AUSTIN THEATER REVIEWS

The tiny town of Wimberley, Texas is home to dozens of little shops where can be found countless treasures. Among them are Aunt Jenny's Attic, Wall Street Western, Gallery on the Square, and The Old Mill Store. And then there's LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, where remarkable talent, creativity, humor, and ...

MASS: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers, is a musical theatre piece composed by Leonard Bernstein with additional lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and Paul Simon. Commissioned by Jacqueline Kennedy, it premiered on September 8, 1971. Bernstein originally intended to compose a traditional M...

Entering through a doorway into a hazy house, AFTER PARTY tells the story of young Claire Leverrier tormented by the death of her childhood crush Devon. Or is it? Written by Reina Hardy in its world premiere, AFTER PARTY moves through a love story creating a modern day mythological tale of how starg...

Recreated from John Wilkes Booth's personal prompt book, The Hidden Room in conjunction with The Harry Ransom Center present a hybrid version of RICHARD III that hasn't been seen on stage since 1864. Gloriously reborn from the pages of history, this is the villain king like you've never seen him bef...

RUTHLESS! is a musical spoof of show business with music by Marvin Laird and book and lyrics by Joel Paley that not only spoofs Broadway musicals, but is also a satire of non-musical movies about showbiz such as All About Eve. The musical premiered Off-Broadway in 1992. The show won the 1993 New Yor...

Gilbert & Sullivan Austin has a long, glorious past of traditionally amazing shows. Unfortunately their current production of RUDDIGORE is a mixed bag and doesn't come off as well as it likely could....

Different Stages has a reputation for bringing excellent theatre to the Austin stage and THE BOOK OF LIZ is no different. Supreme silliness and laughs galore fill the performance space at Trinity Street Theatre for the space 90 minutes of great, quirky entertainment....

Theatre Synesthesia scores again with three short pieces by playwright Casey Wimpee. Directed by America Archer, and acted by a talented quartet of actors the evening of theatre is filled with a poetic rhythm that is awe inspiring and compelling....

Utilizing his own genius and artistic experiences, Stephen Sondheim paints the picture of an artist's life work through pointillist painter, George Seurat. In SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, George's characterizations are fictionalized by Sondheim, telling the story of the artist chasing his masterp...

Inviting guests to enjoy MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING in the open air amphitheatre in downtown Round Rock, Penfold Theatre presents a delightful adaptation of this Shakespearean classic. Traditionally classified as a comedy, the comedic elements were matched note for note with somber country western style...

LUCKY STIFF is a musical farce with lyrics and libretto by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty, that is notable historically for several things. To begin with, It was the first collaboration for the team whose later collaborations include Ragtime and Once On This Island. It was created and per...

The Georgetown Palace Theatre has a reputation for doing the big, classic musicals, those huge shows that are barely contained within the walls of the Springer Stage. In contrast 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE is a modern show with an ensemble cast of just nine actors (a very small cast by P...

I specifically asked to see this show for three reasons. One - until last night I had never seen The Little Mermaid. (GASP!) There, I said it. Doubly strange perhaps since I actually know Jodi Benson, original star of the Disney classic. Two - I wanted to see the incredible Emily Ann Theatre & Garde...

...

The Glass Half Full Theatre at The Vortex in East Austin, is currently an ocean chock full of plastic. In a special event for World Oceans Day on June 8th, POLLY MERMAID: APOCALYPSE WOW! examines how humans create and use plastic in a destructive way. These plastic items humanity continues to use fl...

Ah, Commedia dell'arte, how I love it - the zanier the better. Austin's La Fenice (the phoenix) has been delivering the genre since 2010, a rebirth of the former Austin Commedia Society (1999 - 2003)....

Beginning with small talk near a white picket fence, and dramatically escalating as the Keller family's skeletons reveal themselves, Arthur Miller examines the aftermath of the war within the home front. Currently running at The City Theatre, ALL MY SONS tackles the moral code of a small family and ...

SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS is a new play from Drama Desk Award-winner Bess Wohl that looks at how we address life's biggest questions when you can't use words. Under the watchful eye of their unseen guru, six people (who are about as different from each other as one can get) have gathered for a week-long re...

This is a show executed by each practitioner in such a professional fashion it's definitely worth its brisk, entertaining 90 minutes....

The current production of UPSTAGED at the Back Pack is absolutely one of the most creative, surprising and entertaining pieces of theatre I've seen in years....

Sheldon Allan 'Shel' Silverstein was a decidedly American writer who has been translated into more than 30 languages, and whose books have sold over 20 million copies. He was the recipient of two Grammy Awards, as well as a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination. Silverstein created a remarkab...

CRY IT OUT is a superior production - well worth the 90 minutes spent in the theatre. Theatre en Bloc's generous, pay it forward ticketing model should eliminate any financial excuse one might have to missing such a worthwhile show. Catch it while you can....

Attending performances at Zilker's Hillside Theatre is always a delight because of the wonderful experience offered. That combined with an entertaining production with laugh out loud antics, makes this perfect outdoor entertainment....

WISH is a world premiere new musical for young audiences that is set 100 years in the past and uses a highly theatrical and presentational storytelling style that successfully combines magic, music and youthful optimism with action and adventure. This unique and original story imagines the America o...