Azuka Theatre and Teatro del Sol present AZ Espinoza’s All My Mothers Dream in Spanish

A bilingual feast

Azuka teams with Teatro del Sol for the world premiere of AZ Espinoza’s All My Mothers Dream in Spanish, a magical exploration of ancestry and healing that’s also very much of the moment. Krista Mar reviews.

Krista Mar

Mar 06, 2023 · Reviews · 4 minute read

PCMS presents the Brentano Quartet’s Dvořák and the American Identity

American music, then and now

The Brentano Quartet used their annual recital with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society to establish Antonin Dvořák as an American master. Cameron Kelsall reviews.

Cameron Kelsall

Mar 06, 2023 · Reviews · 3 minute read

BalletX presents its 2023 Winter Series

The return of Jorma Elo

Two world premieres and a poignant reprise make a strong, balanced program at BalletX’s 2023 Winter Series. Eileen B. Fisher reviews.

Eileen B. Fisher

Mar 03, 2023 · Reviews · 4 minute read

The Kimmel Cultural Campus presents Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

The Revelations we still need

Alvin Ailey visited the Academy of Music for four performances, including work by Twyla Tharp and Ailey’s own piece celebrating Winnie and Nelson Mandela, and the beloved Revelations. Camille Bacon-Smith reviews.

Camille Bacon-Smith

Feb 28, 2023 · Reviews · 4 minute read

Lyric Fest presents Cotton

Recreation and catharsis

Cotton, an immersive multimedia experience recreating generational trauma, marks Lyric Fest’s 20th anniversary, with new music by Damien Geter and a slate of poets inspired by the photography of John Dowell. An Nichols reviews.

An Nichols

Feb 27, 2023 · Reviews · 2 minute read

The Philadelphia Orchestra presents conductor Stéphane Denève and pianist Yefim Bronfman

Observing one year since Russia invaded Ukraine

The Philadelphia Orchestra made an unannounced observance of one year of the war against Ukraine in this program featuring pianist Yefim Bronfman and a US premiere by Elena Firsova. Linda Holt reviews.

Linda Holt

Feb 27, 2023 · Reviews · 4 minute read

People’s Light presents George Stevens Jr.’s Thurgood

Equal justice under the law

People’s Light stages this informative and engaging one-man drama about lawyer Thurgood Marshall, who became the first Black justice on the US Supreme Court. An Nichols reviews.

An Nichols

Feb 27, 2023 · Reviews · 2 minute read

The Walnut presents Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Life and death in the Deep South

Big Daddy steals the show in Walnut Street Theatre’s new production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Cameron Kelsall reviews.

Cameron Kelsall

Feb 23, 2023 · Reviews · 3 minute read

The Kimmel Cultural Campus and the Shubert Organization present the new national tour of 1776

When “Cool, Considerate Men” aren’t men at all

It’s fitting that the new national tour of 1776 (without any cis men in the cast) is getting started here, in the city where it happened. Jill Ivey reviews.

Jillian Ashley Blair Ivey

Feb 21, 2023 · Reviews · 4 minute read

Inis Nua Theatre Company presents Zinnie Harris’s Meet Me at Dawn

Beyond the coastline

Inis Nua brings a popular Scottish playwright to the Philly stage with Meet Me at Dawn, but the performance is more moving than satisfying. C. M. Crockford reviews.

C.M. Crockford

Feb 21, 2023 · Reviews · 3 minute read