Recent Reviews
Review: Murder on the Orient Express by Zach Theatre
by Hannah Neuhauser
Published on February 03, 2026
This stunning midnight blue train is the gorgeous setting for an evening of comedy entertainment that begins with tragedy and ends with an ethical challenge. Were we doing the right thing?
Join Steven Pounders as Hercule Poirot and his infamous mustache - seen from any seat! – as he recalls a murder case and a difficult ethical decision upon the luxurious steam train the Orient Express. No more serious spoilers from me – if you know, you know, whether from Kevin Branaugh's 2017 film or the twelve other productions across Central Texas since 2019. Just go see the show! You don’t need my seal of approval …
Review: Hamlet by Gaslight Baker Theatre
by Violet del Mar
Published on February 02, 2026
In GBT's HAMLET tragic inevitability remains intact, while the production is easily accessible, infused with playfulness and visual ingenuity. Confident, compelling, memorable, and engaging for both performers and adiences.
As a performer, I approached my first viewing of this Hamlet with curiosity and cautious anticipation. Yes, I know what you’re thinking, and no judgments needed. I was pleasantly surprised. While the narrative’s tragic inevitability remains intact, this production infused the evening with playfulness and visual ingenuity. Humor surfaced at unexpected moments, and the staging embraced bold theatricality. Most striking was the towering puppet of the ghost of Hamlet’s father, a spellbinding visual centerpiece that …
Review: Rara Avis by Ishida Dance Company
by David Glen Robinson
Published on January 26, 2026
After the luscious and exciting evening of "Rara Avis," we're past welcoming Ishida Dance to Austin; now we're begging Ishida Dance never to leave.
Ishida Dance returned to Austin with thier new show Rara Avis and a plan for partial basing (with Houston) right here in river city. The show is fresh, indeed, with four dances, one of them popular in Europe, and three world premieres. Concept, choreography, staging, and performance were brilliant, without the lighting and sound glitches that plagued last year’s show at St. Andrews in west Austin. Dell Hall at the Long Center is a mighty …
Review: SIX, the musical by touring company
by Brian Paul Scipione
Published on January 24, 2026
SIX of them. Diva queens, fast and funny, sometimes hard to follow, deliver goose-bump-inspiringly musical performances to create the soundtrack for thousands of future sleepovers.
Like most touring shows, SIX, created by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, is a powerhouse production with a giant fan following and a slew of awards including Tonys for Best Costume Design in a Musical and Best Original Score (Music and Lyrics). Marlow and Moss wrote SIX during their final year at Cambridge to offer at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Inspired in part by a Beyoncé performance, Marlow proposed a retelling of the lives of …
Review: The Look of Love by touring company
by David Glen Robinson
Published on January 19, 2026
Mark Morris has always known what the world needs now, and this evening of innovative dance to Burt Bacharat's music is his latest monument of U.S. dance.
The Look of Love, choreographer Mark Morris’s long-touring dance and music show, is a monument of popular music and postmodern contemporary dance. The show, presented one night only at the Bass Concert Hall, the main facility of Texas Performing Arts on the UT Austin campus, amazed us with its artistic directness, and dances set to iconic works of popular music. The show was based in simplicity—walking paces, repeated arm gestures, straightforward entrances and exits---the kind …
Review #2 of 2: Man of the People by Different Stages
by Hannah Neuhauser
Published on January 13, 2026
Dolores Diaz’s writing is utterly compelling as she depicts Dr. J.R. Brinkley’s perverse contribution to society, which bordered on the brink of insanity.
What information are you willing to stomach to believe in a future? Different Stages’ production of Dolores Diaz’s Man of the People dramatizes true events. In national radio broadcasts from 1917 to 1937 charlatan "Dr." J.R. Brinkley advertised his fraudulent treatments and medications to hopeful listeners desperate for a cure. This gripping story is rife with comedic bewilderment and tragic comprehension. Through its emotionally charged performances and interspersing of historical archives, Man of the People …