Somehow, the designers of THE GREAT GATSBY - sets & projections, Paul Tate DePoo III; costumes, Linda Cho - get F. Scott Fitzgerald's jazzy and lyrical vibes better than scriptwriter Kait Kerrigan and composer Jason Howland. broadwayworld.com/charlotte/…

Nothing at all was wrong with Alicia Keys' career when she won her first 16 GRAMMY Awards. But give a listen Hell's Kitchen, now on tour, turbocharged with arrangements by Keys and Adam Blackstone + orchestrations by Blackstone and Tom Kitt. #17 rules!! broadwayworld.com/charlotte/…

Add Andy Rassler to your list of local playwrights to watch. Her THOUGHT FOR FOOD, now playing at Warehouse Performing Arts Center, beautifully distills and condenses Vicky Zimmerman's "Miss Cecily’s Recipes for Exceptional Ladies" into comedy gold cvnc.org/through-9-6-thought…

Review: SOVEREIGNTY BY MARY KATHRYN NAGLE at Three Bone Theatre | BroadwayWorld broadwayworld.com/charlotte/…

In a flaming new collaboration, Davidson Community Players brings a fresh new production of MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET to its partnering Cain Center. All the youth and power explodes like a great ball of fire in Cornelius, dazzling with Metrolina talent.qcnerve.com/million-dollar-q…

Biggest problem for the PaperHouse Theatre production of Charles Ludlam's REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY at VisArt Video? Maybe not enough seats left for all who want in on the merriment! qcnerve.com/paperhouse-theat… via @queencitynerve

While production photos remain on back order, Matthews Playhouse of the Performing Arts' spirited revival of HAIRSPRAY, directed by Sidney Horton, delivers with new faces and fresh effervescence. cvnc.org/through-7-26-change…

A "Type A" cocktail, served up in a blood bag with a straw, helps DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERRORS go down more hilariously. But a steady drip of heirloom shtick, shameless mugging, and pure chutzpah is more than sufficient for those who wish to see it sober. qcnerve.com/dracula-a-comedy…

Charlotte Ballet is not only FLIPping the script, they're hitting the road with a growing slate of tour dates. broadwayworld.com/charlotte/…

"[Steve] Kaliski and his principals, Melissa Lozada and Neifert Enrique, aren’t reversing the political lean of EVITA; they’re giving the music, the recitative, and the main characters a firm shove in a more malevolent direction." qcnerve.com/the-new-argentin… via @queencitynerve

Fortunate to return from Charleston for the final weekend of Bach Charlotte's 7th Bach Festival, featuring new vocal stars in Handel's THEODORA and my first glimpse of two fine instrumentalists in ECHOES OF BACH. cvnc.org/final-weekend-of-ch…

The semi-quincentennial edition of Spoleto Festival USA has begun in Charleston with a roar, a momentum, and a dizzy effervescence that I’ve never seen before in my 33 years of covering America’s preeminent performing arts festival. cvnc.org/amid-multiple-celeb…

Review: THE NOTEBOOK THE MUSICAL at Belk Theater broadwayworld.com/charlotte/…

Memories may stretch back to September 2012, when Keston Gary made history at Halton Theater in THE COLOR PURPLE, directed by future Tony Award winner Corey D Mitchell. Well, they're back together again at Theatre Charlotte. Good luck snagging a ticket!! qcnerve.com/the-color-purple…

Your cellphone will have to wear blinders before you're allowed to see Three Bone Theatre's very adult OEDIPUS EL REY. Other aspects of the Oedipus tragedy are also compacted into Luis Alfaro's wondrous retelling that Sophocles never touched... qcnerve.com/oedipus-el-rey-t…

Alejandro Cerrudo's ONE THOUSAND PIECES may sometimes seem like a surprisingly dark way to celebrate America's upcoming semi-quincentennial, but so do Marc Chagall’s AMERICAN WINDOWS, his inspiration. cvnc.org/charlotte-ballet-ce…

Hurry, hurry, and rush to Booth Playhouse for QC: Queen City Concerts' WE WILL ROCK YOU. They will, with electrifying performances and mercifully calibrated decibels! cvnc.org/through-5-2-queen-c…