BWW Review: Arizona Broadway Theatre Presents GYPSY
Arizona Broadway Theatre's handsome new production of GYPSY, featuring Cassandra Klaphake as Mamma Rose and a solid supporting cast, gives the audience the chance to enjoy the Rodgers and Hammerstein form of musical theatre storytelling all over again. Runs through February 20th.
Opera Parallele Announces 2021-22 Season
Opera Parallèle's (OP) General and Artistic Director Nicole Paiement, today announced the 2021-22 season repertoire, casting and creative teams for the company's 12th anniversary.
TexARTS Professional Series Presents ANNIE
The TexARTS Professional Series presents, Annie. Performances in Lakeway will be July 12- August 4. Annie is a perfect family-friendly musical with book by Thomas Meehan, music by Charles Strouse, and lyrics by Martin Charnin.
BWW Review: SOME HUMANS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS SHOW a Sharp Satire With a Deep Message
SOME HUMANS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS SHOW is a difficult show to describe as it is all over the map...and that is in no way a bad thing. This new work, by C.B. Goodman, was inspired by the 1903 public execution of Topsy, the elephant, and although there are clear echoes from the beginning, the inspiration never really becomes clear until the final moments, yet it never telegraphs the surprise ending, which takes a huge turn from the riotous belly laughs of the great majority of this highly entertaining and though provoking production.
BWW Review: ENRON Engaging and Thought Provoking High Tech Entertainment
ENRON is a 2009 play by British playwright Lucy Prebble. The play is based on the financial scandal and eventual collapse of the American energy corporation, Enron, based in Houston,Texas. Enron executive Jeffrey Skilling (Annemarie Alaniz) and his boss Ken Lay (Kayla Johnson) are the main characters along with Skilling's protege Andy Fastow (Caroline Beagles), who rises to become the chief financial officer.
Prebble's play is a heady mix of multimedia razzle dazzle, morality play and political satire. To avoid being dry as dust, Prebble has taken complex financial concepts and framed them in terms of the entertainment world: market analysts become a boy band, the Lehman Brothers are presented as Siamese twins, Arthur Anderson is a ventriloquist act, to name just a few. Capitalism is, in general, presented as the tricks and illusions of the sideshow con man. Spanning the years between 1992 and the present, Prebble's play does take some dramatic license. Prebble makes Jeffrey Skilling, Enron's top executive, the main villain, instead of founder Kenneth Lay. Skilling gets the top job because of his vision of the future: Enron won't just provide natural gas; it will trade in energy, the internet, video streaming and even the weather. Skilling makes Andy Fastow the chief financial officer when he comes up with the plan to create shadow companies to disquise Enron's escalating debts as assets. Eventually, the whole corrupt bubble bursts.
BWW Review: 893 | YA-KU-ZA An Intriguing Look Into Crime Syndicate World
Set over the course of a business lunch in a Japanese restaurant in an undisclosed U.S. locale, 893 | YA-KU-ZA follows Aya's (Mia King) bid to become the first female member of the infamous Japanese crime syndicate. A meeting has been arranged with a man known only as 1 (kt shorb) to discuss bringing Aya on board and what 1 expects from her. Daria Miyeko Marinelli's new play explores the themes of ambition, power, and loyalty, by asking what it means to be first and then examining what one is willing to do to get there.
BWW REVIEW: BUILDING THE WALL Just Offers More Questions
Robert Schenkkan, who has created a name for himself as a chronicler of American politics with his plays All The Way and The Great Society, is currently having a Regional Premiere of his new play BUILDING THE WALL at UT in the Oscar G. Brockett theatre. However, unlike his historical plays, this new offering ventures into the realm of Political Fiction, and while it asks all the right questions, it doesn't offer any answers, or, really, even any insights into why we, as a nation, are where we are right now.
Diane Birch, Madisen Ward & the Mama Bear and More Set for 'Soulful Summer' Lineup at Joe's Pub
This summer, Joe's Pub at The Public (425 Lafayette, NYC) welcomes a slate of artists that defy genre but share a core of unadulterated and soulful vocals. The calendar promises a season of outstanding music performances from artists ranging from jazz man Brian Blade, making his singer-songwriter debut, to indie songbird Diane Birch to NPR phenomenon Fantastic Negrito to SXSW success story and mother-son duo Madisen Ward & the Mama Bear.