KING JAMES I: Love & Politics
With the publication of 2 new books, the avid bookhound now has the opportunity of reading nearly 1,000 pages about King James I of England. First under review here is…
Houston Ballet Scales the Heights of Mt. Olympus
As the Houston Ballet gears up for its new season, starting in September (see below), it just gave us the Gods themselves in a superior production of the 19th-century ballet…
BUDDHA and THE VESSEL OF TIME
Hao Sheng, the consulting curator of Asian art, gave the curatorial lecture for the fascinating Buddha | Nature: Five Dialogues on Our Shared World exhibition at the Museum of Fine…
One Woman, Many Lives: Penfold Theatre’s “Wild Horses” Kicks Up the Dust of a Violent Coming-of-Age
Jennifer Coy Jennings carries an entire world on her shoulders — and makes it look effortless. There’s a moment in “Wild Horses,” when playwright Allison Gregory’s language hits “freedom takers…
Soul and Broadway Converge
If you were in the audience at ZACH Theatre for the one-night-only concert “A Little Bit of Broadway, A Whole Lotta Soul,” you already knew what you were getting —…
A LOVE STORY: Pride Chorus Houston style
In some sense, it was a One-Night Stand. Pride Chorus Houston’s offering of love was so good, one must lament that it was only staged once. The easiest way to…
Yellow Face: The Mirror America Refuses to Hold Up
There’s a particular courage required to write a play in which you are the fool. David Henry Hwang possesses that courage in abundance, and Yellow Face — now receiving a…
When Stillness Becomes Stagnation: The Trip to Bountiful
There is a difference between quiet and stagnation. Horton Foote wrote his 1953 play The Trip to Bountiful during an era that tolerated stillness, repetition, and domestic realism as dramatic…
Beehive – A Musical Medley from the ’60s through the ’70s
Beehive, created by Larry Gallagher and directed by Megan Richards, with choreography by Erin Ryan, is a buoyant, high-octane throwback to my era. I grew up in the ’60s with…
Urinetown: The Musical – Flush with Humor, Flooded with Truth
Originally premiering on Broadway in September 2001, Urinetown remains as politically pointed today as it was at the dawn of the 21st century. Urinetown: The Musical, with music by Mark…