Reviews for touring company Performances
Review: Jesus Christ Superstar by touring company
by Brian Paul Scipione
Published on October 11, 2019
The 50th anniversary tour isn't the story of a man and his betrayer, it's the tale of a superstar. Jesus is who people make him. The obliquely abstract design did nothing to harm the electric energy of the production.
Before Jesus Christ Superstar was an international musical phenomeon, it was a rock opera concept album written by Emmy-, Gramm-y, Oscar- and Tony- award winners Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice Though it went on to sell over 7 million copies it was originally banned by the BBC as sacrilegious. Both the album and subsequent musical were condemned by various religious groups. It didn’t help that lyricist Rice included text that suggested …
Review: Les Miserables by touring company
by Brian Paul Scipione
Published on September 13, 2019
The performances were Broadway quality with Mary Kate Moore as Fantine as a clear standout. Her vocal control was matched by her on-stage panache. When performed with all cylinders like this, Les Misérables will always be epic in scope and blistering in production.
Published in 1862, Les Misérables was Victor Hugo’s magnum opus. A historical novel that chronicled 17 years of the life of Jean Valjean while exploring the timeless topics of truth, law, redemption, and grace against the brooding background of the upcoming French Revolution. The story has found its way on to the stage and screen in many incarnations and its latest treatment does not lose sight of the grandiose vision of the original. Powerhouse …
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Review: Hamilton by touring company
by Michael Meigs
Published on June 04, 2019
Lin-Manuel Miranda gifted us an opera of great stature that retells our own story, a complex work, written in a challenging idiom, one worthy of study and attention. And -- why not? -- reverence.
Hamilton is epic; there’s no gainsaying that fact. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s imagining of key events and personalities of the American revolution has a savage, electrifying impact, and by comparison it leaves the venerable musical 1776 looking like — well, a bunch of old white guys standing around in funny breeches. Manuel blows up the traditional narrative and mercilessly rips away the bandage of stale conventions, but at the same time the playwright embraces the …
Review: Cats by touring company
by Brian Paul Scipione
Published on May 10, 2019
The disco sensibility that permeates this production is all sound, flash, and fury, providing a night of great entertainment requiring nothing from the viewers but a willingness to smile.
Like many, I’m sure, I recall the exuberant review of “I laughed! I cried! It was better than Cats!” that became a ubiquitous catchphrase, even becoming a Saturday Night Live skit. This phrase became a common way to express one’s admiration for a new Broadway play (and then eventually anything: "How was that coffee?" "It was better than Cats!"). The rub here is that for a long time Cats was the standard bearer of what an excellent …
Review #2 of 2: Fiddler on the Roof by Touring Company, Bass Concert Hall, April 2 - 7, 2019
by Michael Meigs
Published on April 03, 2019
This FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, 55 years after the Broadway premiere, offers scene after scene of vividly masterful scenography, lithe and exuberant dancing, family conflict, quirky characters, love and heartbreak. You'll be getting full value for your ticket.
The first worry for a reviewer of the touring production of Fiddler on the Roof playing this week at UT's Bass Concert Hall is whether there's really anything useful or insightful to be said about this epic musical. First produced on Broadway 55 years ago, it received 1965 Tony awards for best musical, best score and best book. That monster success has been revived five times on Broadway since then, at intervals averaging nine years. It has played …
Review #1 of 2: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF by touring company, Bass Concert Hall, April 2 - 7, 2019
by Brian Paul Scipione
Published on April 03, 2019
This touring FIDDLER ON THE ROOF stays very faithful to the original and it may be a bit long for modern audiences. Yehezkel Lazarov with his invigorating comic zeal is perfectly cast as Tevye.
The Tony Award-nominated Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof is playing in Austin from April 2nd to April 7th(including matinees on Saturday and Sunday). And as with many Broadway epics this production has been lavished with praise from The New York Times to New York Magazine. This performance is presented by Texas Performing Arts (TPA), found on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, an organization that produces performances, educational events, and collaborations in their …