Reviews for Zach Theatre Performances
Review: Into The Woods by Zach Theatre
by Michael Meigs
Published on October 14, 2021
No one wants to be alone. Do yourself a favor; find an evening to spin on your axis to enjoy the music, comedy, disappointments, and tragedies. You know -- like in real life.
We've all been lost in the metaphorical woods for the last year and a half, and it's no wonder that Zach producing artistic director Dave Steakley turned to the haunting, wrenching, and perennial Into the Woods for Zach Theatre's return to live narrative performance. He's eloquent about that decision in his director's note to the intangible but nevertheless substantial program, accessible by QR code and smartphone: The idea for this production originated last year, just …
Review: Tameca Jones Concert by Zach Theatre
by Brian Paul Scipione
Published on April 20, 2021
Tameca Jones opened up about the challenges of having to live up to so many different personas expected of her, including bad-ass, alluring, powerful, and sexy. Her true self still outshines them all.
Zach Theatre’s answer to the obstacles of practicing safe social distancing while keeping live theatre and entertainment thriving, Songs Under the Stars continues throughout the spring season with shows till May 23, 2021. The venue has done an excellent job of adopting with an outdoor stage, lighting, and sound systems enhanced by the beauty of the night sky (the clarity of the night sky not guaranteed). The staff and volunteers are well trained …
Review: Legendary Ladies of the Grand Ole Opry by Zach Theatre
by Brian Paul Scipione
Published on April 01, 2021
These performers delivering classic country songs with true heart and soul put to shame today’s top-40 formulaic country songs—with powerhouse renditions and wonderful jokes and anecdotes.
The Grand Ole Opry has a long history dating back to its origins as a radio show on Nashville's WSM, a radio station established by the National Life & Accident Insurance Company on November 28, 1925. George D. Hay, an immensely popular radio announcer, called his weekly show the WSM Barn Dance (the name “Grand Ole Opry” was introduced in 1927). An opry is an Americanized form of the word opera. By the …
Review: A Night with Janis Joplin by Zach Theatre
by David Glen Robinson
Published on February 03, 2020
A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN gives meaning to the otherwise trite phrase that the music lives on. We all can be grateful for that.
Zach Theatre has once again produced one of its brightest assets, A Night with Janis Joplin, at the Topfer Theatre. The show is perfect for midwinter in Austin. The blues and rock songs, sung and played by headliner Mary Bridget Davies and a highly talented ensemble of singers and musicians, give us a set of popular music of the Sixties and earlier decades of blues singers. Davies makes a career specialty of Joplin; she …
Review: A Christmas Carol: A Rockin' Family Musical by Zach Theatre
by Michael Meigs
Published on December 05, 2019
Dave Steakley's happy jukebox interpretation of A Christmas Carol is set in a world of diversity and human warmth that's too Austin to be true, and it's all the more appealing for that. Constant celebration overshadows Ebenezer's redemption.
Zach Theatre's A Christmas Carol is back for the sixth year, and Dave Steakley's canny jukebox presentation is a charming delirium. Zach's producing artistic director again takes the simple structure of the much loved tale of redemption and decorates it with celebratory rock and roll the way folks all across the nation are dangling ornaments and tinsel on forests of Christmas trees. Sometimes the connections to Dickens' simple, sturdy plot are not entirely evident, but …
Review #2 of 2: Dracula: Mina's Quest (adapted by Dietz) by Zach Theatre
by Michael Meigs
Published on October 07, 2019
Steven Dietz's reworked Dracula at the Zach Theatre is a loud, over-the-top version played out on a set that looks more appropriate for Cartoon Network or THE ADDAMS FAMILY. And to tell the truth, we found it really boring.
We looked at one another at the intermission and had to decide if we were just going to walk out on this one. Steven Dietz's reworked Dracula at the Zach Theatre is a loud, over-the-top version played out on a set that looks more appropriate for Cartoon Network or The Addams Family. And to tell the truth, we found it really boring. Dietz, brought to UT some years ago from Seattle to teach playwriting, is …