AUSTIN THEATER REVIEWS

In her curtain speech on opening night of Lend Me a Tenor, now playing at the Georgetown Palace, Artistic Director Mary Ellen Butler called playwright a Ken Ludwig a "comedic genius," and explained why she encouraged director Lannie Hilboldt to tackle the play. Hilboldt, a professional musician, ha...

Austin actresses, take note. If you're not getting cast as often as you'd wish, there are two techniques you may want to try. Next time you go to an audition, come with props, specifically a dog collar and a whip. If that's not your style, then just try to emulate the incredible talents of Molly ...

MAN OF LA MANCHA has entertained audiences for almost 50 years, and if the current National Tour is any indication, it will continue to do so 50 years from now....

Don't let the scattered empty seats in Bass Concert Hall fool you. American Idiot is quite possibly the biggest sell-out show in history. Billie Joe Armstrong and Co., I hope the millions you've earned by pimping out one of the greatest albums of a generation made it all worth it, and I hope it di...

There's no question that A Christmas Story is a beloved classic. The 30 year old film gets plenty of airtime on cable channels during the holiday season, and it's inspired two stage adaptations, one musical and one non-musical. But as much as I love the 1983 film A Christmas Story and have always ...

At some point while I was en route to see Let it Be Christmas, I couldn't help but laugh. Here I am, an atheist who grew up in a half-Jewish/half-Christian household, going to see an original musical based on the nativity and featuring music by the Beatles, a band featuring John Lennon who once said...

Forget ringing bells. Every time Martin Burke takes the stage, an angel gets its wings. If you think I'm exaggerating, go see This Wonderful Life at ZACH Theatre. The zany one man version of It's a Wonderful Life is easily one of the most entertaining and inventive holiday shows you will ever see...

It's tough to think of a production in the Austin area that's been as hyped as Ballet Austin's current production of The Nutcracker. Now in its 51st year, this year's show features new sets and costumes, the first time in over a decade that Ballet Austin's Nutcracker has received such a makeover. ...

With The Austin Holiday Project, Austin Theatre Project closes out their first full season with their first original show. While it might not be as flashy or extravagant as other holiday offerings, its phenomenal cast and intimate, personal vibe make it a show to add to your Christmas list....

While Arbery does a damn good job at illustrating the limits of virtual conversation and cleverly uses text jargon in his dialogue, the piece does fall into the trap I was warned about. If the point is that the characters can't fully connect through social media, will the audience have the same pro...

Last year, I saw Penfold Theatre Company's annual production of It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play for the first time. I loved the show and gave it a rave review. My reaction this year is no different. Now in its 3rd year, Penfold's It's a Wonderful Life is just as delightful as ever....

Original musicals are tough to come by nowadays. For every mammoth hit like Wicked or Book of Mormon, there's a short-lived flop like First Date or Glory Days. And then there are shows like Memphis that wind up somewhere in the middle. The show picked up 4 2010 Tony Awards, including Best Musical...

There's a lightning-in-a-bottle quality that permeates Steel Magnolias. With a cast that includes Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, and Julia Roberts, it's no surprise that the film version was such a hit and continues to be an enduring classic. But the tr...

There's nothing like a good murder mystery, and writer Agatha Christie certainly made a career out of them. But while Christie penned 66 detective novels and several plays, I stop short of calling her an expert at the mystery genre. While mystery depends on surprises, Christie often uses conventio...

When December rolls around, it's customary for theater companies to scramble around for Holiday-themed fare. As beloved as Holiday shows are, it's refreshing when companies like Different Stages mount something decidedly in opposition of the trend. With its strong and hysterically funny production...

Original pieces of theater are a tricky business. For every well-crafted, well-received new work, there are countless others that are less successful, to put it mildly. The Fault, a new drama by UT-Austin M.F.A. candidate Katie Bender, falls into the second category. While Bender does have a few ...

In the final number of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, the world's favorite blockhead and his iconic pals reflect on what happiness is. In a moment that mixes existential philosophy and childlike curiosity in a way that only Charles Schultz can do, the Peanuts gang determines that happiness is as ...

Anyone who's seen a production of Peter Pan, or at least one of the televised versions starring Mary Martin or Cathy Rigby, knows that there's a moment late in the evening in which Peter turns to the audience and begs everyone to clap their hands if they believe in fairies. It's a moment that easil...

In a time when Broadway caliber shows are defined by falling chandeliers, witches that literally defy gravity, and a swinging Spiderman with a $70 million budget, it seems that audiences may expect and want more than a simple set and small cast. But when that simple set and small cast are just righ...

On their website, Paper Chairs describes their latest production, Murder Ballad Murder Mystery as "part existential whodunit, part slapstick haunting, and part ramshackle hoedown [that] investigates the many ways and whys we carry out a death sentence." I didn't see the existential pieces or the ru...

Any production of The Belle of Amherst certainly has its share of hurdles to overcome, and Austin Shakespeare's production tackles the issues head on. This isn't a one woman show or even a show about Emily Dickinson. It's an experience, and an incredible one at that....

It's not what you say, it's how you say it. That adage often runs through my head, both in my personal life and in my work as a theater critic. It also runs through my head when viewing productions, especially ones like Blood Wedding. With plays not originally in English, attention must be paid t...

When it comes to operas by Giuseppe Verdi, Don Carlo has to be the most challenging one to produce. Which version do you use? The French version? The Italian translation? Given the over four hour running time of the full version, where do you make cuts, and why? And once you answer those questi...

Over its 17 year history, the revival production of Chicago has had its share of ups and downs, but if the current tour is any indication, the show's back on an upswing. If you've been unfortunate enough to see a lesser cast of Chicago in the past, you owe it to yourself to catch the current tour....

It seems mash-ups, particularly in music, have become more and more popular in recent years, and the crazier the idea, the better the mash-up usually is. The same goes for theater mash-ups. On paper, the idea of mixing a film noir-esque mystery with Mother Goose characters may sound bizarre, but t...