Forgetting a line on stage during a performance constitutes an actor’s nightmare. Anyone who has trod the boards for any length of time has had it happen, “gone up” on lines unexpectedly. Usually, after a split second that feels eternal, the actor recovers, or another player covers for them or improvises a clue line that … Continue reading
Posted in October 2015 …
Donald Fowler’s CREEP: A soaring spectacle at WaterTower Theatre
From the moment the first note of music pierces the darkened hall, a chill slides up the backbone. As a wraith-like array of haggard, hollow-eyed, rag-wrapped denizens of the back alleys of late 19th century London come crawling up onto WaterTower Theatre’s stage through underground sewer grates and sidle and sway in out of the … Continue reading
Rockin’ a 70’s Vibe: COMPANY at Onstage in Bedford
“Whaddya like? You like coming home to a kiss? Somebody with a smile at the door? Whaddya like? You like indescribable bliss? Then whaddya wanna get married for? Whaddya like? You like an excursion to Rome? Suddenly taking off to explore? Whaddya like? You like having meals cooked at home? Then whaddya wanna get married … Continue reading
Language of the Heart: Cumberbatch, HAMLET, National Theatre LIVE
Criticalrant Aloud discussion of the October 19 screening of The National Theatre Live at the Barbican HAMLET, featuring Benedict Cumberbatch, by North Texas arts writer/O’Neill and Annenberg critic fellow Alexandra Bonifield with North Texas regional actor and Bard Buff R. Andrew Aguilar: “Shakespeare’s language is the closest thing we have to the verbal language of … Continue reading
Salesman Lives at FunHouse Theatre: Pull on Your Grown-up Bloomers
Arthur Miller. Tennessee Williams. Eugene O’Neill. David Mamet. Edward Albee. Giants of the modern stage. You had better pull on your grown-up bloomers if you’re going to mount any of these icons’ plays, right? Pretty intimidating. Only for “real” pros, surely not for youth actors. Consider Miller’s Death of A Salesman, for instance. In its … Continue reading
Art to Inspire: THE WHALE and HARBOR
I almost never walk into a theatre with a preconceived notion of how I will write a review. Then sometimes the format or need for a particular perspective sweeps over me as soon as I arrive. The first people I ran into at The Kalita Humphreys Theater when I attended Uptown Players’ opening night of … Continue reading
In Reckless Pursuit of the Ungodly: FunHouse Theatre and Film
OMG. What sort of comic mayhem are Jeff Swearingen’s FunHouse Theatre and Film kids up to now? The current menu for huge helpings of hiccup-inspiring hilarity kicks in with a slight one-act comedy by Woody Allen called GOD followed by some rip-snortin’, fast-paced, actually interesting improvisation work by the Fun House improv troupe, Unicorn Clearance. … Continue reading
Luminosity in blu: Cara Mia Theatre Company Illuminated
The Cambridge English dictionary defines luminosity as the total amount of energy produced by a star in one second. Another source describes it as the rate at which a star radiates energy in all directions. As soon as the lights come up on Cara Mia Theatre Co.’s production blu, by Virginia Grise, running through October … Continue reading
Whale-Watching with L.I.P. Service at The FireHouse Theatre
Samuel D. Hunter is a big-time national playwright, winner of the prestigious MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship (a no- strings $625,000 cash award), most famous for his play “A Bright New Boise”. Ever heard of his play “The Whale”? It’s where a regular-sized actor gets to play a 600-pound man, wearing a fat suit. A “fat suit”? … Continue reading
