Capsule Reviews

Den of Thieves Shane Arts Theatrical Ensemble Rep is the name of the acting company at the new Dallas Hub Theater in Deep Ellum. This is their first production in the 11,000-square-foot space, and if they don’t get a whole lot better, it may be their last. Stephen Adly Guirgis’ 1997 comedy about mobsters holding four 12-steppers hostage may be funny on the page, but the comic talents of the seven actors in this staging definitely sleep with the fishes. Every aspect of the show is done on the cheap. The set, for which no credit (or blame) is assigned in the playbill, is a tacky assemblage of fake brick walls, old Christmas wrapping paper and a doorway sketched out with a No. 2 pencil. It’s an insult to the worst sets ever constructed. The lighting plunges the actors into darkness center stage. And the three rows of old, hard, filthy seats for the audience are crammed together with knee-crunching proximity. The other 10,800 feet of space go unused so far. Through May 14 at the Dallas Hub Theater, 2809 Canton St., 214-749-7010. Reviewed this week. (Elaine Liner)

The Wrestling Season Laurie Brooks’ one-act for older teens about the power of rumors and the sometimes overwhelming pressure on high school teams sports a blue-ribbon cast of young actors. Andy Bean, Chad M. Peterson, Shannon Hathaway, Jennifer Knight, Todd Haberkorn, Dane Hereford and Marilyn Setu play kids grappling with a flurry of rumors that threaten to ruin the reputations and warp the tender psyches of a group of high school wrestlers and their cheerleader pals. Under the direction of Rene Moreno and movement specialist Sara Romersberger (along with consultants from the Highland Park High School wrestling team), the actors have honed their bods into primo shape. The choreographed wrestling sequences, performed to throbbing hip-hop tunes, are thrilling and hypnotic. This being a play for young audiences (though not too young, given the themes), the wrestling is meant to serve as metaphor. The reliable Mark Oristano referees from the sidelines as the only grown-up character. Through May 22 in the Studio Theater at the Rosewood Center for Family Arts, 5038 Skillman St., 214-740-0051. Reviewed this week. (E.L.)

The Last One-Nighter on the Death Trail If you like Cabaret, Gypsy, Follies and other backstage musicals, this new one from Our Endeavors Theater Collective will tickle your funny stick and make you tap a toe. The cast of eight wrote the tunes themselves (along with other collaborators), and director Christine Vela researched the world of Depression-era vaudeville for months before writing the libretto. In the show, a troupe of “disappointment acts” hangs around a stage door, hoping for the big break that never comes. We watch them rehearse new bits and find out the secrets that have kept them on the “death trail” of crumbling theaters coast to coast. Even if they can’t sing like Mama Rose or Sally Bowles, the cast has some whizbang moments. Patrick Johnson is the Fatty Arbuckle type exhorting everyone to “Laugh! Laugh! Laugh!” VaVa Veronica (Lydia Mackay) can’t keep her clothes on and does nasty things with her sax (hey, you gotta have a gimmick). Skeeter (Erin McGrew) wants everyone to quit talking dirty. The “Countess” (Lulu Ward) takes a shine to Trixie (Lainie Simonton), a mysterious waif who stumbles into the act. Steeped in nostalgia, the show also has a distinctly modern edge. There’s even a cinematic surprise in Act 1. Designed to the nth (as all OETC’s shows are), this one’s a three-ring circus of music, dance, film, comedy and pathos. Through May 14 at Frank’s Place at Dallas Theater Center, 3636 Turtle Creek Blvd. 214-327-4001. Reviewed April 28. (E.L.)

Mambo Italiano This comedy about two Italian-Canadian families coping with their grown sons’ coming out is full of cliches, stereotypes, huge hand gestures and melodramatic mamas. It’s also foot-stomping funny. Angelo (John de los Santos) and his lover Nino (newcomer Butch Anderson) live together in homo bliss but are so in the closet they pull down their shades to avoid watching the Gay Pride Parade. When they do decide to tell their immigrant parents the truth about that empty guest room, the crying and wailing begin. The four women in the cast heist the show away from the men. As Angelo’s neurotic sis Anna, Elise Reynard is a gorgeous doormat of a girl, stepped on by Mom and Dad (Rebekah Durk, Richard Zavaglia) as they trample her to lavish love on their son. As Nino’s Sicilian mother, Lina, Cynthia Matthews is Pauly Walnuts in heels. And as Nino’s “beard,” Maria-Khristy Millares looks like she just jumped out of a Hustle contest with Tony Manero. Directed by Andi Allen for the Uptown Players, Mambo is anything but subtle. But then neither is roasted garlic, and that’s pretty good, too. Through May 22 at Trinity River Arts Center, 2600 Stemmons Freeway, 214-219-2718. Reviewed May 5. (E.L.)