Saturday, December 27, 2008

MBS Productions’ top moments of DFW theater, opera and dance in 2008

By Mark-Brian Sonna of MBS Productions

Another year has gone by. It seems as if everyone is doing their top 10 list for the best and worst in the arts. As a part-time stage critic for Pegasus News I have had the chance to catch a myriad of shows in the last 12 months. Some were good, others great and some really missed the mark. Last year I compiled a biased list (aren’t all lists biased?) of some of the best and worst moments and performances in the North Texas theatre scene (the “Gassy” awards for the worst). Here is the list of the best for the year.

A caveat, I seek out a myriad of shows. I attempt to go to the large venues and catch the “big” shows, but I also try and go to see the smaller shows that few critics ever attend. So while I never saw the Dallas Theater Center’s The Who’s Tommy which undoubtedly will receive many mentions by the other critics, I did get to catch some of the “lesser” shows that produced some exceptionally good work. In other words, this list is not all encompassing though it is wide ranging. For better or for worse here are some of my musings (and not in order of importance):

Killer Leech

1) The most outrageous comical moment happened during the middle of the play Attack of the Killer Mutant Leeches by Dennis Millegan, at the Pocket Sandwich Theatre back in January. The Leech love making scene culminating with the Leech kiss was the stupidest and funniest moment I have witnessed on stage. I still giggle about it nearly a year after having seen it.

2) Thomas Riccio's staging of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari at UTD. Immersion theatre seldom works but in the hands of Riccio it reminds the theatre goer how experimental theatre can be thrilling. He allowed the audience to wander the set during the show thus making the audience unwittingly become part of the growing number of sonnambulists that took over the town.

3) Heath Gage’s sound design for Slaughterhouse 5 at the now defunct Risk Theatre Initiative. While I could never make up my mind if the play was great or just so-so his sound design was impressive.

4) While Joel McDonald’s fight choreography in Labyrinth Theatre’s productions of I Hate Hamlet was a perfect example of what stage combat is supposed to look like it was Miles Brennan’s portrayal of John Barrymore that stood out as the most memorbale of the year.

5) Jeff Swearingen’s multiple performances. For a while it seemed that every other show I went to review he was acting in and, yes, he also appeared in I Hate Hamlet. If I had to pick out his best work it would be in the play The Most Beautiful Lullaby You’ve Ever Heard at Audacity Theatre Lab. I found the play a bit tedious yet his performance kept me riveted.

6) This is a tie: M. Denise Lee’s performance of Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill at Contemporary Theatre of Dallas was absolutely sublime. Terrie W. Justus as The Woman in Veronica’s Room by Ira Levin at Rover Dramawerks was creepy and bone chilling, both performances deserve to be described this way: Stunning!

7) Mary Bridget Davies. Dallas Summer Musicals' Love, Janis was not the most perfect show yet her performance as the “singing” Janis Joplin nearly created a riot at the Majestic theatre. She was so electrifying she nearly blew off the roof of the building. If she ever comes back through town stop what you are doing and go see her.

8) Michael Wright created the most stunning piece of choreography in a dance piece called Loss as part of the SMU School of the Arts’ Division of Dance showcase entitled Common Threads.

9) Dallas Opera’s production of Tosca at the Fair Park Music Hall was indeed a “Grand Opera.” With the exorbitant ticket prices they charge my expectations are sky high. They exceeded them on this production.

10) I had never experiecned what a true show stopping moment was until I saw Hairspray at the Dallas Summer Musicals. Jerry O’Boyle’s duet "You’re Timeless with Me" with Dan Ferretti completely stopped the show. The audience went wild. They received a standing ovation at then end of the number. The commotion and pandemonium was so great the show couldn’t move on until they reprised it.

So there’s the the top 10…well, not really. There was one show in particular that stands out for all areas – from production values to acting to music - aligned themselves to create a seldom seen perfect evening of theatre. And though I’d like to say it was presented by one of the smaller theatre companies I have to give the credit to the Dallas Summer Musicals. They don’t always hit it out of the ball park but it seems that this season they were able to score some unquestionable hits. The best show of the year was:

11) The Drowsy Chaperone. This rivaled anything I have ever seen anywhere, any time, any place.

Soon I’ll present the “Gassy” awards. Yep, there was some oopses out there.

Pegasus News content partner - MBS Productions

Related stories

• Pegasus News week in view: New day edition (Jan. 8, 2009)
• Pegasus News week in view: New Year’s edition (Jan. 1, 2009)
• MBS Productions’ list of bad moments in 2008 DFW performing arts (Dec. 28, 2008)

See more stories in:

• Arts > Fine Arts > Dance
• Arts > Fine Arts > Opera
• Arts > Fine Arts > Theater