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Jackson McHenry

Critic
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@McHenryJD

Jackson McHenry is a Vulture critic who has been covering theater, film, and television since 2015.

  1. theater reviews
    Dramatizing Desire and Addiction in Jonah and The White ChipA twisty, emotional drama and a straight-down-the-line recovery comedy.
  2. tv review
    Feud Sees Capote in Black and WhiteDespite a great cast and compelling premise, this ham-fisted bit of cable excess can’t deliver.
  3. theater review
    The Encores! Once Upon a Mattress Is the Biggest Summer-Camp Show EverSutton Foster and friends play it really big and really broad for this lively short run.
  4. broadway
    Alan Is Cumming to Broadway for a NightThe Emcee returns to Studio 54 to sing about aging.
  5. 2023 emmys in 2024
    The Highs, Lows, and Whoas of the 2023 Emmys Held in 2024The ceremony kept things tight: FX, speech times, Anthony Anderson’s latex.
  6. movie review
    The Ruthless New Mean Girls Knows Better Than to Try and Make Fetch HappenA pretty good remake proves the Plastics will never die.
  7. highs and lows
    The Highs, Lows, and Whoas of the 2024 Golden GlobesAre we having fun yet? Honestly, not really!
  8. 2024 preview
    14 Plays and Musicals We Can’t Wait to See in 2024Izzard in Shakespeare, Strong in Ibsen, Carell in Chekhov, and a freaky Michael R. Jackson musical.
  9. theater review
    A Cold-Blooded Night of the IguanaA Tennessee Williams curio whose temperature never rises above a simmer.
  10. casting call
    The Search for the Next Will and KateThe Crown’s casting director on how the show found the right pair to bring an interior life to these tabloided young royals.
  11. theater review
    The Too-Steady Charm of How to Dance in OhioA winning cast of autistic actors elevates a rote concept.
  12. chat room
    May December’s Georgie Would ‘Absolutely Not’ Be a Good Music SupervisorCory Michael Smith is pretty sure that his manic, scene-stealing character “has no idea what that job would be like.”
  13. best of 2023
    The Best Theater of 2023A play that’s not not about Fleetwood Mac, the return of Merrily and Purlie, and the agony of high-school test prep.
  14. best of 2023
    Exhilarating Reactions to a Troubled WorldPlus Sondheim old and (for the final time) new.
  15. theater review
    A Decent Docent: Gavin Creel’s Walk on ThroughA tour from a “museum novice” that’s also an autobiography.
  16. reasons to love new york
    The Three Frank Jrs. in Merrily We Roll Along Will Sign Your PlaybillBackstage with the boys charming sold-out Broadway shows.
  17. theater review
    The Gardens of Anuncia Is a Musical That Thinks SmallBased on Graciela Daniele’s life story, it deliberately leaves her as a secondary character.
  18. emergency discussion
    The Crown Made a Haunting ChoiceWe need to talk about Ghost Diana and Ghost Dodi.
  19. chat room
    Kelley Curran’s Gilded Age Social Climber Is Very Undine SpraggTurner’s grand reveal surprised her, too.
  20. tv review
    The Crown Keeps Its DistanceWith the tragedy of Diana, Peter Morgan plays it safe to the very end.
  21. theater review
    The Day the Clowns Cried: HarmonyThe rise of the Nazi regime, recounted in a Cabaret-adjacent musical with songs by Barry Manilow.
  22. explain yourselves
    The Morning Show Was Supposed to Feel UnhingedFor season three, incoming showrunner Charlotte Stoudt wanted to replicate “what it was like to be alive while making that show.”
  23. theater review
    Sabbath’s Theater Can’t Get Out of Its HeadAn adaptation of Philip Roth ends up feeling uncharacteristically tame.
  24. theater
    Money, Love, and Music, All at Odds in I Can Get It for You WholesaleAn underseen musical revived, full of intriguing contradictions.
  25. casting call
    The Gilded Age Summons Broadway to Fifth AvenueCasting directors Bernie Telsey and Adam Caldwell explain how they fill the show with oh so many Tony nominees.
  26. theater review
    Stereophonic Goes Its Own Way, and Finds Its GrooveA very Rumours rock saga immerses you in the act of creation.
  27. tv review
    Good Sex Can’t Save Fellow TravelersThe Showtime limited series spends too little time with its messy, fascinating characters and far too much time on Gay U.S. History 101.
  28. theater
    Still Popular: Chenoweth and Menzel Talk ‘Wicked’For Wicked’s 20th anniversary on Broadway, Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel reunite to talk about high notes, low rumors, and onstage emergencies.
  29. theater review
    A Long Hike in the Woods: The Refuge PlaysNathan Alan Davis’s three-part epic falls short of its big ambitions.
  30. tv review
    All That Effort for This?Frasier is back and meh-er than ever.
  31. some questions
    Some Questions for Only Murders in the Building’s Season-3 FinaleWho’s leaking Maxine’s reviews, and what exactly is the plot of Death Rattle Dazzle?
  32. theater review
    Melissa Etheridge Takes the Aw-Shucks Road to BroadwayMy Window is a night of songs and personal biography, loosely hung together.
  33. announcements
    Stage Whisperer, Vulture’s Theater Newsletter, Extends Its RunWeekly theater news, delivered a little louder for the people in the back.
  34. theater review
    Little Shop of Blah-Blah: Theresa Rebeck’s DigA redemption play that betrays its own premise.
  35. theater review
    In Swing State, Bleak Politics in the Tall GrassRebecca Gilman’s story is hemmed in on all sides.
  36. theater review
    Rachel Bloom Sets Avoidance to Song in Death, Let Me Do My ShowA terrible March 2020, exposed but not too exposed.
  37. tv review
    The Morning Show’s Third Season Is Crazy Enough to WorkApple TV+’s premiere prestige drama has embraced its true identity as a high-gloss soap.
  38. fall preview 2023
    Leslie Odom Jr. Returns, in a Red-Hot American SatireThe actor is back on Broadway for Purlie Victorious, a show more skeptical than the one that made him famous.
  39. some questions
    How Is And Just Like That … Going to Wrap This Up?And most importantly, what Patricia Field outfit will Kim Cattrall wear?
  40. fall preview 2023
    29 Plays and Musicals We Can’t Wait to See This FallOur two new drama critics share and compare their enthusiasms.
  41. emergency discussion
    The Brain-Breaking Dissonance of Red, White & Royal BlueUma Thurman’s accent. Surprise Truvada sponcon. The tonal equivalent of a Disney Channel original gay porn. Make it all make sense.
  42. theater review
    The Shark Is Broken Goes Chumming for Your AffectionIan Shaw’s play bemoans big action movies’ death grip on the culture — while also venerating the voracious progenitor of them all.
  43. tv review
    High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Gets Away With ItDisney+’s extremely meta sorta-sequel series goes out with its heart on its sleeve.
  44. theater review
    You Made a Musical … Out of a DeLorean?Back to the Future: The Musical is a carefully faithful spectacle.
  45. theater review
    Pregaming With Three Postcollege Brats (Plus a Dog) at Toros“The play keeps reminding you it’s a performance, which is nice in a time when many shows feel like they just want to be adapted into film or TV.”
  46. theater review
    The Epic and Hyperspecific in Half-God of Rainfall and Let’s Call Her PattyThe gods shoot hoops; Rhea Perlman chops onions.
  47. theater review
    The Cottage Needs More Doors to SlamLaura Bell Bundy and Eric McCormack lead a too-tidy farce.
  48. theater review
    Notes on Teamwork: Flex and Orpheus DescendingTwo midsummer trips to the South.
  49. theater review
    Here Lies Love Is an Unsettlingly Good TimeA show that portrays Imelda Marcos as blithe naïf and corrupt co-tyrant—and also enabler of a rousing dance party.
  50. profile
    Kit Connor Wasn’t ReadyThe star of Netflix’s teen rom-com Heartstopper was forced to come out by the show’s fans. He’s not letting them get to him anymore.
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