Guest Blogger: Sam Weber

BWW Review: HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH at Winspear Opera House

Last week, before the Hedwig and the Angry Inch tour opens at the AT&T Performing Arts Center, I caught up with the production's Yitzhak: Hannah Corneau.  It was lovely chatting with her about how she came to Hedwig, and how this truly unique show has been received across the country!

Dark Circles Contemporary Dance once again doesn't shy away from commentary and comedy in their new program: The Great American Sh*t Show.  Comprised of four pieces (in order "The Great American Sh*t Show", "For Allen", "Coyotes Tip-Toe", and "Gal Friday"), the evening's performances range from solemn to joyous, as Artistic Director and Choreographer Joshua L. Peugh and Guest Choreographers Jonathan Campbell & Austin Diaz ("For Allen") explore modern life, loss, and deceptively - love.

Fort Worth audiences are sure to delight with Casa Mañana's newly open Million Dollar Quartet.

Angels in America is a beast of a piece to mount, even when broken into parts.  Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize winning cycle explores relationships, identity, and how our present interacts with both the future we fear and the past that haunts us. 

Lyric Stage at the Irving Arts Center once again brings an off forgotten show back to life with their most recent production, Camelot.  While the text of the show has had its fair share of revisions and struggles, due in part to a wordy book, Lyric's production manages to bring smiles to the audience and music to their ears.

Since you're on Broadway World, chances are you're the type of person who is familiar with the concept of artist merit. By that, I mean you're the person who appreciates the lengthy productions of Sunday in the Park with George just as much if not more (let's face it, way more) than you do a spunky production of familiar shows like Footloose or Grease (god bless those good old high school staples). You're also probably the person who, although you secretly live every time you hear 'Defying Gravity', is so over those mainstream shows. Many college students would much rather revive Applause than they would something like Beauty and the Beast, but when you're breaking into the business or just starting out in production, finding the original artistic value in those 'over-exposed' shows might be just what you need to build a reputation.

Well, it's been awhile - and to be quite honest, not a ton of progress has been made since I introduced my current project. As I believe I mentioned, myself and a few other students at my college have for the last two years produced full-fledged productions of musicals in less than 24 hours. Beginning this fall, we are trying to expand our 'season', if you will, with another full student production, however this time rehearsed sparsely over the course of two weeks instead of all in one day (with an approx. total rehearsal time of 40 hours). Our hope is that this will give us a chance to produce larger scale shows, with more complex elements, and larger, more inclusive casts.

If you're reading this, chances are I do not need to describe what many refer to as 'the magic' of theatre. You're probably living it right now. Whether this idea refers to the relationships within a cast, the effect of the show on an audience, or simply the energy that you can only feel onstage, there is certainly something special about being a part of theatre. Now take all of those warm fuzzies, and put them into one tiny, little 24-Hour long box. You shouldn't be able to, right? But it's completely possible, and it's something students from all across my university have been doing for two years now.