Jeff Davis - Page 13

It doesn't get much more disappointing than Spank! The Fifty Shades Parody, an incredibly misguided spoof of the equally misguided novel Fifty Shades of Grey, where every joke is predictable, expected, bland, and punctuated by ferocious dry-humping.

We all have secrets. We all have ways of coping with disappointment or pain. Some of those coping methods do more harm than good. None of these ideas are necessarily original, and they've all been dramatized before. However, the story of an elderly couple who secretly copes by using crystal meth is an unexpected one that has yet to be told. That's one of many reasons that makes Qualities of Starlight, the new play by Gabriel Jason Dean now playing at Vortex Rep, such a riveting and effective drama.

One of the key characters of In the Heights, now playing at the Woodlawn Theatre, often exclaims "Alabanza!" at moments of extreme joy. Alabanza, we are told, translates to "Praise to this." It's also the most fitting response I can give to this glorious production. There is much to praise in Woodlawn Theatre's remarkable production of this hit, Tony Award winning musical.

PETA supporters be warned. As Lieutenant of Inishmore hinges on the violent murder of a housecat, this show may not be for you. But for the rest of you who are curious as to how a play about kitty homicide can be one of the most intelligent and hysterical social satires in recent memory, I suggest you race to catch Capital T Theatre's production of The Lieutenant of Inishmore.

Austin Theater Project's hysterical production of Avenue Q-the hit Broadway musical which beat out Wicked to win the Tony Awards triple crown of Best Book, Best Score, and Best Musical-is sure to be a must see event of the Austin summer season. Though while the show involves cute Jim Henson-esque puppets, leave the kids at home. We're not in Sesame Street anymore.

The Playhouse - San Antonio's current production of Spring Awakening may be delighting critics and the vast majority of audience members, but a few close-minded and fearful audience members are creating quite a commotion

It's been said that perception is reality. While I completely agree with the statement, it is cause for one major question. Whose perception is reality? Where some of us may see empty air, others may see a 6 foot 3 ½ white rabbit. This odd and puzzling philosophical question is at the core of Harvey, the 1945 Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy by Mary Chase. The farce, now playing at Zach's Topfer Theatre, tackles this question, albeit with far more humor and wackiness than you'd ever find in a collegiate philosophy class.

No matter what the show, most theatrical experiences are rather similar. You park your car, show your tickets to an usher, find your seat, sit quietly for a few hours, applaud the cast, and then go home. Still, once in a while a theater company has the brains and imagination to create a truly unique and unexpected experience. It's clear that Loaded Gun Theory is one such company which likes to push the envelope and break the traditional, predicable mold. The constant breaking of theatrical conventions is one of many ideas that makes their current production, The Brothers Merlin, such an unmitigated success.

While it does have a few areas that could improve and may be a long night for the kids, Sam Bass's double header of The Secret Garden and The Yellow Boat is overall an enjoyable evening of theatre that will entertain and enchant the kids while moving the adults to tears.

In complete darkness, the Godlike voice of a judge echoes. To the unseen jury, the voice states, "Premeditated murder is the most serious charge tried in our criminal courts…One man is dead. Another man's life is at stake…In the event that you find the accused 'Guilty,' the bench will not entertain a recommendation for mercy. The death sentence is mandatory in this case. You're faced with a grave responsibility." Moments later, twelve men file into the jury room. As they immediately discuss everything from the weather to an upcoming ball game to their desire to "get it over with," it becomes clear that all of them failed to grasp the importance of the judge's stern and eloquent instructions. All, that is, except for the solitary juror who detaches from the group and stares pensively out the window. So begins 12 Angry Men, Reginald Rose's gritty and brutally honest examination of our judicial system, now playing in a stark and powerful new production at Austin's City Theatre.

Though we're still experiencing mild May weather, things are getting steamy at The Playhouse in San Antonio. The Playhouse's solid production of Willima Inge's Picnic, which runs through May 26th, is a riveting exploration of love and loneliness in a small Kansas town. While many other plays explore the same themes, few do so with this much heat. If there really was this much going on in Kansas, Dorothy would have had no reason to go to Oz.

A few minutes into Thoroughly Modern Millie, now playing in a delightful production at the Georgetown Place, the likable ensemble and the optimistic title character sing, "Everything today is thoroughly modern. Check your personality." A personality check may be in order for any person who doesn't enjoy this madcap musical. When life gets us down and virtually anything on the evening news is incredibly depressing, it's nice to see a show with a heroine like Millie, a girl who tells us that with some guts, a pinch of wit, a dash of humor, and a healthy swig of booze, the world is our oyster.

TWELVE ANGRY MEN. Twelve jurors. Twelve different men. Only two ways to rule. The stakes are high in Reginald Rose's thrilling classic courtroom drama where a jury decides the fate of a teenager accused of murdering his father.

The Playhouse - San Antonio recently opened their production of SPRING AWAKENING, and BroadwayWorld is pleased to share some images from this fantastic production.

What The Playhouse has on its hands with SPRING AWAKENING is a fearless, visceral, and poignant show which will startle and perhaps outrage the audience but also calls them to action.

It's been said that good news is worth repeating. I guess that adage can be modified for the arts as well. A masterpiece is worth repeating, and thankfully Blue Lapis Light has decided to reprise their stunning, site specific dance piece Heaven-Earth-One a mere seven months after its last production. When I originally saw Heaven-Earth-One back in September, I was awed by the beauty of the site specific dance piece but a bit shocked and puzzled by the relatively sparse audience. This time around, the show is just as beautiful and haunting, and it's nice to see that the show is now reaching a much larger audience.

Early on in Little Shop of Horrors, the crowd favorite musical now playing at the Sheldon Vexler Theatre, forlorn florist Seymour Krelborn begs his strange and interesting but dying new plant, dubbed the Audrey II, to bloom. The same pleas could be asked of the show. While bolstered by some talented and gifted performers, this production sadly remains a seedling that doesn't completely sprout.

Hurry, hurry! Step right up! The circus has come to Austin, and it's not to be missed. Filled with imagination, whimsy, and charm, The Cruel Circus, now playing the Salvage Vanguard Theatre thru May 25th, is an absolute delight and a feast for the eyes.

No story is completely original. It's all been done before. Surely we've seen shows that involve a crumbling marriage or others that involve class struggle, but rarely are those themes seamlessly interwoven as they are in James Venhaus's daring play The Happy Couple, currently playing The White House Ranch in Austin thru May 25th. This remarkably bold production by Austin's Last Act Theater Company, while highly entertaining and at times laugh-out-loud funny, will leave you a bit uneasy, and that's precisely the point.

I never thought I'd see the day where a bus and truck company would actually put their bus on stage. The national tour of Priscilla Queen of the Desert is here to delight Austin audiences through May 12th, and there must be a RuPaul's Drag Race contestant somewhere out there who is completely out of glitter and sequins. This is one production that does everything it can to entertain and please the audience. Though it may be light on plot (at times It makes Mamma Mia look like Les Miserables), the lavishly flamboyant look and feel more than make up for any shortcomings. Priscilla is a campy, overblown, over the top, jeweled showgirl of a musical. Even Cher might suggest that the show could tone it down a bit. She'd be wrong. The zanier the show gets, the more the audience eats it up.