Cedric Neal (Puck), Matthew Steven Tompkins (Oberon) Dallas Theater Center embarked October 30 on its new venture at the Wyly Theatre in Dallas’ Arts District with a visually stunning, hyper-kinetic take on William Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Mostly an adaptation that uses the Shakespeare classic as a launch pad, it sometimes felt like … Continue reading
Posted in October 2009 …
Waltzing A World Without Collisions: Master Harold…and the Boys
S. African playwright Athol Fugard must be one heck of an optimist. The son of an Afrikaner mother and a father of Irish Huguenot descent, he began writing plays in 1959, plays that took direct exception to the bigotry and repression of the apartheid regime ruling S. Africa at the time. After his first play … Continue reading
Bioneers Bumps Carson Film
The 2009 Bioneers Conference bumped Rachel Carson to the back of the bus, a puzzling faux pas. It relegated the award-winning film A Sense of Wonder, adapted from acclaimed actor Kaiulani Lee’s internationally celebrated one woman play about Rachel Carson (mother/catalyst of the modern environmental movement) to last day screening at its 20th annual eco-conference … Continue reading
Enchantment on The Road to Qatar
“We want you to write musical. How much?” Stephen Cole didn’t take it seriously when he received e-mail from Dubai. An award-winning New York musical theatre writer with international production credits, theatre awards, definitive books on theatre and major screen options in his life, he shrugged it off. The inquiries persisted. The Dubai interests hired … Continue reading
WingSpan Theatre Goes A-Haunting
T’is the season for the macabre. At theatres throughout the metroplex, a bizarre witch’s brew of overblown, melodramatic slasher tales with sloshing buckets of stage blood compete for audiences with camped up singing trans-gendered dancing maniacs sporting layers of black eye-liner and fishnet stockings. Gleeful ghouls and goblins will emerge by the hundreds to celebrate … Continue reading
Bright Monkeyshines at DCT: Junie B. Jones
She defies definition and breaks the rules. She’s a real live wire with an abundant, overactive imagination. Too big for her britches? Definitely. Junie B. Jones is a vibrant character with charm and energy to burn, and kids love watching her get herself into scrapes and back out again. Unscathed! Regional theatre audiences are fortunate … Continue reading
Grim Gardens at Watertower Theatre
Everybody suffers with Grey Gardens, now in production at Dallas’ WaterTower Theatre. Endlessly! The characters suffer; the actors suffer; the audience suffers. Most of all, the play suffers. This musical is a perfect example of a prevalent malady in today’s theatre—it exhibits promise, an intriguing plot, dynamic characters, and memorable music in Act I. Then … Continue reading
