Friday, July 25, 2008

11 theater productions including Shakespeare Festival closing this weekend (July 25-27)

By Shawn Parikh

Some great productions are ending in the next few days, so try and make it out while you can:

Othello

All's Well That Ends Well

• Othello, presented by Shakespeare Dallas. Tells the story of when the noble Othello’s love and devout wife Desdemona’s purity succumb to the sinister Iago’s machinations. From the elaborate setting of Carnivale to the barren isle of Cyprus, Shakespeare’s powerful drama of uncontrolled human emotion captivates audiences with jealousy, treachery, murder and love. On Fridays and Saturdays, shows are $10 adults/$7 seniors and students. Runs in repertory with All's Well That Ends Well.
• All’s Well That Ends Well, presented by Shakespeare Dallas. Helena is a humble physician's daughter who is given Bertram's hand in marriage after she cures the gravely ill King of France. Bertram refuses the arrangement but the passionate Helena won't take no for an answer. All's Well That Ends Well tells the story of how Helena struggles to win Bertram's love in this romantic tale of desire and honor. On Fridays and Saturdays, shows are $10 adults/$7 seniors and students. Runs in repertory with Othello.
• Cabaret, presented by Theatre Coppell. A seductive and visceral story of love and war, this musical is the story of Cliff, an American writer who discovers the dilapidated decadence of 1930s Berlin at the dawn of the Hitler era. He falls in with the denizens of the Kit Kat Klub, and takes up with the club's former star attraction, the incredible Sally Bowles. He witnesses the blindness and self-deception of a group of people who allow Nazism to gradually take control while they are emotionally and spiritually fast asleep. Purchase tickets ($10-14) online or by calling the Box Office at 972-745-7719.
• Laughing Stock, presented by Runway Theatre. A hilarious backstage farce and genuinely affectionate look into the world of the theatre. When The Playhouse, a rustic New England summer theatre, schedules a repertory season of Dracula, Hamlet and Charley’s Aunt, comic mayhem ensues. Follow the well-intentioned but over-matched company from outrageous auditions to ego-driven rehearsals through opening nights gone disastrously awry to the elation of a great play well told and the comic and nostalgic season close. Rated PG. Call 817-488-4842 for reservations ($12-15) or purchase online.
• Gutenberg! The Musical!, presented by Amphibian Productions. In this two-man musical spoof, a pair of aspiring playwrights perform a backers’ audition for their new project: a big, splashy musical about printing press inventor Johann Gutenberg. Purchase tickets ($20-26) online or by calling 817-923-3012.
• Project Youth, presented by Flower Mound Performing Arts Theatre. The year is 2110. The earth is on the brink of destruction. Almost all plant life has been decimated. The air has become so polluted that respirators are required to breathe. The levels of the earth's oceans have risen causing landmass to be in short supply. The environment has deteriorated so that human life is close to extinction. Those that remain have fled to the remnants of the rain forests, or to the higher elevations of the mountains. With all desalinization plants destroyed, most of the population has divided into two groups which are warring over what little fresh water is left. Several men and women working in secret have built a safe haven, the Project, for their children. It is a hidden sanctuary built into the side of a remote, high mountain. It is here that they have deposited their children, with just enough supplies to hopefully outlast the catastrophe. But can the children work together and find the secret mission that their parents have devised for them in order to save themselves and the planet? Call 972-724-2147 for tickets ($12-33) or purchase online.
• Noises Off, presented by Stage West. 7 slamming doors, 1 breaking window, 10 trips up and down stairs, 17 false entrances, 73 flubbed lines, 46 miscues, 1 dramatic highlight, 22 double entendres, 6 regular entendres and a million laughs,­ all while trying to find a missing plate of sardines. Mishaps abound, as a second-rate touring company rehearses and opens a farce called "Nothing On." Hilarious beyond belief. Purchase tickets ($15-24) online or by calling 817-784-9378.
• Footloose: The Musical, presented by Repertory Company Theatre. Presenting everyone's favorite rock n roll musical, Footloose. Call 972-690-5029 for tickets ($12-20).
• The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), presented by Duncanville Community Theatre. Call the box office at 972-780-5707 to make reservations ($10-12).
• Seussical, presented by Plano Community Theatre. Call (972) 422-2575 for additional ticket information ($7-14).
• Willy Wonka, Junior!, presented by Denton Community Theatre's Theatre School, for this weekend only. Purchase tickets ($10) at the door.

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