Jeff Davis - Page 10

Musicals rarely reach the phenomenal success of Les Miserables. It's played in London's West End for 28 years and counting. The Original Broadway production ran for over 6,500 performances and played for over 16 years, and the recent film adaptation won 3 Academy Awards and earned over $440 million worldwide. Whether you're a longtime fan of the musical or a newcomer to it, Zach Theatre's current production of it certainly does it justice and shows exactly why Les Miserables is an international hit that others are measured against. This is a solid, soaring production of one of the most beloved musicals of all time.

It's amazing how much sounds and noises made from the audience can be an accurate barometer of whether or not a performance is succeeding. Usually groans and hisses aren't a good sign, but in the case of Fat Pig, the anti-romantic comedy by Neil LaBute, such noises are a compliment, and Theatre En Bloc's current production earns its fair share of them. The show tackles the idea of how cruel we can be to people who don't fit society's size zero ideal of beauty. Needless to say, you may not leave feeling good about yourself or about humanity as a whole, but you'll be largely impressed by the astonishingly talented cast and LaBute's brash and unapologetic script.

Is there such thing as the perfect murder? That's certainly the question at the heart of Dial "M" for Murder, the 1952 drama about a husband's plot to murder his adulterous wife. Frederick Knott's play, now playing at University of Texas Department of Theatre and Dance, is not as well-known as the Alfred Hitchcock directed film version, and while the production succeeds wonderfully in some areas, it struggles in others.

Capital City Men's Chorus, an outstanding staple of Austin's gay community, kicks off their 25th Anniversary Season tonight with a special Fall Benefit Concert. BroadwayWorld recently sat down with Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, the choir's Artistic Director, as well as members David Nielsen and Jimmy Hickey to discuss the choir's history, their recent involvement in the It Gets Better Project, and the camaraderie that comes from singing with 50 other voices.

At the end of the first act of The Book of Mormon, now playing Austin's Bass Concert Hall for a two week run, I thought to myself, 'This is the most distasteful, crude, offensive, and subversive musical I've ever seen, and I'm loving every minute of it.' When I went out to the lobby, it was clear that the audience agreed. Everyone was smiling and wiping away tears of laughter as they quoted some of the best lines so far.

Last October, I visited Sam Bass Theatre for the first time. They were producing The Hallelujah Girls, a Southern screwball comedy by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten, and I was instantly impressed at the company's ability to bring zany characters to life. It's now a year after my first visit to Sam Bass. Once again, they're staging a comedy by Jones, Hope, and Wooten, and once again, I'm impressed. Their current production of The Red Velvet Cake War is so delectable and delicious, it could only be improved if the audience were fed some complimentary red velvet cake.

If the thought of a brilliant hour of theater featuring twisted puppets living in someone's head sounds like your idea of a good time, I have one suggestion for you. Stop what you're doing, buy tickets to see The Head, and then keep reading this review. On the flipside, if the thought of a brilliant hour of theater featuring twisted puppets living in someone's head does not sound like your idea of a good time, I have one suggestion for you. Stop what you're doing, admit that you're wrong, buy tickets to see The Head, and then keep reading this review. Like their recent hit, The Cruel Circus, which premiered this past spring, The Head is a jaw-dropping piece of theater with a smart, hilarious text and incredibly imaginative visuals.

THE MUSIC MAN plays the Georgetown Palace Theatre at 810 S. Austin Ave now thru October 27th. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are $26 general, $24 seniors 55+, $14 active military & students, $10 children 9 and under. For tickets and information, please visit www.georgetownpalace.com

Though art about art has been all over Austin as of late, there's always room for one more production provided it's as good as this. Museum is a bold, laugh-out-loud farce that lovingly mocks the pretentiousness often found in both modern art and those who claim to love and understand it.

There are times when audiences would much rather see a carefree, lighthearted show rather than something thought provoking and profound, and that's exactly what National Pastime, a new Broadway-bound musical offers. While the show may need a few rewrites before it gets to the Great White Way, it's already a solid and enjoyable valentine to musicals from days gone by.

Sometimes going against the grain pays off. Sadly, for the real life Bonnie and Clyde, going against the grain by becoming bank-robbing outlaws ended in their demise, but for the McCallum Fine Arts Academy and their musical production of Bonnie & Clyde, doing something daring and different is far more fruitful. Even when compared to productions starring more experienced, seasoned performers, Bonnie & Clyde is an exceptional accomplishment.

The Texas premiere of Frank Wildhorn's Bonnie and Clyde played this weekend at McCallum Fine Arts Academy in Austin. BroadwayWorld is pleased to share some photos from the McCallum Fine Arts Academy production of the Texas Premiere of Bonnie and Clyde...

For their 25th Anniversary Season, the chorus has taken a reflective and insightful approach as they look back on their history and the history of the LGBT community. "We kind of have an arch to our 25th season," says Marketing Director Scott Poppaw. "We start with It Gets Better on September 20th, and then we continue with our Fall Fundraiser which will be all about where we've been over the past 25 years. The Holiday Concert in December will be about where we're at now with a home for the Holidays theme. And then later in the year we'll do another concert that will celebrate our 25th anniversary."

The Texas premiere of Frank Wildhorn's Bonnie and Clyde opens tonight at McCallum Fine Arts Academy in Austin. BroadwayWorld recently visited a rehearsal of Bonnie and Clyde and had a chance to interview the production's director, Joshua Denning, plus several members of the cast, including Hanna McEvilly (Bonnie Parker), Jacob Roberts-Miller (Clyde Barrow), Sage Stoakley (Blanche Barrow), Connor Barr (Buck Barrow), Kendrick Knight (Ted Hinton), and Loretta Adams (Emma Parker).

It must be Halloween season again. Haunted houses are springing up everywhere, costume shops are hijacking vacant storefronts, and Jekyll and Hyde is scaring up cheers and applause at San Antonio's Cameo Theatre. The production and its three leads easily overcome any missteps of the material.

At one point in Red, the brilliant drama which kicks off Penfold Theatre's 2013-2014 season, the eccentric artist Mark Rothko forces his assistant to look at his work with a closer, more critical eye. 'Look at the tension between the blocks of color,' he demands. 'They ebb and flow and shift, gently pulsating.' While it's tough to say whether or not pulsating tension exists in Rothko's paintings (we never see any of them in the show), Penfold's production of Red is full of it. This is one taut, well-crafted drama featuring brilliant performances and pitch-perfect direction.

Any theater-goer must have some passing familiarity with William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, arguably the screwball comedy in which fairies use a magical flower to make two sets of humans fall in love with each other. No such flower is needed here to elicit the audience's love and affection. Ballet Austin's production of Midsummer is a spectacular, charming, riotously funny, and an instant crowd-pleaser.

In a rare moment of profoundness and introspection, Groucho Marx once said, "I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose what it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it." I'm sure Groucho would be pleased to know that a handful of artists in Austin are choosing to spread happiness and joy with Eggheads, a valentine to the Marx Brothers and their antics. Anyone who loves 1930s screwball comedies is sure to love this show.

Halfway through the first act of A Trip to Bountiful, now playing at the Monument Market in Georgetown, the elderly Carrie Watts escapes the cramped Houston apartment she shares with her son and his wife and ventures to Bountiful, a small Texas town she once called home. As soon as she leaves her family's controlling and watchful eyes, she stands center stage as a slow, silent grin makes its way across her face in a moment of personal victory. It's this type of simplicity and subtlety that makes Horton Foote's play so wonderful and powerful. The story and characters are simple, but underneath there is a wealth of human emotion.

Despite all the evidence to the contrary, chivalry isn't dead, but it certainly has to fight to survive. As long as chivalry, kindness, and optimism are challenged, the story of Don Quixote will continue to be told. Perhaps that's one of the reasons behind Austin Playhouse's decision to open their 2013-2014 season with Man of La Mancha. Whatever the reason, the production is highly entertaining and a stunning feast for the eyes, though a couple performances could be tighter and more effective.