Sam Lisman

A year or so ago, two DFW theaters in neighboring cities both performed the same play, on the same days, at the same times.  If you were willing to pay to use the Tollway, and depending on traffic, they were about ten minutes aways from each other.  I chock that up to bad timing and poor coordination (although local theater directors tell me that the vast majority of their audiences are exclusive – they don’t go to other theaters – so these kinds of scheduling issues aren’t a big deal), and both groups handled it well (at least publicly).

Those who knock Shakespeare like to say that his plays aren’t relevant to our lives or our society – what I think they really mean is that the language he uses is challenging for us, and thus doesn’t seem relevant, but let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.  Rather than point them to Anthony Jeselnik’s infinitely tasteless (so I’m not linking to it) but wildly funny response to this complaint (which they rarely appreciate), I now instead ask them about Measure for Measure.

Girl from the North Country fails to deliver on the promise of a Bob Dylan-Conor McPherson collaboration. Dylan famously asked, how does it feel? In this play, not so good.

I'm very thankful MainStage Irving-Los Colinas decided to include Dear Brutus in this year’s season, as many people (myself included) would otherwise never experience its magic. And it is magical, both in its setting and in this performance.

A truly funny - but very off-color - satire of American government and those we let run it. The purpose of a review should be to tell you what the play is about (without spoiling too much) and whether it’s worth your valuable time and money. 

Ann Richards was probably the luckiest politician in Texas history. The incumbent State Treasurer (not exactly a high-profile partisan office) in 1990, she was the Democrats choice to run for Governor.

The era of the seemingly endless tour brought Les Misérables back to DFW during Christmas.  I hadn’t seen it on stage in about a decade (let’s not talk about seeing it on film), so it seemed to be an appropriate time to revisit it. 

With temperatures finally dropping, now is the perfect time to go to the Park and see this outstanding cast bring this drama to life with passion and verve. This production is simply too good to miss.

Bass Hall is a lovely host for an excellent recreation of Harper Lee’s seminal work.

Avenue Q at Theatre Arlington remains as fresh, funny, and feisty as it’s ever been

The Other Josh Cohen is a delightful musical with a light-hearted tone that belies its deep morality, all while boasting a great cast a strong musical book.

If you’re only going to produce one show a year, as, to date, Fair Assembly does, you’d best make the most of it.  And once again, they’ve done exactly that, putting together a production that deserves a larger audience than the upstairs studio theater at The Wyly Theater can provide.

Although Goin' Hollywood was wonderfully performed, the ambitious new musical's story just couldn't match the efforts of its designers and actors.

Miss Molly is wickedly clever satire that would do Oscar Wilde proud. Amphibian Stage has produced an excellent show, that while not for every audience, is too good to miss.