Houston Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 7

BWW Review: JERSEY BOYS at the Hobby Center is an Infectious Escape
by Luke Evans - May 11, 2022

For a messily scripted white-comfort piece, Jersey Boys sure can make for an effective toe-tapping diversion from the ever-encroaching dread that is life in the 2020s. The breezy performances and energetic vocals on display at Theatre Under the Stars work double time to distract you from the materia...

BWW Review: Greek God, Diane, Wreaks Havoc in Rec Room Arts HURRICANE DIANE
by Armando Urdiales - May 09, 2022

The unconventional and oddball comedy from the Pulitzer Prize finalist, Madeleine George, sees the Greek god, Dionysus, reenter civilization disguised as a butch gardener, Diane. The god's mission to seduce mortal women and help end climate change creates a story that elicits guttural laughs and a g...

BWW Review: MEET THE MAMMA AND COLOR STRUCK at Vincent Victoria Presents
by Brett Cullum - May 06, 2022

These historic writings are coupled with the company’s signature lively staging and passion. The two present fascinating portraits of the Black community’s experience a hundred years ago, and the surprise is how little has changed....

BWW Review: The Garden Theatre's SCHOOL GIRLS; OR THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY is a Great Collection of Talent
by Armando Urdiales - May 04, 2022

Jocelyn Bioh's play, School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play, is one of the best examples of 21st-century theater. Set in an all-girls boarding school in the African country of Ghana. School Girls follows the story of a group of young women navigating their social life in the face of adversity...

BWW Review: Stages Blends Superhero Comics and Social Justice in Black Super Hero Magic Mama
by Armando Urdiales - May 02, 2022

With the classic comic Boom! and Pow!, Stages continues its excellent season with Inda Craig-Galvain's Black Super Hero Magic Mama. Hot off the heels of the epic jukebox musical, You Are Cordially... by ShaWanna Renee Rivon, Black Super Hero Magic Mama truly represents the magnificence of Houston th...

BWW Review: ROMEO AND JULIET at Houston Grand Opera Is a Gratifying Delight
by Luke Evans - May 02, 2022

As the curtain rises in Houston Grand Opera's production of Romeo and Juliet, Charles Gonoud's 1867 adaptation of the seminal Shakespeare play, the audience is transported into a realm of romance and passion, brought to life by the soaring score and gifted performers. Though devotees of the original...

BWW Review: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF Brings Tradition to the Hobby Center Of Performing Arts
by Armando Urdiales - April 27, 2022

The Broadway classic is currently in residence at the Hobby Center and is a wonderful expression of both the beauties of our past and a great reminder that history repeats itself....

BWW Review: Art Factory's SWEENEY TODD is Well Sung But Rough Around the Edges
by Luke Evans - April 27, 2022

This sentimental value proved to be a benefit for Art Factory’s intimate production, which hits some satisfying notes amid some noticeable stumbles. While I delighted in hearing the songs that I have loved since I was a faux-edgy 16 year old, I daresay that a lesser Sweeney Todd fanatic may have enj...

BWW Review: BOB: A LIFE IN FIVE ACTS Gives Light to the Absurdity of the Human Experience at Firecracker Productions
by Christian Gill - April 25, 2022

There's an unmistakable sadness to Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's Bob: A Life in Five Acts. What makes the show stand out is the playwright's choice to present Bob's life story in the form of an absurdist comedy. When tragedy strikes, as it does suddenly and often, it always comes in the form of something c...

BWW Review: Life Rings With The Alley Theatre's Delirious DEAD MAN'S CELLPHONE
by Alric Davis - April 21, 2022

A jovial spirit permeates the Alley Theatre as people pack in for the opening night performance of Dead Man’s Cell Phone, MacArthur Genius Sarah Ruhl’s effervescent, acerbic and poignant play. Director Brandon Weinbrenner offers a talented cast of six actors staged in the circular thrust Hubbard The...

BWW Review: THE WAR OF THE WORLDS at Classical Theatre Company is a Science Fiction Odyssey
by Luke Evans - April 17, 2022

Fans of old school science fiction (particularly the thoughtful, novelistic kind that prefigured The Twilight Zone and Star Trek) should find much to enjoy the Classical Theatre Company’s adaptation of H.G. Wells’s famous 1898 novel, The War of the Worlds....

BWW Review: YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO SIT IN Is a Dream of a Production at Stages Theatre
by Armando Urdiales - April 11, 2022

The story goes that Stages staff member, Eboni Bell Darcy, was part of the discussion for the theater's reopening season. Ideas evidently floated around in the zoom call. It was Eboni's idea for Stages to commission their own jukebox musical. This excellent idea led to the creation of ShaWanna Renee...

BWW Review: THE BOOK OF GRACE at Catastrophic Theatre
by Brett Cullum - April 06, 2022

Catastrophic Theatre’s THE BOOK OF GRACE makes good on the company’s promise of “we will destroy you” in the best way possible. The production is a well-honed punch to the gut that will leave you reeling and provoked....

BWW Review: Stages SUNRISE COVEN is a Homegrown Inspiration and a Wonderous World Premiere
by Armando Urdiales - April 04, 2022

This spring, Brendan Bourque-Sheil's story of a woman dealing with life's impossible changes is one of Houston's best plays. Set in the fictional town of Buxtop, Texas, the protagonist, Hallie (Susan Koozin), wakes up after an overdose and the resultant story is about how a person copes with almost ...

BWW Review: DOG ACT Depicts Art at the End of the World at Main Street Theater
by Christian Gill - March 29, 2022

Liz Duffy Adams' Dog Act is as much a depiction of the future as it is a nostalgia play about theatre people. The characters have no audience other than each other, and while they find joy in their own performance, the actors seem to feel the same love....

BWW Review: GLORIA at 4th Wall Theatre Company Presents a Smart and Seething Take on Violence in the Digital Age
by Luke Evans - April 01, 2022

What a gut punch of a play is Branden Jacob-Jenkins’s Gloria, and what a tight and well-paced rendition 4th Wall Theatre Company has offered. The script maintains a remarkable self-awareness that manages to stay ahead of the audience’s assumptions and even subvert them. All of this is tapped into to...

BWW Review: COME FROM AWAY at Theatre Under The Stars Reflects on the Wonders of Humanity in the Face of Tragedy
by Armando Urdiales - March 23, 2022

They call Gander, Canada 'The Rock.' However, they should really call not only Gander but the musical, Come From Away, a gem, as it is one of the rare musicals that not only is entertaining but also a brilliant reminder of the beauty of humanity....

BWW Review: THE CAKE at Stageworks Theatre is a Sweet and Occasionally Filling Look at Gay Marriage in the South
by Luke Evans - March 22, 2022

This production of The Cake may not be perfect, but what it lacks in thematic depth, it makes up for in confectionary charm and good intentions....

BWW Review: ISHIDA Dance's YOU COULD RELEASE ME Puts Human Relationships on Display
by Luke Evans - March 19, 2022

The prevailing theme of ISHIDA Dance’s new work You Could Release Me is love, and the many forms that love takes. You Could Release Me is broken up into four separate dance pieces, each exploring a different aspect of how we relate to each other. The show presents a moving and honest reflection on w...

BWW Review: A Modern Adaptation of SENSE AND SENSIBILITY Comes to The Alley Theatre
by Christian Gill - March 14, 2022

This take on Jane Austen's classic novel, adapted by Kate Hamil, adds a great deal of humor to the surroundings of the story. The production could have easily lost the heart of the piece by over bloating the comedy, but by keeping it, for the most part, with the ensemble players we're allowed to ta...

BWW Review: HAMILTON at Broadway Across America
by Brett Cullum - February 24, 2022

HAMILTON is a joy to watch, and this cast lives up to the hype of the material they have been entrusted with. Rest assured this is the best way to see the show… live and in person. There is an energy to be shared with the cast and the audience that the COVID era almost made us forget....

BWW Review: A STEADY RAIN Dazzles from Dirt Dogs Theatre Co.
by Brett Cullum - February 21, 2022

It’s a chance to sit in an intimate space with artists who excel at telling a story you will never see in a large opera house or performance hall. A STEADY RAIN is tough, profane, and full of over-the-top masculinity, and yet it feels as progressive as it can be. It asks tough questions, and it ma...

BWW Review: The Alley Theatre Presents a Challenging Portrait of the U.S. in AMERIKIN
by Christian Gill - February 18, 2022

There's a question at the heart of Chisa Hutchison Amerikin. Should we sympathize with hateful people? The piece in many ways acts as an exercise in empathy. We have characters willing to do reprehensible things yet suffer great turmoil. Do they deserve sympathy? If they do, whose job is it to give ...

BWW Review: MACGYVER: THE MUSICAL at Stages Repertory
by Armando Urdiales - February 17, 2022

As the audience walks into MACGYVER THE MUSICAL at STAGES, the greeting they receive is full of '80s​​​​​​​ nostalgia. Primarily based on the TV series, the audience is reminded of the height of '80s fashion and pop culture. Jane Fonda's workout tape, teased hair, and denim are the beginnings of a g...

BWW Review: MOTHER OF THE MAID Packs a Bravura Performance at Main Street
by Brett Cullum - February 11, 2022

Shannon Emerick’s portrayal of Isabelle Arc is the performance on which MOTHER OF THE MAID hinges, and she manifests a miracle consisting of fully-realized characterization and range. Rarely will you see an actress wholly embody a role so fully and disappear completely into another person....