Nyderah Williams - Page 2

There are many plays out there that focus on different aspects of the Dracula myth, but the Alley Theatre's production is based on the original 1927 stage adaptation by John L. Balderston and Hamilton Dean.

EVIL DEAD is a large campy affair. After all, the musical borrows its story, characters and general demeanor from a B-film franchise. Intentionally cheesy and over-the-top funny, it relies heavily on self-referential humor and pop culture references.

ANYTHING GOES premiered in 1934, and the story takes place around the same year. The cruise liner the SS American journeys across the pond to London. The passengers are comprised of the luxurious upper class, sailors, gangsters, gamblers, entertainers, and a stowaway stock broker. Essentially, ANYTHING GOES is chock-full of shipboard romance between young and old, rich and poor. This leads to a quirky love story that is plentiful with comedic twists and turns.

It's the month of October and as Halloween grows nearer, many theatres are gearing up for their Halloween shows. Currently Stage Door Inc. is getting ready for its biennial cult musical EVIL DEAD. I was lucky enough to chat with EVIL DEAD directors Angela Case and Marc Anthony Glover to find out more info on Stage Door's seasonal treat.

The story focuses on two All-American and clean cut high school sweethearts Jimmy (Sean McGee) and Mary Lane (Taylor Beyer). They want to grow up together, have babies, lots of friends and end up happily ever after like their favorite couple “Romeo and Juliet” (a story in which they don't know the horrible ending). Well much like their favorite couple, they are pulled apart and struggle against the odds of being together. Jimmy, under the pretense that he's getting some jazz dance lessons, gets sucked into the lair of a reefer den and after one puff of what they have to offer; he becomes hooked and quickly abandons everything he knows. His fall from grace into a world of debauchery and sexual promiscuity brings on the mayhem as he struggles to choose between the hypnotizing Mary Jane, and his sweetheart Mary Lane.

JUST A FEW FEET AWAY is one of those stories that reminds people just how interconnecting our lives really are. Through a series of monologues, it examines the interlocking stories of 12 very different characters who lives are unknowingly intertwined. There's cheating, scandals and mystery galore and at the center of it all is a renowned geoscientist who is the first man on Earth possessing the ability and knowledge to successfully journey to the center of the Earth's core.

Following a group of kids growing up in a pious community in late-19th-century Germany, SPRING AWAKENING explores the lust and confusion of the adolescents discovering their budding sexuality while being repressed by their parents and teachers. Wendla's mother is too inhibited to give her daughter an ounce of sex education. Moritz (Miguel Guzman) believes the erotic dreams that plague him are a sure sign of insanity. Melchior (Colton Wright), having learned about sex through books, tries to inform his friends about what they feel and is convinced that the suppression of desire is a conspiracy among the adults to keep the teens unhappy and complacent.

It's intimate, poignant and raw. There's only one weekend left to see Bayou City Theatrics' limited engagement of THE LAST 5 YEARS. Created by Jason Robert Brown, with some inspiration from his personal life story, the 2 character musical chronicles the beginning and ending of a young couple's relationship. The characters are not given a chance to be really likeable, but they certainly are understandable.

THE FOREIGNER takes places in a cozy fishing lodge in rural Tilghman County, Georgia. There we meet two Englishmen Froggy and Charlie. Staff Sergeant Froggy has come to do some official military business near the area and forced his friend Charlie to join for a change of scenery. Plagued by marital problems back home across the pond, Charlie is insistent that he cannot provide good company to the other guests of the lodge and will be seen as rude when all he craves is some peace and quiet instead of social interaction. The problem is solved when Froggy concocts the idea of telling everyone that Charlie is an exotic foreigner who doesn't understand English. Comedic madness ensues as the 'foreigner' Charlie becomes privy to the deepest secrets and scandals of everyone as they begin to speak freely in front of him.

Stage Door Inc.'s production of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE does complete justice to Tennessee Williams' classic American masterpiece about fantasy versus reality. Created in 1947 during a time where, it was deemed downright scandalous, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE grew into America's heart.

I had the chance to meet with the brilliant minds of a new production company in town. Pitch Me This Productions, otherwise known as PMT productions, has their inaugural production MIDTOWN LIVE: A SUMMER CONCERT this August 21-23. I sat down with Founder and musical director Eduardo Guzman, as well as some of PMT's other production staff, Sarah Patterson (Marketing /Communications) and Kyle Crawford, (Auditions/Casting). Together they shared with me some insight on what Pitch Me This Productions is all about.

Director Matthew C. Logan and his stellar cast delve into English playwright Peter Shaffer's pyschodramatic play about a disturbed youth's fanatical obsession with horses. Written in 1973 and inspired by true events, EQUUS is certainly challenging material concerning the heavy themes of religion, sexuality, passion and normalism in society. The ensemble faces the material with unflinching conviction.

This summer the Texas Repertory Theatre Company serves up a slice of apple pie and southern charm with PUMP BOYS AND THE DINETTES. Prior to the show, I wasn't really sure what to expect. It certainly sounded like something that had country charm splattered all over it. Turns out, I wasn't too far off. Being born and bred in Texas along with an affinity for diners this was a great treat.

Tamarie Cooper gives Houston Christmas in July with A VERY TAMARIE CHRISTMAS and it is definitely a treat! She is at it again with her original summer musical, and this year with a book by Patrick Reynolds, music by Miriam Daly and Joe Folladori, and lyrics by Tamarie Cooper, Miriam Daly, Joe Folladori, Miki Johnson, and Patrick Reynolds, she has conceived an effervescent spectacle full of mirth and some of that good old Christmas spirit. It is never early to get in the mood for one of the great holidays ever, right?

Houston Family Arts Center's production of LES MISERABLES is a riveting masterpiece! It evokes the spirit and themes of compassion, revenge and above all human transformation.

For over four decades,Stephen Schwartz's musical career has brought to life hit musicals such as Godspell, The Baker's Wife and Wicked, as well as music in some of our favorite films such as Pocahontas, The Prince of Egypt and Enchanted. In honor and celebration of this brilliant composer, DEFY GRAVITY was conceived by Michael J. Bobbitt with musical arrangement by John Cornelius ll. Together, they have created a musical revue comprised of 28 songs which takes the audience on a journey through many of Schwartz's classics in the realm of musicals and film.

SPAGHETTI CODE is Koenig's second world premiere with Horse Head Theatre Company and is part of the company's new initiative to produce female playwrights.

Whether you call it trash, rubbish, or junk BROOKLYN: THE MUSICAL has tons of it and in a great way. With book, music, and lyrics by Mark Schoenfeld, and Barri McPherson, this musical takes place as a story within a story on a street corner under the Brooklyn Bridge. The inspiration for the show comes from real life experience of Schoenfeld.