Author Archives 
Robert W. McDowell is a Raleigh, NC-based freelance writer, editor, and theater critic. A Columbia, SC native and graduate of East Carolina University in Greenville, NC, he has written theater, film, book, and music previews and reviews for The News & Observer, The Raleigh Times, Spectator Magazine, and Classical Voice of North Carolina, all based in Raleigh.
In April 2001, he started Robert's Reviews, a FREE weekly e-mail theatrical newsletter that provides more comprehensive, in-depth coverage of Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro theater than all of the other local news media combined. (To start your free subscription, e-mail robertm748[at]aol.com and type SUBSCRIBE TTR in the Subject: line.) Triangle Theater Review is the latest-and-greatest version of McDowell's original newsletter.
Robert McDowell also co-edited and supervised the production of Jim Valvano's Guide to Great Eating (JTV Enterprises, 1984), a 224-page sports celebrity cookbook; and he served as a fact checker for Valvano: They Gave Me a Lifetime Contract, and Then They Declared Me Dead (Pocket Books, 1991). From 1980 to 1991, he worked for N.C. Citizens for Business and Industry (now the North Carolina Chamber) of Raleigh and served as associate editor and acting editor of North Carolina, a monthly business magazine that also covered economic development, government, education, and (sometimes) the arts.
Since December 1980, McDowell has served on the board of directors of The Cinema, Inc., a Raleigh-based nonprofit film society formed in 1966. He also maintains a list of FREE advance screenings of movies in the Triangle area. (To have your e-mail address added to this FREE list, e-mail robertm748[at]aol.com and type JOIN FFL in the Subject: line.)
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Posts by Robert:
- SITI Company Will Present “Who Do You Think You Are,” a Work-in-Progress, for Free May 18th at UNC(0)
- The Best Laid Plans Go Hilariously Awry in Alan Ayckbourn’s Sci-Fi Comedy “Henceforward…”(0)
- Ntozake Shange’s Choreopoem “For Colored Girls …” Is a Passionate Elegy for African-American Women(0)
- TAS’ 2012 Season Includes “A Streetcar Named Desire” and a Solo About Louis Armstrong(0)
- Oh, What a Night! “Wicked” Returns to Durham, and Tiffany Haas and Christine Dwyer Set DPAC Ablaze(3)
- NRACT Will Stage Liz Peterson’s Lively Musical Adaptation of “The Wind in the Willows”(0)
- Raleigh Little Theatre’s “Dear Edwina Jr.” Is the Perfect Girl-Power Musical for a New Generation(0)
- Back by Popular Demand: “Wicked” Will Start Its Four-Week 2012 Run at DPAC on May 2nd(0)
- In “The Rainmaker,” a Charismatic Charlatan Meets His Match in a Midwestern Spinster Farm Girl(0)
- In “For Lucy,” an Imaginative, Fearless Third Grader Learns How to Cope After Her Mother Passes Away(0)
- Sir Alan Ayckbourn’s 1987 Comedy “Henceforward…” Is a Wickedly Funny Look at Love, Art, and Robots(0)
- May 2012 Theater Calendar(0)
- Deborah Jean Templin’s “Unsinkable Women” Tells the Untold Stories from the Sinking of the Titanic(0)
- TIP’s Zany Family-Vacation Comedy, “Leaving Iowa,” Is a Five-Diamond Jaunt Through the Heartland(0)
- “Penelope,” a New Play Written and Performed by Ellen McLaughlin, Will Premiere at PlayMakers Rep(0)
- Jennifer Evans and J. Evarts Star in Ghost & Spice’s Production of Shelagh Delaney’s “A Taste of Honey”(0)
- At DPAC, “Bring It On” Pits a Suburban Squad Against an Inner-City Crew for Cheerleading’s Highest Honor(0)
- In Caroline Francke’s Comedy, His Daughter’s Wedding Drives the “Father of the Bride” Crazy(0)
- Tony® Winner Beth Leavel Will Star as M’Lynn in NCT’s Gala Presentation of “Steel Magnolias”(0)
- Four Reform-School Girls Idolize Margaret Sanger in Monica Byrne’s “What Every Girl Should Know”(0)
- “Bring It On: The Musical” Is a Behind-the-Scenes Look at the World of Competitive Cheerleading(0)
- “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller Is a Cautionary Tale About the Salem Witch Trials’ Rush to Judgment(0)
- An Invigorating Comedy of Ideas, David Auburn’s “Proof” Won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama(0)
- Burning Coal’s “Jude the Obscure” Is a Two-Part Musical Adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s Novel(0)
- “Leaving Iowa” at Theatre in the Park Is a Hilarious — and Touching — Comedy About Family Vacations(0)
- Ingenious Production Design and Clever Staging Add Bite to “Cape Disappointment’s” Shaggy-Dog Story(0)
- Michael Frayn’s Fast and Furious Backstage Sex Comedy “Noises Off” Sends the Sardines Flying(0)
- Richard Krawiec’s “Creeds” Sheds Too Little Light on Why FBI Agent Robert Hanssen Became a Soviet Spy(0)
- Stillwater Theatre’s Surreal Production Design for “Hungry” Outshines Lia Romeo’s Convoluted Script(0)
- April 2012 Theater Calendar(0)