Broadway Grand Rapids
In Funny Girl, Katerina McCrimmon Blazes
by (John Kissane)
Submitted 09-21-2023 under OPINION
Funny Girl (onstage until Sept. 24 via Broadway Grand Rapids) rises or falls on Fanny Brice. Even more so than most musicals, its star is its star — the body around which everything else orbits. If she doesn...
My Fair Lady, Lightly Updated, Graces The Stage
by (John Kissane)
Submitted 04-13-2023 under OPINION
Ovid writes of a sculptor who, "offended by the failings that nature gave the female heart," shunned the company of women until, having carved a beautiful statue, he found himself in love. A statue isn't a woman, of course. Still, he...
STOMP Brings Imagination and Noise to DeVos Performance Hall
by (John Kissane)
Submitted 03-21-2023 under OPINION
As a toddler, one of my greatest joys was to take a pot or pan, lift it, and let it crash to the floor. What could be better than that? Imagine this: your grandfather is stretched out on the couch, face hidden behind a newspaper. Carefully, with...
Broadway Grand Rapids Announces 35th Anniversary Season
by (John Kissane)
Submitted 03-01-2023 under NEWS
On Monday, February 27th, Broadway Grand Rapids announced its 35th anniversary season, which will run from September of this year through June of 2024. Featuring seven shows, it's the organization's biggest season yet. The shows' broad...
SIX: The Musical Brings The Tudors To The TikTok Era
by (John Kissane)
Submitted 01-13-2023 under OPINION
“Divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded, survived”: the centuries-old nursery rhyme capturing the fates of Henry VIII’s wives is memorable, but flattening. It tells us nothing of the women themselves, nothing of what they...
Come From Away Tells Heartfelt, Life-Affirming Stories In The Wake Of 9/11
by (John Kissane)
Submitted 11-10-2022 under OPINION
It's a sobering thought: that there are people born after September 11th who are now old enough to drink. The tragedy defined a generation, and not only in the United States. On September 12th, 2001, the main headline of France's Le...
Hamilton Still Thrills
by (John Kissane)
Submitted 02-11-2022 under OPINION
In May of 2009, Lin-Manuel Miranda, the 29-year-old creator of In The Heights, took the stage at the White House as part of an evening devoted to celebrators of the American experience. He mentioned that he was working on a hip-hop concept album...
Broadway Grand Rapids Returns After Nearly Two-Year Hiatus With Hairspray
by (John Kissane)
Submitted 01-13-2022 under OPINION
On January 12th, 2022, Broadway Grand Rapids returned in the best way possible: with a fast-paced, streamer-shooting, dance-filled show that offered, above all else, fun. It was a long time coming. Thanks to the pandemic, nearly two years have...
Still Scary After All These Years: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at Broadway Grand Rapids
by (John Kissane)
Submitted 03-12-2020 under OPINION
Let's be honest: Charlie might be in the title, but it's Willy Wonka that we love. Sure, he's a little crazy, maybe a lot crazy, and he could stand to be more responsible, in the sense that he doesn't appear to care much if the...
The Lion King Proves Iconic, Powerful
by (John Kissane)
Submitted 11-22-2019 under OPINION
A jealous brother kills the king. The prince tarries until, spurred by his father’s spirit, he finally takes action. The murderer himself dies. You don’t expect overtones of Hamlet from movies with flatulent warthogs, but Disney’s...