Reviewed by Eric Bird,
Associate Critic for John Garcia's THE COLUMN

The music for 42nd Street starts, the sound of 1930's swing rings throughout the house and my foot immediately begins to tap. There is something about the music from that time period that has always called to me. I have heard the music for 42nd Street many times over the years but I have never had an opportunity to see the musical in person.

Songs like "We're in the Money" and "Lullaby of Broadway" have always made me want to get to my feet and start dancing to this enjoyable swing era music. In Artisan Center Theater's production of this classic musical, the lively movement and energy that the actors portrayed brought the audience into the show and kept them there.

42nd Street opened August 25, 1980 at the Winter Garden ...

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Reviewed by Joel Taylor,
Associate Critic for John Garcia's THE COLUMN

On Monday evening, I joined an audience of actors, directors, writers, producers, members of the media and others that work in the performing arts industry to watch Theatre Three’s current show, ENRON. This play tells part of the story of the rise and the crashing collapse of Enron Corporation and a few of the Enron Corporate executives that were partially or fully responsible for that growth and ultimate demise. The story is largely based on the facts and timelines of the meteoric rise of Jeff Skilling and Enron, its influence on business, the stock market, politicians and its employees. It also dealt with the ultimate collapse of the house of cards on which Enron was built. This production shows the opulent corporate culture of the company and many of its top ...

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Reviewed by John Garcia,
Senior Chief Critic for John Garcia's THE COLUMN

Since Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty took over the Dallas Theater Center he has brought never before seen, spanking new musicals, or they had been workshopped prior to the DFW theater scene.

In fact, in the last several years DTC has become the only theater company in the metroplex to bring new musicals that have yet reached Broadway for audiences to feast their eyes on. And when I mean new, I mean NEW, as in not long ago relics from Broadway that played once and is now brought back, and not regional premieres of musicals that trickled from Broadway to here. The result from this man's visionary goals in bringing untried, never before done musicals has greatly helped in putting the Dallas theatre community in the direct sight line of those in the ...

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Reviewed by John Garcia,
Senior Chief Critic for John Garcia's THE COLUMN

On the television channel, LogoTV has the juggernaut hit, RuPaul's Drag Race. A competition reality show with over a dozen men in drag who scream, cry, fight, claw, and throw endless waves of "shade" as they powder and paint their faces to fierce beauty.

They transform their male bodies by shaving and using padding, hose, boobs for queens (you need to see the TV show to get that reference!), tons of face paint, wigs of defying weight and height, massive jewels, and an array of gowns and costumes that would make the late Liberace look "subdued"!

As for theater, drag is not a current trend by any means. Going all the way back to the Elizabethan era (including Shakespeare) and all forms of theatre, the female roles were played by young ...

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Reviewed by Elaine Plybon,
Associate Critic for John Garcia's THE COLUMN

The small town of Granbury offers many forms of entertainment - shopping, wine tasting, dining, and lounging on the beach. Another of the ways visitors can be entertained is by taking in a show and the Granbury Theatre Company is one venue that offers shows on the weekends.

The Foreigner journeys through the lives of a widow who runs a hunting lodge, her two visitors, a former debutante and her brother, and an evangelist and his sidekick. The show takes place in the early 1980s and begins when two British men arrive at the lodge during a thunderstorm. Charlie is shy and dealing with issues at home and prefers not to speak to anyone so Froggy develops a ruse to make the locals believe Charlie doesn’t speak English, which he ...

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Reviewed by Richard Blake,
Associate Critic for John Garcia's THE COLUMN

A wonderful evening of entertainment, great talent and laughter intertwined within thought-provoking social norms awaits you at the ICT Mainstage’s production of The Last Night of Ballyhoo.

The two act comedy is set in the upper class German-Jewish community living in Atlanta, Georgia in December 1939. Hitler has recently conquered Poland, Gone with the Wind is about to premiere and Adolph Freitag, owner of the Dixie Bedding Company, his sister Boo and nieces Lala and Sunny - a Jewish family so highly assimilated they have a Christmas tree in the front parlor - are looking forward to Ballyhoo, a lavish cotillion sponsored by their restrictive country club. Adolph's employee Joe Farkas, transplanted from New York, is an attractive eligible bachelor and an Eastern European Jew, familiar with prejudice but unable to fathom ...

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Reviewed by Jeremy William Osborne,
Associate Critic for John Garcia's THE COLUMN

Before Dora and her cousin, Diego, became globe hopping child celebrities, Flat Stanley was teaching kids how to connect and learn through the mail about places far from their home. The 1964 children's book has been a perennial school project for elementary children for years. Children create their own Flat Stanley and mail him to a person as far away as they can imagine, awaiting his return with pictures and a story. Dallas Children's Theater's production of The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley provides a quick and fun example of some of the adventures Stanley can have in unfamiliar places.

Walking into the Baker Theater the audience is greeted by an appropriately cartoonish home front, leaving younger members of the audience to wonder how anybody can enter or exit ...

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Reviewed by Joel Taylor,
Associate Critic for John Garcia's THE COLUMN

Artes de la Rosa is located at the Rose Marine Theater , the building dating back to the 1920’s, when it originally a movie house. Over the years it has operated under three names: The Rose, The Roseland, and the Marine Theater. The theater is listed on the National Register of Historic places and is part of the Marine Commercial Historic District.

In The Heights is a story that takes place over the course of three days and involves a colorful cast of characters in the largely Dominican-American neighborhood of Washington Heights in New York City.

The production is brought to life by the directing team of Adam Adolfo and Elise Lavalllee, Together they present a show full of good character work and interaction. The acting, incredible vocal talents and snappy ...

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Reviewed by Elaine Plybon,
Associate Critic for John Garcia's THE COLUMN

Stones in His Pockets is an artistic exploration of the connections and encounters that occur when rural Ireland meets flashy Hollywood. Since Northern Ireland’s leading playwright, Marie Jones penned the script in 1996, this play has met with favorable reviews, becoming the most successful stage play to come out of her country, and enjoyed a stint on Broadway, earning three Tony Award nominations in 2001, and was just recently made into a film. The action takes place in a small town in Ireland, where a Hollywood production crew has descended to create a movie. The show requires extras and the local townsfolk are more than happy to be a part of the production, and earn a little cash in the process.

The play itself employs the talents of only two actors, ...

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