She’s pretty much the pinnacle of burlesque, and ever since she started back in 1992, Dita Von Teese has embodied the glitz and glamour of striptease on an international level. Outfitted with the title of the Queen of Burlesque, Von Teese performs to sold-out shows in Los Angeles and has…
Have you watched Dance Moms? (9 p.m., Wednesdays, Lifetime.) The cable TV reality show aims its cameras at the twirling tots of the Miss Abby Lee Dance Company of Pittsburgh, PA. More horrifying than Toddles & Tiaras, it’s evidence of how ruthless some parents are in pursuit of stardom and…
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. Yes, when you go to The Wiz, the ushers hand you a pair of cardboard…
Try to stay calm, people: Pauly Shore is here. At the Addison Improv. Tonight and tomorrow. Act cool. Don’t run. Drive safely. There’s enough Shore to share. OK fine, we know you thought he’d passed on back in 2003, but it turns out that was just a big fake-out for…
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’s nice sting in Upstart Productions’ staging of the surreal Steve Martin one-act W.A.S.P., one…
Buy a seat in one of the movable “pods” available at The Wiz, the musical Dallas Theater Center and Dallas Black Dance Theatre are doing together at the Wyly Theatre, and you’ll spend a good chunk of the show being rolled around by sweaty stagehands. It’s kind of fun wondering…
Remember we told you about the movable pods of seats at the Wyly Theatre for Dallas Theater Center’s The Wiz? Sit in one of those high-priced sections — top ticket price in the pods is about $80 — and you get rolled around the stage about 15 times during 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. You don’t have to know everything about Shakespeare, the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation or…
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. Throwing food at actors is frowned upon at most theaters. But not all. The one…
Editor’s Note: Kevin Moore sat down to discuss his role in Little Shop of Horrors. What follows is his account as told to Elaine Liner. Back in March, WaterTower Theatre in Addison announced auditions for the musical comedy Little Shop of Horrors. There was a role for the manipulator of…
Knock, knock. Who’s there? Wit. Wit who? Wit more plays like Wittenberg, I’d go to Fort Worth more often. The latest from Amphibian Stage Productions at the Sanders Theatre in Cowtown is as witty as Shaw, as wacky as Stoppard and never as wearying as Shakespeare’s drama about a certain…
Stage Black is back. The midsummer festival of new plays reflecting the African American experience runs Friday through Sunday (July 15 to 17) at the Black Academy of Arts and Letters at the Dallas Convention Center Theater Complex. Six short plays are in the mix. They are: Breaking Vows at…
The Bath House Cultural Center will be swimming with talent next week with the opening Friday of the 13th annual Festival of Independent Theatres. The four-weekend event features eight small theater companies doing one-act plays under one hour each, in rotating repertory and for budgets averaging under $2000. Playwrights represented…
Some stats you should know before you ease on down the road to the Wyly Theatre for Dallas Theater Center’s musical The Wiz, opening 8 p.m., Friday, July 8, in a pay-what-you-can preview, before the official opening night on July 15…
Last season was a strange one on Saturday Night Live: a lot of repeat sketches, some lackluster hosts, the usual misfires from the Lonely Island crew, some new cast members clumsily finding their way, and the continued strange existence of Abby Elliot, who, outside of her opening-credit sexy-hair tussling thing,…
Over the next few months, Director’s Notes will document, from planning to performance, the challenges of local artist Katie Toohil as she mounts an original, independent theatrical dance production. Who the hell am I, right? Well, I’m Katie, and it’s nice to meet you. My background is in theater and…
Featuring more than 5,000 meters of vibrant fabrics and various materials ranging from plastic slinkies to bugs, Cirque du Soleil is taking one of its most famous performances and kicking it up a notch. With its debut in 1999, Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion drew in and captivated more than seven…
For some July 4th weekend pure happiness: The Dallas Comedy House flash-mobbed Half Price Books, and there’s smile-inducing video to prove it. Comedy House mob leader Clay Barton has confirmed the DCH performed the number this month at Half Price Books on Northwest highway. We’re certain this needs to happen…
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…
Last week I interviewed stand-up comedian/actor Ahmed Ahmed, who’s currently touring the U.S. to promote his directorial debut, the wonderful documentary Just Like Us. In the film, out on screens for a week now here in Dallas, Ahmed takes us and his stand-up routine around the world, showing a diversity…
Though now into her second year of producing Viva Dallas Burlesque, Shoshana Portnoy still finds that the best way of filling seats is walking up to people and asking if they’ve ever been to burlesque show before. Despite the word-of-mouth marketing strategy, Portnoy and her show have legitimatized burlesque as…
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…
