Jeff Davis - Page 8

It's no secret that Antony and Cleopatra is one of Shakespeare's most neglected works. Despite its well-known characters (who doesn't know who Cleopatra was?), the play is rarely produced. In a program note, Poor Shadows of Elysium's Artistic Director, Kevin Gates, suggests that the play's decline in popularity stems from the gender politics of the Victorian Era. 'I've always seen this as Cleopatra's play,' says Gates. 'Peter Brook observed that many Victorian actors felt the same, and that's one reason why the play fell out of favor during the Victorian era. No actor worth his salt wanted to be upstaged by an actress.' Gates and Brook are both right. This is indeed Cleopatra's play, especially in Poor Shadow's current production.

Described as 'a scorching masterpiece,' Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance is a riveting, funny, and thought-provoking examination of family and friends is one of the most successful plays in American theatre and all too rarely produced in Austin. Guest director Fritz Ketchum leads the production with show dates May 2 - 25, 2014 at City Theatre.

Poor, plain, easily ignored Nemorino. He's so in love with the beautiful Adina, but she doesn't love him back. Ultimately, lovesick Nemorino is forced to buy a love potion from a charlatan to win Adina's heart. While that may be the plot of Gaetano Donizetti's comic opera, it doesn't take a potion to fall for Austin Lyric Opera's superb production of The Elixir of Love. Every element of this superbly crafted production will win the love and adoration of the audience. Opera lovers will be entranced, and opera newcomers will be enchanted. If you are an opera novice or are under the impression that you hate opera, give this one a chance. You'll be surprised at how easy it is to follow this simple, charming, humorous show, and you'll be glad to know that given its 2 hour and 30 minute running time, it's a relatively brief affair.

Described as 'a scorching masterpiece,' Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance is a riveting, funny, and thought-provoking examination of family and friends is one of the most successful plays in American theatre and all too rarely produced in Austin. Guest director Fritz Ketchum leads the production with show dates May 2 - 25, 2014 at City Theatre.

For the last several weeks, the Austin theatre scene has been buzzing about the World Premiere of Roaring, now entering its final weekend of performances at Austin Playhouse. The original play, written by Austin Playhouse company member Cyndi Williams, has earned fantastic word-of-mouth and glowing reviews, including a rave from BroadwayWorld-Austin's Brian Losoya. Ms. Williams recently shared her thoughts on the play and its development...

If you saw Georgetown Palace's recent production of Lend Me a Tenor (or if you didn't, for that matter), you have good reason to see Moon Over Buffalo, now in its final week of performances. The similarities between the two shows are easy to pinpoint. They're both by Ken Ludwig. They're both backstage farces. They both involve mistaken identities. They both easily qualify as 'door-slamming comedies.' (Their sets even have the same number of doors). And they're booth hysterical. The Palace's gift for zany, over the top comedy is back on display with Moon Over Buffalo, and once again, the audience is left in stitches.

A decade or so from now, if you were to google 'Broadway shows that had a mediocre Broadway run but are regional theater crowdpleasers,' I'd be willing to bet that Catch Me if You Can would top the list. The musical, written by Hairspray's Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman with a book by Terrence McNally, played only 166 Broadway performances. Despite mixed reviews, the musical received 5 Tony nominations, including Best Musical. Norbert Leo Butz even took home the award for Best Actor in a Leading role (In other words, Butz beat out both leads from The Book of Mormon, and the Tony Awards reaction shot from Mormon's Josh Gad demands a YouTube detour before you continue reading).

I'm convinced that the city of Wimberley houses the Central Texas theater community's best kept secret: The Wimberley Players. The humble theater company in the small town of Wimberley is one of the best, brightest, and most professional theater companies in the area. Even Austinites who are vehemently opposed to gassing up the car and spending a little time and energy to drive south of the river would agree that Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean is well worth the trip.

To Austin area High School English teachers, I sincerely apologize if any of your students see The Baron's Men's current production of Romeo and Juliet. If they do, they may enter your class with the false belief that Shakespeare's play about impulsive, horny, and eventually suicidal teens is meant to be a comedy. It's not. The words 'A Tragedy' sometimes even accompany the title. The only tragedies of this production are the over three hour running time, the direction that plays the majority of the story for laughs, and the fact that The Baron's Men, while claiming to have great reverence for the Bard, would do this to one of Shakespeare's greatest works.

There's a good reason why the work of Dr. Seuss still remains part of American pop culture. His wit, humor, and iconic style are timeless, and his stories engage kids of all ages. If you don't believe me, go to Zach Theatre and see their stage adaptation of The Cat in the Hat. While kids will love the silliness of the titular feline, adults will be astonished and thrilled by the cleverness of the stagecraft.

To borrow from my favorite boozing broad, I'd like to propose a toast: To Austin Theatre Project. With their production of Company, ATP shows once again why they are a new theater company to watch. By tackling Stephen Sondheim's beloved show about the ups and downs of both marriage and bachelorhood, ATP once again showcases their ability to tell a story and entertain.

I have no doubt that selecting a theatrical season must be an incredibly challenging task. Making a last minute change to your season must be even worse. Different Stages, one of Austin's most consistently impressive theater companies, was posed with such a problem this year when they were forced to forgo one of their initially announced production, Child's Play.

There's a great Hollywood myth about the film version of The Color Purple. The beloved classic about African-American women was directed by the very male and very white Steven Spielberg, but he allegedly almost quit the project days before shooting was to begin. According to legend, Steven called the film's producer, Quincy Jones, a few days before shooting to voice his doubts about the project. 'I don't think I should direct this,' Steven said. 'I'm a white Jewish guy from California. What do I know about African-American women from the South?' To this, Quincy replied, 'Steven, are you an alien? Because you directed E.T., and I think that was pretty good.' Spielberg stayed on as director, and the film was a huge success that earned 11 Oscar nominations.

It's tough to decide what I like more, a great production or a great new theater. Thankfully, I got both during my recent trip to Texas State San Marcos Department of Theatre and Dance. Their current production of Anything Goes is stunning, as is the new Patti Strickel Harrison Theatre.