Recent Reviews
Review: The Brothers Size by Capital T Theatre
by David Glen Robinson
Published on October 30, 2017
Playwright McCraney succeeds brilliantly with the poetry and song flowing through his play. It plays as though every spoken phrase is a musical chord, simultaneously touching each of the levels: the gods, the poverty stricken, the slaves, and the mythic figures enact their destinies.
The Brothers Size by Tarell Alvin McCraney is an evening-length one-act contemporary play, part II of his award-winning Brother/Sister Plays trilogy. Capital T Theatre has scored a major advance in bringing The Brothers Size to Austin with a four star cast of three, directed by Jason Phelps. McCraney has won numerous awards and is currently the playwriting chair at the Yale School of Drama. Additionally, he co-wrote the screenplay for the Academy Award winning …
Review: Little Shop of Horrors by Woodlawn Theatre
by Kurt Gardner
Published on October 20, 2017
The stage musical version of Roger Corman's famously no-budget cult horror comedy is directed by Tim Hedgepeth and makes for a fun Halloween-season treat.
Populated with morbid themes, yet propelled by a bright score courtesy of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, the musical production of Little Shop of Horrors is an intriguing hybrid of darkness and light – like finding an orchid in a landfill. It tells the story of Seymour Krelborn, the hapless employee of a Skid Row flower shop run by the cranky Mr. Mushnik. The store’s only other employee is the pretty but tacky …
Review: Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and Other Just-So Stories by Magik Theatre
by Kurt Gardner
Published on October 13, 2017
Four talented actors each inhabit several of Kipling’s characters with the aid of evocative costumes designed by Carolyn Dellinger Stillwaggon and stylish headpieces fabricated by Lucian Hernandez.
Adapted from the works of Rudyard Kipling by members of the Chicago-based Lifeline Theatre, Christina Calvit and Meryl Friedman, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and Other ‘Just So’ Stories comes to San Antonio’s Magik Theatre in a delightful production that will entertain children and their parents alike. The piece is performed by four talented actors: Jeremy Bilbo, Delvin James, Jovi Lee, and Randee Lutterloh. They each inhabit several of Kipling’s characters with the aid of evocative costumes designed …
Review: Singin' in the Rain by Zach Theatre
by Michael Meigs
Published on October 07, 2017
Director Reybold, choreographer Kelly and cast give us the familiar with enough innovation to bring it newly alive in Zach Theatre's lavish production.
Singin' in the Rain wasn't particularly innovative when it was first done as a movie vehicle for Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor, except of course for Kelly's wonderful dance sequence, most of which he improvised on the spot. The film was just the latest product off MGM's Arthur Freed movie musical assembly line, and the screenwriters Comden & Green happily recycled popular songs of Nacio Brown and Freed. It wasn't even particularly …
Review: Rhinoceros by Mary Moody Northen Theatre
by Michael Meigs
Published on October 05, 2017
Blake Browning invests himself mightily in a protagonist who's neither distinguished nor particularly strong. The core moment of the play comes when Marc Pouhé as Jean, his irascible friend, struggles mightily against the lure of the rhinoceros and loses.
The concept of Eugène Ionescu's 1959 Rhinoceros is almost painfully simple. It is 1940 France. Bérenger, the protagonist, is a disaffected young man who can't quite figure out who he is or why he should be doing anything. As he appeals to his friend Jean, an adamant older man, the town is visited by a rhinoceros that comes tearing down the street and disappears. Bérenger isn't much affected, but then another rhinoceros streaks through town. Or …
Review: Vampyress by Chad Salvata, Vortex Repertory
by David Glen Robinson
Published on October 04, 2017
The peaks of excess of author-composer Salvata and director Cullum rise out of their ambient pools of blood and decadence for maximum, deliberate effect. At those moments, they refuse to shield the audience from the call of the wild.
Vampyress is back for the third time at the Vortex. One of Ethos’ premier productions, it is not so much matured as it is heightened in all of its production aspects. This is a true masterpiece of scenic design for Ann Marie Gordon, lighting design for Jason Amato, costume design for Stephanie Dunbar and Chad Salvata, a lead role in nu opera for Melissa Vogt, and directing for Bonnie Cullum. Chad Salvata’s …