Stage, Gambit

Hannibal Buress at The New Movement

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:40:00 -0500

Fri. June 21 | Named by Comedy Central as Best Club Comic in 2012, Hannibal Buress is a regular late-night guest and a veteran of the 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live writers' rooms.…

Review: Hell's Belles

Dalt Wonk — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:40:00 -0500

Dalt Wonk on Mid-City Theatre's comic Southern Gothic production by Dalt Wonk Hell's Belles, currently on the boards at the Mid-City Theatre, is an antebellum Southern Gothic tale, but you're more likely to come across a harlot than a Scarlett at this Tara. The French Finishing School for Little Confederate Women, where Hell's Belles takes place, was dreamed up and populated by Running with Scissors.…

Review: Clybourne Park

Dalt Wonk — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 17:00:00 -0500

Dalt Wonk says Shadowbox Theatre's production of Bruce Norris' acclaimed play is a must-see by Dalt Wonk Pulitzer Prize-winning Clybourne Park is a full-throttle drama getting a full-throttle treatment in its regional premiere at the Shadowbox Theatre. It's about housing and racial issues, and the script is both subtle and full of surprises.…

The Merry Wives of Windsor

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 17:00:00 -0500

Thu.-Sun. June 13-29 | The New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane kicks off its season with The Merry Wives of Windsor.…

Hell's Belles at Mid-City Theatre

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0500

Fri.-Sun. June 7-23 | A wounded Union soldier seeks refuge in the French Finishing School for Little Confederate Women, home to the South's bawdiest belles and spinster sister headmistresses Flossie and Fannie French (Brian Peterson and Yvette Hargis, respectively).…

Review: Redesigning Women

Will Coviello — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0500

Will Coviello says the crossdressing update of the '80s sitcom is a fun mix of easy laughs and familiar references by Will Coviello When they chose to parody the 1980s sitcom Designing Women, Varla Jean Merman (aka Jeffery Roberson), Ricky Graham, Brian Peterson and Jack Long knew there would be an audience for their version. During opening night at Mid-City Theatre, when Graham delivered Julia Sugarbaker's YouTube-immortalized tirade defending her sister Suzanne's beauty pageant achievements, most of the audience joined in – not just mouthing the words, but following the steadily rising volume and intensity to the dramatically staggered final pronouncement about "The night the lights went out in Georgia."…

Review: Other Places

Dalt Wonk — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0500

Dalt Wonk on four works by Harold Pinter, presented at the Dryades Theater by Dalt Wonk We rarely get a chance to see the works of Nobel laureate and absurdist playwright Harold Pinter, so it was a joy to see Other Places presented by Four Humours at the Dryades Theater. Other Places is actually four one-act plays.…

Review: Next to Normal

Dalt Wonk — Tue, 28 May 2013 04:00:00 -0500

Dalt Wonk on Southern Rep's production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning soft rock opera by Dalt Wonk Just when pompous period melodramas like The Phantom of the Opera seemed to have cornered the market on serious musical theater, Next To Normal ran off with a Pulitzer Prize, among many other honors. This inventive oddity, deftly produced by Southern Rep, might be characterized as the revenge of the middle class.…

Review: Gypsy

Lauren LaBorde — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:00:00 -0500

Lauren LaBorde says Rivertown Theaters' production of the classic is a faithful rendition by Lauren LaBorde Gypsy is based on the memoirs of burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee, but the show is centered on Rose — her fiercely stubborn stage mother who's been portrayed by powerhouses including Bette Midler, Bernadette Peters and Patti LuPone in film and stage versions. Unfortunately Lisa Picone, the Rose in Theater 13's production of the musical at Rivertown Theaters for the Performing Arts, was battling a sinus infection during opening weekend's Sunday matinee (as evidenced by coughs between lines and coming from backstage), and it hindered her performance.…

Review: New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival

Dalt Wonk — Mon, 13 May 2013 04:00:00 -0500

Dalt Wonk on the festival's second week of shows by Dalt Wonk Harry Mayronne Jr. presented his High-Strung Puppet Cabaret. The multitalented Mayronne is a musician, composer and puppeteer, and he makes his puppets.…

Review: The Adventures of Butt Boy and Tigger

Will Coviello — Mon, 13 May 2013 04:00:00 -0500

Will Coviello on Steven Dawson's one-act play about phone sex and pretend identities by Will Coviello By the time Butt Boy (Chris Marroy) repeatedly screams "Hit the spot," it's clear that Steven Dawson's one-act play The Adventures of Butt Boy and Tigger is every bit as racy as the title suggests. Butt Boy and Tigger (Garrett Prejean) are in the final ecstatic moments of a sexual fantasy shared online and acted out in unison between the two small desks on stage at The Elm Theater.…

Amy Schumer at the House of Blues

Mon, 13 May 2013 04:00:00 -0500

May 19 | Fresh from the April 30 debut of her Comedy Central series Inside Amy Schumer, the New York comedian and actress does standup at the House of Blues. She revels in self-deprecating political incorrectness, offbeat confessions and sexual candor, which may explain appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Girls and The Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen.…

Review: Much Ado About Nothing

Will Coviello — Mon, 13 May 2013 04:00:00 -0500

Will Coviello on the NOLA Project's latest Shakespeare in the Park romp by Will Coviello Thick Hollywood-style Southern accents work wonders to mask the sharp tongued battle of wits between Beatrice (Kathlyn Tarwater) and Benedick (A.J. Allegra) in the NOLA Project's production of Much Ado About Nothing. Their repartee almost sounds loving, belying the romantic comedy's show-stealing subplot.…

Next to Normal at Southern Rep.

Mon, 13 May 2013 04:00:00 -0500

Wed.- Sun. May 15-June 9 | Leslie Castay stars as a suburban mother suffering from bipolar disorder and struggling to cope with her family.…

Clybourne Park at The Shadowbox Theatre

Mon, 13 May 2013 04:00:00 -0500

Fri.-Sun. May 17-June 23 | Bruce Norris' Tony Award-winning play takes up where A Raisin in the Sun ends.…

Gypsy at Rivertown Theaters for the Performing Arts

Mon, 06 May 2013 04:00:00 -0500

Fri.-Sun. May 10-26 | In the classic musical, Rose is an overbearing stage mom who drags daughters Baby June and Louise into show business as vaudeville is dying.…

Review: New Orleans Puppet Festival

Will Coviello — Mon, 06 May 2013 04:00:00 -0500

Will Coviello says the puppet fest has grown impressively, but with mixed results by Will Coviello In the opening weekend of shows at the New Orleans Puppet Festival, Skookum Heehee Tumtum Productions made the most of the cavernous space at the Marigny Opera House. The set featured twin scaffolds more than 20 feet tall, and at one point, a character in the story was carried away by an eaglelike suitor to a nest in a flight spanning nearly the full length of the deconsecrated church.…

Wicked at Mahalia Jackson Theater

Mon, 06 May 2013 04:00:00 -0500

May 8- June 2 | The hit musical returns audiences to the world of Frank Baum's Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but the parallel story is based on Gregory Maguire's novel about the lives of Oz's witches. Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, are friends and rivals through the years, and Dorothy and her friends play their parts in the battle.…

Driving Miss Daisy at Westwego Performing Arts Theatre and North Star Theater

Mon, 06 May 2013 04:00:00 -0500

Thu.-Sun. May 9-June 2 | Janet Shea and Donald Lewis star in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a cantankerous old Southern woman, who is white, and a man, who is black, hired to assist her.…

The Adventures of Buttboy and Tigger at The Elm Theatre

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0500

Fri.-Sat. May 3-June 8 | In Steven Dawson's drama, two men chat online and enjoy exchanging ever more vivid and outrageous sexual fantasies.…

Review: Wolfboy

Dalt Wonk — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0500

Dalt Wonk on Mid-City Theatre's drama about two men in an insane asylum by Dalt Wonk The Village Voice once complimented Canadian playwright Brad Fraser for "a grunge sensuality that could seduce a young audience to live theater." The audience for Fraser's Wolfboy on the night I saw it at the Mid-City Theatre was not particularly young, but they seemed to enjoy the drama — if enjoy can be applied to such a dark experience.…

New Orleans Puppet Festival

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0500

April 25- May 5 | The festival includes giant puppets, marionettes and rod and shadow puppets in shows by local and visiting troupes including Harry Mayronne, Mudlark Puppeteers, Puppetkabob, Toybox Theatre and Cripps Puppets. There are family-friendly shows at the Marigny Opera House and adults-only late-night shows at the Mudlark Public Theatre.…

Review: Lockdown

Dalt Wonk — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0500

Dalt Wonk on Junebug Productions' play about New Orleans charter schools by Dalt Wonk Exposing the deficiencies of charter schools was the premise of Lockdown, recently presented at Ashe Cultural Arts Center by Junebug Productions. It should be noted that exposing injustice was always a priority for Free Southern Theater, founded in 1965, a precursor to Junebug.…

Preview: New Orleans Puppet Festival

Will Coviello — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0500

Will Coviello on the second annual puppet extravaganza by Will Coviello The inaugural New Orleans Puppet Festival featured mostly large-scale puppets. This year's festival has grown to two weekends and two venues, includes an array of puppet sizes and styles (marionettes, rod and shadow puppets and more) and offers both family-friendly and adults-only shows.…

Million Dollar Quartet at Mahalia Jackson Theater

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0500

April 16-21 | The Tony-winning musical recreates a 1956 session at Memphis' Sun Records in which Sam Phillips got Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis together in the studio. The show features "Blue Suede Shoes," "Great Balls of Fire," "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On," "Folsom Prison Blues," "Hound Dog," "Fever" and other hits.…