LEND ME A TENOR

Presented by Rockwall Community Playhouse
Runs through 5/27/2018

One of the main things I love about theatre is its ability to make me laugh. Comedies and farces are my favorite genres, and Ken Ludwig, who wrote Lend Me a Tenor, is a true master of both. In the capable hands of director Jill Lightfoot, Lend Me a Tenor shines on the Rockwall Community Playhouse stage.

Trisha Romo opens the play as Maggie, a huge fan of opera star Tito Merelli. She is cute and perky and obviously infatuated with the singer...almost to an unrealistic, unhealthy degree. Ms. Romo has lots of stage presence and good comic timing, (although she occasionally scrunches her face up and we lose her expressions), and she interacts well with Dalton Elza, who plays Max. Mr. Elza’s performance is somewhat uneven. At times, he has great ...

JERSEY BOYS

Presented by AT&T Performing Arts Center
Runs through 5/27/2018

Jersey Boys, The Story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, is an enormously popular Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical. The show features multiple hits, including “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “December 1963 (Oh What a Night),” Walk Like a Man,” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You.” After enjoying a record-breaking Broadway run, the show is touring nationally, including at Dallas’ Winspear Opera House through May 27.

The play relies upon fun and joyous performances of the Four Seasons’ foot-tapping hits, and amplifies our appreciation of the music, and the band, by showing us their back story. Each member of the original Four Seasons, as played by outstanding musical theater veterans, speaks directly to us, and at times audience applause becomes part of the play-within-a-play reaction. The breaking of the ...

HANDS ON A HARDBODY

Presented by Granbury Theatre Company
Runs through 5/28/2018

Born and raised in the piney woods of East Texas, I was actually aware of the original “Hands on a Hardbody” marketing play by the struggling auto dealership in Longview, Texas. It wasn’t until a few years ago at a Dramatists Guild Convention in La Jolla, California that I discovered there had been a musical (really???) written about it. While in a breakout session with lyricist Amanda Green, she began describing the research process of a musical she had helped write about these crazy people who stood in the Texas summer heat for days on end with their hands on a truck…. I was most likely the only one in the room who remotely knew that event actually happened, and later had the privilege of meeting Amanda and sharing my familiarity ...

SELF INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR

Presented by Theatre Too
Runs through 6/10/2018

Theatre Too’s production of Jessica Cavanagh’s “incredibly personal piece” grabs your attention and does not let go. Self Injurious Behavior is riveting, emotionally intense, frequently hilarious, and worth more than the price of admission.

Before the action begins, the audience knows from the set, props, and soundtrack that we are about to see a childhood scene. Children’s movies are stacked by the television; worn stuffed animals are scattered haphazardly; blocks and assorted plastic figures spill out of their storage containers; and, pillows on an over-stuffed chair portend someone’s exhaustion.

The play begins with Jake (Ian Ferguson) performing a song that, we soon learn, is about his son. Ferguson’s angelic voice is a real treat.

What immediately unfolds is as brilliantly performed as it is poignantly unnerving to watch. ...