There’s something quaint and elegant about seeing Shakespeare Dallas’ summer shows on the grassy lawn of the outdoor amphitheater at Tenison Park. Even if you’re wearing cut-offs and flip-flops, and picnicking on Slim Jims and Mike’s Hard Lemonade, it still counts as high culture. Goodness knows, in our crass, Snooki-fied…
Like fireworks and fire ants, Shakespeare in the park is part of the summer landscape. Shakespeare Dallas, now in its 40th season, is already under way, with two classics in production. For the first time, they’ve strayed from the words of the Bard to put another author’s work on the…
“Fear no more the heat o’ the sun,” wrote William Shakespeare. Easy for him to say. He didn’t have to endure three-hour productions of his works outdoors in a blistering Texas summer. This has been a particularly punishing season so far for Shakespeare Dallas. Getting people through the gates isn’t…
The final show of Second Thought Theatre’s seventh and so far strongest season is Christopher Shinn’s Dying City (reviewed in this week’s paper). The two-actor (Grace Heid, Rhett Henckel), three-character drama was directed by Dallas Theater Center company member Lee Trull, his first time staging a full-fledged production. Trull’s been…
Before being cast as Georgeanne in Contemporary Theatre of Dallas’ current comedy hit, Alan Ball’s Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, Dallas actress Barrett Nash had played a lot of angst-y teenagers. Looking a decade younger than her real age (27), Nash, a UT-Austin grad, had been a standout playing…
In their shiny bridesmaids’ gowns, the title characters in Contemporary Theatre of Dallas’ fun, frothy comedy Five Women Wearing the Same Dress resemble bright dollops of strawberry sherbet. Plopped on their heads are matching hats, shaped like the top tiers of a wedding cake. Across their bosoms and backsides are…
Cute, isn’t it, how chefs-turned-restaurateurs name their joints now? They slap plain and unpretentious words on the marquee to fool you into thinking they’re selling uncomplicated grub at a good price. The Commissary and its reservations-only fancy eatin’ room, The Table, are like that. Chef John Tesar, formerly of The…
Last week, The Hand got the finger. The two-man show so good I reviewed it twice is still running through Saturday, June 25, at Broken Gears Project Theatre, but actor Joey Folsom has been replaced by director Andy Baldwin, who now is playing the role of “Poor Man.” Actor Jeff…
When he graduated from Miami University of Ohio, Austin Kleon, like many young writers, didn’t know where to start his career. But instead of staring at a blank screen waiting for the Muse to deliver a Great American Novel, Kleon put his own pen and ink on other writers’ words…
Theater Caps are bite-sized punch-packing capsule reviews by resident theater critic Elaine Liner. Use them as a reminder — or a teaser, if you procrastinate — of her full-length reviews in The Mixmaster’s weekly sister. Say you’re not in the mood for a feel-good musical. Say you’re in the mood…
Theater Caps are bite-sized punch-packing capsule reviews by resident theater critic Elaine Liner. Use them as a reminder — or a teaser, if you procrastinate — of her full-length reviews in The Mixmaster’s weekly sister. Even if Theatre Three’s production of Pippin were stripped of all the weird gimmicks imposed…
Theater Caps are bite-sized punch-packing capsule reviews by resident theater critic Elaine Liner. Use them as a reminder — or a teaser, if you procrastinate — of her full-length reviews in The Mixmaster’s weekly sister. If the son of a Geordie coal miner can become a ballet dancer, anyone can…
High season for musical theater has arrived. Orchestras are tuning up and audiences are turning up to see a couple of vintage and rarely revived oldies, Oliver! and Pippin, and to get their first looks at two hot-from-Broadway hits, Billy Elliot the Musical and Next to Normal. There may not…
Over the past dozen years, Texas journalist Mark Seal, 58, has worked his way onto a fascinating beat, writing lengthy investigative reportage for Vanity Fair about the foibles of the ultra-wealthy. He’s taken over where the late Dominick Dunne left off, spinning stories involving the rich, famous and felonious from…
Theater Caps are bite-sized punch-packing capsule reviews by resident theater critic Elaine Liner. Use them as a reminder — or a teaser, if you procrastinate — of her full-length reviews in The Mixmaster’s weekly sister. Intrigued by the title — Abraham Lincoln’s Big, Gay Dance Party — I booked a…
Theater Caps are bite-sized punch-packing capsule reviews by resident theater critic Elaine Liner. Use them as a reminder — or a teaser, if you procrastinate — of her full-length reviews in The Mixmaster’s weekly sister. For Shooting Star, the two-person play now running at WaterTower Theatre in Addison, playwright Steven…
This may be the week of big-budget musicals in Dallas theaters, but a 45-minute play with a $900 budget might be the hottest show on any stage right now. The Hand, which opened at the tiny Broken Gears Project Theatre last weekend, stars just two actors, Jeff Swearingen and Broken…
A play using only a pair of actors is often called a two-hander. The Hand, the boffo season finale at Broken Gears Project Theatre, fits the description, though between the two men onstage are just three human hands. The fourth is missing in a tale that packs a powerful, dramatic…
First it was her Fosse-esque dance steps in the “Single Ladies” video. Now the digital effects and dancing for the video of Beyoncé Knowles’ new single “Run the World (Girls)” have some critics and fans buzzing about similarities to other artists’ work. With “Single Ladies” and its wrist-popping, hip-swiveling choreography,…
For musical theater queens, it’s high season. Over the next couple of weeks, stages all over DFW will be jammed with big musicals, including fresh-from-Broadway road tours and revivals of great shows at local companies. Here’s a quick look at the opening night schedule: June 3: Alice Wonder, Jubilee Theatre,…
Theater Caps are bite-sized punch-packing capsule reviews by resident theater critic Elaine Liner. Use them as a reminder — or a teaser, if you procrastinate — of her full-length reviews in The Mixmaster’s weekly sister. The Bernie Madoff case hovers over Ponzi, the new play by Elaine Romero getting its…
By keeping the best character offstage, Ponzi, the new play by Elaine Romero getting its first production at Kitchen Dog Theater, perpetrates its own sly little scam on the audience. We never see “Jack,” a much talked-about investment guru who guarantees an 8.5 percent return and accepts only those clients…
