A riddle: why are some contemporary rock musicals like drinking diet soda? Answer: They both leave a taste that is flat and not refreshing; both are “sweetened” with unhealthy gimmicks. Such is the case of the much hyped, insignificant, little rock musical playing currently at the Kalita Humphreys Theatre, aptly titled Fly By Night. Is … Continue reading »
Youth theatre with a raw edge? Find it by the compost heap-full at Fun House Theatre and Film in Plano. Performing through May12th, this Sunday, Jeff Swearingen’s cadre of talented, dedicated mademoiselles present Daffodil Girls, his comic parody adaptation of David Mamet’s celebrated drama Glengarry Glen Ross and come out Olympic champs. Swearingen turns … Continue reading »
Good times roll again at Fun House Theatre in Plano, starting this Tuesday May 7. Daffodil Girls will work its nefarious charms and prick up the neck hairs on an unsuspecting audience. Find it a down and dirty, accurately voiced parody of David Mamet’s 1984 Glengarry Glen Ross as the female members of Jeff Swearingen’s … Continue reading »
Penetrating, sharp as razor wire wrapped around a bamboo prison compound. Resonant, brimming over with grief, suffering and bitterness — yet transcendent, profoundly humanizing in its poetic homage to a forgotten American hero…. Composer Tom Cipullo’s one-act opera Glory Denied, playing through May 11 as part of Fort Worth Opera’s 2013 Festival, captures the somber … Continue reading »
Expressing exuberance when quoted in a 1982 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article as his new play Angels Fall worked its way towards Broadway, playwright Lanford Wilson exclaimed, “The writing is as good as anything I’ve ever done. I don’t think I’ve ever had a show that audiences liked so much, except maybe Talley’s Folly.” Even as nominated … Continue reading »
Want to spice up your Sammons Cabaret Night with international flavor? Add Nina Katrina; tune up her accompanists, and feel Kurth Hall sizzle. This Thursday, April 18, is your chance to experience the unique styling and world-class repertoire of this Dallas-based international songbird. You don’t want to miss her. The eldest child born into a … Continue reading »
Imagine if Stephen Colbert wrote and directed a full satire episode of “Downton Abbey”. That’s what Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” feels like in Oklahoma City University’s accommodating thrust Burg Theatre space. A standout, signature co-production by Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre (City REP), Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park and OCU’s Theatre Department, it … Continue reading »
Playwright William Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets. Twenty-four of them address his passionate love for an un-named person known as “the dark lady”, someone he described as ‘a woman color’d ill’ with black eyes and dark, coarse hair. Speculation about her identity has raged across the centuries, with several historical women often debated as candidates. One … Continue reading »
We need more plays like “W;t”, winner of the 1999 Pulitzer prize for Drama by Margaret Edson, about a professor of literature facing her impending death through the lens of her life’s embrace. Vivian is neither virgin nor whore. The only pedestal she stands on is one of her own making. She isn’t any version … Continue reading »
I have seen the Harry Penix, and I’ll never feel quite the same…about half-melted ice cream, or frosted cupcakes. That naughtiest of charming, shape-shifting sprites, John Michael, summons forth — from the dark bowels of 24 year old male reflection — a tale that’s part personal history, part AIDS awareness fantasy. And all sparkly, crinkly, … Continue reading »
“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” Oscar Wilde, The Critic as Artist Balance and harmony by design: consider the integrity of a three-legged stool. Each independent element shares equal weight-bearing support with the … Continue reading »
Crawl out from under your school desks and emerge from your nuclear bomb shelters…hop on over to FunHouse Theatre’s “Ultimate Easter Experience” one mo’ time this Thursday night 3/28 before that wacky satellite of whimsical hilarity returns to its wobbly orbit around the moon. It’s the eagerly anticipated “prequel” to the award winning, world-famous (in … Continue reading »
SOLD OUT! Call The Sammons Center for standby ticket status….. “I want to bring a smile to your face, a tug at your heart, or maybe just a little peace to the end of your hectic day,” says Lynne Cadena, soulful songstress and pianist gracing The Sammons Center for the Arts Cabaret series this Thursday … Continue reading »
“I know now she is a symbol to other people in the world…for what she stood for, and Gaza is still under siege … it’s very important her message can continue.” At the ten year rally in Olympia WA, marking Rachel Corrie’s brutal murder by an Israeli driving a bulldozer in Gaza, Cindy Corrie remarked … Continue reading »
“Underneath The Lintel” with Patrick O’Brien (Stone Cottage): One of the finest one-man shows I’ve ever seen, this seat’s-edge riveting performance by nationally honored, seasoned film, television and stage actor Patrick O’Brien could easily end up as the VERY Best Performance at Loop 2013. Easy to see why it earned him ‘Best of’ designation at … Continue reading »
Who wouldn’t want to have the face that “launched a thousand ships”? Watch the absurd farce “The Ugly One” and reconsider its appeal…. WaterTower Theatre’s 12th Annual Out of the Loop Fringe Festival opened March 7th with a full to rafters house of merry patrons, eager to see what sort of quirky, unusual performance would … Continue reading »
Not hard to tell fact from fiction in Amphibian Stage’s production of “Fiction”, Steven Dietz’s play about diaries and relationship. Fact: when two of north Texas’ most skilled, creative actors, Lydia Mackay and Jakie Cabe, negotiate the challenges presented by the convoluted twists and turns of Dietz’s 2002 script with nuanced artistry and smooth style, … Continue reading »
“What do you see?” More of a probing, raw demand than a question, the opening line in John Logan’s 2009 two actor bio-drama about American abstract painter Mark Rothko, delivered by the artist at lights up, his back to audience, demands full attention. It should rivet an audience’s eyes to the huge blank canvas upstage … Continue reading »
That infamous Dane may dilly-dally around in Shakespeare’s play, but there’s nothing indecisive about Fun House Theatre’s production of “Hamlet”, nor with the production’s 15 year old lead Chris Rodenbaugh, plotting and fretting on barely contained “simmer”, waiting for the perfect moment to exact revenge yet unable to move from contemplation to consummation. Respectful and … Continue reading »
William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” as youth theatre? Not a concept one might ordinarily envision. The prospect of young thespians undertaking and understanding so complex and “adult” a play, much less memorizing all those lines in Elizabethan English, boggles the mind. Step back a moment and consider Jeff Swearingen’s Fun House Theatre and Film in Plano. If … Continue reading »
“What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play. Life is a cabaret, old chum: Come to the cabaret…” Kander and Ebb’s lyrics from the 1966 Broadway hit musical ”Cabaret” reflect a unique truth at Dallas’ Sammons Center for the Arts. Kicking off the second year of their monthly New York … Continue reading »
When Clint Eastwood appeared at the Republican National Convention in 2012, he baffled everyone watching its broadcast with his rambling, absurd, somewhat crude conversation with an empty chair next to the podium. Having now seen Eugene Ionesco’s “The Chairs” (“Les Chaises”), as staged by Kitchen Dog Theater in the MAC’s black box space, I may … Continue reading »
And you thought Beyonce was the Queen of Lip-Sync? She has nothing on the cast of “The Lucky Chance, or The Alderman’s Bargain”, playing through February 23rd at The Bath House Cultural Center, courtesy of Echo Theatre. Get your laugh-in on. Echo’s production consists of a longish farce, employing lip “synchage” by all involved of … Continue reading »
RAGTIME: A Musical Collaboration at Dallas City Performance Hall, offers two more concert-style performances today, February 9, 2013 at 2:30pm and 8pm. Don’t miss your chance to experience one of the finest performances on stage NOW in the region. Do you want to witness a seamlessly executed collaboration between two of the region’s most outstanding … Continue reading »
Guest review by Jason Kane: Urban legend holds that a famous actor’s last words were “Dying is easy. Comedy is hard.” Did anyone attending those sage last words respond with “Have you tried farce?” While comedy can succeed in a fluid, malleable presentation, the slightest error in timing can ruin good farce. That distinction makes … Continue reading »
When Lesbian/feminist playwright Jane Chambers wrote a truthful, loving play about eight women spending summer together at an East Coast beach resort, it became a surprise hit and shifted a paradigm. “Last Summer at Bluefish Cove” opened at the Actors Playhouse in New York City on December 22, 1980. It went on to win Los … Continue reading »
The sound of one hand clapping? Hear it at Second Thought Theatre. “A Behanding in Spokane”, a bleak, black comedy by highly regarded Irish playwright Martin McDonagh marks his first work set in the United States. It feels like an audition piece for a feature film or cable television show where his rough-hewn, off-kilter characters … Continue reading »
January 1, 2013. In his charming, candid interview with Diane Rehm on her NPR radio show, revered, veteran actor F. Murray Abraham spoke with genuine admiration for articulate stage productions. “It’s always the literature.” I heartily concur that a play’s effectiveness starts with its text, with a caveat. To succeed on stage, a play’s “literature” … Continue reading »
Of the myriad of adaptations and re-envisioned versions of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”, fledgling Desoto-based theatre group Crossover Arts Theatre chose to produce D.M. Larson’s “Ebony Scrooge”, subtitled A Modern Musical, as its holiday show. A “free” script, which might appeal to a start-up group on a tight budget, it lacks the depth of … Continue reading »
Don you now your gay apparel and get lively. Anna Lively. Celebrate the holiday spirit at the Sammons Center For the Arts final Cabaret of 2012 this Thursday night December 20 from 8-10pm with a rare treat. She’s saucy. She’s sultry. She’s insouciant. She’s a 5’10” blonde dynamo wielding a gorgeous voice and a … Continue reading »
Who doesn’t hope and pray for a life filled with little miracles? Sandra Cisneros’ 1991 short story collection Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories helped solidify her national standing as a major Chicana writer and poet for the unique, radiant voice she gave each character through dynamic, lyrical expression. She uses the universal female archetypes … Continue reading »
It’s a cryptic, chilly, Cold War sort of Christmas Eve night in Ronald Reagan’s 1980’s world, and those ninja missiles of Star Wars defense, Santa’s reindeer, face a serious dilemma. Santa has fallen from the sleigh somewhere over the northern hemisphere but nobody noticed. Should they double back and try to locate the jolly old … Continue reading »
On the cusp. On the edge. On the brink. On the mark. On the lam. On the nose. On the money. On The Eve…. Mother Nature, blood-red in tooth and claw, jangles her gaudy bangles and flashes a predatory grin, relishing the prospect of portentous paradigm shift in Nouveau 47’s ribald, uninhibited, anti-establishment World Premiere … Continue reading »
Very few actors in this region can match John Davies’ adeptness at finding the lyrical rhythms in a play’s text and skill in exploring the silence between words and phrases, those pauses that enhance a play’s sense while drawing its audience in deeper. He makes it look so simple. Davies demonstrates his professional acumen with … Continue reading »
They say the whole is greater than the sum of it parts…. In Thomas Riccio’s new progressive symphonic theatricale, “W(hole)”, playing at his decadent sprawl of a reclaimed warehouse in West Dallas through December 22, the adage rings true as a Tibetan gong. Taken apart, as in autopsy, it strains and fragments, laments and groans, … Continue reading »
“It’s one lo-ong howl of disgust and outrage”: Britain’s National Theatre stage director Nicholas Hytner describes his company’s modern dress production of Shakespeare’s troubling play “Timon of Athens” with pride and a hint of anticipatory warning. Indeed, it’s a perfect example of how Shakespeare’s work holds apt relevance for today’s issues. Written in collaboration with … Continue reading »
Since the time before time Hindu Goddess Durga has been revered as “the mother of the universe”. She is viewed as “the power behind the work of creation, preservation, and destruction of the world”. She gets depicted standing fearlessly upon the back of a lion as an assurance to her followers that she will protect … Continue reading »
You’ll catch more flies with honey than vinegar, ” scolds an old wives’ tale. Who believes what old wives say, anyway? Performance artists Fred Curchack and Laura Jorgensen take these words to heart and sell the concept convincingly in their irreverent, thought-provoking 2012 stage production “Burying Our Father: A Biblical Debacle”. Now in its southwest … Continue reading »
You don’t have to celebrate Samhain as a card-carrying Wiccan to feel the bone chill in the air as life’s wheel rotates into winter with lengthening shadows and shortening days. You might easily sense the ghostly chasm narrow between the living realm and the dead at this time of the year. US culture trivializes the … Continue reading »
American Airlines enjoys a close personal relationship with nationally celebrated performance artists Fred Curchack and Laura Jorgensen. That’s because this dynamic, creative duo lives and works c.1800 miles apart and spends lots of time commuting between Texas and California so they can perform their unique original plays together. It’s an arrangement that works well for … Continue reading »
“Our do-nothing Congress isn’t worth a darn. All they do is sit on their rich, elitist butts. They squabble over petty issues, insult each other rudely, complain about the weather and refuse to deal with real issues making life tough for the average citizen.” Sound like a polite Facebook post about the 2012 Congress? An … Continue reading »
First-time playwright Stephen Beresford brings his considerable skill and experience as an actor to bear in writing his tightly wound family drama “The Last of the Haussmans”, playing at Angelika Film Centers as part of Britain’s National Theatre Live screencasts. (ANGELIKA – DALLAS Saturday, Oct. 27 2:00PM; ANGELIKA – PLANO Sunday, Oct. 28 2:00PM, Tuesday, … Continue reading »
Every so often they let him out of his dank, dark dungeon. The primordial skeleton key releases the rusty lock, and the immense door creaks open wide its gaping maw. That Duke of Demented Depravity, Dean of Dastardly Jokes and Spinner of Ripping Yarns emerges to unleash another fractured, harrowing hash-up of classic literature upon … Continue reading »
Bring on the glam! If you missed the incomparable Diana Sheehan’s sold out, “Best of the Loop” Cabaret performance at this year’s Out of the Loop Festival at WaterTower Theatre, here’s your chance to rectify that. Sheehan brings her unique blend of saucy sophistication, mystery, elegance and sterling musicianship to Kurth Hall at the Sammons … Continue reading »
Who was the Greek poet Homer, anyway? Known as the “Homeric question”, there’s speculation about his existence comparable to William Shakespeare’s. Both have spawned a raft of scholarly and semi-sensational writings that assert, “Someone else wrote these works”. Maybe around the 12th or the 7th or 8th century BC, a poet known as Homer, or … Continue reading »
The documentary film,“The Stages of Edward Albee”, by James Dowell and John Kolomvakis, offers an intimate, accessible, ninety-seven minute glimpse into the life of an American literary giant. Intriguing for fans and non-fans of the theatre, alike, it’s an engaging, lucid homage to the work and persona of a defining voice for 20th century American … Continue reading »
Does Macbeth project as Rambo or Gordon Gekko? This is not a trick question. In Shakespeare’s tragedy “Macbeth”, an injured sergeant describes the title character’s conduct on the field of battle early in the play: ”For brave Macbeth, … Disdaining fortune, with his brandisht steel, Which smoked with bloody execution, Like valour’s minion, Carved out … Continue reading »
A most happy audience files out of Carpenter Hall at Irving Arts Center, after experiencing the visually resplendent, musically rich performance of Frank Loesser’s genre-defying “The Most Happy Fella”, under the auspices of the Dallas-Fort Worth region’s champion of musical theatre classics, Lyric Stage. Once again, Jay Dias conducts from a unique, fully orchestrated score, … Continue reading »
National tragedy as opportunistic improv skit and joke fodder? You have to be kidding. It appears that Second City and the Dallas Theater Center think they found the treasure trove of source material in the 1963 Kennedy assassination and approaching Dallas commemoration of that tragic event. This is how they “barbecue” Dallas on stage? I’ll … Continue reading »
Nobody got tossed through any windows. The crockery remains intact. No hit men have been surreptitiously slipped piles of unmarked bills and notes containing home addresses, to my knowledge. The DFW Theatre Critics Forum met for a few intense hours and came up with a list. I’m mostly pleased. As voted on: Direction: Bruce R. … Continue reading »
Criticism, Vitriol, and Announcing Our NewCrit Critics on HowlRound.com Polly Carl April 20, 2013 A couple of months ago we announced that we would add criticism to the HowlRound site. The idea met with both great enthusiasm and deep skepticism. We expected this. When we originally discussed this idea with a large group of advisors, … Continue reading »
