Time is ticking on your last chance to vote for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Austin Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 19th. Voting closes at the end of the year!
Every November, BWW-Austin teams up with other Austin-based theater publications to announce the Central Texas Excellence in Theatre Awards. The nominations were announced last night. Scroll down for the full list!
It's clear even before Time Stands Still begins that the show has been carefully designed to make us ponder the effects of war. Before the actors take the stage, clips of the war-torn Middle East are projected on the stage, including images of children being indoctrinated into ISIS.
It's impossible for these images to not have an effect on the viewer, and the same can be said for the play itself. The Tony-nominated drama, now playing at Austin Playhouse, makes an unforgettable impact.
A Tony nominee for Best Play, Time Stands Still is a witty, intelligent examination of the power of war against the backdrop of the homefront. Sarah and James, a photographer and a journalist, share a passion for the adrenaline rush that comes from reporting stories in the world's deadliest war zones. When the realities of combat become too much for James, a rift begins to form between them. After Sarah is wounded in a bomb blast in Iraq, she is forced to return home to James and the safety, and comparative boredom, of New York. Her struggle to adapt to life in the States is contrasted with the life of her mentor, Richard, who is happily embarking on a more conventional path with a much younger woman.
While riding along the freeway, drivers are often faced with the oxymoron of a car wreck on the side of the road. Though it is often gruesome and inappropriate to stare, it is equally as challenging to look away. No matter how shocking or repugnant, your eyes are glued to the scene, both attempting to understand what has just happened, and seeing what will happen next. Such was my experience at the Salvage Vanguard Theatre, watching the regional premiere of Silence! The Musical. Did I love it? No. But despite its raunchy lyrics and eye roll-worthy dialogue, its redeeming music and talented ensemble kept me in my seat for nearly an hour and a half.
SILENCE, THE MUSICAL will run today, June 19-July 13, 2014 (Thurs-Sat at 8pm, Sun at 5pm. Midnight performances on July 5 & 12) at the Salvage Vanguard Theatre, 2803 E Manor Rd, Austin, TX.
SILENCE, THE MUSICAL will run June 19-July 13, 2014 (Thurs-Sat at 8pm, Sun at 5pm. Midnight performances on July 5 & 12) at the Salvage Vanguard Theatre, 2803 E Manor Rd, Austin, TX.
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...
When the ghosts of their past are unleashed, the residents of an exclusive retirement community must come to terms with lost love, triumphs, fears, and the choices that haunt and connect us all. This moving new play by award-winning local playwright Cyndi Williams, reminds us that the most important moments of our lives are often the ones that defy explanation.
Honesty may be the best policy, but it's not the most fun one. Thank God 16th century playwright Pierre Corneille and modern day playwright David Ives have an affinity for the truth-challenged. Ives's modern take on Corneille's classic French comedy The Liar is an exhilarating and side-splitting mix of the old and new, and Austin Playhouse's production of it reminds us just how exceptional the Austin theater community is.
When the ghosts of their past are unleashed, the residents of an exclusive retirement community must come to terms with lost love, triumphs, fears, and the choices that haunt and connect us all. This moving new play by award-winning local playwright Cyndi Williams, reminds us that the most important moments of our lives are often the ones that defy explanation.
As a relative newbie to Austin, I have not seen The Dead President's Club until recently, but it's well known that Austin Playhouse's revivals of it are more frequent than political sex scandals. But while the later may induce eye-rolling and head-scratching, The Dead President's Club is met with uproarious laughter. Yes, the show gets revived frequently, but with popularity numbers that would greatly overpower any political candidate, it's easy to see why.
In this comic gem by the famed Texas playwright best known for The Night Hank Williams Died and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, four former presidents - Richard M. Nixon, Lyndon B. Johnson, Calvin Coolidge and Harry S. Truman- find themselves in an exclusive holding pen outside heaven awaiting the decision of an admissions committee. 'Just who is on that committee?' asks the recently arrived Nixon. 'That's the problem: a buncha narrow-minded damned saints!' Johnson replies. As the sanctified weigh the leaders' good deeds against their sins of omission and commission, 'Landslide Lyndon' and 'Tricky Dick' plot to get around the bureaucracy and go straight to the Boss.