The cast of Kitchen Dog Theater’s ‘Love and Vinyl’ at Good Records. (Photos by Jordan Fraker)
Stage Notes is a weekly aggregate post about theater, classical music and stage news, events, reviews and other pertinent information.
Stage Notes Calendar
Opening this week:
Theatre Three: Pirates of Penzance, today-July 14, pictured.
MBS Productions: Comedy of Love, Friday-June 23 at Addison Theatre Centre.
Soul Rep Theatre: Thunder Knocking on the Door, Friday-June 29 at the Undermain Theatre.
Theatre Arlington: Comedy Club, 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Hip Pocket Theatre: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Friday-July 7.
Garland Summer Musicals: Singin’ in the Rain, Friday-June 23 at Granville Arts Center.
NTPA Repertory Theatre: Anastasia, Friday-June 23.
Family Music Theatre: Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Friday-June 29 at New Vida Center.
Lewisville Playhouse: Little Shop of Horrors, Friday-July 7.
Fort Worth Opera: An Evening with Morris Robinson, Tuesday at Kimbell Art Museum.
Broadway Dallas: Hairspray, Tuesday–June 30.
Shakespeare Dallas: Twelfth Night, Tuesday-July 21 at Samuel-Grand Amphitheater.
Onstage now:
Onstage in Bedford: Bright Ideas, through Saturday.
Rover Dramawerks: Tons of Money, through Saturday at the Cox Playhouse.
Theatre Denton: Crimes of the Heart, through Saturday.
Upright Theatre: Bonnie and Clyde, through Saturday.
Art Centre Theatre: Escape to Margaritaville, through Sunday.
The Classics Theatre Project: Oleanna, through Sunday at the Stone Cottage.
Lakeside Community Theatre: Lieutenant of Inishmore, through June 22.
Pocket Sandwich Theatre: Four Weddings and an Elvis, through June 22.
Broadway at the Bass: Hamilton, through June 23.
Kitchen Dog Theater: Love and Vinyl, through June 23 at Good Records.
Runway Theatre: 4 Old Broads, through June 23.
Stage West: Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Elusive Ear, through June 23, pictured.
Theatre Arlington: Chicken and Biscuits, through June 23.
Theatre Coppell: Big Fish through June 23.
Artisan Center Theater: Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, through June 29.
Jubilee Theater: Thoughts of a Colored Man, through June 30.
Circle Theatre: Hundred Days, through July 6.
Shakespeare Dallas:The Odyssey by Mary Zimmerman, through July 19 at Samuel-Grand Amphitheater.
Lyric Stage presents the free concert series Lyric Under the Stars
Lyric Stag announced its free summer concert series, Lyric Under the Stars which will feature performances in Juen and July at its studio space in the Design District. Concerts will be held on the lawn behind the Lyric Stage Studio.
The inaugural show will be held Saturday, June 22 at 8:30 p.m. titled Decade Night: A Tour Through Each Decade from the 1920s to the 2020s. The concert will feature a mix of solos, duets and small groups with performers Alena Beggs, Sydney Cornelius, Ethan Rodriguez-Mullins and Jeff Wells. The band includes Sam Walker on guitar, Gannon Phillips on bass and Wes Griffin on the drums with bandleader Hans Grim playing keys.
Guests can bring a blanket or lawn chair and a cooler with food and beverages to enjoy the concerts.
Here is the full scheudule of shows all beginning at 8:30 p.m.
June 22: Decade Night: A Tour Through Each Decade fro the 1920s to the 2020s.
June 29: Mixed Up Summer: A Night of Unlikely Genre Mashups with Briana Berk, Laura Lites, Robert Mata, Ken Simmons.
July 13: These Go to 11!: Where Every Song Rocks it Out of the Park with Tiana Shuntae Alexander, Daniel Hernandez, Shane Duckett, Antavius Draughn.
July 20: Voice Versa: Songs Sung From a Whole Different Perspective with Micah Green, Sydney Hamil, Greg Hullett, Jayden Russell.
For more information, visit LyricStage.org
Review: Food and figure are hot topics in Pegasus’ Big Mouth Thunder Thighs
Shauna Holloway in Pegasus Theatre’s Big Mouth Thunder Thighs.’ (Photo via Facebook)
Bess Welden’s play Big Mouth Thunder Thighs: A Solo Vaudeville doesn’t seem like the usual fit for Pegasus Theatre’s oeuvre. Known mostly for its Living Black and White plays and RadioVizion shows that mix outlandish comedy and a bit of mystery with throwbacks to a vintage time, Pegasus has been striking some different notes this year.
First, they collaborated with Plague Mask Players for a Shakespearean Black and White production of The Taming of the Shrew. And now, the company has opened this comedy that dives deep into female body image. BMTT, a one-actor show, opened last weekend at the Bath House Cultural Center with Shauna Holloway taking the lead role into both laughs and tears.
The show was vaudevillean as it presented the character’s struggles with food and self-image by way of death-defying acts such as getting on the scale and going into the dressing room along with massive monologues.
As Woman, Holloway was tasked with a substantial mix of comedy, physicality and drama across the span of the 70-minute one act. The performance was more a journey and Holloway — speaking and performing to the audience — kicked off the show at a 10 with her circus garb on and playing up the audience. As she argued with a puppet onstage that’s her inner critic or “Skinny Bitch,” the tone remained light but the darker undertones were hard to miss. We’re seeing this woman joke about or maybe joke away her pain. Holloway navigated these emotions strongly, even when a joke didn’t land – which some did not.
BMTT was like watching a shame spiral happen before your eyes, but funny. Welden’s story invited the audience to laugh with and sometimes at the character but without a judgmental eye. Instead, more of a relatable one where Holloway succeeded with her layered performance at last Saturday’s matinee.
The show runs June 22.
Review: KDT’s Love and Vinyl is an easy going rom-com that gives hope for finding love a bit later in life
Hearts are aflutter in Bob Bartlett’s play Love and Vinyl which opened last week by Kitchen Dog Theater. The site specific play is being performed at Good Records which lent to the vibe of the romantic comedy. But it’s the story that tugs at the heart with hope and joy for Bartlett’s three characters.
Directed by KDT Co-artistic Director Christopher Carlos, the cast features Jamal Sterling, Karen Parrish and Max Hartman as a trio of lonelyhearts who come together in Sage’s record store. Sterling and Hartman play longtime best friends Bogie and Zane respectively who meet up for friend time at the shop. Zane just broke up with his girlfriend while Bogie finds an attraction to the new-to-town record store owner who lives upstairs.
The volley of dialogue was a mix of existential romance, broey chit chat and very low-key flirting. Sterling was the most animated which gave his character an added anxiety as Bogie and Sage began to discover each other. Bogie doesn’t have game and Sterling’s performance really brought that home through his nervous energy and aw-shucks, good guy vibes.
Max Hartman gave the ideal contrast as the droopy Zane coming off a very fresh breakup. His shift into a higher gear was thrilling to watch as his character came back to life with Bogie’s support and Sage’s company. The bro-mistry between Sterling and Hartman was a gem to see unfold in the one-act.
As the final piece of the Love and Vinyl puzzle, Parrish brought a sort of divinity to her performance. She embodied Sage’s cool rocker and wise counsel spirit. The play alluded to Sage’s previous pain but Parrish’s delivery gave her a rock solid confidence and painted her with spiritual or almost cosmic strokes. In short, Parrish was captivating.
The lovely part of the show is that Bartlett gave space to these characters who aren’t 20-somethings on the hunt for love. These established, careered adults were also stumbling through relationships and flirtations. While doing so, they browsed records and let music add to their conversations and perspectives on life and love. The poignancy was often enlightening and charming. Bartlett’s script did include a baffling amount of “dude” among all the characters which sometimes felt forced by the actors, but the tender and heartwarming notes of both his words and Carlos’ direction of the cast resulted in a production that stays in your heart.
Note: This performance was the show’s preview night and the first with an audience for the cast. KDT allowed DV to review the show before the run dates.
The play runs through June 23 at Good Records.
–Rich Lopez