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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

MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE (Miller Theater): A sting in the tale

Toby Zinman May 17, 2024 No Comments

This is a show—not a play, not musical theater—about bodies and the astonishing things this company of 23 dancers can do

View More MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE (Miller Theater): A sting in the tale
Reviews Theater

CHILDREN OF THE SUN (PAC): A knockout contemporary production of a rarely seen classic

Toby Zinman May 5, 2024 1 Comment

Now this is what a collective can do: a huge cast all so attuned to each others’ idiosyncrasies that they might as well be the household they are portraying.

View More CHILDREN OF THE SUN (PAC): A knockout contemporary production of a rarely seen classic
60-Second Review Reviews Theater

KILL MOVE PARADISE (South Camden Theatre): 60-second review

Toby Zinman May 3, 2024 1 Comment

South Camden Theatre Company’s latest production of James Ijames’s wildly moving play, Kill Move Paradise, is terrific

View More KILL MOVE PARADISE (South Camden Theatre): 60-second review
Reviews Theater

TORCH SONG (1812 Productions): Songs from another time

Toby Zinman May 2, 2024 No Comments

Although the defense of gay life and  the LGBTQ+  community is in a different place now, I imagine for many in the audience, Torch Song still sings.

View More TORCH SONG (1812 Productions): Songs from another time
Music

MADAME BUTTERFLY (Opera Philly): A dilettante at large review

Toby Zinman April 30, 2024 1 Comment

with so many opportunities to put a political foot wrong, MADAME BUTTERFLY is a minefield. Opera Philadelphia has sidestepped the obvious dangers.

View More MADAME BUTTERFLY (Opera Philly): A dilettante at large review
Reviews Theater

HADESTOWN (National Tour): To hell and back

Toby Zinman April 11, 2024 No Comments

What with the solar eclipse and an earthquake, we—sophisticated, scientific, blasé—are in a perfect position to imagine what ancient, primitive people must have thought and felt when the ground shook and the lights went out.

View More HADESTOWN (National Tour): To hell and back
Overwinter Azuka
Reviews Theater

OVERWINTER (Azuka): A laboratory for important ideas

Toby Zinman March 3, 2024 1 Comment

Azuka Theatre presents Overwinter, an interesting new play by local playwright Mackenzie Raine Kirkman; it’s about important ideas, making it a welcome change from the…

View More OVERWINTER (Azuka): A laboratory for important ideas
culture

2024 PHILADELPHIA FLOWER SHOW: A dilettante at large review

Toby Zinman March 2, 2024 No Comments

You don’t have to tend your own plot to enjoy the gorgeous colors and scents at the 2024 Flower Show at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

View More 2024 PHILADELPHIA FLOWER SHOW: A dilettante at large review
Music Reviews

THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA (Academy of Vocal Arts): A dilettante at large review

Toby Zinman February 23, 2024 No Comments

DAL continues her musical education with this stunning chamber opera at the Academy of Vocal Arts.

View More THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA (Academy of Vocal Arts): A dilettante at large review
Arts Visual Arts

LUNAR NEW YEAR AT PMA: A dilettante at large review

Toby Zinman February 13, 2024 No Comments

The Philadelphia Museum of Art celebrated the Chinese new year with some fascinating special events on Sunday

View More LUNAR NEW YEAR AT PMA: A dilettante at large review
Reviews Theater

COST OF LIVING (PTC): A compelling new play, diminished

Toby Zinman February 11, 2024 No Comments

Diminished or not, it’s worth seeing for the understanding of people living with disabilities and the people who care for them.

View More COST OF LIVING (PTC): A compelling new play, diminished
Reviews Theater

THE FLATLANDERS (1812 Productions): Couples theater can be couples therapy

Toby Zinman February 5, 2024 No Comments

Real-life married couple Scott Greer and Jennifer Childs play a fictitious couple in Bruce Graham’s newest play. 

View More THE FLATLANDERS (1812 Productions): Couples theater can be couples therapy
Reviews Theater

AIN’T TOO PROUD: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE TEMPTATIONS (National Tour): Songs, fun, and nostalgia

Toby Zinman January 6, 2024 2 Comments

This is Motown, and this cast is up to the task: good voices, great moves.

View More AIN’T TOO PROUD: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE TEMPTATIONS (National Tour): Songs, fun, and nostalgia
Reviews Theater

COMPANY (Forrest Theater): Gorgeously musical if lacking in Sondheim’s subtlety

Toby Zinman December 3, 2023 No Comments

Sondheim’s genius makes ambivalence gorgeously musical, but his ironic, subtle sophistication is in short supply in this production

View More COMPANY (Forrest Theater): Gorgeously musical if lacking in Sondheim’s subtlety
Reviews Theater

MADAME OVARY (Inis Nua): Theater or therapy?

Toby Zinman November 12, 2023 No Comments

Madame Ovary is a staged memoir about a young woman who survived cancer; it is the fourth female solo show opening just this week:

View More MADAME OVARY (Inis Nua): Theater or therapy?
Reviews Theater

[NYC] TRANSLATIONS (Irish Rep): Searching for clues

Toby Zinman November 10, 2023 No Comments

The danger with a Brian Friel play is charm. No stage Irishmen here at Irish Rep’s production, no comical drunkenness. Another danger, especially in a…

View More [NYC] TRANSLATIONS (Irish Rep): Searching for clues
Reviews Theater

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM (Azuka): Impassioned and interesting sidestepping

Toby Zinman November 6, 2023 No Comments

In a world full of rooms which are full of elephants, a lot of sidestepping is required of us all. 

View More THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM (Azuka): Impassioned and interesting sidestepping
Reviews Theater

WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME (Arden): A witch’s cauldron of sometimes magic

Toby Zinman November 3, 2023 No Comments

Even the most hallowed document is no match for a teenage girl, as Heidi Schreck reveals in her play, What the Constitutions Means to Me.…

View More WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME (Arden): A witch’s cauldron of sometimes magic
Reviews Theater

[NYC] MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG (Hudson Theater)

Toby Zinman October 15, 2023 No Comments

This is vintage Sondheim, the unimaginable flop now on Broadway again, restored to its dazzling, heart-wrenching brilliance. Merrily We Roll Along has been called his most personal,…

View More [NYC] MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG (Hudson Theater)
Reviews Theater

[NYC] PURLIE VICTORIOUS (Music Box Theatre): A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch

Toby Zinman October 2, 2023 No Comments

Ossie Davis’s brilliant and hilarious play is part vaudeville, part sermon. And if preaching is theater, theater is preaching. And the lesson is that “faith…

View More [NYC] PURLIE VICTORIOUS (Music Box Theatre): A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch

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