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Author: Toby Zinman

Toby Zinman is a recently retired professor of English at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was a Fulbright professor at Tel Aviv University and a visiting professor in China. She publishes widely and lectures internationally on American drama. Her fifth book, Replay: Classic Modern Drama Reimagined, was published by Methuen, and she published the essay, "Visions of Tragedy in Contemporary American Drama," in 2017. Zinman is also the chief theater critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer where she reviews New York and London as well as Philadelphia. She was named by American Theatre magazine as, “one of the 12 most influential critics in America.” Her travel writing has taken her all over the world, from dogsledding in the Yukon to hiking across England.
Reviews Theater

TWELFTH NIGHT (Lantern): Shall we set about some revels?

Toby Zinman May 29, 2023 No Comments

“Shall we set about some revels?” Yes!  The battle begins: Lantern Theater Company opened its excellent and enjoyable production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night; soon to…

View More TWELFTH NIGHT (Lantern): Shall we set about some revels?
Arts Visual

OF GOD AND COUNTRY (PMA): A dilettante at large review

Toby Zinman May 20, 2023 1 Comment

The DAL is having quite a week! First the Orchestra and then the Museum: Philadelphia’s finest institutions providing much enjoyment. Philadelphia Museum of Art has…

View More OF GOD AND COUNTRY (PMA): A dilettante at large review
Music

THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA’S GREAT STAGES GALA: A Dilettante at Large review

Toby Zinman May 18, 2023 No Comments

DAL is pleased to report that this gala was more fun than glam. Oh, there was the occasional gown and a sprinkling of black ties,…

View More THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA’S GREAT STAGES GALA: A Dilettante at Large review
Theater

FAT HAM + ABANDON: Considering James Ijames’s new and newer work

Toby Zinman May 8, 2023 1 Comment

James Ijames won the Pulitzer Prize for Fat Ham, which is now running on Broadway; his even newer play, Abandon, has just opened at Theatre Exile. 

View More FAT HAM + ABANDON: Considering James Ijames’s new and newer work
Reviews Theater

GALILEE (Azuka): A tale from down under

Toby Zinman May 7, 2023 No Comments

A small town’s main business—tourism— dries up and bit by bit small businesses follow. 

View More GALILEE (Azuka): A tale from down under
Reviews Theater

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG (1812): Fall-off-your-chair hilarity

Toby Zinman May 6, 2023 No Comments

This is not the admiring smirk or a contemptuous Ha-ha!, but fall-off-your-chair, eye-mopping hilarity.

View More THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG (1812): Fall-off-your-chair hilarity
Music

DON GIOVANNI (AVA): A dilettante at large review

Toby Zinman May 1, 2023 No Comments

Mozart’s Don Giovanni is the greatest opera ever written. Don’t take my word for it—what do I know, I’m a dilettante—but that was the opinion…

View More DON GIOVANNI (AVA): A dilettante at large review
Theater

[NYC] PRIMA FACIE (John Golden Theater): Ordeal by theater

Toby Zinman April 26, 2023 No Comments

Take the trigger warnings seriously: This is ordeal by theater.

View More [NYC] PRIMA FACIE (John Golden Theater): Ordeal by theater
Theater

PLUM BUN (EgoPo): Passing on history

Toby Zinman April 23, 2023 4 Comments

This remarkable adaptation of a century-old novel concludes EgoPo’s Harlem Renaissance season

View More PLUM BUN (EgoPo): Passing on history
Reviews Theater

[NYC] CAMELOT (Lincoln Center): Back to the round table

Toby Zinman April 18, 2023 No Comments

Sometimes cynical, ultra-cool  critical disdain—much in evidence these days— just won’t do. I loved this show; it’s filled with wonderful songs and wonderful singers, an…

View More [NYC] CAMELOT (Lincoln Center): Back to the round table
Reviews Theater

LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR & GRILL (PTC): A living portrait and an evening of wonderful songs

Toby Zinman April 14, 2023 No Comments

At 15th & Bainbridge—only a few blocks from Philadelphia Theatre Company’s stage at Broad & Lombard—there stood a legendary dive bar called Emerson’s. Jazz greats—John…

View More LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR & GRILL (PTC): A living portrait and an evening of wonderful songs
Theater

ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE (Walnut Street): A wackadoodle of a show

Toby Zinman April 11, 2023 No Comments

What a wackadoodle of a show! Part party, part pop musical, the Walnut Street Theatre’s production of Jimmy Buffett’s hit is an enjoyable evening, but…

View More ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE (Walnut Street): A wackadoodle of a show
Reviews Theater

[NYC] SWEENEY TODD (Lunt-Fontanne): How to review a show that is just about perfect?

Toby Zinman April 6, 2023 No Comments

I should have such a problem all the time: how to review a show that is just about perfect. 

View More [NYC] SWEENEY TODD (Lunt-Fontanne): How to review a show that is just about perfect?
Reviews Theater

SIX (National Tour): The merry wives of Henry VIII

Toby Zinman March 24, 2023 No Comments

And now, “live in consort,” the six wives of Henry VIII: “divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.”

View More SIX (National Tour): The merry wives of Henry VIII
Reviews Theater

[NYC] PARADE (Bernard R. Jacobs Theatre): An all too familiar morality lesson

Toby Zinman March 23, 2023 No Comments

Well, of course I know they were clapping for the cast and not the characters, but there was something creepy about hundreds of people—some of…

View More [NYC] PARADE (Bernard R. Jacobs Theatre): An all too familiar morality lesson
culture

THE PHILADELPHIA FLOWER SHOW: A dilettante at large review

Toby Zinman March 4, 2023 No Comments

You’ll find much beauty in the vast halls of Convention Center. 

View More THE PHILADELPHIA FLOWER SHOW: A dilettante at large review
Reviews Theater

MEET ME AT DAWN (Inis Nua): Mysteries and satisfaction

Toby Zinman February 19, 2023 No Comments

Leave it to Inis Nua, the theater company whose name means “New Island” and is dedicated to producing plays from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.…

View More MEET ME AT DAWN (Inis Nua): Mysteries and satisfaction
Reviews Theater

New York Theater Report: Reviews of PICTURES FROM HOME, ENDGAME, and CORNELIA STREET

Toby Zinman February 18, 2023 1 Comment

Toby Zinman looks at three plays now New York stages.

View More New York Theater Report: Reviews of PICTURES FROM HOME, ENDGAME, and CORNELIA STREET
Music Theater

DON PASQUALE (AVA): A Dilettante at Large review

Toby Zinman February 17, 2023 No Comments

Our dilettante at large reviews Academy of Vocal Arts’ South Philly themed production of Donizetti’s comic opera

View More DON PASQUALE (AVA): A Dilettante at Large review
Reviews Theater

THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT (Lantern): Conveying a larger truth

Toby Zinman February 10, 2023 No Comments

In the political news in the past few years, the concern has been not with the lifespan of facts, but the lifespan of lies

View More THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT (Lantern): Conveying a larger truth

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