Reviews for Alchemy Theatre Company Performances

Review: The Baker's Wife by Alchemy Theatre Company

Review: The Baker's Wife by Alchemy Theatre Company

by Michael Meigs
Published on May 13, 2023

There's always pain within comedy; in THE BAKER'S WIFE with beautiful performances by Sarah-Marie Curry and Sebastian Vitale pain teaches us something.

There's an achingly beautiful love story at the center of The Baker's Wife. Sebastian Vitale as Aimable Castaignet the baker, newly arrived in the tiny village of Concorde, is quiet, a bit battered, and absolutely devoted to his young wife. Sarah Marie Curry's Geneviève was battered emotionally somewhere else along the way and rescued by the baker, much older; she's withdrawn, correct with him but short-spoken with others in Concorde. Love yearns in both directions …

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Review: The Virgin Trial by Alchemy Theatre Company

Review: The Virgin Trial by Alchemy Theatre Company

by Brian Paul Scipione
Published on September 18, 2022

Character-driven and gripping, THE VIRGIN TRIAL is a night of must-see theater, both timely and timeless. Soleil Patterson is a powerhouse as Bess, the future Elizabeth I

  Austin’s own Alchemy Theater continues to do its part to take on challenging drama with vital political significance. While it would certainly be easier to fall back on feel-good performances especially during such trying times, the company persists on producing daring theater which sparks not only joy but heartfelt conversation. Their latest offering, Kate Hennig’s The Virgin Trial (originally produced in the U.S. at the Cygnet Theatre in San Diego in September, 2019) tells …

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Review #2 of 2: Mack and Mabel, A Musical Love Story by Alchemy Theatre Company, Austin

Review #2 of 2: Mack and Mabel, A Musical Love Story by Alchemy Theatre Company, Austin

by Brian Paul Scipione
Published on June 03, 2022

The story of Mack and Mabel is not often told but it is a story as old as Hollywood itself, full of goals and aspirations as big as the letters of the famous Hollywood sign. And as with many Greek myths, the higher one reaches for dreams, the farther there is to fall.

  Mack and Mabel opened on Broadway in 1974, garnered eight Tony nominations, and closed after only eight weeks. It is known for the songs “I Won’t Send Roses,” “I Promise You a Happy Ending," and "Hundreds of Girls" which were composed by Jerry Herman, who also brought the world La Cage aux Folles and Hello, Dolly! The musical was written by Michal Stewart, known for Bye Bye Birdie, Carnival!, and 42nd Street. The debut …

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Review: Mack and Mabel, A Musical Love Story by Alchemy Theatre Company

Review: Mack and Mabel, A Musical Love Story by Alchemy Theatre Company

by Michael Meigs
Published on May 04, 2022

This is almost certainly your last chance to enjoy in person the heights and experience the depths of Herman's gorgeously sad musical tragedy. It will stay with you long after the applause fades.

  An image comes to mind for the musical theatre piece Mack and Mabel (1974) by Michael Stewart and Jerry Herman: a black pearl, infinitely rare, darkly lustrous, almost never seen.    I see so many ways to approach this piece: Michael Cooper's darkly intimate staging of it in the oddly shaped  forty-seat Mastrogeorge Theater used by the Carol Hickey Acting Studio; discussion of the sparkling, sometimes blazing talents of this choice cast; examination of …

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Review: A Christmas Memory by Alchemy Theatre Company

Review: A Christmas Memory by Alchemy Theatre Company

by Brian Paul Scipione
Published on December 12, 2019

I wouldn't be surprised to see this production go on to become an Austin Christmas tradition. It's a memory one will want to relive again and again.

   American novelist, playwright, and actor Truman Capote is best known for Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood. Many of his works are considered American literary classics and were adapted for film and television, which helped give him a wide and admiring audience. Yet Capote's origins were remarkably humbler, even Dickensian. His youth was beset by familial issues including divorce, an absentee mother, and a transient lifestyle.   He began to deal with these troubles very early …

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