Recent Reviews
Review: The Undoing of Nonet by The Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company
by David Glen Robinson
Published on December 06, 2013
The Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company (KDHDC) is said by many to be the best modern dance company in Austin, and it also receives notable positive mentions statewide. Part of this reputation is built on the company’s athletically powerful performances and embrace of abstract communication, a hallmark of all modern dance inherited from Martha Graham. And while much of modern, or contemporary, dance in the 21st century has moved more toward narrative story dances or …
Review: Arsenic and Old Lace by Different Stages
by David Glen Robinson
Published on December 01, 2013
Different Stages is mounting Joseph Kesselring’s Arsenic and Old Lace at the Vortex Theatre in East Austin from November 22nd to December 14th. It is something of a comedy standard and comes highly recommended. As Director Blumensaadt stated during his curtain speech, Arsenic and Old Lace is from the 1940s, produced on Broadway in 1941. It is also listed as a comedy classic, and that it certainly is, a period piece with sharp dialogue throughout …
Review: Arsenic and Old Lace by Different Stages
by Michael Meigs
Published on December 01, 2013
Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring is one of those whimsical comedies that just won't die. The playwright wins our sympathies with a pair of comforting maiden aunts, their capable journalist nephew Mortimer and a sweet parson's daughter. He then plays a series of clever modulations in madness -- from the harmless to the surprising to the pathological. The play and the Jimmy Stewart movie are familiar, so this review's not likely to spoil …
Review: Steel Magnolias by The City Theatre Company
by David Glen Robinson
Published on November 24, 2013
Chinquapin Parish comes to the City. To the City Theatre, that is, in the form of Robert Harling’s superbly written modern classic, Steel Magnolias. Theatre fans cannot see this masterpiece frequently enough; they must review it often to catch the fast-flying wicked barbs, double entendres, bon mots, and just plain corny jokes that fill its two hours and ten minutes. It feels like about one hour because laughter makes one lose all track of time. …
Review: You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown by The Wimberley Players
by Michael Meigs
Published on November 23, 2013
The polish, confidence and dash of the choreography and song in You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown reinforce the cartoonist's basic message: Life can be beautiful if we reduce our concerns to the most elemental ones.
As fresh as the ink of the morning paper on a bright fall day, the Wimberley Players' staging of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown is big, bold and beautiful. And so is the cast; director Jim Lindsay has handpicked some of the most attractive talent from the region. Did you know that this musical by Clark Gesner is approaching its 50th birthday? You'd never know it from this production. The original version was done …
Review: Bodas de Sangre (Blood Wedding) by Mary Moody Northen Theatre
by Michael Meigs
Published on November 21, 2013
Federico García Lorca's Bodas de Sangre takes places in the stark and arid landscape of the mind. The setting is rural Spain, somewhere far out in the countryside, and the characters are peasant families. They have no names, with the single exception of Leonardo, the angry and frustrated young farmer who precipitates the tragedy. García Lorca identifies the others by role: the intended groom (novio), the bride (novia), the mother, the neighbor, the father of …