Houston Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 13

BWW Review: Theatre Under the Stars' 50th Anniversary Season Celebrates Houston As Home With OKLAHOMA
by Audrey Morabito - September 14, 2018

In the theatre world, your first time seeing Rodgers & Hammerstein's OKLAHOMA! is essentially a rite of passage. You either love it or you don't-and the pendulum can swing either direction depending on the actors, designers, and director's choices. Ever since I sat in my Survey of Musical Theatre cl...

BWW Review: JESUS HOPPED THE 'A' TRAIN Wrestles With Truth at 4th Wall Theatre Company
by Audrey Morabito - September 09, 2018

JESUS HOPPED THE 'A' TRAIN does what 4th Wall Theatre Company does best: explore valid, thought-provoking, true stories that linger on your mind for days following....

BWW Review: THE MOORS muddles through at Mildred's Umbrella
by Brett Cullum - September 06, 2018

THE MOORS seeks to say something about the visibility and state of women today through the lens of satirizing Victorian era romantic literature like JANE EYRE, WUTHERING HEIGHTS, or THE WOMAN IN WHITE. I am not sure it wholly achieves what it sets out to do, but it certainly has a lot of fun along t...

BWW Review: WE'RE GONNA DIE makes it all better at Horse Head Theatre Company
by Brett Cullum - August 28, 2018

Originally conceived by playwright Young Jean Lee, it was performed as spoken word broken up by punk rock songs about pain and death. Somehow performer Alli Villines has turned it into a ukulele folk festival! But I ask dear reader, what could be more punk rock than a collection of named ukuleles pl...

BWW Review: PORCELAIN bravely cruises at The Caduceus Theater Arts Company
by Brett Cullum - August 12, 2018

This is an intense drama exploring the depths of a man who feels ostracized by a group that is already shunned by society. It's a play about loneliness and deathwishes that spiral out of control....

BWW Review: OLEANNA provokes at The Landing Theatre Company
by Brett Cullum - July 30, 2018

OLEANNA demands to be seen again, and The Landing Theatre Company has just the right chops to bring it to life at 14 Pews. It feeds off the intimate space, and they have found two actors who have the energy to deliver the message at the right pitch to make the audience squirm....

BWW Review: BUYER AND CELLAR dazzles at Main Street Theater
by Brett Cullum - July 21, 2018

Ambition, love, why we do the things we do, all of these topics get drawn out into the ether between the jokes and name-dropping. It's a deep piece despite it just being a rave and rant about a famous lady who hoards her stuff....

BWW Review: No Love for Andrew Lloyd Webber's LOVE NEVER DIES
by Pnina Topham - July 19, 2018

LOVE NEVER DIES is an unmitigated disaster of epic proportions. The show is a study of what happens when someone in power values consumerism over content. It is a production propelled by run-amuck theatrical vanity, seemingly produced with the single intention of filling seats, backed by a marquee n...

BWW Review: GOD'S FAVORITE Highlights Faith & the Human Condition at A.D. PLAYERS
by Audrey Morabito - July 16, 2018

Neil Simon's GOD'S FAVORITE does what I believe good theatre is intended to do: take a multifaceted, complex topic and present it in a humanized, relatable, and entertaining manner. This can take many forms, and GOD'S FAVORITE pinpoints perhaps one of my favorite forms of theatrical communication: f...

BWW Review: THE TAMARIE COOPER SHOW FIELD TRIP! is a busolad of fun at Catastrophic Theatre
by Brett Cullum - July 03, 2018

This iteration of the Tamarie Cooper Show explores the leading lady's emotional baggage, battle against minor depression, and all of the discarded bad ideas that the troop has come up with when they were in line at 4am at Taco Bell. In other words, business as usual for Tamarie and her cast of usual...

BWW Review: SISTAS the Musical Showcases Strength & Soul at The Ensemble Theatre
by Audrey Morabito - June 30, 2018

Never before have I stepped into a theatre, seen the curtain rise, and then heard the familiar notes of Kelis' 'Milkshake' ring out from the stage. While this song seems out of place for a theatrical context, The Ensemble Theatre's SISTAS showcases a home for it onstage, along with over thirty other...

BWW Review: A Darker SWAN LAKE Glides Onto Houston's Jones Hall Stage
by Gary Laird - June 29, 2018

A DARKER SWAN LAKE GLIDES ONTO HOUSTON'S JONES HALL STAGE...

BWW Review: A Modern Twist on the Classic Tale - GUYS & DOLLS at Theatre Under the Stars
by Pnina Topham - June 17, 2018

Despite its flaws, it's hard not to enjoy GUYS & DOLLS. The music is infectious, and the characters are memorable. This production isn't perfect, nor is it a rendition of the old classic; some attendees are bound to be startled or surprised by the modern twists. But if you know what you're getting g...

BWW Review: STRANGERER Things on Stage at The Catastrophic Theatre
by Pnina Topham - May 30, 2018

STRANGERER things take place at the 2004 presidential debate, when President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry decide to murder PBS newsman and debate moderator Jim Lehrer. Absurdist playwright Mickle Maher's funny and farcical reimagining of the debate is as ambitious conceptually as it is com...

BWW Review: JIM LEHRER AND THE THEATER AND ITS DOUBLE AND JIM LEHRER'S DOUBLE - Double the Jims, Double the Fun
by Pnina Topham - May 30, 2018

JIM LEHRER AND THE THEATER AND ITS DOUBLE AND JIM LEHRER'S DOUBLE is strange, evocative, terrifying, and hilarious. For audiences seeking something out of the ordinary, for those who welcome intellectual challenges, and for folks who want a really big laugh, buy a ticket today....

BWW Review: REPLICA creates a great copy at Stages Repertory Theatre
by Brett Cullum - May 29, 2018

In this age of whiz bang computer generated spectacles like STAR WARS or the AVENGERS, it's nice to sit down and take science fiction back to its roots. REPLICA aims at the human condition, and recreates it a little too perfectly to make anybody comfortable. ...

BWW Review: The Alley's PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE is an intellectual 'Laff Riot'.
by Gary Laird - May 22, 2018

What can one say about a 90-minute play in which every other line is a punch line, and the plot really doesn't matter? I guess I'll find out....

BWW Review: SHAKESPEARE IN VEGAS Delivers Authenticity & Hilarity at 4th Wall Theatre Company
by Audrey Morabito - May 19, 2018

Within the first few seconds of Kim Tobin-Lehl's amusingly frenzied entrance onto the 4th Wall stage in SHAKESPEARE IN VEGAS, one word immediately crossed my mind-'authentic'. For the subsequent two-hour performance, authenticity remained to be a theme present in the developed characters, the feel-g...

BWW Review: MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM is pitch perfect at Ensemble Theatre
by Brett Cullum - May 18, 2018

There is no other company in Houston that is better equipped to handle his material, and this production cements that with ease. It is presented with a casual decadence that perfectly captures the world of the black American musician during this time....

BWW Review: Stages' GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL Is the Most Fun You've Had in a Long Time
by Pnina Topham - May 07, 2018

THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL has officially joined the ranks as one of my all-time favorite musicals. Set on 'this side of the tracks,' the show will steal your heart and make your face hurt with laughter....

BWW Review: KISS ME Explores Interaction & Attraction at Theatre LaB Houston
by Audrey Morabito - May 01, 2018

Following a striking 150 Houston premieres, delivering top-notch, relevant, contemporary theater that spanned a variety of genres to the Houston area, Theatre LaB Houston recently opened their final production of Richard Bean's KISS ME....

BWW Review: Theatre Suburbia Revives THE TWILIGHT OF THE GOLDS
by Brett Cullum - April 30, 2018

The play presents an interesting dilemma - what if genetic testing advanced enough that you could tell your baby was going to be gay? Would a straight couple still be willing to have it?...

BWW Review: HAMILTON Hits Houston and Blows Us All Away
by Pnina Topham - April 27, 2018

HAMILTON is inarguably fantastic. It is extraordinary in its ability to cross every boundary and connect with audiences from every background. It is a masterpiece, a true work of art. It is visually stunning, musically astounding and, from top to bottom, the very definition of theatrical greatness....

BWW Review: THE REVISIONIST Reaffirms History and Family
by Katricia Lang - April 22, 2018

The quiet semi-autobiographical drama gives harsh treatment to narrow interpretations of family as well as those who see the pain and suffering of another human being as an opportunity for a good story....

BWW Review: CLEO Barges Onto the Alley Stage
by Gary Laird - April 20, 2018

The writer and director are to be congratulated for managing to tell the story fully in one 80-minute, no-intermission production....