Justin's Theatre Reviews

   It is so fun to go see shows that you already know you are going to love before entering the theatre. It's even better when the show exceeds your expectations and winds up being one of the best shows that you have seen. That is the experience I had when I saw the national tour of the hit Broadway musical, Come From Away . I have loved the show's cast album ever since it came out in 2017 and have been a huge fan of the show ever since. When I heard that I was going to be in the same area as the touring production of the show, I knew that I could not miss the show while I was there. So, off I went with my aunts and one of my cousins to see the show at the Connor Palace Theatre, which is a part of Playhouse Square in Cleveland, Ohio. The show went above and beyond what I thought it was going to be. I was so amazed by the heart of the story, the staging, the choreography, and the design of the entire show. It is absolutely one of the best shows that I have ever seen.  Wh...

  One of my favorite annual traditions is by far the American Theatre Wing's annual Tony Awards ceremony. I spend the entire year tracking the races and devoting my time to each of the new shows that opens on Broadway each season. I do not measure my year from January-December, but by Broadway season to Broadway season. This begins from the moment the first show of the season opens until the moment the annual Tony Awards ceremony ends. The 2018/2019 Broadway season ran through all of the types of shows. Some were good, some were bad, and some were even life affirming. I love the Tony Awards because not only do we get to honor all of our favorite shows and performers of the season, but we get to celebrate them through nominations, wins, and a wonderful show. This year, Hadestown led the pack, pulling in 8 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. They were followed by The Ferryman , who picked up 4 Tony Awards, including Best Play. Also winning big was the new revival of Rodgers and Hamm...

  I think that everyone was skeptical about Disney's newly released live action remake of their animated classic, Aladdin . In the days, weeks, and even months, leading up to the film's release, my Twitter feed was filled with, "I don't know about this film" and "This looks weird," every time a trailer was released. Personally, I never had strong feelings about any of the trailers one way or the other. I am automatically excited for just about anything that Disney or their adjacent studios release. I was less concerned with the quality of the trailers and more concerned with the fact that I have not liked quite a few of Disney's most recent releases. As a result of this, I was afraid that this new Aladdin was just going to add to the streak of disappointing Disney films from the past 6 months. I am happy to report that this was not the case. The new version of Aladdin is an incredibly satisfying film with a strong cast, visuals, soundtrack, and ener...

  It is always such a pleasure to go to the theatre just for the purpose of laughing. Although I have seen some wonderful productions within the past year or so, it has been awhile since I have seen a pure comedy where I had the opportunity to do nothing more than laugh my face off for a couple of hours. Luckily, the national tour of Something Rotten! allowed me to bask in the wonder of a well written musical comedy. Something Rotten! is a witty musical (with a book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell, and a score by Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick) about the Bottom Brothers, Nick and Nigel, who are struggling playwrights that are constantly overshadowed by the starlet of a playwright, William Shakespeare. Nick visits Thomas Nostradamus (Nostradumus' less in demand nephew) to find out what the next big trend in theatre will be, so he can get ahead of the game and dethrone Shakespeare of his high status in the world of theatre. Nostradamus tells Nick that some years down the lin...

    There is nothing sadder to me than having to sit through a production of one of your favorite shows that does not meet its full potential and winds up being rather disappointing in more ways than one. Unfortunately, I found this to be the case with the touring production of Evita that played at The Plaza Theatre in El Paso, Texas on March 9. Evita has been one of my favorite shows for years. I was in a production of this brilliant Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with the UTEP Dinner Theatre back in 2013 and I have been in love with the show ever since. I could sing the entire score for you right now if I wanted too. This touring production was the first time that I ever actually got to experience a live production of the show. The cast of this production was incredible and the show's writing remains simply impeccable. These two things allowed me to genuinely enjoy the show and not sit in misery for two hours. However, the production was so poorly directed an...

  Although the New York production of Kinky Boots is nearing the end of its Broadway run, a touring production of the show is still making its way across North America. Despite the fact that the show has been playing for over 5 years, I never got around to seeing it until this past Saturday night, when the tour played The Plaza Theatre in El Paso, Texas. The show certainly did not disappoint and very firmly justified their six Tony Awards (including Best Musical) and long run on Broadway. With a score by Cyndi Lauper and a book by Harvey Fierstein, Kinky Boots (based on the 2005 film of the same name) is a wonderful show about a man named Charlie Price (Connor Allston) whose father is the owner of a shoe company, known as Price and Son. After his father's sudden passing, Charlie inherits the shoe factory and upon discovering that the shoe factory is starting to go under, Charlie struggles to keep the shoe factory alive. After befriending a drag queen (Lola, played by understudy, J...

   Revisiting Jersey Boys was like visiting an old friend. I was excited to see this friend again, but when you began visiting you started to think that you do not have that much to talk about. You begin to wonder why you wanted to hang out with this person again in the first place, but the more time you spend together, the happier you are and the more you have to talk about. By the time you leave, you are more than thrilled that you visited this friend and you remember how much you love seeing them. Jersey Boys is that kind of a friend for me. Seeing the show for the third time (and first time since 2014) was a true nostalgia trip for me. Jersey Boys , which tells the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons' rise to fame, was actually one of the very first professionally done shows that I saw. I caught the show in Cleveland in 2011 and my parents LOVED it. I loved it too, but my mother especially loved it. To this day, it is one of the only musical cast albums that she...

  I don't know about the rest of you, but the annual live broadcasts of musicals on NBC and FOX have become a lovely tradition that I truly enjoy. Say what you will about the quality of some of the productions, but I simply find it thrilling that musical theatre is being broadcast into the homes of millions of people. I have actually liked all but two of the live musicals put on by either NBC or FOX. Despite those two productions, at no point did I ever wish for either networks to discontinue their live musicals because I think that they are incredibly necessary and do adequate jobs at bringing people into the world of musical theatre, even if it is only via their television screens. When FOX announced that they would be bringing Jonathan Larson's Rent to the small screen, I was excited and scared. I was excited that this great musical was going to receive yet another major screen adaptation (following the 2005 movie and the taped version of the final Broadway company), but sca...