Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Gay List Daily’s March 2009 theater recommendations

By Staff of Gay List Daily

Whether you are the kind of fair-weather theatre buff who only likes new works (especially the ones with gratuitous nudity) or you are just as happy taking in the classics during a matinee filled with blue hairs, March theatre has plenty to offer. Explore the brave new world of experimental shows during the Out Of The Loop Fringe Festival (Emo eyeliner not included), check out a fresh staging of Julius Caesar or go right back to your theatre happy place with standards like Big River, The Pajama Game and The Rocky Horror Show (okay, maybe that’s not considered a classic by everyone’s standards). But whichever your preference, get out and support the arts. ‘Cause a world without show tunes is like a world without sunshine. Or kittens. Or porn.

Say Ides Do: Julius Caesar

Through Saturday, March 7

Not since Baz Luhrmann added angel wings and tranny dance numbers to Romeo + Juliet has the Bard received such a contemporary twist. Level Ground Arts gives a bump to the old “Et tu, Brute?” with actors creating the lights, the sounds and the scenery. So bring your friends, Romans and countrymen for a bold undertaking of this classic Shakespearean work that still clocks in at only two hours with intermission.

Tickets: $10 - $30; Runway Theatre, Grapevine; www.levelgroundfilms.com

Out & About: Out Of The Loop Fringe Festival

Thursday, March 5 - Sunday, March 15

Hmm, think we can get away with calling in sick for 10 days in a row? That’s how much time we need to enjoy the jam-packed schedule of this yearly celebration of theatre, art and dance. Some of the stand outs on our radar gaydar are David Schmader’s Showgirls 2.0, a snarky interactive version of the stripper cult classic; Straight, Schmader’s solo play about the world of “ex-gays” (or as we like to call it “a weekend in West Texas with our family”); and Charles Ross’ One Man Star Wars Trilogy which has our light sabers all aglow.

Tickets: festival pass, $60; individual tickets, $10 - $15

Addison Conference and Theatre Centre, Addison; www.watertowertheatre.org

Huck You: Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Thursday, March 5 - Sunday, March 15

Sure, it may have been years since you read The Adventures of Huck Finn, but now you can sing along to the lovable scamp’s wacky misadventures. Well, technically you can’t sing along, but the aforementioned misadventures will be sung to you. With numbers like “Guv’ment,” “Hand For The Hog,” and “Free At Last,” this show proves that musical theatre is not scared of making any subject matter into a rhyming couplet.

Tickets: $10 - $15; Collin Theatre Center, Plano; www.collintheatrecenter.com

Tops and Bottoms: The Pajama Game

Tuesday, March 10 - Sunday, March 15

A few years ago the musical retelling of a pajama factory labor strike may have seemed dated, but given all the current economic turmoil swirling about, this Doris Day film classic is suddenly way more relevant. But no worries, performances like “Steam Heat” and “Hernando’s Hideaway” still make it campy enough to take your mind off your impending financial meltdown.

Tickets: $15 - $85; The Majestic Theatre, Dallas; www.dallassummermusicals.org

Hot Transylvanian Mess: The Rocky Horror Show

Opens Friday, March 27

Sure, sure, sure, you’ve seen the screen version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show one thousand times and have the fishnets and feather boas to prove it. But have you seen the stage version? We thought not. Well get ready to do the “Time Warp” in the company of some real life thespians. It all starts “with a jump to the left…”

Tickets: $8 - $10; University of North Texas - University Theatre, Denton; www.danceandtheatre.unt.edu/now_index.htm

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