In heeding the advice mentor Lester Bangs gives young music journalist William Miller, the following comments will be “honest and unmerciful.” Fans of the movie “Almost Famous” released twenty-two years ago may have mixed feelings about the musical stage version now playing on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. On the one hand, book writer Cameron Crowe has religiously…
The new musical “The Visitor,” now playing at the Public’s Newman Theater, is based on the 2007 film sharing the same title, with a book by Kwame Kwei-Armah and Brian Yorkey, music by Tom Kitt and lyrics also by Mr. Yorkey. The story is the same but somehow confining it to the stage provides a better focus on the characters…
Walking into the Palace Theater to view the new musical extravaganza “SpongeBob SquarePants,” your senses are attacked by a barrage of Crayola colors, shimmering tinsel, happy music and an array of ornamental objects that appear as though Pee Wee Herman went overboard at Party City, shopping for a big beach bash. As you scrutinize the multifarious audience, there is a…