Wendy Rosenfield

Wendy Rosenfield is a freelance writer who has reviewed theater and written arts and lifestyle features for the Inquirer since 2006. She was chief theater critic for the Philadelphia Weekly from 1995 to 2001. Wendy holds a B.A. in English literature from Bennington College, has participated in the Bennington Writer's Workshop, and was a 2008 NEA Fellow in Theater and Musical Theater. She is also the proud mother of two young children who often fight over the extra reviewer's ticket, which leads her to believe that theater is alive and well and breeding new enthusiasts all the time.

Read "Drama Queen," Wendy's blog on arts and culture

A visit that would be better liked if livelier

By Wendy Rosenfield, For The Inquirer

Posted 01/30/2010

Hedgerow Theatre would have you believe that Jeff Baron's Visiting Mr. Green is a Neil Simon-style comic romp, an overtly Jewish Odd Couple. It's not. It's not even really concerned with being funny, at least not as directed by Roberta Sloan (also chairman of Temple University's theater program).

Sean Christopher Lewis delivers a solo performance in InterAct Theatre´s "City of Numbers."

A look at crime's effects on the streets of Philly

By Wendy Rosenfield, For The Inquirer

Posted 01/29/2010

This must be the year Philly decided to reckon onstage with its reputation as "Killadelphia." First Temple University Theatre produced Shot!, and now InterAct Theatre Company presents the world premiere of City of Numbers. Both shows are documentary dramas, relying on reenactments of verbatim interviews. Both confront the street-level devastation wrought by guns.

Even tweens know this isn't honor-roll stuff - 01/26/2010: By Wendy Rosenfield, For The Inquirer

How fickle a creature is the American tween? Just four years ago, the Disney film High School Musical was such an important part of our household that our playroom somehow ended up populated by life-size cardboard cutouts of its cast. Yet this week, when I invited both of my target market-age children to see New Candlelight Dinner Theatre's staged version, groaning ensued. Even after I told them there was pie for dessert.
Thumbs up for the cast, especially, in ‘Other Hands’ - 01/25/2010: By Wendy Rosenfield, For The Inquirer

British playwright Laura Wade works the manual metaphor hard in Other Hands, currently receiving its U.S. premiere courtesy of Luna Theater. During the play, four of the cast's eight hands are crippled by carpal tunnel syndrome or repetitive stress injury, or perhaps just sympathy pains - no one can pinpoint the source. But while ice, braces, and injections dull the physical aches, the real handicap at the core of computer fix-it guy Steve's (Christopher Bohan) and corporate downsizer Hayley's (Amanda Grove) problems is their lack of dexterity with relationships.
Thumbs up for the cast, especially, in ‘Other Hands’ - 01/09/2010: The flawed yet trenchant indictment of the isolating effects of tech is receiving its U.S. premiere here.

By Wendy Rosenfield, For The Inquirer

British playwright Laura Wade works the manual metaphor hard in Other Hands, currently receiving its U.S. premiere courtesy of Luna Theater. During the play, four of the cast's eight hands are crippled by carpal tunnel syndrome or repetitive stress injury, or perhaps just sympathy pains - no one can pinpoint the source. But while ice, braces, and injections dull the physical aches, the real handicap at the core of computer fix-it guy Steve's (Christopher Bohan) and corporate downsizer Hayley's (Amanda Grove) problems is their lack of dexterity with human relationships.
A 'Wicked' nearly equal to Broadway - 01/09/2010: By Wendy Rosenfield, For The Inquirer

There's only one way to go about reviewing Wicked (over 20 million served!), now making its third pass through the Academy of Music. Forget interpretation and analysis, reserve judgment on such production elements as costume and choreography, and just deal with what everyone wants to know: How close does this tour come to re-creating the experience of seeing its big sister back home on Broadway?
Impressions of other impressionists' impressions - 01/08/2010: By Wendy Rosenfield, For The Inquirer

Tony Braithwaite has a good thing going with Act II Playhouse, and his new show, First Impressions, allows him to fully indulge his fetish for other people's mannerisms. Much as in his autobiographical Look Mom, I'm Swell and the biographical Say Goodnight Gracie (about comedian George Burns), both Braithwaitean vehicles that appeared on Act II's stage, audiences get plenty of Tony for their theater dollar.
Ringing in a new decade: 1950 - 12/21/2009: Show's vintage shtick and jazzy flavor have the makings of a holiday tradition.

By Wendy Rosenfield, For The Inquirer

Fans of Theatre Horizon's 2007 Holiday Show at the Swing Club no doubt felt the season warm up several degrees on the return of this year's Holiday Show With the Swing Club Band. Reprising their original concept, Theatre Horizon brings back bandleader Jimmy Goodshaw (Ted Powell), unhappily married drummer/comic foil Mikey Sticks (Mike Reilly, also the show's writer), and glamorous Harlem chanteuse Toni Day (Ryane Nicole Studivant), this time to sing and ring in a new year and decade: 1950.
Fine cast brings "Red Ryder" to life - 12/14/2009: By Wendy Rosenfield, For The Inquirer

You can always count on New City Stage Company to produce plays unafraid to expose the underside of sexual politics and emotional warfare. Mark Medoff's 1973 Obie-winning When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?, playing at the Adrienne Theatre, is no exception.
Radio format clips wings of 'Wonderful Life' - 12/08/2009: By Wendy Rosenfield, For The Inquirer

I get that people like their Christmases bubble-wrapped in tradition, to keep cherished memories (real or imagined) nice and safe - so sure, It's a Wonderful Life is a great choice for a holiday show. I also get that it can be pretty boring watching the s
Imagination propels 'Pan' - 12/07/2009: The Arden's beguiling production soars on its ingenious sets and design.

By Wendy Rosenfield, For The Inquirer

If the Arden Theatre's production of Peter Pan has one goal, it is to reinforce the idea that imaginative play is not the sole domain of professionals. It's an important lesson for overscheduled children, whose video game consoles and computers see all the leisure time action.
'Santaland Diaries' returns to Flashpoint - 12/07/2009: By Wendy Rosenfield, For The Inquirer

Seventeen years ago, David Sedaris made his debut on National Public Radio with The Santaland Diaries, a ridiculously sublime account of his tenure as a Macy's holiday elf. Since then, he has released seven collections of stories and essays (several of th