Thom Geier
@thomgeier.bsky.social
Award-winning writer, editor, critic and pop culture aficionado. Founder of CultureSauce.com Former executive editor of TheWrap. Compulsive punster. Papa of Steve the Cardigan Corgi.
I’m very tardy sharing my picks for the year’s best shows — a lot of great work both on and off Broadway.
Best theater of 2025, from ‘Liberation’ to ‘Operation Mincemeat’
It was a remarkable year for theater in New York, even if some of my favorites didn’t linger for very long. In whittling down my list, I decided to exclude some shows that transferred to Broa…
culturesauce.com
December 30, 2025 at 11:39 PM
I’m very tardy sharing my picks for the year’s best shows — a lot of great work both on and off Broadway.
Like the clutch of girls cooing over their Valentine gifts to each other, this musical version of ‘Picnic’ is alive with promise and possibility.
‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ sets a dreamy mystery to music (Off Broadway review)
Australian author Joan Lindsay has credited a dream as the inspiration for her beloved 1967 novel Picnic at Hanging Rock — a story centered around the disappearance of a teacher and three stu…
culturesauce.com
December 19, 2025 at 4:06 AM
Like the clutch of girls cooing over their Valentine gifts to each other, this musical version of ‘Picnic’ is alive with promise and possibility.
There are individual moments that shine in this ‘Tartuffe,’ but overall the comedy is too leaden and muddled to ever take flight
Matthew Broderick stumbles through a muddled ‘Tartuffe’ (Off Broadway review)
Molière’s 1664 satire Tartuffe is having a moment in New York this fall. First, André de Shields led a campy revival in the Gilded Age library at House of the Redeemer. Now Matthew Broderick …
culturesauce.com
December 17, 2025 at 2:42 AM
There are individual moments that shine in this ‘Tartuffe,’ but overall the comedy is too leaden and muddled to ever take flight
Michelle Williams doesn’t attempt to mimic Greta Garbo’s distinctive deep Swedish accent, thank heavens, but her voice seems to drift throughout the show like a boat untethered from the dock.
Michelle Williams leads a listless ‘Anna Christie’ (Off Broadway review)
Anna Christie has become a kind of oddball stepchild in the Eugene O’Neill canon, seldom seen in New York City since the memorable 1993 Broadway revival with Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeso…
culturesauce.com
December 15, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Michelle Williams doesn’t attempt to mimic Greta Garbo’s distinctive deep Swedish accent, thank heavens, but her voice seems to drift throughout the show like a boat untethered from the dock.
While this ‘Carol’ follows a bumpy path exploring the roots of Scrooge’s personality, there are many pleasures to savor
‘A Christmas Carol’ gives Scrooge a backstory, to mixed results (Off Broadway review)
God bless us every one. Ebenezer Scrooge is back in town, in a highly modified adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol that first played on Broadway in 2019 (and scooped up four…
culturesauce.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:20 AM
While this ‘Carol’ follows a bumpy path exploring the roots of Scrooge’s personality, there are many pleasures to savor
‘Practice’ unfolds in a fascinating, infuriating, and increasingly pitch-black humorous way — assuming that you’re not triggered by watching leaders who manipulate, gaslight, and belittle their underlings in the name of ‘art.’
‘Practice’ cunningly obliterates the line between artistic rigor and exploitation (Off Broadway review)
Directors have always had a reputation for their god complex, but Asa Leon — the manipulative theater-maker at the center of Nazareth Hassan’s dark satire Practice — takes matters…
culturesauce.com
December 3, 2025 at 11:43 PM
‘Practice’ unfolds in a fascinating, infuriating, and increasingly pitch-black humorous way — assuming that you’re not triggered by watching leaders who manipulate, gaslight, and belittle their underlings in the name of ‘art.’
‘Initiative’ is a exquisitely produced and bingeworthy work from emerging artists of almost boundless talent, that also takes as its subject the very act of emerging.
‘Initiative’ taps into turn-of-the-millennium teen anxiety in an epic way (Off Broadway review)
It’s apt that Else Went’s epic theater piece Initiative is opening at the Public Theater just as Netflix prepares to roll out the final season of Stranger Things. Both projects are bing…
culturesauce.com
November 27, 2025 at 2:12 AM
‘Initiative’ is a exquisitely produced and bingeworthy work from emerging artists of almost boundless talent, that also takes as its subject the very act of emerging.
‘Gruesome Playground Injuries’ mostly succeeds as an acting exercise, where the performers can throw themselves (sometimes literally) into showy recklessness.
‘Gruesome Playground Injuries’: Kara Young and Nicholas Braun embrace a world of hurt (Off Broadway review)
Kara Young and Nicholas Braun make an engaging odd couple as emotionally (and physically) damaged young people in a decades-long situationship in Gruesome Playground Injuries, which opened Sunday a…
culturesauce.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:14 AM
‘Gruesome Playground Injuries’ mostly succeeds as an acting exercise, where the performers can throw themselves (sometimes literally) into showy recklessness.
While this revival may not entirely work as a book musical, it succeeds grandly as a glorified staged concert showcasing some of ABBA’s most infectious tunes. Perhaps the best we can hope out of ‘Chess’ is a draw
‘Chess’ checks back into Broadway but winds up a draw (Review)
Chess, which began its life as an early 1980s concept album, has always been an unwieldy stage project — a blend of some of ABBA’s best music with an overly convoluted story (by frequen…
culturesauce.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:56 PM
While this revival may not entirely work as a book musical, it succeeds grandly as a glorified staged concert showcasing some of ABBA’s most infectious tunes. Perhaps the best we can hope out of ‘Chess’ is a draw
Every now and then, an enchanting new musical classic comes along out of nowhere, with pop-tinged bops that are as catchy as Velcro. ‘Two Strangers’ may not follow the template of a traditional love story, but it’s a crush note to a New York City and one of the best new musicals of the year
‘Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York’ is a sweet musical confection (Broadway review)
Every now and then, an enchanting new musical classic comes along out of nowhere. Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York, which opened Thursday at Broadway’s Longacre Theatre, is a modern…
culturesauce.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Every now and then, an enchanting new musical classic comes along out of nowhere, with pop-tinged bops that are as catchy as Velcro. ‘Two Strangers’ may not follow the template of a traditional love story, but it’s a crush note to a New York City and one of the best new musicals of the year
‘This World of Tomorrow’ is a curious exercise in nostalgia by way of science fiction that trades on Tom Hanks’ public persona without actually deepening it
Tom Hanks gets stuck in a time loop in ‘This World of Tomorrow’ (Off Broadway review)
Over a career that has spanned nearly half a century, Tom Hanks has established himself as a successor to James Stewart, an avatar of aw-shucks regular-guyness that is distinctly American in nature…
culturesauce.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:48 AM
‘This World of Tomorrow’ is a curious exercise in nostalgia by way of science fiction that trades on Tom Hanks’ public persona without actually deepening it
What elevates the show further is the final scene, where a Kim Kardashian-like star (Tamara Sevunts) makes an unexpected appearance and kicks the entire show into a direction that is surprising, touching, and almost wistful
‘Meet the Cartozians’ keeps up with Armenian history — including the Kardashians (Off Broadway review)
Kim Kardashian may be the most famous Armenian American to ever live — and a character very much modeled on the ubiquitous reality TV star and entrepreneur makes a noteworthy cameo toward the…
culturesauce.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:44 AM
What elevates the show further is the final scene, where a Kim Kardashian-like star (Tamara Sevunts) makes an unexpected appearance and kicks the entire show into a direction that is surprising, touching, and almost wistful
‘Spelling Bee’ is the perfect antidote to these dreary anxiety-ridden times, and it’s worth settling down for a long, laughter-induced spell
‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ spells delight (Off Broadway review)
William Morris Barfée and his “magic feet” are back, and that spells a whole lot of fun for fans of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which arrives at Off Broadway’s New…
culturesauce.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:44 AM
‘Spelling Bee’ is the perfect antidote to these dreary anxiety-ridden times, and it’s worth settling down for a long, laughter-induced spell
‘The Seat of Our Pants’ is not for everyone, but fans of Thornton Wilder will rejoice at this fresh, melodious take on a genuine classic
‘The Seat of Our Pants’ sets Thornton Wilder to song (Off Broadway review)
It takes a truly oddball sensibility to try to make a musical out of Thornton Wilder’s Finnegan’s Wake-inspired three-act dramedy The Skin of Our Teeth. Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Leon…
culturesauce.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:39 AM
‘The Seat of Our Pants’ is not for everyone, but fans of Thornton Wilder will rejoice at this fresh, melodious take on a genuine classic
Rajiv Joseph’s ‘Archduke,’ a comedic retelling of the recruitment of the anarchist whose 1913 assassination of Austro-Hungarian ruler Franz Ferdinand triggered World War I, is like a contemporary version of a Shakespearean history play as filtered through Comedy Central’s ‘Drunk History.’
‘Archduke’ offers a drunk history lesson on recruiting young terrorists (Off Broadway review)
Rajiv Joseph’s Archduke, a comedic retelling of the recruitment of the anarchist whose 1913 assassination of Austro-Hungarian ruler Franz Ferdinand triggered World War I, is like a contempora…
culturesauce.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Rajiv Joseph’s ‘Archduke,’ a comedic retelling of the recruitment of the anarchist whose 1913 assassination of Austro-Hungarian ruler Franz Ferdinand triggered World War I, is like a contemporary version of a Shakespearean history play as filtered through Comedy Central’s ‘Drunk History.’
It’s tempting to call ‘The Baker’s Wife’ a tasty bagatelle, but it’s more like a baguette offering simple but hardy nourishment for the mind and the soul.
Ariana DeBose charms in a reimagined ‘The Baker’s Wife’ (Off Broadway review)
After nearly half a century, Stephen Schwartz’s 1976 musical The Baker’s Wife can finally claim a proud place in the American musical pantheon. Best known for the cabaret-standard balla…
culturesauce.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:33 PM
It’s tempting to call ‘The Baker’s Wife’ a tasty bagatelle, but it’s more like a baguette offering simple but hardy nourishment for the mind and the soul.
Michael Urie casts a strikingly regal figure as Richard, injecting the Bard’s poetry with an intelligence and admirable deftness. But he’s hampered by Craig Baldwin’s curious adaptation and a conceptual framework that sets the action in the 1980s.
Michael Urie leads a wan ’80s-style ‘Richard II’ (Off Broadway review)
There are good reasons why Richard II, the first play in William Shakespeare’s Henriad tetralogy, is less frequently performed than its successors, the two Henry IV plays (revived this past s…
culturesauce.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Michael Urie casts a strikingly regal figure as Richard, injecting the Bard’s poetry with an intelligence and admirable deftness. But he’s hampered by Craig Baldwin’s curious adaptation and a conceptual framework that sets the action in the 1980s.
‘The Queen of Versailles’ is a tone-deaf celebration of all-American affluenza that can never resolve how we should feel about the vain, misguided woman at its center.
Kristin Chenoweth squandered in tone-deaf ‘The Queen of Versailles’ (Broadway review)
Jackie Siegel, the buxom pageant queen turned billionaire’s wife who was the subject of Lauren Greenfield’s 2012 documentary The Queen of Versailles, was present at the performance of t…
culturesauce.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:49 PM
‘The Queen of Versailles’ is a tone-deaf celebration of all-American affluenza that can never resolve how we should feel about the vain, misguided woman at its center.
‘Queens’ captures an essential quality of lives lived in the margins with performances that are simply astonishing.
‘Queens’ unearths the basement of the immigrant experience (Off Broadway review)
Martyna Majok’s ensemble drama Queens, which debuted in 2018 in the early years of the first Trump administration, remains a timely exploration of marginalized immigrant women forced into the…
culturesauce.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:50 AM
‘Queens’ captures an essential quality of lives lived in the margins with performances that are simply astonishing.
‘Queens captures’ an essential quality of lives lived in the margins with performances that are simply astonishing.
‘Queens’ unearths the basement of the immigrant experience (Off Broadway review)
Martyna Majok’s ensemble drama Queens, which debuted in 2018 in the early years of the first Trump administration, remains a timely exploration of marginalized immigrant women forced into the…
culturesauce.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:43 AM
‘Queens captures’ an essential quality of lives lived in the margins with performances that are simply astonishing.
Stephen Kunken displays all the confidence and arrogance you’d expect of this avatar of late-20th-century American manhood in this riveting recap of historic climate change talks
‘Kyoto’: The devil’s in the details. He’s also the narrator (Off Broadway review)
International negotiations about climate change do not seem like the most promising subject for theater and yet Kyoto defies the odds in ways that are both surprising and utterly riveting. Certainl…
culturesauce.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Stephen Kunken displays all the confidence and arrogance you’d expect of this avatar of late-20th-century American manhood in this riveting recap of historic climate change talks
Metcalf demonstrates why she is one of the finest actors of her generation — delivering a performance that is natural, compelling, and in key moments emotionally raw.
Laurie Metcalf shines in ‘Little Bear Ridge Road’ (Broadway review)
All the lonely people, where do they all come from? Samuel D. Hunter grapples with this question in his heartfelt one-act drama Little Bear Ridge Road, which opened on Broadway Thursday after a suc…
culturesauce.com
October 31, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Metcalf demonstrates why she is one of the finest actors of her generation — delivering a performance that is natural, compelling, and in key moments emotionally raw.
Bess Wohl’s latest drama is her most personal — an instant classic of a memory play that focuses on Wohl’s desire to come to terms with a mother she suspects did not fully embrace the feminist ideals of her youth.
‘Liberation’ is an instant-classic memory play bursting with life-affirming power (Broadway review)
In the last decade, Bess Wohl has emerged as one of the most talented and eclectic voices in American theater — whose work ranges from historical pieces (Camp Siegfried) to broad domestic comedy in…
culturesauce.com
October 29, 2025 at 2:17 AM
Bess Wohl’s latest drama is her most personal — an instant classic of a memory play that focuses on Wohl’s desire to come to terms with a mother she suspects did not fully embrace the feminist ideals of her youth.
If ever there were a show that begged for the jukebox treatment, it’s this one — especially since the supposedly original songs mostly amplify the mood of a scene rather than deepen our understanding of the stubbornly one-dimensional characters or the herky-jerky plot.
‘Romy & Michele: The Musical’ is a wan mimeograph of the Gen X cult movie (Off Broadway review)
Not every semipopular movie from the last half century needs to get the stage musical treatment. That’s the takeaway from the lukewarm mess that is Romy & Michele: The Musical, which turn…
culturesauce.com
October 29, 2025 at 1:58 AM
If ever there were a show that begged for the jukebox treatment, it’s this one — especially since the supposedly original songs mostly amplify the mood of a scene rather than deepen our understanding of the stubbornly one-dimensional characters or the herky-jerky plot.
I'm so grateful for my two nominations for this year's National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards from the #LosAngelesPressClub, for theater criticism and my column for the lamentably now-shuttered Musicals Mag.
October 28, 2025 at 9:27 PM
I'm so grateful for my two nominations for this year's National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards from the #LosAngelesPressClub, for theater criticism and my column for the lamentably now-shuttered Musicals Mag.