All stories by Jacob Malizio on BroadwayStars

Monday, November 10, 2025

The Queen of Versailles by Jacob Malizio

The post The Queen of Versailles appeared first on Did They Like It?.

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 01:04AM

In ‘The Queen of Versailles,’ Kristin Chenoweth Can’t Get Enough by Jacob Malizio

And Chenoweth is a wonder, sounding a little bit country whenever Jackie is most herself, as in “Each and Every Day,” a love song to the infant Victoria; taking her high notes out for a …

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 01:02AM

THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES Doesn’t Quite Reign Over Broadway by Jacob Malizio

Saddled with an unmemorable score by Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin) and a confused book by Lindsey Ferrentino (Amy and the Orphans), Versailles glides by as bland bio-musical for much of …

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The Queen of Versailles, Kristin Chenoweth in the Big House by Jacob Malizio

This A-list team has been able to create some genuinely arresting moments, but they are fleeting in a busy show that still doesn’t quite know what story it wants to tell. It’s like a hou…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 01:02AM

Gilt or Guilt? The Queen of Versailles Can’t Decide by Jacob Malizio

There is a two-hour-and-40-minute luxury-car crash happening at the St. James Theatre. If I were the litigious type, I’d be trying to figure out how to sue for whiplash. Instead, here I am…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 01:02AM

Kristin Chenoweth’s Electric Performance Can’t Save this Overly Ambitious Slog by Jacob Malizio

The performances, including a megatallented ensemble, are also excellent. As expected, Chenoweth is a force, and though Jackie isn’t really a “likable” figure, the Emmy Award winner dr…

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Kristin Chenoweth holds court in Stephen Schwartz’s new musical. by Jacob Malizio

Like the 90,000–square-foot, $100-million palace that the Siegels are determined to build for themselves in Orlando, The Queen of Versailles is nothing if not ambitious. But like that same…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 01:02AM

Kristin Chenoweth returns to Broadway in a dire musical that needs a wrecking ball by Jacob Malizio

I hoped the tag-team of Chenoweth and Arden would have magic to do. No such luck. The actress is a theatrical force, as everybody knows, but Simone Biles can’t do a back handspring on a to…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 01:02AM

A Broadway musical as empty as the mansion it portrays by Jacob Malizio

Much like the ill-fated Tammy Faye from last year, Versailles (directed by Michael Arden) toggles between different modus operandi — in this case, campy comedic sendup, surface level socia…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 01:01AM

Kristin Chenoweth’s Return to Broadway Is an Ostentatious Mess by Jacob Malizio

But The Queen of Versailles isn’t camp. It’s cheap tat, queasy spectacle, grubby glitz. It doesn’t burrow beneath its surface wealth to ask anything of substance. The post Kristin Chen…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 01:01AM
Thursday, October 30, 2025

Little Bear Ridge Road by Jacob Malizio

Set on the remote edge of a small Idaho town, LITTLE BEAR RIDGE ROAD centers on a razor-tongued aunt and her long-estranged nephew who find themselves suddenly back in each other’s lives �…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:48PM

Laurie Metcalf Is Riveting in ‘Little Bear Ridge Road’ by Jacob Malizio

As played by a glorious Laurie Metcalf in Samuel D. Hunter’s keen-eyed, compassionate play “Little Bear Ridge Road,” which opened on Thursday night at the Booth Theater, she is also on…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:47PM

Little Bear Ridge Road, Samuel D. Hunter’s Must-See Broadway Debut by Jacob Malizio

Little Bear Ridge Road is a quietly triumphant debut for Hunter, an American playwright who sees the country we truly inhabit, rather than the one we like to imagine we do. The post Little B…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:47PM

Laurie Metcalf Shines in a Flawed but Fascinating COVID Story by Jacob Malizio

Moments of big emotion in “Little Bear Ridge Road” don’t fall flat, exactly, but they don’t play to Hunter’s strengths as a writer; he’s better in small, askew gestures. The post…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:47PM

A Towering Laurie Metcalf Unsettles—and Dazzles—in ‘Little Bear Ridge’ by Jacob Malizio

Little Bear Ridge Road, which runs about 95 minutes (with no intermission), serves as a showcase and masterclass of Metcalf’s acting abilities and command of the stage. Over and over again…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:47PM

You Won’t Take Your Eyes Off Laurie Metcalf in Little Bear Ridge Road by Jacob Malizio

In Little Bear Ridge Road, Metcalf racks up the hits with ease, though the production feels more like watching home run derby than a full game. I couldn’t escape the nagging sensation, as …

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:47PM

Laurie Metcalf Is Our Greatest Curmudgeon Who Delights by Jacob Malizio

The Orion’s Belt comments prefigure all sorts of big discussions to come about cancer and meth addiction and child abuse. They are the same tropes that other, lesser playwrights stick in t…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:47PM

Laurie Metcalf and Micah Stock star in Samuel D. Hunter’s gorgeous new play. by Jacob Malizio

This production, directed with superb acerbity by Joe Mantello, marks the playwright’s overdue Broadway debut, and it doesn’t disappoint. The play is a multifaceted gem, exquisitely shap…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:47PM

Small Lives, Writ Large by Jacob Malizio

Hunter is a master at creating these types of indelibly flawed characters, and his sensitive writing is beautifully complemented by Joe Mantello’s typically precise direction and the super…

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Destination Uncertain by Jacob Malizio

Now that I am done telling friends to grab tickets to Little Bear Ridge Road, let’s tell you about Samuel D. Hunter’s latest drama, which opened on Thursday at the Booth Theatre. Little …

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:47PM
Tuesday, October 28, 2025

Liberation by Jacob Malizio

1970s, Ohio. Lizzie gathers a group of women to talk about changing their lives, and the world. What follows is a necessary, messy, and bitingly funny exploration of what it means to be free…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:48PM

A Tony-Worthy Ensemble Plotting Revolution by Jacob Malizio

If there is a show that can make the case for a Tony Award for best ensemble, it’s this one. White directs the actors like a conductor leading an orchestra: Each one gets to shine in at le…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:48PM

The Time Is Right for Bess Wohl’s Liberation on Broadway by Jacob Malizio

Since seeing it earlier this year, I’ve found myself mentally comparing everything else onstage to Liberation, and frankly, not many other shows compare. Liberation is a must see. The post…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:48PM

Re-Encountering Liberation on Broadway by Jacob Malizio

Both times I’ve seen the play—Off Broadway this spring, now returning in a larger space on Broadway—I’ve felt unprepared for the emotional wallop it lands, the way that Wohl’s work…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:48PM

An Impressive Memory Play That Delivers a Fresh and Frank Take on the Women’s Rights Movement by Jacob Malizio

“Liberation” is a brilliant, well-acted, and sobering account of the women’s rights movement, complicity, and the lens through which we view our caretakers — namely, our mothers. The…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:47PM

Women in Search of Answers Gather for the Year’s Best Play by Jacob Malizio

When Bess Wohl’s “Liberation” opened Off Broadway all the way back in February, it would have been ridiculous to grace it with best-of superlatives. Now that “Liberation” has opene…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:47PM

Bess Wohl’s feminist drama keeps the conversation going. by Jacob Malizio

Whitney White’s direction elicits a triumph of ensemble acting whose equipoise is a perfect realization of the play’s own themes. The actors work so well together, and so unselfishly, th…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:47PM

Bess Wohl’s new Broadway play highlights how the times, they aren’t a-changin’ by Jacob Malizio

While Wohl’s script is packed to the brim with thoughtful moments of beauty, comedy, and heartbreak, Liberation wouldn’t be nearly as affecting and, sadly, relatable without its stellar …

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:47PM

An essential, tour-de-force memory play by Jacob Malizio

There is something different about Liberation’s Broadway production. Bess Wohl’s play still features the same tight ensemble as in its Off-Broadway premiere earlier this year, and it is …

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:47PM

Fiery and funny show brings 70s feminism to Broadway by Jacob Malizio

Liberation, which premiered off-Broadway earlier this year, is a welcome original play on Broadway that relies not on marquee Hollywood names for buzz but a slate of strong performances, whi…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:47PM
Thursday, October 16, 2025

Ragtime by Jacob Malizio

RAGTIME is a sweeping musical adaptation of E.L. Doctorow’s novel that follows three fictional families in pursuit of the American Dream at the dawn of the 20th Century: Black pianist Coal…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:55PM

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