THE BAND’S VISIT

Presented by Dallas Summer Musicals
Runs through 2/23/2020

“Music is the universal language of mankind.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Where words leave off, music begins.” Heinrich Heine

We’ve all experienced the power of music at one time or another, its ability to communicate what words cannot, and express the deepest feelings. “Music is a universal language,” in fact, has become a cliché, and like many clichés, has its basis in observed truth. People respond emotionally and even physically to music regardless of their nationality, education, or even willingness to be affected. We can be soothed by music, moved by it, and it can stir us to action.

Today, when the purpose of so many in authority seems to be focused on separating people both physically and emotionally, a show like this is a welcome relief from ...

LOVING AND LOVING

Presented by Bishop Arts Theatre Center
Runs through 2/23/2020

“How would you explain being mixed?” is the first question posed by this moving and relevant play. The question is then answered via multi-media projection and sound recorded by several Dallas-area mixed-race people. This intentional design by the writers to incorporate local voices into the show wherever it is produced proves to be a profound choice, adding an additional layer of nuance and local storytelling to this excellent play. Other questions like this are posed throughout “Loving and Loving,” which moves seamlessly through history from 1957 to the present. The inclusion of local voices keeps us firmly based in the reality of today, as well as reminding us that what is past has shaped our present. This play was written at the end of the Obama presidency, and as the ...

HARVEY

Presented by WaterTower Theatre
Runs through 2/23/2020

How many Harveys have you been to? I’ve witnessed a few, myself, and it’s almost exactly the same nice time every time. The show is a ca.-1944 wardrobe closet, a modest set of familiars, and the slipping back in proves a reliably friendly reunion. Even if Jimmy Stewart isn’t there, which he generally isn’t – even at the opening it was Frank Fay, a notoriously horrible person – you can practically feel him looming gently near your shoulder, looking warmly up at his invisible comrade, hustling out a few niceties through that midwestern mush of an accent. Everybody goes home safe and the same and fully unlobotomized.

To tell the truth, Harvey’s never been my favorite old chestnut. It’s something to do, perhaps, with my innate preference among old Hollywood “brands of ...

BAREFOOT IN THE PARK

Presented by Richardson Theatre Centre
Runs through 2/23/2020

This hit show was written by award winning playwright Neil Simon and premiered on Broadway in 1963. It centers on newlywed couple Corie, a free spirit, and Paul, an uptight lawyer. They don’t see eye to eye on many things, including their apartment, Corie’s mother, and their eccentric upstairs neighbor. The fact that the apartment is 5 or 6 flights up, depending on how you count, doesn’t help the state of affairs.

Leigh Wyatt Moore wove together this cast in a beautiful ensemble designed to entertain. Lines were delivered with purpose, movements were meaningful, and silent gestures were beautifully done. Each character had their place, and there were no extraneous pieces to muddy up the waters. Eddy Herring’s set was sleek and fitting. It contained enough detail to be realistic, but ...

THE RESIDENTS OF CRAIGSLIST

Presented by Millennial Poison Theatre Company
Runs through 2/23/2020

The Residents of Craigslist is probably the most interesting show I’ve ever seen. I mean this in the best way.

The show features six unnamed characters running around switching personas over and over as they recite the many whacky and unfiltered posts that they collected from the infamous site Craigslist. The show is comprised entirely of these posts, so you can only imagine some of the things talked about. Its hilarity is unmatched with any show I’ve ever seen; the concept is original and impeccably done. A lot of the specific instances I cover in this review may seem really strange out of context, but I suppose that leaves more to the imagination and will hopefully give everyone an excuse to go see this show. It really was that enjoyable. ...

BREATH & IMAGINATION

Presented by African American Repertory Theater
Runs through 2/29/2020

African American history often speaks about the struggles of blacks in slavery highlighting stories about MLK, Rosa Parks and many other activists who fought for freedom from oppression. What gets left out of the history books is the celebration of black culture and the artistic contributions it made to America. Breath and Imagination seeks to remedy this missing page by telling the story of a prodigy singer from the Negro race.

As Director Regina Washington puts it, “Breath and Imagination explores one man’s determination to be an artist despite seemingly insurmountable odds.”

The man, and our protagonist for the show, is none other than historical celebrity Roland Hayes played by Malcolm Beaty. He is an American lyric tenor and composer lauded for his linguistic skills demonstrated with songs in French, German and ...

Roald Dahl’s MATILDA THE MUSICAL

Presented by Plaza Theatre Company
Runs through 2/29/2020

For someone who was so incredibly obsessed with the 2013 Tony Award performance of “Revolting Children,” it’s honestly remarkable that I went into Plaza Theatre Company’s production of MATILDA with such extremely limited familiarity of what I would be seeing. But when I say there’s nothing I enjoy seeing more than small children in blazers and knee socks angrily performing highly stylized hip hop choreography to a patter song…I mean it with my whole heart. And after seeing the song live at Plaza, the obsession has been reawakened in my soul and I insist that you let it do the same to you.

Originally a book by Roald Dahl, MATILDA tells the story of a little girl (named Matilda, funnily enough) who won’t let horrible people or daunting life circumstances dictate who ...

LITTLE WOMEN

Presented by Dallas Theater Center
Runs through 3/1/2020

Little Women is adapted from Louisa May Alcott’s celebrated coming of age story set in Massachusetts during the American Civil War. Dallas Theater Center’s production is simultaneously lively and tender, treating the audience to a close-knit family composed of different personalities.

The play revolves, literally and figuratively, around the hearth and home of the March family. The story describes the struggles of a loving family of six, all children being daughters. War torn America is the backdrop for family separation, sacrifice, injury, and infirmity.

The play covers a lot of ground, tracing the March clan’s travails and triumphs throughout several years and even introducing another generation. The direction and staging are complex, and yet seamlessly executed. Theater goers familiar with DTC’s classical productions at the Kalita will recognize the clever, visually ...

I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE

Presented by Theatre Frisco
Runs through 3/1/2020

Last Friday night, just in time for Valentine’s Day, an old, familiar beau of the North Texas area came calling at Theatre Frisco. It had a little work done in 2018, but who in show business hasn’t these days. For those who had made its acquaintance before, it seems to have lost none of its charm and humor. And for those of us, like myself, who had never been introduced before, it was love and laughter at first sight. “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” came to the black box theatre in the Frisco Discovery Center and won over the audience so easily you would swear that it had never been away at all.

Many of you may remember that the 1995 play “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change”, with ...

ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS

Presented by Circle Theatre
Runs through 3/7/2020

In Circle Theatre’s Production of “One Man, Two Guvnors”, we are given the gift of ‘low’ humor in its highest form. And it is wonderful! Director Joel Ferrell has brilliantly led a super talented cast through this epitome of controlled chaos. The result is a night of non-stop mayhem and uproarious laughter. This play definitely needs to be on your must-see list.

Richard Bean’s script is a loose adaptation of a 1743 Commedia dell’arte style comedy by Carlo Goldoni titled “The Servant of Two Masters”. As is the norm for this style of theatre, there are stock characters such as the young lovers or the old man or the wily servant. The structure of these types of plays is usually a group of scenarios which allow the actors plenty of ...

ALABASTER

Presented by Kitchen Dog Theater
Runs through 3/8/2020

“What do you ache for?”

The lights come up, and Tina Parker says, “Hi! I’m Weezy. I’m a goat!” So begins a play that will make you laugh – hard – and maybe also put a lump in your throat. It’s a play about terrible loss, and finding one’s salvation and fulfilment in the wreckage. It’s a play that will grab you from its first moments, and hold fast ‘till its healing conclusion.

This production of Alabaster, by Audrey Cefaly marks the thirteenth time that founding member Kitchen Dog Theater has been a participant in the Rolling World Premiere program as part of the National New Play Network (NNPN). Before any productions have gone into rehearsal or been reviewed, at least three member theaters contract ...

A RAISIN IN THE SUN

Presented by Theatre Arlington
Runs through 3/8/2020

Dreams are a bitch! We all have them, yet most don’t come true. But if we stop dreaming, we’re lost. So, we keep hoping for a lottery or high-paying job, a bigger house or green grass on the other side of the fence. When do we learn to enjoy what we have? How do we learn what priorities make us happy?

Plays set in the past often leave us few clues to the references the story tells. Modern audiences can’t see old stories without applying modern thinking, so we don’t get the same impact a story created when it was written. But some stories are timeless and, while references may not be fresh, themes can be reapplied. And, in some cases, it seems the earlier ...