All stories by Brittani Samuel on BroadwayStars

Monday, April 28, 2025

The Broadway Review: Broadway’s ‘Real Women Have Curves’ is more jubilant, less jagged than its source by Brittani Samuel

Sergio Trujillo architects a vivacious staging of the beacon Mexican mother-daughter story.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 02:51AM

The Broadway Review: ‘Dead Outlaw’ makes beautiful music in the dark by Brittani Samuel

A powerhouse creative team orchestrates a stunning, one-of-a-kind musical about an extraordinarily strange human story.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 02:36AM
Friday, April 25, 2025

The Broadway Review: ‘Pirates! The Penzance Musical’ needs to trust in stupid by Brittani Samuel

Rupert Holmes’ carnivalist revision of Gilbert and Sullivan’s patter-filled comic opera undercuts its own funny.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 02:42AM
Wednesday, April 23, 2025

The Broadway Review: ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ is jaw-dropping science fiction with soul by Brittani Samuel

Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin orchestrate an unforgettable, high-octane stage prequel to the knockout Netflix series.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 02:22AM
Tuesday, April 22, 2025

The Broadway Review: In ‘Floyd Collins,’ a truth stranger and scarier than fiction by Brittani Samuel

Tina Landau leads a stately, musically ambitious production of her and co-creator Adam Guettel’s doozy of a cave-digging musical.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 01:01AM
Tuesday, April 15, 2025

The Broadway Review: ‘John Proctor is the Villain’ humbles a canonical hero by Brittani Samuel

Kimberly Belflower’s richly textured dark comedy is a funny yet sobering wrestle with Arthur Miller’s classic.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 01:22AM
Friday, April 11, 2025

The Broadway Review: ‘Smash’ is a painfully unfunny farce by Brittani Samuel

The inevitable Broadway adaptation of the backstage television drama suffers from a poor script, flat characters and performative progressivism.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 12:40AM
Tuesday, April 8, 2025

The Broadway Review: ‘Boop! The Musical’ is a big Broadway joy bomb by Brittani Samuel

The new musical isn’t original, but excites nonetheless with glittering stagecraft and a knockout star.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 01:18AM
Monday, April 7, 2025

The Broadway Review: ‘The Last Five Years’ is a romance that lacks connection by Brittani Samuel

The first Broadway production of Jason Robert Brown’s slender, sublime musical falters from uneven casting.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 01:23AM
Friday, April 4, 2025

The Broadway Review: ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’ is a straightforward retelling of its source material by Brittani Samuel

A controlled George Clooney steadily leads the ensemble of this digital-heavy dramatization of the Murrow-McCarthy debate.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 01:58AM
Tuesday, April 1, 2025

The Broadway Review: ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ won’t sell first-timers on Mamet by Brittani Samuel

The third Broadway revival of the dismal real estate drama serves up functional stagecraft and well-executed performances, but can’t locate its purpose.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 01:06AM
Friday, March 28, 2025

The Broadway Review: ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ is a queer requiem for Oscar Wilde by Brittani Samuel

Sarah Snook is a masterful shapeshifter in this triumphant one-woman adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s once-salacious morality tale. 

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 12:54AM
Monday, March 24, 2025

The Broadway Review: A well-acted ‘Othello’ flounders in a murky pool of direction by Brittani Samuel

Starry performances can’t fully salvage director Kenny Leon’s indeterminate production of the Shakespearean tragedy.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 01:40AM
Friday, March 21, 2025

The Broadway Review: ‘Operation Mincemeat’ is a gleeful, MI5-inspired romp by Brittani Samuel

British comedy troupe SpitLip brings a creative spoof of an implausible military operation to Broadway.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 12:50AM
Thursday, March 20, 2025

The Broadway Review: ‘Buena Vista Social Club’ brings ebullient trova music to Broadway but leaves history behind by Brittani Samuel

Marco Ramirez’s musical — a transfer from Off-Broadway — skims over pre- and post-Revolution Cuban life, but vividly displays what came of it: incredible music.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 12:41AM
Tuesday, March 18, 2025

The Broadway Review: ‘Purpose’ investigates the messy men and women who become monuments by Brittani Samuel

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ terrific new contemporary drama is an intimate look into an influential political family’s behind-closed-doors behavior.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 12:46AM
Friday, February 14, 2025

The Broadway Review: ‘Redwood’ is a good-natured but mundane musical by Brittani Samuel

The Idina Menzel-fueled contemporary musical is a bluff take on grief, bolstered by technology.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 01:01AM
Thursday, January 23, 2025

The Broadway Review: ‘English’ beautifully reflects on the frustration of being misunderstood by Brittani Samuel

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Sanaz Toossi makes her Broadway debut with this smart and sensitive cross-lingual dramatic comedy. 

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 11:35PM
Monday, December 30, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘All In: Comedy About Love’ is the safest comedy special around by Brittani Samuel

A John Mulaney-led crew of swanky comedic talent brings several of Simon Rich’s tidy, funny stories to Broadway. 

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 04:50PM
Friday, December 20, 2024

The Broadway Review: A ‘Gypsy’ completely beholden to its beaming star by Brittani Samuel

Audra McDonald’s historic turn as the thorny Mama Rose unveils a deeper tragedy of the esteemed character.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 08:30AM
Thursday, December 12, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘Cult of Love’ could use a leader by Brittani Samuel

Leslye Headland’s go at living-room drama is Broadway’s latest conventional bowl of familial mush.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 11:59PM
Thursday, November 21, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘Death Becomes Her’ slays by Brittani Samuel

Director Christopher Gattelli’s production of the musical black comedy is an instant hit, dazzling audiences with lush creative design and enchanting leads.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 11:57PM
Wednesday, November 20, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘Swept Away’ — A boating disaster set to bluegrass by Brittani Samuel

A new musical weds intimate direction with records from the Avett Brothers’ oeuvre to tell a sweeping, but sleepy, tale about men lost at sea.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 12:25AM
Monday, November 18, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘Elf’ — The beloved film wrapped up in a serviceable Broadway bow by Brittani Samuel

Grey Henson leads a cheerful cast in this sugary revival of the Christmas classic.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 01:10AM
Friday, November 15, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘Tammy Faye’ underplays Tammy Faye by Brittani Samuel

A retro-style musical uses original songs from Elton John to tell an unfocused story about one of America’s most infamous television couples. 

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 04:25AM
Tuesday, November 12, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘Maybe Happy Ending’ is assuredly enchanting by Brittani Samuel

Will Aronson and Hue Park’s adorable show, imported from South Korea, is a golden example of impactful, engaging, original musical theater.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 10:36PM

The Broadway Review: ‘A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical’ keeps the rhythm, cuts the rigor by Brittani Samuel

The jazz-fueled new musical breaks the legendary artist’s life down into four, overly neat beats, anchored by four wives. 

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 12:09AM
Friday, October 25, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘Romeo + Juliet’: a trendy take on a timeless story by Brittani Samuel

Sam Gold directs a revival of Shakespeare’s tragedy that leverages the popular fashions and ethics of today.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 12:41AM
Thursday, October 24, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘Left on Tenth’ never leaves the page by Brittani Samuel

The thrill-free theatrical mounting of Delia Ephron’s memoir is a disappointing regurgitation of its source material. 

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 12:17AM
Wednesday, October 23, 2024

‘Franklinland’ Review: A Founding Father, but Not the Best Dad by Brittani Samuel

Lloyd Suh’s nimble period comedy about Benjamin Franklin examines a timeless struggle: the unmet expectations that divide parents and children.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:24AM
Monday, October 21, 2024

The Broadway Review: A brutalist ‘Sunset Boulevard’ sets Broadway ablaze by Brittani Samuel

Jamie Lloyd’s remarkable staging is a defining new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s mid-century-set musical.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 08:00AM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Nov 17, 2024: Elf - Marquis Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre