Jeff Davis - Page 20

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.

On Tuesday, September 3rd, a very selected audience of lucky Austinites were invited to a special invitation-only screening of a developmental production of the Broadway-bound musical, Allegiance, hoping to raise funds and support to further bring the show to the Broadway stage. I was lucky enough to attend, and while it may be unconventional for a theater critic to review or even comment on a piece they technically did not see live (what was shown in Austin was a professionally filmed version of the world premiere production of Allegiance at the Old Globe in San Diego, CA) the show is too good to ignore.

There are so many characters in the visual arts who we instantly recognize. The Mona Lisa. The statue of David. We could probably even name the artist and where the piece is showcased now. But what about the models that inspired these iconic works? As one performer in Art Show/Model Show asks, "Why does the identity of the model disappear?" It's doubtful that the models/performers in Art Show/Model Show will ever disappear from the memory of Austin audiences. With a fearless combination of humor and poignancy, the performers give us a unique perspective from behind the canvas.

The Playhouse in San Antonio is redefining youth outreach with The Tribe, a new and exciting network of young artists that engages new theatre audiences, promotes artistic expression in the community, and fosters San Antonio's next generation of artists. Membership into The Tribe is open to all high school and college students in San Antonio.

New Orleans native and star of TV's Mad Men, Bryan Batt will bring his hilarious show Batt On A Hot Tin Roof to Austin's Zach Theatre for one night only on Tuesday, September 10th. This handsome Broadway star of La Cage Aux Folles, Beauty and the Beast, Sunset Boulevard, Cats, and Starlight Express, to name just a few, will light up your night with his personable wit and leading man song stylings. Mr. Batt recently chatted with us about his work on Broadway, Mad Men, and his cabaret act.

Octavio Solis is a prolific Latin American playwright with over 20 plays and numerous awards to his credit, or so I'm told. His drama Bethlehem, now playing in San Antonio, won the 2002 Latino Playwriting Award, but after seeing the show (my first introduction to Solis's work), I'm not exactly sure why. His text is the glaring weak link of the production. While the cast is fantastic, the text is a jumbled, long, and puzzling mess that seems more concerned with creating an 'ew' factor than an entertainment factor.

It's no secret that the musical Grease has reached cult classic status. The movie in particular is a massive hit, and the stage version is a favorite of regional theaters. It's no surprise then that the current production at Austin's City Theatre is playing to packed houses and receiving standing ovations. People love this show.

There are so many words and phrases in this world that shouldn't go together, such as a cappella and musical, modern theater and ancient Greek mythology, and Miley Cyrus and respectable young artist. While I have no clue what Vortex Rep thinks of Miley, it seems that where the rest of us see things that don't go together, the artists at Vortex Rep see a theatrical opportunity. Their latest production, an original a cappella musical inspired by Greek mythology, is exciting, imaginative, and-with a few minor tweaks here and there-could become a favorite of regional theaters across the country (and I consider Off-Broadway as a region, too).

I've always had the inclination that the line between man and God is infinitely small. In Greek mythology, that line is so small that the earthbound Mount Olympus is the home of the Gods, and the Gods often descend from their perch to mingle with humans. Moreover, the Gods have human emotions of anger, guilt, anxiety, depression, frustration, and lust. With that kind of storm, there are more than enough reasons to see a shrink. That's certainly the main point of Zeus in Therapy, Tutto Theatre Company's world premiere comedy based on the unpublished work of Douglass Stott Parker. It ain't easy being a God, and by extraction, it ain't easy being human, either.

Think of A Few Good Men, and you're bound to think of Jack Nicholson screaming the iconic line "You can't handle the truth!" in the celebrated 1992 film. However, if you're lucky enough to catch Georgetown Palace's current production of the 1989 play which inspired the film, you're bound to think of a remarkably effective and thought provoking evening of theatre.

Is there a twelve step program to creating a perfect comedy? I don't know, but if there is, writer Stephen Adly Guirgis and Austin's Capital T Theatre have found it. The Motherf**ker with the Hat is a hysterical, riotous comedy that, despite what the vulgar title may suggest, is just as intelligent and poignant as it is filthy.