Friday, May 9, 2008

Closing weekend for these 11 theater productions (May 9-11)

By Shawn Parikh

The next few days will be your last chances to see some great work, so try and make it to a few before they close:

• Rain - The Beatles Experience, presented by Dallas Summer Musicals. Covers the Fab Four from their very first Ed Sullivan Show appearance through the Abbey Road album, through the psychedelic late 60s and their long-haired hippie, hard-rocking rooftop days. Rain is a multi-media, multi-dimensional experience...a fusion of historical footage and hilarious television commercials from the 1960s lights up video screens and live cameras zoom in for close-ups. Tickets ($11-71) can be purchased online or by calling 214-631-ARTS (2787).
• Eat (It’s Not About Food), presented by Dallas Children's Theater. This powerful new play by award-winning playwright Linda Daugherty, who brought The Secret Life of Girls, examines the dangerous and baffling world of eating disorders in boys and girls. Using interwoven vignettes, ranging from realistic to satirical to humorous, Eat candidly explores causes and warning signs, takes a hard look at the influences of society and the media, and tells individual stories of young people struggling with this epidemic and too often tragic problem. Purchase tickets ($12-21) online or by calling 214-740-0051.
• Hello, Dolly!, presented by Lyric Stage. When irrepressible matchmaker Dolly Gallagher Levi is hired to arrange a marriage for the miserly half-millionaire Horace Vandergelder, she finds him the perfect mate – herself! But first she must win the heart of her unsuspecting “husband to be” before he gets hitched to somebody else. Brimming with joyful tunes from “Put On Your Sunday Clothes,” “Before the Parade Passes By” and “It Only Takes a Moment” to the irresistible title song, Hello, Dolly! is a delectable treat for musical theater lovers of all ages. Purchase tickets ($24-30) online or by calling 972-252-2787.
• Bent, presented by Uptown Players. A moving story of two gay concentration camp victims who are sent to Dachau and fall in love, using their relationship as an emotional crutch in their efforts to survive the horror of the Holocaust. Purchase tickets ($22-25) online or by calling 214-219-2718.
• All Shook Up!, presented by Garland Civic Theatre. nto a square little town in a square little state rides a guitar-playing roustabout who changes everything and everyone he meets in this hip-swiveling, lip-curling musical fantasy that’ll have you jumpin’ out of your blue suede shoes with such classics as “Heartbreak Hotel”, “Jailhouse Rock,” and “Don’t Be Cruel.” Tickets ($21-25) are available at the Arts Center Box Office or by calling 972-205-2790.
• I Ought to Be in Pictures, presented by Ennis Public Theatre. Neil Simon's three-character comedy-drama focuses on Herb, a struggling, writer's-blocked screenwriter who abandoned his family sixteen years earlier. Now daughter Libby has arrived on the West Hollywood doorstep of the father she barely remembers, convinced he can jump start the film acting career she desires. Dispensing guilt and demanding love, she not only forces Herb to deal with the responsibilities of parenthood, but to come to terms with his on-again/off-again relationship with adoring girlfriend Steffy as well. Call 972-878-PLAY for reservations ($12-14).
• Little Shop of Horrors, presented by McKinney Repertory Theatre. Seymour Krelborn, a downtrodden, lonely wallflower of a floral assistant comes across a unique and exotic plant from outer space that he buys and names Audrey II, after the girl he secretly longs for. Audrey II's appeal turns Seymour into a celebrity and business is booming, but her need for human blood to thrive soon brings out her true nature - that of a nasty, demanding carnivore who, like any good alien, is bent on world domination! Purchase tickets ($18.25-23.50) online or by calling 214-544-4630.
• Beauty and the Beast, presented by Creative Arts Theatre & School. You will be transported to a lovely French provincial town where the beautiful Belle lives with her father – a silly inventor. When her father doesn’t return from a trip to the local fair, Belle rushes off to find him. To her dismay, she discovers he is being held captive in an old castle by a horrible beast. She trades her freedom for his and the “tale as old as time” begins. Fundraiser show. Order tickets ($10-15) online or by calling 817-861-CATS.
• Sing For Your Supper, presented by Azle Arts Association's Popcorn Players. From their first hit song in 1925 through to their final show stopper in 1943, the creative team of Rodgers and Hart were repeatedly changing and redefining the genre of musical theatre with their humor, originality, and cleverness. The phenomenally successful collaboration produced such hit musicals as "Connecticut Yankee," "On Your Toes," "Boys From Syracuse," and "Pal Joey." This smart and elegant revue sets the stage for romance in the first act and eases you into comedy and satire in the second act. With a dozen of the best songs to come from the musical stage with such classic hits as "Johnny One Note,"With a Song in My Heart", "Isn't it Romantic?", "The Lady is a Tramp" and "Falling in Love with Love" you truly hear why this creative team was so successful. Purchase tickets ($5-10) online or by calling 817-238-PLAY (7529).
• Crowns, presented by Greater Lewisville Community Theatre. A musical tribute to the fabulous church hats and the African-American women for whom they are symbolic crowns, a means to express themselves in the presence of God. The story of a Brooklyn girl, staying with her grandmother in the South following a tragedy, is a springboard for an exploration of black cultural history and identity. Call 972-221-SHOW for reservations ($10-13).
• Treasure Island: A Musical Adventure, presented by Word of Mouth Productions. Robert Louis Stevenson's thrilling tale of pirates, treasure maps, mutiny on the high seas and pieces of eight follows Jim Hawkins, an ordinary youth drawn into a dangerous race for buried treasure against the treacherous Long John Silver. As the author himself wrote, "If this don't fetch the kids, why, they have gone rotten since my day." For tickets ($9-15), call 214-734-7326.

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