Recent Reviews
Review: Million Dollar Quartet by Zach Theatre
by David Glen Robinson
Published on August 01, 2017
The premise of MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET, one day in the life of Sun Records, Memphis, Tennessee, is an excuse for the music. Music Director Allen Robertson culled national talent for his performers, and they all seem to be quadruple threats—acting, dancing, singing, and playing instruments.
Musicals are what Zach Theatre does best under Producing Artistic Director Dave Steakley, and Million Dollar Quartet shines near the top of the rankings. The show, with a book by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux, is a top-shelf literary and musical property, and Zach Theatre’s production of it realizes all its potential. The audience, of course, receives full value for its ticket purchases. The show is highly recommended for audiences of all ages. The …
Review: Crave Blue by Mouth Radio
by David Glen Robinson
Published on July 22, 2017
The actors are the strength of CRAVE BLUE. They project the script’s high points right through the high concrete block walls, and not just by using volume. And would someone please give Tim Mateer a one-person show?
The Mastrogeorge Theatre is incredibly hard to find, but finding it conveys a sense of accomplishment. The place is one of those multispaces in a repurposed warehouse near the corner of Pedernales and Cesar Chaves streets.Small space, high rent, and this phrase describes unfortunately one of the few survival strategies left to the east Austin theatre community. But Heaven bless the few and the new. Crave Blue, a new play by Sarah Loucks of Mouth Radio …
Review: Hairspray by Playhouse San Antonio
by Kurt Gardner
Published on July 18, 2017
The Tony Award-winning musical comes to the Playhouse in a bright, splashy production.
Plus-sized Tracy Turnblad longs for acceptance among her peers. When she tries out for the local television show for teens, “The Corny Collins Show,” she becomes its unlikely star, demonstrating a nifty dance move she learned from a black student, Seaweed J. Stubbs. This motivates her to break through the color barrier so that African-American kids can appear on the show all the time, not just on “Negro Day.” Velma Von Tussle, the …
Review: Burning Patience by Classic Theatre of San Antonio
by Kurt Gardner
Published on July 12, 2017
Antonio Skármeta's charming work comes to the Classic Theatre in a simple yet charming production.
Those who’ve seen the 1994 Academy Award-winning film Il Postino will already know the story of Burning Patience, the story upon which it was based. The lyrical work by Antonio Skármeta translated by Tim Klinger is now playing at the Classic Theatre in a simple yet charming production. Hector Machado plays the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who lives on the remote coastline of Isla Negra. He receives frequent visits from thetown’s young …
Review: Shrek The Musical by Woodlawn Theatre
by Kurt Gardner
Published on July 06, 2017
The story of the antisocial green ogre comes to vibrant life in the Woodlawn's production.
Based on the 2001 DreamWorks animated adaptation of William Steig’s 1990 picture book, Shrek the Musical is a colorful, amusing production that brings the adventures of the antisocial green ogre to San Antonio’s Woodlawn Theatre with satisfying results. The company tackles this big, Tony Award-winning Broadway show with its usual gusto. The plot should be familiar to all those who’ve seen the film. After a prologue in which Shrek’s parents send him out to make …
Review: Hate Yourself by Bottle Alley Theatre Company
by Michael Meigs
Published on June 29, 2017
Perhaps playwright Chris Fontanes is just teasing, daring us to read more into the inert but eloquent protagonist than actually was intended. The persistent theme here is that same uncertainty, writ large: Why care? Why speak? And, implicit: Why make art?
If Austin has a 'beat generation' Chris Fontanes is part of it. He's straight out of the jagged earnest non-conformist tradition of those who believe that words make a difference. Even if -- and especially if -- they describe the quietly desperate and downtrodden. The man's been making theatre in Austin holes and haunts since 2012 in the single-minded belief that saying it, writing it, and calling attention to it makes it so. The …