Hairspray is about as campy and uncomplicated as a musical about racism can get. ZACH’s production is faithfully bright, tacky, shallow and fun with an open set that they pack full of a staggeringly talented ensemble and several amazing standouts. more ›

Held annual since 2006, "Can’t Stop the Serenity" is a global fundraising effort that benefits Equality Now, a nonprofit that works to end violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world. Like its name implies, the event is centered around a screening of writer/director/cult-hero Joss Whedon's sci-fi film, Serenity, which was based on the short-lived TV show, Firefly. more ›

The cast of Annie, which played last weekend at Bass Concert Hall had the proverbial big shoes to fill. For the most part they succeeded admirably and the overall performance experience was one not to forget. more ›

This weekend, June 5-7 at 8pm, Annie appears at the Bass Concert Hall. Part of the Broadway Across America series, this is the 30th anniversary tour of a production that took home the Tony for Best Musical in 1977 and earned a nomination for Revival in 1997. more ›

Waiter, waiter, there’s HAIR in my musical! It certainly seems that way with RENT, the smash hit Broadway musical currently playing at the Bass Concert Hall. And the plot/musical numbers aren’t just reminiscent, at times, of that other musical, HAIR. The audience will get whiffs of other shows, too. But above all, the plot derives (purposefully) from Giacomo Puccini's opera La Bohème, right down to the same-named female protagonists— Mimi— who, in both the original opera and the Broadway show, are both overly flirtatious and terminally ill. But one needn’t be familiar with the opera to enjoy its updated version. RENT is packed with some outstanding moments and more than a few excellent songs. Basically, what we have is a group of young, fucked up, starving artist types squatting in NYC’s East Village, trying to figure out life and love and, like, you know, The Meaning of It All. Is this a tired premise? Certainly not for fans of literary archetypes—the old man vs. man, man vs. himself, man vs. nature (or the concrete jungle in this instance). Mark (Anthony Rapp) is our narrator, a documentary filmmaker hounded by his answering machine, which fills up with nagging messages from, among others, his Jewish mother and a TV producer wanting him to make a soul-selling deal-with-the-devil. His roommate, Roger (Adam Pascal), is HIV positive, rendered more or less agoraphobic until Mimi (Lexi Lawson) the junkie-stripper with AIDs hurls herself at him and mad love ensues. more ›

Fifteen years after the quintessential 90s musical made its debut at the New York Theatre Workshop and over a decade since it won the Pulitzer and big stack of Tony Awards for its portrayal of artistic types living in America at the end of the millennium, Rent is coming to Bass Concert Hall, thanks to Broadway Across America. Originally conceived as a way to "bring Musical theater to the MTV generation", Rent exists as both a product of and a comment on the decade in which it's set. more ›

Avenue Q, the musical unleashed off-Broadway in 2003, is a send-up of Sesame Street, but everybody knows that by now, don’t they? Instead of mirroring the overly cheerful dispositions of the muppets that inspired their creation though, these puppets and the human characters they live with on a rundown street in New York are less concerned with exploring themes like counting and cooperation and more into examining why their lives suck. It’s a tale of coming of age and plain old coming, the latter occurring during a hilarious night of wild puppet sex prompted by the foreplay of drunken revelry. The show has enough of a buzz about it, even after all these years, to run the risk of…not exactly disappointing an expectant audience, but having to stretch pretty far to clear the bar. What with all the billboards around town promising puppet nudity and adult themes, you might arrive anticipating some NC-17 action. Nah. Sure there are plenty of funny bits about racism, homosexuality, Internet porn and schadenfreude, but overall the book is tame enough. more ›

WARPSTAR SEXYSQUAD is a brilliant gift, bestowed upon the earthlings of Austin by Tim Doyle, Josh Loposer, and Jonathon Morgan. The three conceived the comic sci-fi musical together, divvying up script duties (Morgan and Loposer) and music and lyrics (Doyle). The results leave one with the impression of something dreamt up during some major stoner session, one of those ideas so super kooky that it could never be brought to life. Only they did it. They really, really did it. And if you are foolish enough to miss this show, you have only yourself to blame. Because this is possibly the best locally created production to hit Austin in a very long time. more ›

The day before the election, I had my uterus yanked. The only way these two things are related is that, when I got home on Election Day, despite the fact I was drugged out of my mind and could not stand up straight and was beyond exhausted, I waited up to hear the returns. When Jon Stewart called it at around 11, it was so early I thought he was kidding. I double checked with CNN, found out he wasn’t kidding, and dragged my sorry ass out onto the front lawn where I stood doubled over—for about five seconds—banging a large spoon on a big frying pan. I was that happy. Then I collapsed. more ›

So, it is the middle of the week and you are just now leaving your bland, cubed-in day job, and you're thinking, "Man, I wish I had something rockin' to do tonight, you know, like a disco/spandex/musical/biblical allegory party to go to....." Well, dear reader, you may not believe it, but you are in luck, because tonight at 11:59pm, The Apple is going to change the course of human life. Sure, we have a tendency towards hyperbole, but this time we are serious. Made by the same geniuses who brought us Over the Top—yeah, the Sly Stone trucker arm wrestling extravaganza—The Apple is the 80s musical version of Adam and Eve, only with more glitter. And hair products. And terrible singing. more ›

If you can’t wait for tomorrow’s fireworks to start celebrating this great nation of ours; or if you love your country, but hate fireworks; or heck, maybe you like fireworks, but only when you’re the one doing the lighting, you can join others just like yourself at Alamo Ritz tonight for the Team America: World Police sing-along. more ›

Zachary Scott Theatre's presentation of Seussical might not be the best "My First Musical" experience, but small theatre-goers will enjoy its swift pace and bright visuals, while Mom and Dad delight in the brightest members of its ensemble. more ›

There are a million ways to be, you know that there are. Some people look at the world through dark, cloudy glass, and some through rose-colored; amazingly love can still be seen and had through both. With that in mind, the Paramount will be putting a little black into their red this week as they continue their 33rd annual Summer Classic Film Series with two sets of amorous flicks, one pair with its sights on Park Avenue and the other buried six feet under. And remember, films are only $7, and if you go to the first film in the double feature, you get the second one for free! more ›

What sets Laura and her show apart is a wild imagination and an ability to get the audience inside her head. Not only that, but she pulls this off with no set to speak of and very few props, key among what little she uses being a ukulele and a shopping cart. Luna Tart, the character, much like her creator, is not just from another era, she’s from another planet. more ›