Reviews for Wonder Theatre Performances
Review: SWEENEY TODD by Steven Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler, Woodlawn Theatre
by Kurt Gardner
Published on October 13, 2016
Sondheim’s score, one of the most complicated he’s ever written, involves operatic voices, intricate harmonies, and an ensemble as talented as the leads. The Woodlawn production directed by Rick Sanchez manages to accomplish it all.
One of Sondheim’s finest and darkest musicals is now playing at the Woodlawn Theatre — and it’s a knockout. Since its Broadway premiere in 1979, the story of the homicidal barber and his pie-selling partner in crime has been thrilling audiences in numerous stage and (big and small) screen adaptations. Inspired by the “penny dreadfuls” of the Victorian age, it offers up a grim picture of London of that period — a filthy, disease-ridden …
Review: Evita by Woodlawn Theatre
by Kurt Gardner
Published on August 16, 2016
The Woodlawn production directed by Christopher Rodriguez is virtually flawless.
Evita is one of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s best musicals, and certainly one of their most enduring. The story of a woman who used her body (and any other means at her disposal) to achieve fame and power, it also presents audiences with a moral dilemma. Are we meant to cheer for someone who relied on such unscrupulous means to achieve her success? The answer is both yes and no, as the musical gives …
Review: The Little Mermaid, Disney by Woodlawn Theatre
by Kurt Gardner
Published on July 01, 2016
Performances are mostly broad and intentionally cartoonish to appeal to the youngsters, but adults may find them wearying in the long haul.
Back in the ’90s, the Disney corporation began mounting phenomenally successful Broadway adaptations of their animated hits Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. So it was not at all surprising that they’d turn to their 1989 The Little Mermaid for the stage treatment. Running for 685 performances beginning in 2008, it was not quite as successful as its predecessors. A few changes to songs and characters were made to the show in 2012, …
Review: Memphis, the musical by Woodlawn Theatre
by Kurt Gardner
Published on April 12, 2016
Attractive leads and high-spirited performances help to maintain a level of energy that rises above the clichés of Joe DiPietro's by-the-numbers book.
Continuing its ongoing tradition of tackling big Broadway musicals, the Woodlawn Theatre brings the sprawling, Tony-winning musical Memphis to its stage, marking another success for this ambitious company. Set in the titular Tennessee town in the 1950s, this is the story of Huey Calhoun, a white high school dropout who parlays his love of rhythm and blues into a career as a boundary-breaking DJ at a time when African-Americans were still treated very much as …
Review: The Rocky Horror Show 2013 by Woodlawn Theatre
by Michael Meigs
Published on October 20, 2013
The Rocky Horror Show is a sweet little pop fable about the loss of innocence, a glimpse into pleasures conventionally banned or hidden, and an emotional release in pounding rhythm.
There must be something in the water down there in San Antonio. Right now San Antonio has not one but two stage versions of The Rocky Horror Show running. The Cameo Theatre staging by J. Pennington Studios plays through next weekend, and Greg Hinojosa's exuberant production at the Woodlawn, to which I was invited last Thursday, plays until November 2. The large and enthusiastic cast at the Woodlawn appears Thursdays at 8 p.m. and then Fridays and Saturdays at 11 p.m. after …