Brett Cullum - Page 7

You see this year is all about truth and honesty, and examining what that means to Tamarie and her squad. Onstage there is a lie detector, and throughout the evening truths are revealed as are lies. And somehow highlights include dancing poop, Aristotle, an 80s PSA star, Tinkerbell, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, the world’s oldest cactus, and an army of drag queens to name but a few.

Read Broadwayworld's interview with Denise O'Neal about Fade To Black.

This isn’t a play, it’s some sort of intergalactic space time hiccup that just happens at the MATCH complex to kick off your summer. It’s very hip, lively, and a great dose of WTF and OMG simultaneously. Like Janelle Monae says, “Girl, this is craziness. Let me tell you!”

Dirt Dogs’ current incarnation of AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY is the finest work they have done in over eight years at the MATCH, and it is easily among the best things running this year in Houston theater. This show is cast immaculately, technical design nears flawless, and direction is tight and wrought. It is operatic, it is epic, and it is a must-see for fans of excellence in theatrical arts.

SEX AND THE CITY certainly owes quite a bit to the source material for this play. Main Street Theater’s production of this work is adapted by Julie Kramer, and pushes THE BEST OF EVERYTHING into a satirical statement on the world then contrasted with the world now.

The play is performed by four actresses who portray both school girls and their nun teachers over a span of seven years in the 60s at a Catholic school. It aspires to be a simultaneously funny and heartbreaking look at what it means to lose your innocence, your faith, and your youthful optimism about who you are and who God is.

It’s a tale not told often enough about a Jewish woman who helped to decode the building blocks of life itself. It is even more poignant when we look across the scientific field and see how women are still marginalized and not given the same voices that men often take.

This is easily one of Main Street Theater’s strongest offerings this year, and it is a show that is well-thought through and exquisitely paced. Sophia Watt achieves near nirvana balancing acting with design and execution in her direction. THE OLDEST BOY is about as perfect as you can manage to get in live theater, and it offers a lot to consider.

There is a short, tight list of Houston actors who could do a show about their life and have it mean anything more than a vanity project, but she is at the top of that register. There is something about Mary Hooper that Houston loves, and if you are lucky enough to catch this one woman show called THE BOOK OF MARY you will learn why.

What did our critic think of COWBOY BOB at ALLEY THEATRE? Despite any narrative difficulties, COWBOY BOB is still something to see. It’s a celebration of what a daring musical should feel like. It asks tough questions, it presents us with gorgeous ballads, and it shows off truly Texan stage design that feels authentic. Like the real life Peggy Tallas, it’s a brave piece that moves in bold directions.

That Dirt Dogs would choose MISERY for their “season of love” makes perfect sense. As a company they have made a name for themselves by creating plays fueled by testosterone laden energy and provocative rough language. There is an intensity and violence that suggests MISERY would be a perfect project for them, and indeed this production proves that assumption mostly correct.

You won’t find a more technically stunning or well acted show in Houston right now. There is a lot to recommend EDDIE GOES TO POETRY CITY, but with one caveat. It will seem presentational and all stylistic performance rather than anything linear or narrative. If you love abstract or absurd theater you will be in heaven during your visit to Poetry City.

This is a tradition that resonates with the artist and her fans. Raquel Cepeda is a beautiful singer, a striking woman, and a consummate artist. This year will mark Raquel’s seventh annual Valentines Day show. It is described as a musical aphrodisiac for mind, body, and soul.

If true art is the ability to tell a story through a medium, then what this group has achieved is a remarkable level of marrying movement with narrative. Rarely have I witnessed dance where emotions and poetry are so clear, and performed with such passion.

If the past is any indication, this is one you do not want to miss! The level of skill is amazing, and on par with any professional Houston dance company. And the choreographers brought in to work on the pieces are world renowned.

After seeing this film, I can’t get Cherry Cola Pitts out of my mind. He haunts me in the best of ways. Vincent embodies the character so well, and there are moments where you can see a sadness emerge from behind the otherwise leering prankster.

It’s a rock musical featuring all of the naughty behavior of the original film and marries it to the “hits of the day” that were hot when it came out. Innuendos about “booty sex” merge with Backstreet Boys hits in a jukebox musical that revels in the absurdity of the original concept.

This is a morally complex piece of theater, and luckily the cast is up to the challenge of bringing these people to life without judgment or any trace of hesitation. The language, the situations, the truths, are all difficult matters that have to be handled directly and confidently.

What did our critic think of HADESTOWN at BROADWAY AT THE HOBBY CENTER? The HADESTOWN national tour finally arrives in Houston after a significant pandemic pause, and it appears the wait was worth holding our breath for.

Unfortunately ISHIDA DANCE’s NO SPEAKING LEFT IN ME is only at the MATCH complex this weekend for Friday and Saturday night. It is a pity the company couldn’t run these works longer, because word of mouth should be strong after this amazing showcase of modern contemporary dance. It is something that Houston needs, an outlet for more modern iterations of the art of movement in our cultural landscape.