Jill Blackwood News

Every November, BWW-Austin teams up with other Austin-based theater publications to announce the Central Texas Excellence in Theatre Awards. The nominations were announced last night. Scroll down for the full list!

Rodgers & Hammerstein are, to me, the comfort food of musical theatre. Of all their shows, THE KING AND I holds up the best some 65 years on. It avoids the saccharine sweetness and didactic qualities of some of their other works. The musical is based on the 1944 novel 'Anna and the King of Siam' by Margaret Landon, which was derived from Anna Leonowens memoirs of her time as governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860's. The musical tells the story of Anna, a British schoolteacher hired as part of the King's drive to modernize his country. Their relationship is marked by conflict as well as by a love that neither can admit to. Premiering on March 29 in 1951, THE KING AND I ran nearly three years, and, at the time, was the fourth longest-running Broadway musical in history.

With ZACH Theatre's uniquely-Austin creative flair, the celebrated annual Red Hot and Soul Gala raised $573,000 at The Great ZACHsby themed soiree hosted by Co-chairs Bobbi Topfer and Armando Zambrano on Saturday, May 3, 2014. More than 400 guests were entertained at the elegant Topfer Theater, by flamboyantly costumed dancers, locally and nationally acclaimed actors and students of ZACH Theatre's Pre-Professional Company. All funds raised will support ZACH Theatre's mainstage and educational programs. The evening honored James C. Armstrong for his outstanding contributions to the Austin arts community.

The winners of the first-ever Central Texas Excellence In Theatre Awards have been announced! Scroll down for the full list, and learn more at Austin Entertainment Weekly.

After months of thought, debate and conversation, the staff and writers of Austin Entertainment Weekly with much assistance from Broadway World Austin's Editor Jeff Davis, have announced a new award system for the Central Texas Theatre Community.

I'm a sucker for plays that are so multifaceted that I feel I can't do them justice in a review. In the Next Room, or the vibrator play, now playing at ZACH Theatre, is without a doubt one of those plays. The comedy, written by Sarah Ruhl, is wonderful but exceedingly difficult to describe. It's funny but poignant, humorous but emotional, modern and old-fashioned.

ZACH Theatre brings you IN THE NEXT ROOM OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY playing today, January 29-Feburary 23, 2014 on stage at the Topfer Theatre.

ZACH Theatre is pleased to bring you IN THE NEXT ROOM OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY playing January 29-Feburary 23, 2013 on stage at the Topfer Theatre. A stimulating, funny and provocative new Broadway hit set in a prim upper class Victorian home, where a gentleman doctor has invented an extraordinary and mysterious device for treating 'hysteria.' His wife overhears mystifying sounds emanating in the next room and sees patients leaving in blissful health. This smart comedy ponders marriage and intimacy, and what it truly means to find connection. Contains adult situations and brief nudity.

ZACH Theatre's recently opened its production of LES MISERABLES, it's opening production of the 2013-2014 season, and judging by this backstage video of the cast rocking out to Mika's 'Grace Kelly,' it appears things aren't that miserable backstage.

ZACH Theatre's recently opened it's production of LES MISERABLES, it's opening production of the 2013-2014 season, and BroadwayWorld-Austin shares the following video sneak peek of this stunning production!

ZACH Theatre's recently opened it's production of LES MISERABLES, its opening production of the 2013-2014 season, and BroadwayWorld-Austin shares the following photos from this stunning production!

Musicals rarely reach the phenomenal success of Les Miserables. It's played in London's West End for 28 years and counting. The Original Broadway production ran for over 6,500 performances and played for over 16 years, and the recent film adaptation won 3 Academy Awards and earned over $440 million worldwide. Whether you're a longtime fan of the musical or a newcomer to it, Zach Theatre's current production of it certainly does it justice and shows exactly why Les Miserables is an international hit that others are measured against. This is a solid, soaring production of one of the most beloved musicals of all time.

ZACH Theatre will present Austin's first professional theatre staging of international musical theatre sensation LES MISERABLES as the opening production of the 2013-14 season, the second season in the new Topfer Theatre, tonight, Sept. 25. The world's longest running musical, LES MISERABLES has been seen by more than 65 million people in 42 countries.

ZACH Theatre will present Austin's first professional theatre staging of international musical theatre sensation LES MISERABLES as the opening production of the 2013-14 season, the second season in the new Topfer Theatre, Sept. 25. The world's longest running musical, LES MISERABLES has been seen by more than 65 million people in 42 countries.

In late December, BroadwayWorld posted Wish Lists of Musicals and Plays that should be produced in Central Texas in the 2013-2014 season. Several months later, many theater companies have announced their upcoming seasons, and some of our wish-list shows are part of the line-up.

As successful and ground-breaking as My Fair Lady was, there has not been a successful musical adaptation of any of Shaw's other plays…until now. A Minister's Wife, now playing in Austin through a new production by Penfold Theatre, is a delicate, understated, and exceedingly beautiful piece that wonderfully adapts Shaw's play Candida into musical theatre form.

Penfold Theatre Company presents A Minister's Wife at the Trinity Street Theatre from March 28 to April 14.

Penfold Theatre Company presents A Minister's Wife at the Trinity Street Theatre from March 28 to April 14.