Houston Theater Reviews Page 5

Review: FADE TO BLACK PLAY FESTIVAL at MATCH
by Brett Cullum - June 23, 2022

It is safe to say this is a great festival, and well worth your time over the weekend.  Happy ten years to FADE TO BLACK!  Here’s hoping for many more decades to come.  ...

Review: CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG at MAIN STREET THEATER
by Brett Cullum - June 20, 2022

What did our critic think? CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG is perfect summer fare for kids, and also for those of us who enjoy a rather crazy car story from the creator of James Bond. It’s a treat to see it here at the MATCH in Midtown, especially with such a strong cast in a handsome production....

BWW Review: NOIR Crackles with Style at the Alley Theatre
by Luke Evans - June 12, 2022

It was a cool and quiet night on the streets of Los Angeles, the City of Angels abuzz with secret lives, and an anxious shut-in was waiting to tell us a story. This is the lead-in to Noir, the new world premiere musical by Duncan Sheik (Spring Awakening, American Psycho) and Kyle Jarrow (SpongeBob S...

BWW Review: BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL Glows with Musical Genius at The Hobby Center
by Audrey Morabito - June 04, 2022

BEAUTIFUL - THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL is not only a time capsule of some of the greatest hits of music history, it’s a peek behind the curtain of how they all came to be. The life story of the iconic Carole King is inseparable from her songbook. This story starts with a Carole Klein—before she was the...

BWW Review: THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT at Jarrott Productions Asks Big Questions About the Nature of Truth
by Luke Evans - June 03, 2022

At times, the show is almost painfully blunt, and I don’t mean that to be an insult. Director David R. Jarrott places the focus squarely where it belongs: the relentless and, at times, grueling search for honesty and authenticity in a post-truth world....

BWW Review: CLYBOURNE PARK at Dirt Dogs Theatre Co.
by Brett Cullum - June 06, 2022

In the end they still managed to produce a show that asks the hard questions, never flinches from the truth, and captures perfectly what it means to be human. Imperfections be damned. ...

BWW Review: INNOMINATE at Catastrophic Theatre
by Brett Cullum - June 01, 2022

INNOMINATE is a mixture of dance, puppets, images on a screen, live music, and daring staging to tell the story of creator Afsaneh Aayani as she immigrated from war torn Iran to the United States. It also deals with the effects of the COVID pandemic and extreme loss. If I told you all of this was ...

BWW Review: 4th Wall Theatre Company Dazzles Again with BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY
by Armando Urdiales - May 31, 2022

4th Wall finishes its amazing season with a remounting of their critically acclaimed production of Stepehn Adly Guirgis’ Between Riverside and Crazy. A dramedy of epic proportions, 4th Wall continues producing some of the most brilliant plays, raw and up close. ...

BWW Review: DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS at Stageworks Theatre
by Luke Evans - May 23, 2022

Anyone looking for a light-hearted romp with verve to start off their summer would do well to make their way to Stageworks Theatre to see their delightfully fun production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels....

BWW REVIEW: AD Players Blends Faith and Space Adventure in APOLLO 8
by Armando Urdiales - May 16, 2022

As a young boy scout from San Antonio, one of the annual trips I always looked forward to was visiting NASA'S Johnson Space Center. Partially, my move to Space City USA was because of Houston's long history and fascination with outer space. AD Players' production of their world premiere production o...

BWW Review: BORN WITH TEETH Brings High-Class Elizabethan Fan Fiction to The Alley Theatre
by Christian Gill - May 12, 2022

Everyone has those important artists they dream of seeing together, the genius writers who if locked in a room together would have some of the greatest conversations. The wonderful thing about fiction is how we can bring life to those conversations and make them just as exciting as we imagine they a...

BWW Review: JERSEY BOYS at the Hobby Center is an Infectious Escape
by Luke Evans - May 11, 2022

For a messily scripted white-comfort piece, Jersey Boys sure can make for an effective toe-tapping diversion from the ever-encroaching dread that is life in the 2020s. The breezy performances and energetic vocals on display at Theatre Under the Stars work double time to distract you from the materia...

BWW Review: Greek God, Diane, Wreaks Havoc in Rec Room Arts HURRICANE DIANE
by Armando Urdiales - May 09, 2022

The unconventional and oddball comedy from the Pulitzer Prize finalist, Madeleine George, sees the Greek god, Dionysus, reenter civilization disguised as a butch gardener, Diane. The god's mission to seduce mortal women and help end climate change creates a story that elicits guttural laughs and a g...

BWW Review: MEET THE MAMMA AND COLOR STRUCK at Vincent Victoria Presents
by Brett Cullum - May 06, 2022

These historic writings are coupled with the company’s signature lively staging and passion. The two present fascinating portraits of the Black community’s experience a hundred years ago, and the surprise is how little has changed....

BWW Review: The Garden Theatre's SCHOOL GIRLS; OR THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY is a Great Collection of Talent
by Armando Urdiales - May 04, 2022

Jocelyn Bioh's play, School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play, is one of the best examples of 21st-century theater. Set in an all-girls boarding school in the African country of Ghana. School Girls follows the story of a group of young women navigating their social life in the face of adversity...

BWW Review: Stages Blends Superhero Comics and Social Justice in Black Super Hero Magic Mama
by Armando Urdiales - May 02, 2022

With the classic comic Boom! and Pow!, Stages continues its excellent season with Inda Craig-Galvain's Black Super Hero Magic Mama. Hot off the heels of the epic jukebox musical, You Are Cordially... by ShaWanna Renee Rivon, Black Super Hero Magic Mama truly represents the magnificence of Houston th...

BWW Review: ROMEO AND JULIET at Houston Grand Opera Is a Gratifying Delight
by Luke Evans - May 02, 2022

As the curtain rises in Houston Grand Opera's production of Romeo and Juliet, Charles Gonoud's 1867 adaptation of the seminal Shakespeare play, the audience is transported into a realm of romance and passion, brought to life by the soaring score and gifted performers. Though devotees of the original...

BWW Review: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF Brings Tradition to the Hobby Center Of Performing Arts
by Armando Urdiales - April 27, 2022

The Broadway classic is currently in residence at the Hobby Center and is a wonderful expression of both the beauties of our past and a great reminder that history repeats itself....

BWW Review: Art Factory's SWEENEY TODD is Well Sung But Rough Around the Edges
by Luke Evans - April 27, 2022

This sentimental value proved to be a benefit for Art Factory’s intimate production, which hits some satisfying notes amid some noticeable stumbles. While I delighted in hearing the songs that I have loved since I was a faux-edgy 16 year old, I daresay that a lesser Sweeney Todd fanatic may have enj...

BWW Review: BOB: A LIFE IN FIVE ACTS Gives Light to the Absurdity of the Human Experience at Firecracker Productions
by Christian Gill - April 25, 2022

There's an unmistakable sadness to Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's Bob: A Life in Five Acts. What makes the show stand out is the playwright's choice to present Bob's life story in the form of an absurdist comedy. When tragedy strikes, as it does suddenly and often, it always comes in the form of something c...

BWW Review: Life Rings With The Alley Theatre's Delirious DEAD MAN'S CELLPHONE
by Alric Davis - April 21, 2022

A jovial spirit permeates the Alley Theatre as people pack in for the opening night performance of Dead Man’s Cell Phone, MacArthur Genius Sarah Ruhl’s effervescent, acerbic and poignant play. Director Brandon Weinbrenner offers a talented cast of six actors staged in the circular thrust Hubbard The...

BWW Review: THE WAR OF THE WORLDS at Classical Theatre Company is a Science Fiction Odyssey
by Luke Evans - April 17, 2022

Fans of old school science fiction (particularly the thoughtful, novelistic kind that prefigured The Twilight Zone and Star Trek) should find much to enjoy the Classical Theatre Company’s adaptation of H.G. Wells’s famous 1898 novel, The War of the Worlds....

BWW Review: YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO SIT IN Is a Dream of a Production at Stages Theatre
by Armando Urdiales - April 11, 2022

The story goes that Stages staff member, Eboni Bell Darcy, was part of the discussion for the theater's reopening season. Ideas evidently floated around in the zoom call. It was Eboni's idea for Stages to commission their own jukebox musical. This excellent idea led to the creation of ShaWanna Renee...

BWW Review: THE BOOK OF GRACE at Catastrophic Theatre
by Brett Cullum - April 06, 2022

Catastrophic Theatre’s THE BOOK OF GRACE makes good on the company’s promise of “we will destroy you” in the best way possible. The production is a well-honed punch to the gut that will leave you reeling and provoked....

BWW Review: Stages SUNRISE COVEN is a Homegrown Inspiration and a Wonderous World Premiere
by Armando Urdiales - April 04, 2022

This spring, Brendan Bourque-Sheil's story of a woman dealing with life's impossible changes is one of Houston's best plays. Set in the fictional town of Buxtop, Texas, the protagonist, Hallie (Susan Koozin), wakes up after an overdose and the resultant story is about how a person copes with almost ...