Texas Performing Arts Announces 2024/2025 SeasonMay 21, 2024Texas Performing Arts is the professional arts presenting and producing program of The University of Texas at Austin. It is one of the largest and most active university-based performing arts centers in the U.S. Texas Performing Arts is an anchor institution in Austin’s arts, cultural, and entertainment landscape and operates venues on the UT campus including Austin’s largest theatre, the newly renovated Bass Concert Hall.
Review: CLYDE'S at Ground Floor TheatreMay 20, 2024These formerly incarcerated individuals working at an insignificant truck stop sandwich shop, grapple with their pasts and seek to rebuild their lives. Their evolution, and the work of the actors embodying them, invites us to expand our understanding of the potential for personal growth and appreciation for what some might see as “the other.” We are resilient. We are courageous. We are complex and unique. And we are all worthy of freedom.
As much as I fear Clyde would stifle my “five-star-would-recommend” review, I can’t stop myself. Go see this show. It’s got all the perfect ingredients.
Review: HOME, I'M DARLING at Jarrott ProductionsMarch 27, 2024What did our critic think of HOME, I'M DARLING at Jarrott Productions? Now onstage at Trinity Street Playhouse is Jarrott Productions latest offering to our theatre scene: HOME, I’M DARLING. Winner of the Olivier Award for Best Comedy in 2019, playwright Laura Wade’s HOME I’M DARLING raises questions about the authenticity of nostalgia, the pressures of conforming to traditional gender roles, and the ways in which individuals construct their own identities.
Interview: Kyle McArthur of WICKED THE MUSICAL at Bass Concert HallMarch 11, 2024WICKED comes to town this week! And even though it’s running for nearly two weeks, don’t expect to get seats for much longer, because this show is (yes, I’m going to say it, so go ahead and sing it yourself) POPular. WICKED is in fact, pushing up against THE LION KING as the highest grossing musical of all time. This stands to reason, as it is based on what is arguably the most influential film of all time, The Wizard of Oz. WICKED actually has its roots in lesser known novels also called Wicked, by author Gregory McGuire. And now, after fourteen years of various delays, the film version will finally be released later this year.
Review: ALWAYS A BOY at Ground Floor TheatreFebruary 21, 2024A positive testament to a family’s capacity to love and affirm their transgender child. Austin Theatre is currently providing us with some interesting and informative LGBTQ+ perspectives on which to marinate. At Ground Floor Theatre, director Lisa Scheps has taken on Jo and Jeremy Ivester’s ALWAYS A BOY, while just up the road, City Theatre director Andy Burkovsky tackles Jonathan Tolins’s THE TWILIGHT OF THE GOLDS.
Review: BEETLEJUICE: THE MUSICAL at Bass Concert HallFebruary 7, 2024Maybe BEETLEJUICE: THE MUSICAL, is Gen Z’s ROCKY HORROR SHOW. When THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW first premiered in London in 1973, it received mixed reviews from critics. Some praised its campy humor, catchy songs, and provocative themes, others found its content shocking and controversial. However, it quickly gained a cult following among audiences. Fast forward to BEETLEJUICE: THE MUSICAL. It has campy humor, (somewhat) provocative themes, and a cult following. It has a strong presence on social media platforms, with the cast and creative team actively engaging with fans through channels like TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. This has helped to cultivate a dedicated fan base among younger audiences who are drawn to the show's behind-the-scenes content, fan art, and discussions.
Review: GEOFF SOBELLE'S FOOD Texas Performing Arts at The McCullough TheatreFebruary 2, 2024From Geoff Sobelle’s website, we learn that “FOOD is an intimate dinner party performance that uses smell, taste, touch and audience instruction to feed a meditation on the ways and whys of eating. Why do you eat what you eat? Where does it come from? What does it really cost?” I quote it here, because it is entirely accurate. But that only cracks the surface of this deep performance piece that nudges us toward contemplation of the evolution of food and mankind.
Interview: Shohei Iwahama of LES BALLETS TROCKADERO DE MONTE CARLOJanuary 10, 2024Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, often simply referred to as 'The Trocks,' is a well-known all-male drag ballet company that parodies and pays homage to classical ballet. The company was founded in 1974 in New York City by a group of ballet enthusiasts who shared a love for dance and a desire to satirize the conventions of classical ballet. 'The Trocks,” come through Austin on tour at the Bass Concert Hall on January 19th.
Review: ZACH'S POP! at ZACH Feeds the Body and Soul!December 19, 2023I’m sitting in Austin traffic, bearing the half an hour it takes to get from Mopac and Cesar Chavez to ZACH theatre on South Lamar, and I’m in a mood. I fear I’m going to be late to ZACH’s newest and latest Christmas fare: POP! Great, just great. Across the parking lot from the Kleburg theatre, at ZACH’s Topher Theatre, Scrooge is going onstage in an hour and he’s likely less cranky than me. Nevertheless, onward we go.
Review: MY FAIR LADY at BASS CONCERT HALLDecember 8, 2023MY FAIR LADY rolled into town this week, treating Austin to a classic musical of old. And by “of old” I mean lavish costuming, soaring vocals, a beautiful choral ensemble and lush orchestrations performed by a full orchestra. What a treat! In case you missed it over the last 67 years, the musical tells the story of Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from Professor Henry Higgins, a phonetics professor, so that she might transform into a refined lady. The musical is based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play 'Pygmalion,' with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe.
Review: THE THIN PLACE at ZACHNovember 14, 2023Lucas Hnath's play THE THIN PLACE premiered at the Humana Festival of New American plays in 2019. The play, involving parapsychology, revolves around the character Hilda, a psychic medium who claims to have a special connection to the spirit world.
Review: ANTIGONE at Filigree TheatreOctober 17, 2023Sophocles Antigone undergoes no less pleasant a fate in this excellent production. How lucky was I this Friday the 13th? Much more so than Sophocles’ ANTIGONE. Just as she has for centuries, ANTIGONE is working her way through another version of a doomed demise in David Rush's adaptation of Filigree Theatre's production of this classic Greek tragedy.
Review: THE BOOK OF LIFE at McCullough TheatreOctober 5, 2023What did our critic think of THE BOOK OF LIFE at McCullough Theatre? The production is more than just a play, though; it is a poignant exploration of personal history and the power of connecting with one's ancestors.
Interview: Odile Gakire Katese on THE BOOK OF LIFE at McCullough TheatreSeptember 26, 2023Odile Gakire Katese, a Rwandan playwright, actor, director, and humanitarian, is known for her work in using theater and the arts to promote healing and reconciliation in her home country after the 1994 genocide. She is a remarkable Rwandan artist, playwright, and cultural entrepreneur known for her outstanding contributions to the fields of theater, literature, and cultural development. Her life and work have made a significant impact, both in Rwanda and internationally.