Introduction
The best source for finding reviews of concerts, dance performances, or plays is newspapers. Before starting your search, it's important to consider the context of the review you're looking for as that will inform where you should look.
Do you need a review from a particular city's newspaper? Do you need reviews for a contemporary performance or a historical performance?
- If you don't know what city the performance took place in or would like to look at a wide mix of reviews, start with one of the databases below.
- If you know the particular newspaper you need, use the Library Catalog Journal Search to search for individual newspaper titles.
- If you are specifically looking for historical reviews, consult the HPNL's guide on Finding Historical Digitized Newspapers or start searching in one of the historical reviews databases recommended in the box below.
Database Recommendations
These tools are more useful when looking for contemporary reviews. Most databases allow you to limit results by time period, which can be helpful if you know the date range of the review you're looking for.
- Performing Arts Periodicals Database This link opens in a new windowPerforming Arts Periodicals Database covers a broad spectrum of the arts and entertainment industry - including dance, drama, theater, stagecraft, musical theater, circus performance, opera, pantomime, puppetry, magic, performance art, film, television and more. To search for reviews, under 'Document Type' select 'Review'. You can also limit the results by year of publication. The database's coverage is 1864-present.
- Music Periodicals Database This link opens in a new windowA database with full-text and abstracts of articles on music. Includes indexing for music articles and obituaries from the New York Times and The Washington Post. Covers nearly all aspects of music, including scholarly studies and popular trends. Coverage: 1874 - present.
- International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance with Full Text This link opens in a new windowThis tool indexes nearly half a million articles and reviews from the late 19th century to the present that cover theatre, dance, and film. To search, in the 'Document Type' field select 'Entertainment Review' and in the 'Keyword(s)' field type the name of the play or piece.
- Music Index This link opens in a new window
Contains cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for every aspect of the classical and popular world of music including musicological and organological topics, as well as book reviews, record reviews, first performances, and obituaries from more than 850 music periodicals from over 40 countries.
- RILM Abstracts of Music Literature This link opens in a new window
RILM Abstracts of Music Literature is a comprehensive bibliography on writings about music featuring citations, abstracts and indexes. It covers nearly one and a half million publications from around the world on traditional music, popular music, jazz, classical music and related subjects. Coverage begins in the early 19th century and extends to the present.
These resources are especially useful if you're looking for reviews written at the time of a historical performance. Use the filters in a database's advanced search to set the date range of reviews to get the time period you're looking for.
- ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new windowProQuest Historical Newspapers is the definitive newspaper digital archive offering full-text and full-image articles for significant newspapers dating back to the 18th century.
- RIPM Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals This link opens in a new window
An index to more than eighty historical music periodicals in thirteen languages, published primarily in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. (RIPM is the acronym for Répertoire international de la presse musicale.)
- Music Periodicals Database This link opens in a new windowA database with full-text and abstracts of articles on music. Includes indexing for music articles and obituaries from the New York Times and The Washington Post. Covers nearly all aspects of music, including scholarly studies and popular trends. Coverage: 1874 - present.
- Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new windowSearchable database containing digital facsimile images of newspapers; presented as full page layout as well as single articles; advertisements and illustrations included. This collection includes numerous newspapers from a range of urban and rural regions throughout the U.S.
- 19th Century British Library Newspapers This link opens in a new window19th Century British Newspapers is a joint effort between the British Library and Gale to make available searchable, full-text digitized versions of key 19th Century British newspapers. The aim was to select a number of London and regional titles, covering as much of the UK as possible. Titles include the Morning Chronicle, The Examiner and Illustrated Police News and Chartism newspapers. Regional newspapers include: The Northern Echo, The Western Mail, The Newcastle Courant, The Ipswich Journal, The Bristol Mercury. In all, 48 titles from the nineteenth century are included.
Database Search Tips
Below you'll find some search tips that you can use to narrow your results and search more efficiently.
- Use whatever information you already know in your search. Include elements like:
- Piece or work title
- Composer, playwright, choreographer, or performer
- Critic's name
- Use quotation marks and use AND between each element (for example: "The Children's Hour" AND "Lillian Hellman")
- The quotation marks allow you to search for a phrase or title in the exact order you specified
- Using AND limits the results to articles containing both phrases
- Look for options in whatever database you are searching to limit your search. Limiters will usually be options you can select in the advanced search or along the left-hand side of the screen once you have already performed a search. You can limit your search to:
- A particular time period if you need reviews of a premiere or specific performance
- A particular newspaper/publication
- To just "Reviews" as an item type