Misha Berson (19502025) was an American

theatre critic Theatre criticism is a genre of arts criticism, and the act of writing or speaking about the performing arts such as a play or opera. Theatre criticism is distinct from drama criticism, as the latter is a division of literary criticism whereas the ...

with ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...

''. In the 1980s Berson worked in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, first as the executive director of Theatre Bay Area and as performing arts director of the

Fort Mason Center Fort Mason, in San Francisco, California is a former United States Army post located in the northern Marina District, San Francisco, California, Marina District, alongside San Francisco Bay. Fort Mason served as an Army post for more than 100 ye ...

before working as theatre critic for the ''

San Francisco Bay Guardian The ''San Francisco Bay Guardian'' was a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. The paper was shut down on October 14, 2014. Parts of the paper were relaunched online in February 2016. History The ''Bay Guar ...

'' for twelve years. Since 1992 she covered the Seattle theatre scene for the Seattle Times. David Cote, writing for the

Theatre Communications Group Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is a non-profit service organization headquartered in New York City that promotes professional non-profit theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, us ...

, listed Berson among the most influential theatre critics in America in 2011. Berson authored a book on the musical ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

'', ''Something’s Coming, Something Good: West Side Story and the American Imagination''. The book received positive reviews with Brad Hathaway, writing for ''DC Theatre Scene'', calling it the one ''West Side Story'' book one should own. Jay Handelman, writing for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, said the book "could serve as a textbook study of the creation of a musical". Berson chose the winners of the Seattle Times' theatre awards, the Footlight Awards. She served on the jury for the 2015

Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berson, Misha Living people American theater critics American women theatre critics Year of birth missing (living people)