Brian Sands

Curtain Up Now that Mardi Gras is just a happy memory, it's time for theater to move back indoors again. Through the beginning of Jazzfest, lots of shows will be debuting on local stages all around town. Hope you'll be able to check out some—or all—of the following. New Orleans doesn't often see the world premiere of a new musical, but, down in the Bywater, Goat in … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards February 24, 2026

Water for Elephants at the Saenger Theatre through February 8 If you want to get into the Carnival spirit by watching high-flying acrobatics and spectacular circus acts from the comfort of a seat, by all means head to the Saenger Theatre where Water for Elephants is playing through Sunday, February 8.  On the other … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards February 6, 2026

Fat Ham at Dillard University's Cook Theater through February 6 Forsooth, get thee to Fat Ham, the brilliant Pulitzer Prize-winning dramedy being given its regional premiere by The NOLA Project at Dillard University's Cook Theater. Playwright James Ijames has reconfigured Hamlet so that its famously dysfunctional … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards January 23, 2026

Stanley and His Demon at the New Marigny Theater thru January 12 In Stanley and His Demon, written and directed by Mariana Santiago for Poppet Theater (formerly Streetcar Collective for the Arts) at the New Marigny Theater through January 12, Stanley (Peat Wolf) is a vain and obnoxious huckster who runs a church where he fleeces people out of money by performing unnecessary … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards January 9, 2026

The Year in Review Instead of starting this column off all doomy and gloomy, as I did last year’s “Year in Review”, I figured I’d begin by accentuating the positive aspects of New Orleans’ theater scene for the year just passed. I saw virtually the same number of shows in 2025 as I did in 2024; still half as many as pre-pandemic, but at least presentations didn’t contract … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards January 6, 2026

Back to the Future: The Musical at the Saenger Theatre through December 14 It had been a long day and I was in the mood for just some pure entertainment as I headed to the Saenger Theatre to see Back to the Future: The Musical. I wish I could time travel back and, instead, just have stayed home, perhaps binging on some other ‘80s nostalgia like The Golden Girls which … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards December 12, 2025

Carrie the Musical at the Azienda Theater I vividly remember seeing the original production of Carrie the Musical on Broadway. It had opened the night before. The reviews were not kind. It was clear this would be one of the season’s most notorious flops, possibly one for the ages. As Act II began at “The Pig Farm” and the nasty high schoolers sang Out for Blood with its … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards November 30, 2025

Kimberly Akimbo at the Saenger Theatre Having seen Kimberly Akimbo in its original small, off-Broadway theater and then at the Booth Theater, one of Broadway's smaller houses, during its Tony Award-winning run, I wondered how this quirky musical would manage in the vast confines of the Saenger Theatre. The answer? Quite well, thank you very much. Jessica Stone’s sharp … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards November 7, 2025

Dracula at The Orpheum Theater The last time I attended a New Orleans Ballet Theatre (NOBT) performance was in the spring of 2019. I noted then that it had been a while since I had seen one of their presentations and, watching its glorious production of Cinderella made me realize how much I missed taking in live classical ballet. I felt the same way after seeing NOBT’s … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards November 4, 2025

Frankenstein at Lafitte Greenway Station through October 17 They say lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice, but that’s being proven incorrect at the Lafitte Greenway Station both literally-ish and figuratively. Literally-ish because The NOLA Project’s new production of Frankenstein employs such special effects just as its Greenway-based Dracula did two years … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards October 15, 2025