AUSTIN THEATER REVIEWS

Creating a stage adaptation of beloved material is a tricky business, especially if the work is a piece of fantasy. When you add the task of making a musical out of the work, the stakes are upped considerably. BRIGHT NOW BEYOND, a new musical by Daniel Alexander Jones and Bobby Halvorson, now playin...

Austin's theater scene is currently only one degree of separation away from Kevin Bacon. SummerStock Austin's production of Footloose, one of three musicals currently running in rep at The Long Center for the Performing Arts, is a fun, upbeat, and entertaining show, despite its weak and uninspired ...

SummerStock Austin has a long tradition of producing one musical specifically written for the under 13 set every year. I was introduced to this tradition back in 2012 when I went to a performance of SummerStock Austin's production of A Year With Frog and Toad. As a childless twenty-something guy, ...

Depending on who you speak with, there are between three and six "problem plays" attributed to William Shakespeare, but almost all Shakespearian scholars consider All's Well That Ends Well as one of them. On the surface, the play about unrequited love is a comedy. No one dies, and as the title sug...

As a self-proclaimed theatre nerd, I have a bit of an embarrassing confession: I have never seen Chicago on stage. I've belted the soundtrack, seen the movie countless times, and even walked past the Ambassador Theater on Broadway (that counts-right?). But I had not yet seen this musical favorite li...

Want to know how to succeed at producing an entertaining musical comedy? Check out Archangel Community Theatre's current production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. The production, which is packed with top tier talent, is an unbridled success from beginning to end....

I wish I had Cyrano de Bergerac's way with words. If I did, maybe it would be easier to write what I'm about to say here. City Theatre's current production of the Edmond Rostand classic, Cyrano de Bergerac has several of the elements that a show needs to succeed. It has an incomparable lead actor, t...

Genius is not a term to throw around lightly. Genius suggests distinctiveness and even superiority. Geniuses are people that are seldom matched in their field. It's a level that most of us strive to reach but never achieve. Yet for director Dave Steakley, it's a well-deserved moniker. With his curre...

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While riding along the freeway, drivers are often faced with the oxymoron of a car wreck on the side of the road. Though it is often gruesome and inappropriate to stare, it is equally as challenging to look away. No matter how shocking or repugnant, your eyes are glued to the scene, both attemptin...

There's no doubt that George Gershwin has made a lasting impact on musical theatre. Without him, the world wouldn't have songs like 'I Got Rhythm,' or shows like Porgy and Bess. And of course, the vast and illustrious songbook of Gershwin tunes has inspired many a jukebox musical or revue....

Injustice in the workplace is a common thread in U.S. history. It's sad, but true. There are countless stories of workers being mistreated by their employers, and some of those stories have greatly impacted employment legislation....

Doing Shaw isn't for the timid, especially for modern audiences which have become expectant of a happy ending. There's a reason why "Pygmalion" remains Shaw's most popular play which has been turned into a movie, a stage musical, and a film musical. It's a classic Cinderella story, complete with sli...

COSMICOMICS is an extraordinary creation, adapted from the stories of Italo Calvino, and fashioned by the talented collaborative forces of acclaimed Austin theatre director Rudy Ramirez and the Sky Candy ensemble....

Theatre en Bloc's recent production of 'Bethany' offers macabre results in a wonderfully dark show that gives a face to the victims of the recent economic downturn....

BOB: A LIFE IN FIVE ACTS Half and Half Productions presents this new comedy by Peter Sinn 'Boom' Nachtrieb, in which nine actors play more than 30 characters in relaying 'the hilarious and poignant story of one man's dream.'...

Human existence can be a pretty lonely, tenuous thing. When push comes to shove, our dependence on our friends (or even strangers for that matter) is something you should never take for granted. This is just one of the lessons you will take away from your visit to the Agape Actors Co-op production o...

Capital T's latest production appears to subvert the subversive....

City Theatre's production of Motherhood Out Loud could have used more direction in a production that largely underwhelms....

There's no shortage of incredible pieces of art and theater that were lost, at least temporarily, during the Stalinist era of Communist Russia. Thank God, though, that Nikolai Erdman's absurdist masterpiece The Suicide somehow survived. Had it not, the world would be without one of the best commenta...

'Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to see a story of murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery, and treachery-all those things we hold near and dear to our hearts.' So begins the classic Kander and Ebb musical, Chicago. Of course, there are some other things that we hold near and...

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