Recent Reviews
Review: Sunday in the Park with George by Zach Theatre
by Michael Meigs
Published on June 06, 2018
Artistic director Dave Steakley makes SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE an explosion of sound and image. The Zach Theatre applies its talents and vast resources to fill that virtually bare stage with a work so intense that it verges on an experiment in synesthesia.
The Zach Theatre's staging of Stephen Sondheim's 1984 musical Sunday in the Park with George offers a tempting treat. Sondheim's oeuvre is extensive and varied, and I've had the opportunity to sample it only from time to time. Of course there are the most popular pieces, including West Side Story with Bernstein, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Into the Woods with James Lapine, so familiar that they now seem …
Review: Polly Mermaid: Apocalypse WOW by Glass Half Full Theatre
by David Glen Robinson
Published on May 28, 2018
Glass Half Full Theatre has gone and done it again. Caroline Reck, Indigo Rael and their team have pushed the envelope and brought this zany story alive with mundane plastic objects and unbounded imagination.
Glass Half Full Theatre has gone and done it again. Caroline Reck and her team have pushed the envelope of design, materials, and concepts of puppetry toward manipulable props. Or perhaps artist-designer Indigo Rael has pushed the envelope of innovative materials for props, costumes, and sets toward puppetry. Whatever the vector, the Vortex stage comes alive with mundane plastic and unbounded imagination. Glass Half Full Productions is perhaps the premiere Austin puppet theatre troupe (though …
Review: Lucky Stiff by Austin Playhouse
by David Glen Robinson
Published on May 27, 2018
LUCKY STIFF's silly run-around plot is a showcase vehicle for powerful songs by some of Austin’s best singing and performing talent. It will appeal to everyone who has musical theatre as a guilty pleasure.
Lucky Stiff by Ahrens and Flaherty, now playing at Austin Playhouse in ACC Highland in central Austin, is a light and frothy musical entertainment, not even a murder mystery, although it is about the last will and testament and vacation of a murder victim. And it is still not a murder mystery even when Boni Hester slings around silver-plated and gold-plated revolvers throughout the show. Her high heels alone are sufficient to do all the …
Review: Small Mouth Sounds by Capital T Theatre
by David Glen Robinson
Published on May 24, 2018
The characters in this silence-obligatory experience are immensely diverse but denied the luxury of getting-to-know-you chat. We see a lot of informal signing, pantomime, role-playing, charades, and utter frustration. The funniest moments are when missed messages cause meltdowns.
Small Mouth Sounds by Bess Wohl, now playing at Hyde Park Theatre, is one of those small-scale modern plays that compete for stage space in 21st century American regional theatre. That quality may make the play difficult to see in the lush forest of contemporary plays, but it has the quirky originality that Capital T Theatre loves to spy out. Hence the current production. The characters don’t know each other (except the lesbian couple) before …
Review: Becky's New Car by Gaslight Baker Theatre
by Randi Spears
Published on May 24, 2018
The many laugh-out-loud moments in the GBT's production alternate with “oh no!” exclamations from the audience as suspense builds. It’s a beautiful telling of a modern tale of love with a message: home is indeed where the heart is.
Becky’s New Car at the Gaslight Baker Theatre in Lockhart is a beautiful blend of comedy and tragedy. This production takes you gently by the hand and guides you down a winding, heartstring-pulling path of “what ifs.” From the moment the lights come up, Becky Foster invites you to observe her life and hear her story. Throughout it she silently pleads that you not judge her choices too harshly. Becky has hit midlife, burdened with …
Review: Seminar by Jarrott Productions
by Michael Meigs
Published on May 17, 2018
SEMINAR is not just a rant; Rebeck's too good a playwright for that. There is satisfying development of the characters and a story arc neatly tied up by the end. And even a little redemption for the wicked Leonard.
Last month we took a full day of our Chicago trip to drive to Oak Park, a western suburb, to visit the Frank Lloyd Wright house, now a museum, and to stroll the neighborhood where many of his striking early designs were constructed. The tour guide and info at the museum and workshop described and displayed Wright's genius and recounted his life. Afterward our daughter turned to us with a deeply offended expression. "He was …