Two things could happen for Jeff Swearingen at his low-budget Fun House Theatre in Plano. He’ll either get one of those MacArthur “genius grants” for his innovative and boldly un-P.C. approach to children’s theater or the parents of Plano will form an angry mob wielding torches and pitchforks and run…
Guys, admit it. Part of you thought it was kind of hot when Bugs Bunny dressed up like a woman to trick dumb ol’ Elmer Fudd. Perhaps it’s because you subconsciously felt bad for Mr. Fudd since he’s clearly lonely and in need of companionship thanks to years of inadequacy…
Austin’s comedy scene has become a big conversation. Unconventional venues have sprung up across the city, improv classes are a standard activity for young adults and events like Moontower Comedy Festival pair big names (Maria Bamford, Anthony Jeselnik, Reggie Watts, and Amy Schumer) with the best in upcoming stand-up, sketch…
As a big, important American classic, Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun deserves every bit of the respect and care it’s getting in Dallas Theater Center’s latest staging (the third in the company’s history) at the Wyly Theatre. What a beautiful production, every moment crafted for maximum impact. An…
Peter Pan not only won’t grow up, he just won’t go away. We’ve had Cathy Rigby flying around as the little green elf for about half a century on national tours. More recently Dallas Theater Center’s new musical Fly let a young boy play the role in about as depressing…
Last night, through a haze of Sunday night drinks and with the guide of show host and local comedy favorite Paul Varghese, 10 comedians took the stage at the Addison Improv with the hopes of winning the first round in the Comedy Central Up Next Talent Search. They were each…
Comedy Central is always on the lookout for the next big comedy star, and to speed up their search, they’re hosting a nationwide talent contest this fall. The Comedy Central Up Next Talent Search kicks off with the preliminary rounds, hosted by 26 participating certified clubs. One of those clubs…
Recycling is a big theme with Peter and the Starcatcher, the Tony-winning play onstage at the Winspear Opera House through September 29. This “prequel” recycles the story of Peter Pan, Wendy, the Lost Boys and Captain Hook – yeah, we’re a little tired of that crowd, too. But it puts…
Silly and surreal, Matt & Ben says out loud what some have long suspected: that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck had help writing Good Will Hunting, the script that earned them Oscars and launched them into Hollywood superstardom. How’d that screenplay fall into the laps of the barely known young…
Prolific Dallas playwright Jonathon Norton has a new one called Homeschooled, directed by Regina Washington at African American Repertory Theatre in DeSoto. At 85 minutes, it’s the right length for the play’s extended bouts of angst among three women at odds over how to teach the most violent episodes in…
Undermain Theatre is presenting the world premiere of East Coast playwright Sylvan Oswald’s Profanity, directed by Katherine Owens. The title could serve as a warning, for you will curse Undermain for choosing to produce this unremarkable drama and curse yourself if you’ve already bought tickets to it. It’s a damn…
“Welcome to Luby’s. Salad fer you?” drawls actor Paul J. Williams, playing one of a cafeteria full of characters in his gently tossed solo comedy Dishing It Out. Williams’ show is at the top of the menu for Uptown Players’ annual smorgasbord of short plays for the two-weekend Pride Performing…
Twelve-year-old actress Kennedy Waterman, the late Jerry Russell and lots and lots of Shakespeare are on this year’s list of honorees chosen by the 12 members of the DFW Theater Critics Forum. The annual luncheon and voting session was held Saturday, September 7. Maybe it was the heat, maybe we’ve…
Jerry Russell, founder of Fort Worth’s Stage West theater and father of state Senator Wendy Davis, has died. The sad news came from Davis, who released this statement Thursday morning: “I am heartbroken to report that my father, Jerry Russell, passed away peacefully in the early hours of this morning…
The Winspear Opera House’s underground parking can be a mess, but it doesn’t exactly sneak up on you. From the moment you pull your car in for a big performance, you’re reminded, Oh yeah, this is three-act: Two acts in the theater, one in the garage. It’s maddening, but you…
It’s intermission at Book of Mormon and my face feels like I fed it psychedelic mushrooms instead of dinner. I’m explaining this to the lobby bartender who asked if the show is as good as everyone says. I point to my teary eye ducts and try to push down my…
I walk through a somewhat ordinary office — some desks, chairs, white boards — to a storage area in the back. It’s dark in here. Stacks of shipping boxes line the walls and litter the floor. Someone hits the lights, my eyes focus, and I see them. Round, beige heads…
By the time I muscled through the traditional Fair Park gridlock traffic and made it inside Gexa Energy Pavilion for last night’s Oddball Comedy Festival, the place was flooded, with thousands splayed on the lawn waiting for the main stage and hundreds more in the concession area. The “Curiosity” part of the…
Comedian Hannibal Buress has a lot of items on his to-do list these days. He’s not only shooting a new pilot for Comedy Central but he’s also part of their episodic remake of the Broad City web series and the sidekick for the insane Adult Swim talk show The Eric…
“It was never my intention to die at this place. If so tell me to wake up and walk out of here.” That’s how Ann Williams, the founder and artistic director of the Dallas Black Dance Theater, succinctly sums up her thoughts on her pending retirement. It must be apt…
It’s the Monday after closing night, and the director is cleaning up the last set pieces from his performance space. There are video-game consoles stacked in the bathroom, disconnected security cameras hanging from the ceiling, and a pair of blank-loaded pistols that, thankfully, he just a moment earlier removed from…
The members of Samurai Drunk, the comedy improv group from the Dallas Comedy House, have been hanging out at a nearby Cafe Brazil after almost every rehearsal since their first days together in the club’s “Level 1” improv training sessions. Founding member Brian Moody said they would spend two or…
