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BWW Review: Come and Meet Those Dancing Feet of MacTheatre's Joyous 42ND STREET
MacTheatre's production of 42ND STREET exudes pure Broadway bliss from the moment a massive line of energetic tap dancers greets the audience from behind a rising curtain. Come along and listen to the lullaby of Broadway…only it won't lull you to sleep....
BWW Review: Austin Opera's SILENT NIGHT A Hard Look at The Unchanged Reality of War
Austin Opera's SILENT NIGHT A Hard Look at The Unchanged Reality of War...
BWW Review: HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH Rocks at ZACH
HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH is a 1998 Off-Broadway rock musical that won the Obie Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Trask and a book by John Cameron Mitchell. It is a performance by Hedwig, a genderqueer East German singer of the fictio...
BWW Review: SHATTERED is a Fascinating Unscripted Experience
Still, SHATTERED is a fascinating unscripted experience for theatre-goers. Given the nature of themes like mental health and grief, it was unclear how this new company would approach this concept. Fortunately, both cast and crew create a show that is original and entertaining to watch. Although its ...
BWW Review: WAITRESS Charms at Bass Concert Hall
WAITRESS is a 2015 musical with music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles and a book by Jessie Nelson, which is based on the 2007 film of the same name, written by Adrienne Shelly. It tells the story of Jenna Hunterson (Christine Dwyer), a waitress in an abusive relationship with her husband Earl (Matt DeA...
BWW Review: SWEAT is a Heartbreaking Look at Blue Collar America
SWEAT is a 2015 play by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage. It won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2017 Obie Award for Playwrighting. The play premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2015 and subsequently was produced Off-Broadway in 2016 and on Broadway in 2017. The pl...
BWW Review: HEARTLAND at The Vortex Theatre
Unfolding before us in flashback mode, HEARTLAND delves into a 'West meets East meets West' tale that explores the differences and similarities between two very different cultures that fuse into one coherent story. We are reminded throughout the play of how alike human beings are and just how quickl...
BWW Review: THE MAGIC FIRE Is Wise, Witty and Wonderful
THE MAGIC FIRE, by Lillian Groag, is a 1997 memory play set in Buenos Aires during the 1950s regime of Juan Peron. This cross cultural immigrant family finds their personal refuge from the fascist politics of Argentina in art, theatre and opera. Events eventually bring them to the point where they a...
BWW Review: PARADISE at Austin Playhouse
Paradise perfection!Welcome to Paradise! 'A town of sinners and saints', brought to you by Austin Playhouse courtesy of Frost Entertainment. Originally produced by Ruskin Group Theatre Co of Los Angeles and now on tour, this gem is currently in Austin and what a delightful treat it is! With an incre...
Frank Benge's Top Ten Austin Theatrical Experiences of 2018
This past year, I saw over 50 productions in the Austin area. As I think back over the year, there are ten experiences that have stuck with me long after the curtain call. This isn't a best of list so much as it is a list of those nights in the theatre that stand out in my memory and the experiences...
BWW Review: A TUNA CHRISTMAS at The City Theatre
Welcome to Tuna, third - smallest town in the great state of Texas. I have been in love with it since my first visit in 1984 and it always feels like a return to the folks of my native Texan childhood. Never been to Tuna, Texas? Well I'm sorry and bless your heart, but fret not, even Yankees and for...
BWW Review: WE ARE PROUD TO PRESENT... Discovers the Root of the Herero Tragedy in Austin, TX
Decorating the stage nonchalantly, stretching and chatting with little regard to the fourth wall, six actors join together to explore the storytelling possibilities into the lives of the Herero people of Namibia. Creatively presented by Director Liz Fisher, the action onstage toggles between artisti...
BWW Review: FUN HOME Receives Loving Local Production
FUN HOME is a musical adapted by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori from Alison Bechdel's 2006 graphic novel of the same name. The story is a memoir of Bechdel's discovery of her own sexuality, her relationship with her gay father, and her attempts to unlock the mysteries surrounding his life. It was also...
BWW Review: FARNDALE AVENUE HOUSING ESTATE TOWNSWOMEN'S GUILD DRAMATIC SOCIETY'S PRODUCTION OF A CHRISTMAS CAROL - Opens New Georgetown Palace Playhouse
The Georgetown Palace Playhouse brings us silly Christmas fun from across the pond with FARNDALE AVENUE HOUSING ESTATE TOWNSWOMEN'S GUILD DRAMATIC SOCIETY'S PRODUCTION OF A CHRISTMAS CAROL by David McGillivray and Walter Zerlin, Jr, based on the work by Charles Dickens. In the United Kingdom, Christ...
BWW Review: A CHRISTMAS CAROL is Perfect Holiday Entertainment!
In short, A CHRISTMAS CAROL is perfect holiday entertainment. This deeply affecting tale is filled with the redeeming power of love and the importance of charitable giving. Beautifully presented in a fun and festive package this production can be enjoyed by kids from one to ninety-two. Grab a cookie...
BWW Review: THE SANTALAND DIARIES at Zach Scott Theatre
I was eager to finally experience The Santaland Diaries this year at Zach Theatre's intimate Whisenhunt Theatre, a perfect venue for this classic one-man show. I had heard David Sedaris deliver the story on NPR and I've read it a time or two over the years, but somehow never caught a production unti...
BWW Review: THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD Misses a Lot of Opportunities But Still Highly Entertaining
THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD (or, as it is sometimes called, the much shorter, 'Drood') is a 1985 musical based on Charles Dickens unfinished novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Written entirely by Rupert Holmes, it was the first Broadway musical with multiple endings determined by the audience. Holmes ...
BWW Review: WHITE CHRISTMAS An Engaging Nostalgia Fest
Irving Berlin's WHITE CHRISTMAS is a 2000 musical based on Paramount Pictures 1954 film of the same name featuring the songs of Irving Berlin. The film itself was a remake of the film Holiday Inn. The new book is by David Ives and Paul Blake and features all of the songs from the 1954 film, along wi...
BWW Review: GREAT EXPECTATIONS Delivers Great Charm
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...
BWW Review: LOVE NEVER DIES at Broadway In Austin
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...
BWW Review - ZACH's A CHRISTMAS CAROL Cures The Scrooge in All of Us
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...
BWW Review: A MERCHANT OF VENICE Undersells Shakespeare's Comedy in Austin, TX.
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...
BWW Review: A LION IN WINTER - Wimberley Disappoints With Passionless Plantagenets
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 ...
BWW Review: CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF at Austin Shakespeare
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...
BWW Review: CABARET Dazzles at Texas State
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...
Videos
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Stage Blood by Charles Ludlam The VORTEX (6/26-7/11) |
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Guns N’ Roses Globe Life Field (9/09-9/09) |
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Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic Bastrop Opera House (5/22-5/31) |
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Jesus Christ Superstar Georgetown Palace Theatre (5/29-7/05) |
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Swan Lake by International Ballet Stars in Austin, TX Bass Concert Hall (4/03-4/03) |
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Anything Goes Bastrop Opera House (7/17-8/02) |
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Destination by George Ayres Trinity Street Playhouse (5/14-5/31) |
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Boogie Down Broadway Empire Garage (6/27-6/27) |
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& Juliet Bass Concert Hall at the University of Texas in Austin (7/14-7/19) |
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Seared Austin Playhouse (6/05-6/28) |
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