-Brenda Hillegas
Photo by Johanna Austin
Theatre fans- do you want to fill your cup with something completely original? Philadelphia Theatre Company’s shining premiere of Macbeth In Stride will have you satisfied…yet still begging for more. Pour together a bit of some recent Broadway powerhouses like Six, Hadestown, and &Juliet and you have this new rock concert starring Lady Macbeth, performed and written by Obie Award and Lilly Award-winning director, actor, and musician, Whitney White. Top it off with some Jesus Christ Superstar too, actually.
Good theatrical cocktail, right? While this show takes notes from hits that came before it, Macbeth In Stride is no copycat. Audiences will meet Lady Macbeth at the mic as she flips the script on the iconic Shakespeare character. White uses pop, gospel and R&B, with a lively backing band and vocals that channel the Fates of Hadestown in style and guidance, to examine what it means to be an ambitious Black woman. Driven by power and the desire for more, she challenges her husband and tells us how a queen should be treated.
At just 90 mins, with no intermission, Whitney White’s performance and story is dynamic from start to finish. It’s the perfect amount of time to immerse yourself in Lady Macbeth’s glory. But then again, I wouldn’t be mad if there were a couple more songs and another hour in her presence.
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