravagant about the two shows playing at the McCarter Theatre. Both are presented on a stage stripped to its bare essentials: we can see all the way back to the building…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:55AM
Sunday, January 22, 2017

Review: ‘Constellations’ at The Wilma Theater by Tim Dunleavy

In Constellations, what happens is just as important as what might have happened. Nick Payne’s play concerns two young people who meet, fall in love, quarrel, break up, reunite, get engage…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 06:22PM
Saturday, January 21, 2017

Review: ‘Informed Consent’ at Lantern Theater Company by Tim Dunleavy

Jillian, the main character of Deborah Zoe Laufer’s play Informed Consent, is a genetic anthropologist – a scientist who has studied DNA for years and is still amazed at what she learns …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 01:08PM
Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Review: ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Part 2’ at Hedgerow Theatre by Tim Dunleavy

By combining Isaac Asimov-style science fiction with Monty Python-style silliness, Douglas Adams created a whole new genre. It paid off very handsomely for Adams: His most famous work, The H…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:51AM
Monday, December 19, 2016

Review: ‘Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some)’ at Casabeuna Cultural Productions by Tim Dunleavy

Who doesn’t love a good Christmas story? In fact, who doesn’t love every good Christmas story? A quartet of rambunctious performers tries to cover all bases, and lovingly satirize all �…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:32AM
Saturday, December 17, 2016

Review: The Twelve Dancing Princesses’ at Camden Repertory Theatre by Tim Dunleavy

The Twelve Dancing Princesses, an original musical being presented by Camden Rep, teaches its young audience lessons about love, strength, forgiveness, and family ties. It also has a peppy s…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:43PM
Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Review: ‘Murder for Two: Holiday Edition’ at Bucks County Playhouse by Tim Dunleavy

When I found out that the creators of the musical comedy Murder for Two were premiering a special Christmas-themed version at Bucks County Playhouse, I was intrigued. After all, the show has…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:07PM
Sunday, December 11, 2016

Review: The Arden Cabaret Series: ‘Tell Me A Story: ’Tis the Season’ at the Arden Theatre by Tim Dunleavy

Since its introduction last season, the Arden Theatre’s cabaret season has provided a dependable stream of the city’s best performers providing old songs, new songs, and comedy. But the …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:58PM
Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Review: ‘School of Rock’ at Cherry Hill High School West by Tim Dunleavy

Back when I was in high school, we didn’t do musicals where the songs had titles like “Stick It to the Man.” (I don’t think our principal would have allowed it!) But now Cherry Hill …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:53PM
Monday, December 5, 2016

Review: ‘Mary Poppins’ at the Players Club of Swarthmore by Tim Dunleavy

The Players Club of Swarthmore’s new production of Mary Poppins may surprise some devoted fans of the movie. This stage adaptation, which had a successful run on Broadway a decade ago, isn…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:59AM
Saturday, December 3, 2016

Review: ‘Seuls’ at The Wilma Theater by Tim Dunleavy

In the opening moments of Seuls, Wajdi Mouawad takes to the stage wearing only black briefs and eyeglasses. The purpose of the show we’re about to see, he informs the audience, is to exami…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 07:48PM
Sunday, November 20, 2016

‘Found’ at Philadelphia Theatre Company by Tim Dunleavy

They say people don’t write letters anymore, but I don’t think that’s true. So says the leading character in the opening moments of Found, an offbeat comic musical that puts as much em…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:54AM
Saturday, November 19, 2016

Review: ‘A Christmas Story: The Musical’ at The Media Theatre by Tim Dunleavy

A Christmas Story: The Musical was a breath of fresh air when it debuted on Broadway four seasons ago. Based on the 1983 movie that’s become a television perennial, it retained a great dea…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:32PM
Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Review: ‘Dublin by Lamplight’ at Inis Nua Theatre Company by Tim Dunleavy

The founding of The Abbey Theatre in 1904 was one of the pivotal events in Irish history. The Abbey championed the perspective of Irish playwrights and actors, and its founding was the momen…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:23AM
Friday, November 11, 2016

Review: ‘Buyer & Cellar’ at Bucks County Playhouse by Tim Dunleavy

Say what you will about Barbra Streisand – whether you love her massive talent or ego, or not, you have to admit there’s no one else like her. And few people can say that with as much au…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:35PM

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