AUSTIN THEATER REVIEWS

GREAT EXPECTATIONS is Charles Dickens' thirteenth novel and depicts the personal growth and development of an orphan nicknamed Pip. It is Dickens's second novel, after David Copperfield, to be fully narrated in the first person. The novel was first published as a serial in Dickens's weekly periodica...

I was only vaguely aware of the plot of this sequel to the Phantom of the Opera and was a bit surprised to find no synopsis in the program. However, no synopsis was needed to follow the plot and I prefer not to know too much (or to reveal spoilers). All I knew was that some time has passed since the...

Over 100 new people move to Austin every day. And before you wonder why I've started a theatre review with that statistic, it means 36,500 new Austinites have not seen ZACH's A CHRISTMAS CAROL. This perennial favorite, running at ZACH every Christmas season for the last three million years (Okay, re...

Tackling the roles in THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, proved to be no easy task for the students at The University of Texas. The heart of the show is a story of prejudice, social standing and ultimately redemption. A young Venetian, Bassanio needs money desperately to woo wealthy heiress Portia into marriag...

James Goldman's bitingly witty play A LION IN WINTER has been a favorite of mine most of my life. Written in 1966, this show has everything in my opinion; warring family, a larger than life king, a queen who is, arguably, the most famous woman in history, grasping, greedy princes, all wrapped up in ...

Within the gorgeous Rollins Theatre in a 1950s plantation-bedroom set we are transported into the mind's eye of the genius that is Tennessee Williams. All of the supporting elements are here - an elaborate but not overbearing set, great lighting, sound, and props, beautiful costumes, wigs and make-u...

CABARET is a 1966 musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Joe Masteroff, based on John Van Druten's 1951 play I Am a Camera, which was adapted from the short novel Goodbye to Berlin (1939) by Christopher Isherwood. Set in 1931 Berlin as the Nazis are rising to power, it fo...

Filing into the Paramount for POTTED POTTER, the passion and love for the wizarding world buzzed in the air. Proud members of Gryffindor and Slytherin alike, adorned themselves with scarves, robes and faintly drawn scars, showcasing their Potter items with pride. If there is any place to let your Po...

MEN ON BOATS is hands down, must-see theatre! This production accomplishes what all plays aspire to, but few achieve - all-around excellence. The crew's journey, described by Sides as 'an apt metaphor for the peril faced by many in our society on a daily basis, ' is fraught with important meaning wh...

Continuing Austin Opera's relationship with Italian Operas, Giuseppe Verdi's OTELLO opened at The Long Center last Saturday. To a packed house and a full stage, Verdi's adapted story of Shakespeare's classic tragedy OTHELLO, struck a chord with the audience. Moving from the familiar OTHELLO, Verdi t...

It has been said many times that the difference between an adequate play and a truly great play is that great plays force one to think. They stay with you, you are compelled to discuss them with your play-going companions, you reflect upon them. While DOUBT: A Parable certainly made this reviewer th...

UNTIL THE FLOOD is a rich and intense 90 minutes of what theatre does best....

NEVERMORE: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe is a Canadian musical that was written and composed by Jonathan Christenson which follows the rather dismal life and internal struggles of Edgar Allan Poe that later on inspired his work as an author. The script contains reference...

All in all, MACBETH presented by Something For Nothing Theatre is an enjoyable evening of accessible theatre. Although the play falters in act two, the show itself is mostly well done. The talent of the women in this production is the undeniable force driving the show. While by no means are their ch...

Now playing at The Dougherty Arts Center in Downtown Austin, TRYOUTS brings to life an examination of Leonardo da Vinci's painting, The Virgin and Child with St. Anne. Painted in 1503, this work has been analyzed by many historians to decipher Leonardo's relationship to both religion and female expr...

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG is a comedy by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields of Mischief Theatre Company that won Best New Comedy at the 2015 Laurence Olivier Awards. Mischief Theatre Company have also written Peter Pan Goes Wrong which opened at London's Apollo Theatre in December 2015 st...

The characters in The Addams Family were created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. The characters traditionally include Gomez and Morticia Addams, their children Wednesday and Pugsley, close family members Uncle Fester and Grandmama, their butler Lurch, the disembodied hand Thing, and Gomez's C...

The weather and season are perfect for an evening or afternoon cooped up with a bunch of murder suspects in an English manor.  You won't be disappointed in THE UNEXPECTED GUEST....

Theatre Synesthesia's THE FAULT is a shining little light in the miserable midst of poverty and addiction....

YOUR MOTHER'S COPY OF THE KAMA SUTRA begins rather sneakily, with Amber Quick singing in an informal hootenanny with Michael Ferstenfeld, Howard Burkett and San Patrevito who function as a sort of house band for the play. They sing a collection of 80's and 90's songs in the old warehouse venue known...

For over four decades Neil Simon delighted theatre audiences with intelligent and witty dialogue in Broadway shows and movies. His many stories, including THE ODD COUPLE, BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS, and SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES tossed relatable characters together into ridiculous yet delicious circumstances...

SOME HUMANS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS SHOW is a difficult show to describe as it is all over the map...and that is in no way a bad thing. This new work, by C.B. Goodman, was inspired by the 1903 public execution of Topsy, the elephant, and although there are clear echoes from the beginning, ...

McCallum Fine Arts Academy has mounted a major musical of inter-stellar proportions worthy of a good run with packed houses....

Samuel is a typical American yuppie who is honestly grateful for the creature comforts his career affords but something is lacking. Incarceration in a corporate-office cubicle structure stifles his growth and eats away at his soul. Petty torments at the hands of his fellow inmates exasperate the sit...

STELLA AND LOU is a 2015 play by Bruce Graham. It's set in Lou's Bar, the kind of joint where daylight is about as welcome as a penniless alcoholic who wants to run a tab. On one quiet night, two long time friends navigate small talk that begins with how things change with time and soon deepens as t...