Andrew J. Friedenthal

Hey, that rhymes! Sort of.

In any case, it’s been a busy few weeks, so here’s two reviews with a few more to come soon.

Cast shines in Penfold Theatre’s compressed ‘Crime and Punishment’

Charming ‘The Book Club Play’ cracks open its characters

Even as Austin descends into the annual madness of the South by Southwest festival, theater goes on in our fair city! Here’s three reviews to prove just that:

What we can learn from ‘Junk,’ a tale of corporate takeovers set in the 1980s

Hyde Park Theater explores what happens when Nora comes home in ‘A Doll’s House, Part 2’

‘Notes From the Field’ is powerful, necessary and ultimately hopeful

I have a flurry of new reviews coming soon, but here’s just one for now, Austin Shakespeare’s production of Tom Stoppard’s Indian Ink.

Another weekend gone by, another three shows seen! Here’s reviews for several productions actually still playing in Austin.

The Hidden Room’s ‘The Rover’ is a sexy old thriller (this one has my highest recommendation; I didn’t write that headline, I swear!)

‘Xanadu’ will roll into your heart and leave a beat behind

‘For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday’ flies on nostalgia, family dynamics

Here’s two reviews from this past week, and a study in contrasts. One is for a small-scale children’s show that turns out to be interesting and engaging for adults, while the other is for an ostensibly family-friendly blockbuster musical that was lackluster, at best.

New ‘Rap Unzel’ is a show with music, dance and depth for kids and adults

Slow ‘Anastasia’ is neither fairy tale nor accurate history

Here’s a potentially divisive review of the new production of Hedwing and The Angry Inch at ZACH Theatre, which nonetheless features some pretty staggering performances.

My latest review is up–the national tour of Waitress at Bass Concert Hall.

This was an interesting show for me because I’d seen the original Broadway cast, in which Jessie Mueller’s rendition of “She Used To Be Mine” was maybe the single most powerful performance of a song I’d ever seen. The tour was good, but the original cast was, not surprisingly, better.

A new review of a fantastic new play, Gabriel Jason Dean’s Heartland at the VORTEX.

Here’s a new review, of the new musical Paradise at Austin Playhouse!

Southern satire of Austin Playhouse’s ‘Paradise’ is sharp with an unnecessary twist

This came out at the end of the year, but I was too busy being as lazy as possible towards the end of December to actually get it posted here. So, better late than never, here’s my top ten list of local theater in Austin from 2018 (an annual list I write for the Austin American Statesman that’s my favorite thing to write each year)!

Statesman theater critic shares his favorite shows from 2018