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. A lame effort like Wild Oats is no way for Theatre Three to launch its…
Are sunspots making shows go haywire in local theaters? Is Mercury in retrograde? Two productions at neighborhood playhouses opened last week, or tried to, and they proved that old adage true again: Dying is easy; comedy is hard. Theatre Three has started its 51st season with Wild Oats, a play…
On Saturday night, actress and singer Liz Mikel performed in concert at the Music Hall at Fair Park. The performance was part of a new series at the venue, and it was Michael Jenkins, President and Managing Director of Dallas Summer Musicals, who called Mikel while she was in New…
As we have seen in the past few days the belly dancing community is quite the passionate one, taking to phone lines and the Interwebs to defend and promote its art and culture. But even more impressive and impactful than on message boards and social media sites, was the passion…
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. Under the gigantic dome at Fort Worth’s 1000-seat Casa Mañana theater, the cast of the…
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. There is nothing on any local stage right now like Elvis August. Created and performed…
Good morning, Baltimore! And howdy-do again to Hairspray, the wholesome American musical comedy whose low-art origins as a non-musical 1988 film by gross-out king John Waters have almost been obliterated in its evolution into family-friendly entertainment. First there was the clean-up for its transition to the Broadway stage, then the…
Nobody walks out of a theater humming the scenery. But when it comes to the scenic designs of Tony-nominated Beowulf Boritt, plenty of theatergoers and critics leave shows singing his praises. Boritt has been in and out of Dallas a lot over the past few years, designing sets for Dallas…
At the beginning of the summer, I made a meticulous schedule of activities to get Baby out of the house and expose her to a bit of culture. After all, summer is the time where all manner of cultural activities move outside and encourage kids to explore, play and learn…
Dallas Theater Center is cutting tickets prices for its season-opening production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. All main floor and lower balcony seats in the 600-seat Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre will be uniformly priced at $25. Top balcony, as always, is $15. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m., Thursday,…
Our friends at TheaterJones, the local theater news site, break the news that TV legend Dick Van Dyke and younger brother Jerry are teaming up to star in Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys for a three-night gig hereabouts. They’ll do the show, September 8 and 9 at the Eisemann Center…
The actor’s nightmare is to step onstage and suddenly realize he’s in a show he’s never rehearsed, with everyone looking to him to say the next line. The producer’s nightmare is to get a call from an actor in a leading role saying he’s unable to get to the theater…
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 man-eating plant is in on the joke in WaterTower Theatre’s production of the musical…
The woman stood in the back of the theater, watching a porno flicker across the screen. Disgusted, she walked backed to her dressing room to pack her costumes. She confronted the manager in his office. “I’m not following that,” she spat, referring to the porno. “I want my money.” She…
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 stage version of the 1982 Blake Edwards movie Victor/Victoria takes what was a B-level…
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 1961 musical How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying is like Mad Men…
Director’s Notes documents, from planning to performance, the challenges of local artist Katie Toohil as she mounts an original, independent theatrical dance production. Shortly after I decided to go forward with this Grieve project, a nagging question poked its head to the surface: “Will anyone want to dance in this…
A lesson in how to succeed at staging a creaky vintage musical comedy can be found in ICT Mainstage’s current uncreaky production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. It’s fresh, fun, funny. Everything works. Musical director Scott A. Eckert’s tight eight-piece pit band sounds lush, full of…
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 touring production of Guys and Dolls winding up its run this weekend at the…
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 you haven’t made it over to the Festival of Independent Theatres yet, get there…
There are always a few people who like to share — out loud — their opinions at live performances, and they’re not much different than those overzealous viewers at the movies who feel the need to express every thought that comes to mind. You know, the people who gasp, scream…
For a mid-summer heat wave break, I was off to Frisco to spend my Wednesday afternoon getting a behind the scenes look at Cirque De Soleil’s production of Dralion. The rehearsals and training sessions were sure to be a treat and I was really looking forward to seeing a deconstructed…
