Recent Reviews
Review: The Catastrophist by Austin Playhouse
by Brian Paul Scipione
Published on April 06, 2022
Timely but not directly about COVID, Ben Wolfe's fitfully meta solo as the virologist known as THE CATASTOPHIST is both about saving the world and about dealing with insoluble personal issues
The Catastrophist is the story of virologist Nathan Wolfe, who tracks viral pandemics. It's based on the real-life work of Dr. Nathan Daniel Wolfe and was written by his wife, playwright Lauren Gunderson (The Book of Will, Silent Sky, and Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley). Gunderson contrasts the wide world of science with the more personal story of confronting one’s own mortality. Commissioned by Marin Theatre Company in 2020, the play premiered as a digital …
Review: Amadeus by Penfold Theatre Company
by Brian Paul Scipione
Published on April 04, 2022
Kareem Badr's performance as Antonio Salieri in Liz Fisher's rework of AMADEUS is mesmerizing. The chaos of the play succeeds impressively in reflecting the chaos of his character’s mind.
In the early 1990's Spanish chef Ferran Adriá came up with "deconstructed food," an approach in which a dish is served with its primary ingredients presented separately. The idea was that diners should be able to re-assemble them so as to experience the dish anew in an entirely personal experience. The essence of a classic dish is maintained but its form is broken down so one has greater appreciation of the parts that make up …
Review: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by touring company
by Brian Paul Scipione
Published on March 27, 2022
Sprinkled with new ingredients, this touring production of the familiar story of the magical chocolate factory becomes a thoroughly enjoyable evening of family entertainment. It adds intriguing new themes.
Most people in the audience have some familiarity with Roald Dahl’s classic tale of the golden ticket that makes one boy’s dreams become a reality. Dahl’s 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory inspired the 1971 movie with Gene Wilder as well as the sometimes maligned 2005 Tim Burton movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Johnny Depp. Interestingly, the 1971 movie’s title was Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory so as to promote a …
Review 1 of 2: The Lifespan of a Fact by Jarrott Productions
by David Glen Robinson
Published on March 12, 2022
The focus of the story is the distinction between facts and truth. THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT stuns the audience with a very precise but unvoiced answer to the question inherent in the title. Perfect.
This Austin premiere of The Lifespan of a Fact marks Jarrott Productions' welcome return to live onstage performance after the debilitation of the Covid pandemic. The company has built a reputation for urban contemporary theatre and explores that esthetic further by moving for this show to the mixed industrial, suburbanized east side at Ground Floor Theatre on Springfield Road in Austin. The work was originally produced on Broadway in 2018, written jointly by Jeremy Kareken, …
Review: Tootsie by touring company
by Brian Paul Scipione
Published on March 05, 2022
The performers in TOOTSIE thrive on the audience's energy and laughter. Like a classic joke that always cracks a smile, the touring production is enormously entertaining and doesn't need to be anything more.
The 1982 movie Tootsie was a big hit, earning the praise of audiences and critics alike, as well as ten Academy Award nominations. It has since been inducted into the Library of Congress’ United States National Film Registry because of its cultural significance. So, it may seem surprising that it did not get the musical treatment until it was adapted by David Yazbek and Robert Horn in 2018, nearly forty years later. Though it was …
Review: Sweeney Todd by Tex-Arts, Lakeway
by Michael Meigs
Published on February 17, 2022
Artistic director Jarret Mallon, stage director Kasey RT Graham, and Tex-Art's team of performers and designers prove triumphantly that Sondheim's SWEENEY TODD becomes a powerfully intimate piece when condensed into a small space
We could call this Austin's year of Stephen Sondheim, who unexpectedly passed away on November 26, the day after enjoying Thanksgiving with friends. After all, the Zach Theatre had marked its emergence from COVID the previous month with a cleverly inverted outdoor run of Into the Woods; City Theatre Austin put together Moments, a February weekend's celebration of his musicals; and now here's Tex-Arts with Sweeney Todd, and Austin Opera has announced another Sweeney production …