Suzanne Balling

Review: POTUS: OR, BEHIND EVERY GREAT DUMBASS ARE SEVEN WOMEN TRYING TO KEEP HIM ALIVE at Jarrott Productions

Just in time for election season, Jarrott Productions has smartly put one of Austin’s finest directors, Karen Jambon, at the helm of their latest offering of POTUS: OR BEHIND EVERY GREAT DUMBASS ARE SEVEN WOMEN TRYING TO KEEP HIM ALIVE. Full of sharp wit from the first line and an obvious political satire throughout, POTUS is stuffed with contemporary adult humor and fun.

BWW Review: SWEAT is a Heartbreaking Look at Blue Collar America

SWEAT is a 2015 play by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage. It won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2017 Obie Award for Playwrighting. The play premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2015 and subsequently was produced Off-Broadway in 2016 and on Broadway in 2017. The play is centered on the working class of Reading, Pennsylvania. Nottage began working on the play in 2011 by interviewing residents of the town, which at the time was, according to the United States Census Bureau, officially one of the poorest cities in America, with a poverty rate of over 40%.

Award-Winning Musical NEVERMORE Returns In Time For Halloween

Doctuh Mistuh Productions and Penfold Theatre Company are pleased to bring Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe back to Austin. Nevermore made its regional premiere in Austin in October 2016 and subsequently was the winner of five B. Iden Payne Awards, including Best Musical. The Nevermore revival will run October 25 - November 10 and plays at the Ground Floor Theatre.

BWW Review: Penfold Remount of Doctuh Mistuh's NEVERMORE Still Wows

NEVERMORE: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe is a Canadian musical that was written and composed by Jonathan Christenson which follows the rather dismal life and internal struggles of Edgar Allan Poe that later on inspired his work as an author. The script contains references to both his poems and short stories. While most of the script dramatizes true events in his life, other aspects are entirely fictitious. The musical was originally produced at the Catalyst Theatre in Edmonton, Alberta and went on to be performed across Canada, and at the Barbican Theater in London, and the New Victory Theatre in NYC. The current production now playing at Ground Floor Theatre is a remount of the original Doctuh Mistuh production, produced in conjunction with Penfold Theatre, and features most of the original cast.

Award-Winning Musical NEVERMORE Returns In Time For Halloween

Doctuh Mistuh Productions and Penfold Theatre Company are pleased to bring Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe back to Austin. Nevermore made its regional premiere in Austin in October 2016 and subsequently was the winner of five B. Iden Payne Awards, including Best Musical. The Nevermore revival will run October 25 - November 10 and plays at the Ground Floor Theatre.

Award-Winning Musical NEVERMORE Returns In Time For Halloween

Doctuh Mistuh Productions and Penfold Theatre Company are pleased to bring Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe back to Austin. Nevermore made its regional premiere in Austin in October 2016 and subsequently was the winner of five B. Iden Payne Awards, including Best Musical. The Nevermore revival will run October 25 - November 10 and plays at the Ground Floor Theatre.

Award-Winning Musical NEVERMORE Returns In Time For Halloween

Doctuh Mistuh Productions and Penfold Theatre Company are pleased to bring Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe back to Austin. Nevermore made its regional premiere in Austin in October 2016 and subsequently was the winner of five B. Iden Payne Awards, including Best Musical. The Nevermore revival will run October 25 - November 10 and plays at the Ground Floor Theatre.

BWW Review: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING Dazzles Under the Stars in Outdoor Performance in Round Rock, TX.

Inviting guests to enjoy MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING in the open air amphitheatre in downtown Round Rock, Penfold Theatre presents a delightful adaptation of this Shakespearean classic. Traditionally classified as a comedy, the comedic elements were matched note for note with somber country western style songs - making this interpretation a dramedy for your viewing pleasure. At the heart of our story are two couples, thriving in desperation and desire at any given time in respect to their ingenue and sarcastic style of speech, they echoe classic Shakespearean qualities. As the character's continue intertwining, Claudio (played by Nathan Daniel Ford) declares his affection for fair Hero (played by Emily Christine Smith) these two are quickly swoon and a wedding date is set. A trick is hatched to play on funny man Benedick (played by Nathan Jerkins) and fiery Beatrice (played by Jennifer Coy Jennings) to falsely reveal the others affections through not-so-private conversations from other characters. Resorting back to childish tactics apparently has worked on people for centuries as their attraction for each other begins to bloom. However a more tricky foil comes to fruition when Don John (played by Suzanne Balling) falsely reveals Hero's infidelity the night before her wedding to young Claudio. Outraged by the thought of an unfaithful partner, Claudio rages away from the wedding altar cursing Hero's name for her promiscuity. The stage is set, the plot is hot and the characters are clamoring to protect one another and come out on top.

Penfold Celebrates Ten Year Anniversary With A MARVELOUS PARTY: DELOVELY

Penfold Theatre Company celebrates its tenth anniversary at A Marvelous Party: Delovely, a fundraising gala on Sunday, April 29th.

BWW Review: GIBBERISH MOSTLY Has a Lot to Say at Ground Floor Theatre

GIBBERISH MOSTLY, a new play by Max Langert, is an examination of a family dealing with a child suffering from a neurological disorder. In this case, we are talking about severe autism, and what is being examined is how and why choices are made. In the case of severe autism, it isn't that communication has broken down, but, rather that it is almost impossible.

BWW Review: MRS. MANNERLY is a Sweetly Comic Story of Youth

MRS. MANNERLY, a memory play by Jeffrey Hatcher, takes inspiration from the playwright's memories of a childhood etiquette class that he took at the tender young age of ten. Walking with an etiquette book balanced on your head, learning complex table settings with a confounding array of flatware and stemware, and dropping a quarter in a jar each time you interrupt...those were the ways of Mrs. Mannerly's classes in 1967. Mrs. Mannerly (Jennifer Underwood) has high standards; so high, in fact, that not one student in her thirty-six years of teaching proper deportment has ever achieved perfection. Young Jeffrey (Suzanne Balling) wants to be the first and he has a trick up his sleeve that he thinks makes him a shoe-in to achieve that sought after goal... he has discovered Mrs. Mannerly has a secret past.

BWW Review: DEATH OF A SALESMAN is Unapologetic and Unafraid at Austin Playhouse

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.

Different Stages Continues its Season with MRS. MANNERLY

Different Stages continues its 2016 - 2017 season with Jeffery Hatcher's Mrs. Mannerly.

BWW Review: Doctuh Mistuh's NEVERMORE Dazzles at Austin Playhouse

NEVERMORE: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe is a Canadian musical that was written and composed by Jonathan Christenson which follows the rather dismal life and internal struggles of Edgar Allan Poe that later on inspired his work as an author. The script contains references to both his poems and short stories. While most of the script dramatizes true events in his life, other aspects are entirely fictitious. The musical was originally produced at the Catalyst Theatre in Edmonton, Alberta and went on to be performed across Canada, and at the Barbican Theater in London, and the New Victory Theatre in NYC. The current production now playing at Austin Playhouse is a regional premiere.

BWW Review: BULL is a Riveting, Entertaining Look at Corporate Hell

I first discovered Mike Bartlett when I saw Cock last season. I have been eagerly waiting for more from him because of his wit and his skill at writing dialogue. He has come from relative obscurity 10 years ago to now being a force at the BBC and at England's National Theatre; but at first exposure you know this is a writer whose work is worth seeing. Bartlett is a master at writing realistic dialogue in that black comedy style that is both extremely uncomfortable and hilarious simultaneously. In a way, this work harkens back to The Theatre of Cruelty. The Theatre of Cruelty is a form of theatre developed by avant-garde playwright Antonin Artaud, in The Theatre and its Double. When Artaud spoke of cruelty it was not in the sense of violent behavior, but rather the cruelty it takes for actors to show an audience a truth that they do not wish to see. BULL is very much like that in that when you leave the theater you can expect to question your reasons for laughing… and trust me, you will laugh.

BWW Reviews: RECKLESS by Craig Lucas is Both Ponderous and Pointless

RECKLESS, by Craig Lucas, wants to be a black comedy. The script, written in a cinematographic style, poses some serious problems in staging. For something so paper thin to work, the audience needs to go on the same nightmare downhill sleigh ride as the protagonist. We need to feel as buffeted by the play itself as she does by the events of the play. Unfortunately, the staging of this production is weighed down by numerous lengthy scene changes on what is a minimalistic set. These numerous changes bog the evening down and what should be a barrage of insanity ends up being a few humorous moments. The cartoon craziness this script cries out for never really happens.

RECKLESS Runs Now thru 12/21 at The City Theatre

The City Theatre presents the holiday production of Craig Lucas' richly inventive comedy, Reckless. Under the direction of Artistic Director Andy Berkovsky and starring Suzanne Balling, the performances begin tonight, November 21 through December 21 at The City Theatre, with two shows Thanksgiving weekend, Saturday, November 29 and Sunday, November 30.

RECKLESS to Run 11/21-12/21 at The City Theatre

The City Theatre presents the holiday production of Craig Lucas' richly inventive comedy, Reckless. Under the direction of Artistic Director Andy Berkovsky and starring Suzanne Balling, the performances begin November 21 through December 21 at The City Theatre, with two shows Thanksgiving weekend, Saturday, November 29 and Sunday, November 30.

BWW Reviews: 7 Towers Production of ALL'S WELL Brings Out Both Comedy and Drama

Depending on who you speak with, there are between three and six "problem plays" attributed to William Shakespeare, but almost all Shakespearian scholars consider All's Well That Ends Well as one of them. On the surface, the play about unrequited love is a comedy. No one dies, and as the title suggests, it ends well for all of the characters. Still, there are themes and motifs of war, and many characters come perilously close to death. The duality of the play is the primary reason why it's considered a tragicomedy and a problem play, but it's that duality that has drawn 7 Towers Theatre Company to it. Their production of All's Well That Ends Well masterfully brings out both the drama and comedy in the piece and is one of the most thoughtful Shakespeare productions to grace Austin in a long while.

Photo Flash: First Look at A DELICATE BALANCE at The City Theatre

A DELICATE BALANCE, written by American playwright Edward Albee and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, runs at The City Theatre for three more weeks through May 25, 2014. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!