The Joads do finally make it to California in The Grapes of Wrath. Though not without a great many problems. Now onstage at Addison’s WaterTower Theatre, Frank Galati’s inelegant stage adaptation of the magnificent Steinbeck novel is directed by WaterTower artistic director Terry Martin. He’s put some seriously talented local…
Nobody’s doing children’s theater around here the way Jeff Swearingen, Bren Rapp and the kids of Fun House Theatre and Film in Plano are doing it. We liked their all-youth Man of La Mancha and were impressed by their all-kid Hamlet. Now they’re taking on a darker American classic, but…
Louis CK’s been popping up all over the place, which must mean he has a special coming out soon. *checks listings* Aha! It says here there’s a new HBO special this Saturday night, in fact, called Oh My God. Which is lucky, because I was just compiling the following excellent…
Every week we highlight the best comedy of the coming weekend. Find more comedy events at dallasobserver.com/calendar. Maz Jobrani at the Addison Improv A founding member of the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour, Jobrani likes to explore such safe topics as Iran’s wishy-washy nuclear program and Asians’ inability to drive…
At Denton Square Donuts, on an unseasonable cool April night, four members of Denton Comedy Collective sit at a table shellacked with Bible verses. Matthew Solomon, Robert Joseph, Alex Smelser and Ron Lechler are all 20-somethings trying to make it in the big, bad world of stand-up comedy. For them,…
Every Thursday we highlight the best comedy of the coming weekend. Find more comedy events at dallasobserver.com/calendar. Carlos Mencia at Addison Improv This Honduras-born comedian rose to superstardom with his show Mind of Mencia and a ridiculous catch phrase. His Comedy Central stand-up special, No Strings Attached, was a huge…
Programs handed out at performances of Rx at Kitchen Dog Theater should list possible side effects of seeing the new Kate Fodor play: sudden bursts of laughter, slapped knees, tickled ribs, split sides. And if you relate to the predicaments of the characters, perhaps some major waves of empathy. Such…
Solo comedy actor John Michael Colgin is only 23 and still finding his way as an out-gay writer and performer of his own material. His latest is the enjoyable but uneven John Michael and the Order of the Penix, his third show at the small experimental company Nouveau 47 at…
Every Thursday we highlight the best comedy of the coming weekend. Find more comedy events at dallasobserver.com/calendar. An Intimate Evening With Bruce Vilanch at The Rose Room Bruce Vilanch is here to dish, and it’s gonna be good. He’s the head writer for the Oscars, pals with Bette Midler and…
Oscar Madison, hot slob? OK, let’s go with that. In Dallas Theater Center’s production of Neil Simon’s ever-delightful comedy The Odd Couple, director Kevin Moriarty has cast handsome New York actor J. Anthony Crane as the messy one. Smart twist. We go in expecting a Walter Matthau or a Jack…
Tonight, the fourth annual Dallas Comedy Festival begins at the Dallas Comedy House (coincidence or conspiracy?), and it’s looking good, y’all. While many of Friday and Saturday’s workshops have sold out, there are still tickets available for the performances. We’ve picked out some of the most interesting ones below; feel…
The best things that can happen to a playwright happened to Dallas writer D. L. Coburn in the 1970s. Then in his mid-30s and working in advertising, Coburn wrote his first play, The Gin Game, a two-act two-hander about a man named Weller and a woman named Fonsia. In their…
We reported last September that Dallas would finally get a look at The Book of Mormon, the Tony-winning musical from the creators of South Park that has left critics raving and some elderly audience members leaving at intermission after realizing what sort of performance they bought tickets to. The AT&T…
Every Thursday we highlight the best comedy of the coming weekend. Find more comedy events at dallasobserver.com/calendar. Jim Gaffigan at the Majestic Theatre If you have a fetish for alabaster, breathy men with high-pitched voices, Jim Gaffigan’s your guy. We’ve lost count of how many times he’s been a guest…
Look beyond the politics espoused in the fact-based one-woman drama My Name Is Rachel Corrie, currently onstage at Second Thought Theatre at Bryant Hall. They’re dicey and have drawn controversy since the play debuted in London in 2005. Rachel Corrie, raised in a comfortable home in the Pacific Northwest, dropped…
Not even the title of Idols of the King makes sense. Ronnie Claire Edwards’ plotless script, onstage now at Theatre Three, features an Elvis impersonator, Jack Foltyn, performing “Hound Dog,” “Burning Love” and other Presley hits between sketches about a series of characters (all played by Michael Corolla and Morgana…
Ayana Hampton, the “Kayne of Cabaret,” has a lot of zingers: For breakfast I had birth control. For lunch I had happy hour. And for dinner I usually get laid. How do you expect me to work when there is so much werk to do? If you love something let…
Every Thursday we highlight the best comedy of the coming weekend. Find more comedy events at dallasobserver.com/calendar. Jon Reep at Hyena’s in Fort Worth Born and raised in rural Hickory, N.C., Jon Reep has made his way across the nation, performing in comedy clubs and on TV. He’s been on…
You’ll have to take the afternoon off, and you should, to see the splendid new production of Greater Tuna at the Bath House Cultural Center. One Thirty Productions performs only at 1:30 p.m., and the company has found success with their matinee-only format. The house was packed for the opening…
The 12th annual Out of the Loop Fringe Festival continues at WaterTower Theatre in Addison for one more weekend. Eighteen shows, most under an hour, are on this year’s schedule, which covers three acting spaces. (The Observer is a sponsor.) If you’re there, don’t miss The Ugly One, directed by…
If you saw CK play the Majestic last year, there will be some familiar material; he taped this on the same tour. But if you saw him play the Majestic, let’s be honest: You’re watching, even if you have to steal your parents’ HBO Go login, which isn’t stealing anyway…
There’s a distinctive meter to a Joan Rivers routine. A gap-filler, she’s quick to follow-up a joke or talking point with a rhetorical question. It’s a job most famously held by her “Can we talk?” catch phrase, tossed in to extend laughter until she pins it down with a punch…
