Melancholy Play- Full A-Team Review

* * * (3 Stars)

A “Seriously Joyous” Play

Go ahead. Step out of your comfort zone. This is not your typical proscenium-and-footlights stage show. Even Nigel O’Hearn, Artistic Director for the one-year-old Palindrome Theatre (mostly St. Ed’s U. students or recent grads) admits “Melancholy” is “not a perfect play.” But it is strangely engaging with its choral musical tactic – characters singing and talking in unison — and subtitle messages (“Defense of Melancholy” projected on the back wall. Even Matthew Hines, the Composer/Musical Director who also plays Julian, distracts and draws our attention to his lofty perch with his rotating guitars and record player.

There’s a lot to like here, and not just the familiar Austin Playhouse stage with seating on three sides. The play’s pacing helped by the interchangeable set parts, almost like an on-stage transformer, moving audience from scene-to scene, and the sharply drawn characters and their competitiveness for the sad/happy Tilly, so well portrayed by Helyn Rain Messenger.

Full A-Team Review: Wizard of Oz

* * * * (4 stars)

Thanks, Frank, for the Lessons!

Why? Really. Why does L. Frank Baum’s archetypal tale of hardship and loss, good vs. evil and fantasy vs. reality continue to fascinate and influence audiences decade after decade – whether it’s book, film or stage show? Because it explores those universal themes of homesickness, longing for a better world, protecting the helpless and discovering our inner strengths amid the trials, the tribulations and the storms.

From the overture to the last reprise of “Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead,” the music and magical lines will stay with you. (Although the volume was a bit too loud, occasionally.) And whether dancing, singing or emoting, this road show troupe is more cohesive than super glue, with super creds preceding them. And I love the playbill advice from Kristin Stewart who competently portrays Aunt Em and Good Witch Glinda:

“My goodness, dream, whether you leave home or not.”

And I have to tip my hat to the great dancers and their choreographer, Leigh Constantine . . . to Tim McQuillen-Wright and Jimm (cq) Halliday for the stunning set and costumes and Wm. Berloni, the animal trainer, unless Toto was totally hypnotized.

Sure Father’s Day weekend is coming up, and it’s YOUR turn to be treated. But here’s your golden opportunity to hit a homerun with your family. Take THEM to see the “Wizard of Oz.” You’ll be not just a hero, but a thoughtful parent who will, like many adults, find many aspects of this show personally enjoyable.

And then, there are the lessons imparted to the younger, more impressionable viewers without your having to lecture, rant . . . or even say a word. Besides, Dad (or Mom), there’s the 3rd floor Café’, the 6th Floor Outdoor Terrace, the Landmarks Public Art Program in and around the “New” Bass Concert Hall, and some of the best people-watching I’ve encountered in my long time of lobby hopping. But none are as interesting as the Lullaby Girls, Lollipop Boys, the Munchkins, Trees, Crows and Dorothy’s beloved traveling companions.

Preston Kirk
Spicewood (Austin) Texas, USA

Becky’s New Car gets Rave Preview Reviews!

**** (4 Stars)
Quite a Ride!
What a treat to see a dress rehearsal for a play written and directed by an acclaimed playwright. Even though this comedic farce has already traveled around the country, we could see Steven Dietz making notes, fine-tuning his Austin production.

This clever show draws the audience into the life of a lady of “a certain age” who has decisions to make. Although she has a somewhat comfortable life (good husband, indecisive son), she isn’t completely happy. Given a chance at an exciting new life, should she take it?

Full A-Team Review: Simply . . . Lippia?

From far (Sun City and beyond) and near (Bowie H.S. students,), the mature and the immature came Saturday night (May 1) to hear Steve Lippia channel the musical vibes of Frank Sinatra, a.k.a. “The Voice,” the “Lean Lark” and the “Croon Prince of Swing.”  And the Connecticut native-cum-Las Vegas resident did just that . . . naturally.

My tin ear cannot attest to the “levels of ingenuity and intensity” that Rolling Stone once ascribed to “Old Blue Eyes,” but what an enjoyable trip down memory lane – even with one’s eyes open. Lippia’s homage to the “Groovy Galahad” was a well-paced 105 minutes and 21 songs. Yeah, songs filled with life’s vignettes, great storytelling, romance and lyrics you can understand, appreciate and remember.

I’m also pleased that this well-traveled warbler and Sinatra “interpreter “ – not imitator — gave ample recognition to the musical composers and arrangers who contributed to the “Svengali of Swing’s” enduring hits. Johnny Mercer, Nelson Riddle, et al.

Full A-Team Review: Hansel and Gretel

“Boring?” No way. Cultural Spectacles Seldom Are.
Admission #1: I’ve seen an opera about once every 10 years of my adult life, or about four of them. Admission #2: I’m not a fan of weird musical phrasing sung in high registers. And truth be told, I love a spectacle, which is what ALO’s “Hansel & Gretel” surely is at the Long Ctr. And it is, after all, a worldwide favorite.

A pre-teen’s commented as he exited Friday night’s performance: “Boooo-ring.” Sorry. Can’t agree. The score by composer Engelbert Humperdink — no not the crooner – is enjoyable all by itself, if one could isolate it from the audience, cast and stage. And under the baton of the deeply-accomplished Mo. Richard Buckley, the musicians rendered all the emotion worthy of the Grimm brother’s enchanting fairytale.

A-Team: 3 Full Rave Reviews for Phantom

A Golly-Gee-Wow-Oh my! ‘Phantom…’

* * * * *

Stop! Do not pass “Go.” Instead, break into your piggy bank. Liberate momma’s “egg money. Raid your stash of mad cash. Search the seat cushions for loose change if you have to, or hock Uncle Luther’s railroad watch.

Spring for the best seats you can afford and don’t, by any means, miss the “Texas Farewell Tour” performance of Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “Phantom…” and Charles Hart’s wonderful lyrics at UT’s Bass Hall. This is as good as professional theatre gets. This long-running, proven, crowd- pleasing musical is not only a “spectacle,” but Friday’s opening performance was spectacular in all respects.

Full A-Team review: Austin Symphony Orchestra

Confession time: I’m a lover of symphonic music…was even a spokesman for an 80-piece North Texas orchestra at one time. But I am no music critic. Try as I might to concentrate on the brilliant cellist Douglas Harvey at Friday night’s performance, I . . .well (gulp) got lost in the somewhat overwhelming spectacle of an evening with the entire ASO . . . in the fabulous Michael and Susan Dell Hall . . . from a fantastic orchestra seat . . . immersed in wonderful acoustics.

Oh, sure, I love the playfulness of Paul Dukas’ “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and appreciate even more the non-splintered version. (Sorry, Walt. Sorry, Mickey.) However, the cartoon still running in my mind’s eye distracted me.

And as the symphony beautifully rendered the “Fantasy-Overture” from Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, a radio-TV spokesman intoning, “You can own the world’s most beautiful music” – yeah, I bought the entire set – was stuck like a broken record in my head. The orchestra played with passion while my memory visually recounted all the plays and films or “R&J” I’d attended in the past 45 years.

Full A-Team Review: Intimate & Insightful…”My Cup of Tea”

I might even quip “instant tea,” since this one-woman play and tour-de force Elaine Bromka immediately dialed me back 30 to-40 years or more to my UPI/Houston reporting days, when I actually encountered some of these First Ladies and their husbands.

First, this comment: This show deserves a full house, every performance. Performed without intermission with a running time of about 75-80 minutes, you can easily have dinner before or afterwards. And it’s a program that deserves post-show conversation.

Don’t expect Lady Bird, Pat and Betty to simultaneously sit for a hot cup of leafy brew. But do expect to laugh, even if it is sometimes sympathetic laughter. And do expect to learn, if you are of a younger generation, a bit of history about these women and the flawed leaders that they loved and (somehow) supported.

Full A-Team Review: Flaming? Yes! Hot and Over the Top

For a pure taste of vaudeville and plain Monty Pythonesque silliness, treat yourself (and friends)  to an evening with The Flaming Idiots. No, “flaming” has nothing to do with GLBT. It has everything to do with “over-the-top” entertainment. Not only is the troupe’s famous logo that hangs from the rafters partially burned and singed, but there is a circle of flames prominently painted on the hardwood floor. Know what to expect.

Full A Team Review: Capitol Steps

Targets Galore

The Capitol Steps, who have had me laughing for years through their musical skits and sketches on National Public Radio, are even more enjoyable in person.

PAEAN
These D.C. satirists did roast and lampoon,
Wits sharper than a whaler’s harpoon.
Their targets were of every scale.
They gave us laughs and gave ‘em hell.
They hurled their barbs and flung their jibes,
And the audience responded with jocular vibes.