Review: LOVE BOMB at CATASTROPHIC THEATRE
by Brett Cullum - November 17, 2024
LOVE BOMB is a masterpiece of the absurd, but at the same time, it’s a viable Melanie jukebox musical that could command any stage in town. Yet I doubt that any company other than the Catastrophic Theatre will ever dare to do so because it asks much of its audience....
Review: PLAYHOUSE CREATURES at Lionwoman Productions
by Brett Cullum - November 12, 2024
During an interview I did with Michelle Britton a few weeks ago, she mentioned she “didn’t want to become the Alley” and that her Lionwoman Productions is “about helping people understand each other better.” Certainly, PLAYHOUSE CREATURES is right up there in rivaling the quality of the Alley!...
Review: THE DICHOTOMY OF HATTIE MCDANIEL at VINCENT VICTORIA PRESENTS
by Brett Cullum - November 01, 2024
The film first existed as a play, and Vincent Victoria wisely kept his lead actress from that production, Wykesha King, playing Hattie McDaniel. Wykesha creates a three-dimensional character who can act and sing; we believe she is a glamorous actress in the golden age of Hollywood. And we feel the s...
Review: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS at Theatre Under the Stars
by Brett Cullum - October 26, 2024
The cast here is immaculate, and LITTLE SHOP is a character actor’s dream come true. Everyone gets to play bigger and broader, and we get to see them have a ball, bringing these kooky archetypes to life. They are all pitch-perfect and create a wonderfully realized revival of this show for Houston ju...
Review: THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING at MAIN STREET THEATER
by Brett Cullum - October 23, 2024
THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING is a unique experience theatrically, and it’s certainly something to let seep into you and discuss later. I find myself just walking around the house, and a line or two will pop up in my head, and I have only seen this play once. It is that powerful, that invasive, and t...
Review: RACE is confronted by DIRT DOGS THEATRE CO
by Brett Cullum - October 21, 2024
It takes on the clash of white men, black men, and black women and fearlessly looks at all sides when confronted with a crime. Who will do the right thing? It’s a question that seems to hang over the country right now, so RACE could not come at a better time....
Review: DRACULA at CLASSICAL THEATRE COMPANY
by Brett Cullum - October 15, 2024
Houston’s CLASSICAL THEATRE COMPANY has decided to take it back to the original written word and return Dracula to the status of a demon rather than a lover. And yet, somehow, they have cast Spencer Plachy, who is the most swoon-worthy actor Houston has, a man who has embodied Mr. Darcy for years. A...
Review: ASSASSINS Offers Another National Anthem at THE GARDEN THEATRE
by Brett Cullum - October 13, 2024
When all is said and done, you have to applaud the bravery of this show. In an October where everyone else is offering safe fare such as British comedies, yet another take on Dracula, and an additional adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, this small company is daring you to face what might be wrong with A...
Review: SPIRITS TO ENFORCE from Catastrophic Theatre
by Brett Cullum - September 22, 2024
Are the superheroes really simply the spirits that Prospero conjured on the island? Could Fathom City have been taken over by Dr. Cannibal (an anagram for Caliban) because he fled and tossed his books into the sea? Is this a sequel, a salute, or a sardonic spoof of Shakespeare’s work?...