Jeff Davis - Page 6

Earlier this season, I did something slightly unorthodox when I attended and reviewed Bonnie and Clyde at McCallum Fine Arts Academy. Over the past months, I've been asked about that review on more than one occasion, and the questions have typically been regarding why I'd review a High School production. The answer: McCallum Fine Arts Academy doesn't do High School theater. They do Theater. With a capital T. The quality of the work from these young performers and designers is just as strong as what you'd find from other Austin-based theater companies, and that tradition of quality continues with their current production of Les Miserables.

I had a very interesting experience in a theater the other night. I was sitting in one of Austin's traditional theater spaces waiting for a show to begin, and two ladies sitting directly behind me were talking about a different show, Circle the Wagons, The Exchange Artists' exploratory, original, site-specific scene cycle about car culture in the United States. I absolutely loved Circle the Wagons (more on that later), so naturally I listened in on the conversation behind me. "Ugh. I wanted to like it," one of them whined, "but I just didn't get it. The scenes were too short. I didn't really get what was going on in any of the scenes or who the characters were." Her companion, equally whiny, responded with, "Me too! And wasn't it weird sitting so close to the actors? Man, that was uncomfortable."

Early on in the first act of Company, the classic Stephen Sondheim musical now playing at The Playhouse, single guy Robert asks his married pal Harry a loaded question: "Are you ever sorry you got married?" Harry smiles and responds with, "You're always sorry. You're always grateful," and continues with several other paradoxical statements. Those puzzling, polarized statements are mirrored throughout the production of Company itself. For every element and performance that hits the mark, there's another that misses it.

When Austin Shakespeare announced that their 2013-2014 season would feature a production of Othello, my immediate response was "Why?" After all, Austin's City Theatre produced the show just last season, and it was, as I mentioned in my review, "the highlight of the City Theatre's season."

As part of a Jewish family, I have had to sit through my share of Passover Seders, some of which are more bizarre and uncomfortable than others. That said, a Seder between two once enslaved black men and their former owner just days after the end of the Civil War takes the matzo cake. Matthew Lopez's period drama The Whipping Man, now enjoying its Texas premiere at Austin's City Theatre, certainly has a thought provoking subject matter and a trio of incredible actors, but sadly Lopez's text is a bit underwhelming and overdone.

BroadwayWorld is thrilled to share rehearsal photos from Les Miserables which opens at McCallum Fine Arts Academy tomorrow, Thursday, February 27th.

BroadwayWorld is thrilled to share with you the final installment of our two part interview series featuring the cast and crew of Les Miserables which opens at McCallum Fine Arts Academy tomorrow, Thursday, February 27th.

BroadwayWorld is thrilled to share with you the final installment of our interview series featuring the cast of Woodlawn Theatre's current production of Into the Woods.

Wicked certainly has an interesting reputation among theatergoers. Some theater fanatics love the show. Others hate it. I've always found myself somewhere in the middle. Wicked certainly has both flaws and merits, but to those who only see its flaws, I have this observation to share. Of all the long running shows currently on Broadway, there are only three that feature more than one female lead. Of those three shows, only one involves female leads who aren't merry murderesses and aren't singing ABBA tunes. So kudos to Wicked, and kudos to the touring production currently in Austin for making it easier to see the shows merits and more difficult to see the show's flaws.

It's entirely appropriate that the first syllable of Audra McDonald's name is pronounced "awe." Anyone who's heard a recording of her voice knows how incredible she sounds, and anyone who's seen her in concert knows how engrossing she is. With her gorgeous, crystal clear soprano voice, incredible stage presence, and charismatic, engaging persona, Audra McDonald is one of the best Broadway performers of all time, and despite her self-deprecating jokes about her age and career, it's doubtful that she'll slow down soon if at all.

Before I share my thoughts on Classic Theatre's outstanding production of Death of a Salesman, I must start with my thoughts on the play itself. Lots of people consider Death of a Salesman to be the greatest American play every written. I'm not sold, though. I don't identify with Willy Loman, a man who is so disconnected from his dreams, his family, and even his reality. I don't see him as the tragic anti-hero that others make him out to be, and I don't see the play as the greatest American play or even the greatest play by Arthur Miller.

It's astounding and a little sad that of all the things that have fallen out of style since the 1600s, hypocrisy isn't one of them. Thankfully though, comedy isn't one of them either. Both hypocrisy and comedy take center stage in St Edwards University's production of Tartuffe, an interesting and often wonderful modern take on Moliere's classic play about a deceitful religious devotee who brings chaos in his wake when he becomes a houseguest to the spiritual but foolish Orgon.

BroadwayWorld is thrilled to share with you a two part interview series featuring the cast and crew of Les Miserables which opens at McCallum Fine Arts Academy next Thursday, February 27th.

BroadwayWorld is thrilled to share with you an interview series featuring the cast of Woodlawn Theatre's current production of Into the Woods.

BroadwayWorld is thrilled to share with you an interview series featuring the cast of Woodlawn Theatre's current production of Into the Woods.

It's rare for two plays by the same playwright to run simultaneously in Austin. It's exceedingly rare for two plays by the same female playwright to run simultaneously in Austin. That's why it's so surprising that there are two productions of Sarah Ruhl plays in Austin right now. As ZACH Theatre produces her Pulitzer Prize and Tony nominated comedy In the Next Room, UT-Austin's Department of Theatre and Dance presents another Ruhl comedy, Dead Man's Cell Phone. What makes the occurrence all the more interesting is their similarities in subject matter. Both involve technology and its ability to bring people together or isolate them. But that's where the similarities end. In the Next Room takes a more realistic, character driven approach while Dead Man's Cell Phone is more cerebral, artistic, modern, and surreal.

I'm a sucker for plays that are so multifaceted that I feel I can't do them justice in a review. In the Next Room, or the vibrator play, now playing at ZACH Theatre, is without a doubt one of those plays. The comedy, written by Sarah Ruhl, is wonderful but exceedingly difficult to describe. It's funny but poignant, humorous but emotional, modern and old-fashioned.

In 1996, several up and coming performers made their Broadway debuts in a show that would make musical theater history. The show was Rent and two of those performers were Adam Pascal and Daphne Ruben-Vega. Some very lucky Austin area Rentheads, myself included, got a chance to see the two reunite last night as part of Zach Theatre's Top Concerts Series.

BroadwayWorld is thrilled to share with you an interview series featuring the cast of Woodlawn Theatre's current production of Into the Woods.

There's a rather funny thing about relationships, whether they be friendships or romantic. We all know that they take hard work to maintain, but the best ones appear to require no work at all. While the unlikely chums in Richard Alfieri's dramedy Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks put in a painstaking amount of work to maintain their friendship, the show itself seems effortless. The show may tug at our heartstrings, but I say tug away. These characters, brilliantly brought to life in Paradox Players' current production, are just what we need around Valentine's Day.