David Clarke - Page 42

At the end of July 2012, Forbes Magazine ranked Houston as THE coolest place to live in the United States. Then August opened with the news that Houston artists earn more money than artists in other cities do. Obviously, Houston, Texas is at the brink and forefront of some serious growth in the business sector and arts sector. Thankfully, we have an amazing theatre scene-currently ranked second in the nation-to compliment all of that.

Under the direction of John Morales, this theatre company lives up to their reputation of being the home of the professional amateurs, pulling together a fun, irreverent performance that hooks the audience and keeps them enthralled to the end in URINETOWN.

Bit of a Stretch Theatre Co. is continuing their tradition of bringing complex and thrilling theatre to Houston audiences with Michael John LaChiusa's operetta-like musical FIRST LADY SUITE. Just a couple years out of high school, the young administrative and creative team behind Bit of a Stretch Theatre Co.'s productions is simply inspiring, producing a series of fantastic theatrical events. These talented young artists find and direct casts and crews that convey the intricate works they choose so well that the audience can't help but be blown away, and they make it look so easy on top of it all.

Living in the South, there is an undeniable general cultural familiarity with the iconic film adaptation of STEEL MAGNOLIAS. With the utterance of those two words, images of Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, and Julia Roberts spring to mind along with many of the movie's most quoted and loved lines. While others may be afraid to compete with the cultural memory, Stages Repertory Theatre, without trepidation and imitation, is housing a stellar, must see production of the beloved modern classic.

Stages Repertory Theatre promised to keep the fun in summer with its selection of summer shows, and they have delivered with the 50s & 60s flashback, doo-wopping delight LIFE COULD BE A DREAM. While many a theatergoer is getting tired of the run-of-the-mill jukebox musical, this well-conceived and produced jukebox musical is sure to delight and entertain. Stages Repertory Theatre is presenting a quality show that the whole family will love, providing a wonderful evening of Broadway quality live theatre to Houston audiences in an intimately Off-Broadway setting.

Houston's Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS) is offering James A. Rocco and David Armstrong's patriotic and biographical YANKEE DOODLE DANDY as its 45th FREE summer musical at Miller Outdoor Theatre. The entertaining show has a score composed of George M. Cohan's best known numbers and additional music and lyrics written by Albert Evans. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY is more-or-less an illustrated lecture on George M. Cohan's life-more a revue than musical. Despite this, TUTS is providing Houston audiences with a fun and magical night of theatrical glitz and glamour that should not be missed.

ain Street Theater's regional premiere production of Liz Duffy Adams' DOG ACT is a dark and challenging show that is fantastically moving and altogether enjoyable. Skillfully directed by Andrew Ruthven, DOG ACT tells the tale of Rozetta "Zeta" Stone and Dog, traveling vaudevillians, as they journey across a barren, post-apocalyptic United States in search of passage to China. Along the way, they encounter and team up with Vera Similitude and Jo-Jo, an enigmatic duo that vacillate between being helpful and deviously sinister. The piece really comes together in the second act, when the cast rehearses their vaudeville act, showcasing the play within a play that fully discloses the parable-esque themes of both the framing narrative and the vaudevillian act that the characters perform.

Patriotism seems to be a running theme in the Houston theatre scene this summer, and each piece is just as mesmerizing as the one before it. Generations: A Theatre Company's fantastic contribution to this summer's theme of patriotism is Alex Timbers and Michael Friedman's Wild West, rock anthem filled musical BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON.

Tamarie Cooper's magnificent production of her fifteenth annual original piece, DOOMSDAY REVUE (the greatest musical ever!), proves that Houston has a wealth of artistic talent. Moreover, The Catastrophic Theatre in coordination with Tamarie Cooper is stacked with innumerable bankrolls of local talent.

THE LION KING definitely roared into Houston.

Many theatergoers in the Houston area agree that there is simply no better way to escape the summer heat than by enjoying the air-conditioning and fantastic who-done-it at the Alley Theatre. This year's selection for the annual Summer Chills series is BLACK COFFEE, the first play that Dame Agatha Christie wrote. BLACK COFFEE tells the story of a scientist's murder, with a cast of intriguing characters who all had at least one motive for wanting him dead. To solve the case Agatha Christie employs Hercule Poirot, who is one of literature's most famous detectives and, upon his 1975 death, the only fictional character to have an obituary published on the front page of The New York Times.

A.D. Players production of Brandon Thomas's CHARLEY'S AUNT is classic farce at its finest.

Nestled in a fantastic and beautiful venue, Mildred's Umbrella's passionate and heart-filled troupe of gifted performers present Steve Yockley's LARGE ANIMAL GAMES until July 14, 2012. The quasi-edgy play tells the story of six people whose lives are somewhat enmeshed and the lingerie shop that several of them frequent, all the while using lingerie and the hunting of large game animals as metaphors that ask the audience to look beyond the exterior and to the interior of themselves and others.

Andrew Jackson, that guy on the twenty dollar bill and the United States' infamous seventh president, is alive and well in Houston. Remembered for the Indian Removal Act and initiating what would later be called Jacksonian Populism, this iconic badass president is the central character in Michael Friedman's comedic Wild West rock musical BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON, which is being produced this month by Houston's Generations: A Theatre Company. George Brock, founding Artistic Director for Generations and Director of BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON, assembled a panel of his cast, crew, and creative team to discuss the rip-roaringly raucous show and why you MUST see it!

Main Street Theater's next production is the regional premiere of Liz Duffy Adams' DOG ACT, which is a post-apocalyptic comedy. The plot follows Zetta Stone and her companion Dog, who is voluntarily undergoing a species demotion, as the travel across The Remains of the United States with their vaudeville troupe. In preparation for this fantastic production, Liz Duffy Adams took a few moments of her time to talk to me abut the genesis of DOG ACT, her writing process, advice for other artists, and women artists in general.

During the month of June, Houston Grand Opera (HGO) in conjunction with Asia Society Texas produced and premiered a fantastic and newly commissioned opera New Arrivals, featuring a libretto by Catherine Filloux and music by John Glover. As a whole, New Arrivals is a sensational new opera that will hopefully be performed many more times around the world, presenting a story that deserves to be told, received, and appreciated.

Three recent graduates from Houston's High School for the Visual and Performing Arts, with a mission to put on genre defying musicals and rarely-performed plays, founded Bit of a Stretch Theatre Co. in 2010. After planting a seed in the Houston Theatre scene with last summer's show, their roots and longevity are being firmly set with their sophomore season's exquisite first production of existentialist Jean-Paul Sarte's No Exit-a play set in hell and that examines our relationships with each other.

s the temperatures keep climbing and the days inch closer to July, the Houston Theatre Scene is starting to buzz with anticipation of Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS) annual summer treat, their FREE production at the Miller Outdoor Theatre. This year, TUTS is presenting a musical, Yankee Doodle Dandy, based on the life of George M. Cohan, who was notoriously known as "the man who owned Broadway."

Jaston Williams, quite possibly Texas' premiere contemporary story teller, hand-selected The Grand 1894 Opera House in Galveston, Texas, to premiere his latest one-man show Camping With Gasoline. And with full sincerity, I can say that the Galveston audiences are very thankful that he did.