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…
“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…
Once upon a time, we were in a high school English class, staring off into space or sleeping during those obligatory Shakespeare lectures. This dead guy has been popular through hundreds of years of English literature, but thou aren’t as witty as he. Lucky for us, Collin College is presenting…
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…
The second season of Louis C.K.’s latest half-hour comedy, Louie, starts up at 9:30 Central tonight on FX. If it’s anything like his stand-up, his first show (Lucky Louis on HBO), or the first season of Louie, it will be a wonderfully and purposefully disjointed driving tour of C.K.’s head…
For most people, Mondays suck, but not for playwright Kristoffer Diaz who got to do triple the celebrating this past Monday. First, The New York Times crowned him as the 2011 New York Times Outstanding Playwright, and then The Public Theater in New York awarded him with the first Gail…
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…
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…
Chelsea Handler brought her filthy mouth and other naughty bits to Verizon Theater in Grand Prairie on Saturday. Joining Ms. Handler on the Lies Chelsea Handler Told Me tour were her eponymous show’s regulars — Brad Wollack, Josh Wolf, and Heather McDonald. The flame-haired and bespectacled Wollack opened up 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. Say you’re not in the mood for a feel-good musical. Say you’re in the mood…
Our theater critic, Elaine Liner, thought Billy Elliot The Musical was a blast. Set against the backdrop of the 1984 British National Union of Mineworkers strike, the story of a miners’ son who defies his dad by taking ballet lessons and preparing for an audition with a prestigious dance academy…
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…
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…
