Justin's Theatre Reviews

        Last night on January 29 2015, I attended the final dress rehearsal of "Carrie the Musical" at the UTEP Dinner Theatre.  Overall, it was a fantastic production. It was my first time seeing "Carrie" ever and I wasn't really familiar with the story or music. While the show itself had some problems, the production quality was amazing and the show was cast almost flawlessly.         Lauren Pena played the role of Carrie. She is an excellent actress and  has an excellent voice. She portrayed the role very well and has a strong stage prescence. In, the role of Margaret White, Carrie's crazy religious mother was played by Selena Stair. The one problem I had with Stair is that I feel like she could have been old enough to be Pena's grandmother. Other than that, she did fine.        Jordyn Catanach played the role of Chris, the true "mean girl" of the show. She was wonderful and I foun...

          Last night, I attended a performance of the current national tour of "CHICAGO".           It was phenomenal. I enjoyed every second of it. It was unlike anything I've ever seen before.    Everything about this show is amazing. The score, the book, the cast, the orchestra...everything.         Bianca Marroquin as Roxie: She is a STAR. She seemed to be giving the performance of her life. Her voice and acting shined. She has excellent comedic timing and is very likeable. I want to see her do way more.       Terra MacLeod was Velma, She was excellent. She sings like an angel. At the end of "All That Jazz" she sang it higher than its usually sung and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I just love fierce belters like her in general. APPLAUSE     Jeff McCarthy as Billy Flynn: TERRY! TERRY! TE...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! Today I attended the first showing of opening day of Disney's new film "Into the Woods" Which as you well may know is the film version of the original Sondheim/Lapine  musical.        Being a huge fan of the original stage show, I was very excited to see what Disney did with the piece. I was not disappointed. Despite a few problems, They did justice to the original show.  I'm going to start off with the cast:   Meryl Streep as the Witch: She did great. She made the role her own. Her singing voice has definitely improved since "Mamma Mia" and she acted the heck out of the part . She did way better than I thought she would . Her strongest songs were "Stay With Me" and "The Last Midnight". Her weakest song was the rap she does in the prologue.  She will definitely get an Oscar nomination.    James Corden does a well job as the Baker. He had strong acting skills and an excellent set of pipes. I can ...

   Last night, December 9 2014. I attended a performance of the current national tour of "Disney's Beauty and the Beast."                 This show is Disney at it's best. First of all, "Beauty and the Beast" is my favorite Disney film and this was my second time seeing this production.        The entire show was beautiful and stunning. There are absolutely no flaws in this production.        Jillian Butterfield perfectly played the role of Belle (my favorite Disney Princess) Her voice rung throughout the theatre. She was Belle. She sang that score so perfectly and acted the heck out of the role. She is up there with Paige o' Hara and Susan Egan in this role. I can't wait to see her do so much more.    Ryan Everett Wood portrayed the role of the Beast. His portrayal of this role was wonderful. I very much enjoyed the chemistry between him and Butterfield a...

    This is all I have to say....PERFECTION.           "Peter Pan Live" is quite possibly one of the greatest things ever to be shown on television.        Despite a few hiccups with the camera and sound, The entire thing was just phenomenal.   Alison Williams was obviously born to play the role of Peter Pan. Strong acting skills,  a great voice. This is what I call a casting from the heavens.  Her voice was just amazing. Her portrayal of the role is absolutely perfect. She lived up to the talents of Mary Martin and Cathy Rigby. She didn't sing from her mouth...She sang from her heart. Flawless just flawless.    Christopher Walken was an interesting Captain Hook. I've just never seen the role portrayed that way. A very intriguing casting choice. His voice was good. Not something I'd go crazy over. He also did an okay job with his acting.    Ok now...TAYLOR LOUDERMAN as Wendy! YES! ...