Recent Reviews
Review: The Mad Scene by Performa/Dance
by David Glen Robinson
Published on June 12, 2022
MAD SCENE from Jennifer Hart offers a goo of images and actions, soaring and crawling, angelic and monstrous, unified and diverse, harmonizing and chaotic. Fame and notoriety are empty. We have left the Louis XIV 's ballets far behind.
Something snapped deep in Jennifer Hart‘s brain. Mad Scene flowed out, a goo of images and actions, all soaring and crawling, angelic and monstruous, unified and diverse, harmonizing and chaotic. Time played for putty in Hart’s hands, with a giant set of the great hall of Versailles in projection and a disco ball over stage center. Projections and video gave us more views of Versailles, woodland Texas, and stone architecture, locations unknown. The first dance …
Review: Saint Joan, God's Mouthpiece by Lighthouse Theatre
by Justin M. West
Published on June 03, 2022
This rewrite of GBS's SAINT JOAN is grand in its story but tightly knit in presentation, inspiring without being overly reverent, which keeps it accessible. Humor peppers the updated, provocative script.
I have long known about Lighthouse Theatre, which has a residency at the Crestview Baptist Church in Georgetown, TX. My lack of attendance at any of the company’s performances is probably due in no small part to my own confidence that, upon setting foot in a church, I would immediately burst into flames and ruin whatever production I had come to see on account of being a godless heathen of a frequently outspoken ilk. …
Review #2 of 2: Mack and Mabel, A Musical Love Story by Alchemy Theatre Company, Austin
by Brian Paul Scipione
Published on June 03, 2022
The story of Mack and Mabel is not often told but it is a story as old as Hollywood itself, full of goals and aspirations as big as the letters of the famous Hollywood sign. And as with many Greek myths, the higher one reaches for dreams, the farther there is to fall.
Mack and Mabel opened on Broadway in 1974, garnered eight Tony nominations, and closed after only eight weeks. It is known for the songs “I Won’t Send Roses,” “I Promise You a Happy Ending," and "Hundreds of Girls" which were composed by Jerry Herman, who also brought the world La Cage aux Folles and Hello, Dolly! The musical was written by Michal Stewart, known for Bye Bye Birdie, Carnival!, and 42nd Street. The debut …
Review: Dot by Colman Domingo, Ground Floor Theatre
by Justin M. West
Published on May 31, 2022
Colman Domingo's flawed script for DOT and Lisa B. Thompson's direction hinder, over-shout the talents onstage.
The Ground Floor Theatre has a solid reputation for producing progressive and thought-provoking pieces. The last show I reviewed here, Some Humans Were Harmed…, left a lasting impression on me in a way that few have. So, too, did writer Lisa B. Thompson’s prior production, The Mamalogues, though I failed spectacularly to produce a review. I was therefore beyond disappointed to find that Thompson’s work as a director on Coloman Doming's Dot so widely misses the mark. …
Review: The Magnificent Conjuring of You and Me by Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company
by David Glen Robinson
Published on May 29, 2022
Kathy Dunn Hamrick has carved out a niche for herself of high-energy, high skill, athletic contemporary dance. her audiences appreciate every new and surprising turn the company takes within it.
Kathy Dunn Hamrick speaks the language of movement better than most. This was stated about her in regard to last December’s In Situ dance performance, also at Café Dance. In that performance, stemming from the title, the movement addressed place and places—all familiar places—transformed by the pandemic. They were recognized anew in a process of metamorphosis, dancers hatching literally from bubble-wrap cocoons and finding new life after the dark restrictions of our collective confinement. …
Review: A League of Her Own by Bottle Alley Theatre Company
by Justin M. West
Published on May 20, 2022
"That was one of the best performances I have ever seen," I told Abby Ferree, the solo protagonist. I stand by that. "You're amazing," I told director Allison Price.I regret not finding better words for an unforgettable and transformative experience.
For years I have maintained, as I likely always will, that theatre is not and should never be a "safe space." I am not referring to the creation process, of course. The creation of a piece, from its inception to its rehearsals and performances, should absolutely be a safe space for all involved. The safety of performers and those supporting them is paramount. But the art, itself? The ideas and emotions it evokes and …