Scott Shipman

The Georgetown Palace Theatre has teamed up with The Williamson Museum to mount a production of YOU CAN'T DOTHAT DAN MOODY at the beautiful and historic Williamson County Courthouse. A story of the significant trial and ruling that resulted in the first conviction of KKK members for vigilante 'justice' in the country, this show is not only unfortunately timely but it is also an interesting and well formed evening of theater.

This Random World, the new Steven Dietz play that kicked off Austin Playhouse's 18th season on September 8th, is a well paced and finely built show. The production at Austin Playhouse, utilizing a handful of skilled actors and minimalistic set, deftly crafts a consistently interesting and entertaining show that captivates the audience as it unfolds.

CHICAGO opened at The City Theatre this past weekend, and despite the fact that the show can work well in a small, minimalistic setting I am very sorry that I have to say that for me the potential for this production is clear, but the execution is lacking.

Director Sarah Gay has deftly manipulated this show so that it works very well in the intimate theater out in Lakeway, and she has crafted a bright, entertaining piece that is full of fun and embraces a sense of stubborn nostalgia for small town Texas.

The show, for those unfamiliar, is inspired by the seventeenth century literary masterpiece Don Quixote and its author Miguel de Cervantes. It is not a faithful retelling of that work, but rather presented as a play within a play as we see Cervantes himself and his fellow prisoners performing his story as they await trial by the Spanish Inquisition.

CABARET playing at the Mary Moody Northern Theater at St. Edward's University is a vibrant, poignant and heart breaking rendition that the department has tackled with a wonderful spirit.

With the current production of this show at Austin Playhouse the company requires, or even demands, that the audience leave the theater with a multitude of thoughts whirling in their mind. I left the theater in two minds about what I have seen. There were elements and moments that viscerally affected me and gave me a multitude of things to think about, and there were also moments that just as noticeably didn't land for me, and that gave me a multitude of things to think about too.