Another year, another epic TX wrap up (really more of a novella), where no attempt to be brief has been made. We showed up and now it’s time to rant, rave and revel in the bounty of performance in Texas! Please enjoy the musings of some of our trusted scribes, Tarra Gaines, Tara Munjee, Lindsey Wilson, Sherry Cheng and yours truly.
NEW AND NEWISH GROUPS
TG: While I don’t know that we had any brand new companies join the Houston theater community, two that began last year, Lionwoman Productions and Houston Broadway Theatre have continued to produce this year. HBT’s darkly hilarious American Psycho has my nod for one of the best musicals of the year.
MOST CONNECTED TO CURRENT POLITICS
TG: This year, I almost want to say it would be easier to list shows that weren’t political in one way or another. But for some of the biggest reminders of our interesting times. . .
Donald Trump showed up as a character in Houston Broadway Theatre’s American Psycho and something like the ghost of Christmas future lingering in the monologues on loyalty and political ruthlessness from Roy Cohen in Angel in America at Rec Room. And the Mildred’s Umbrella production at the JCC of The Last Yiddish Speaker gave a very scary depiction of an alternate U.S.
BEST DESIGN
TG: American Psycho, design seeped, like a bloody crime scene, all the way out the Zilka Theatre house, turning the Hobby Center Lobby into an 80s video store. Even the programs looked like a slick 80s magazine. Rec Room always does amazing work in their very small space, and this year their ultra realistic garage turned DJ studio in Toros was another marvel. I highlighted both Rec Room’s Stefan Azizi and Leah Mazur in my story about small stage design.
MOST FUN
TG: Eureka Day at 4th Wall was definitely one of the funniest shows I saw this year. I appreciated the balance of cutting satire with compassion for those being satirized. The very flawed, very funny characters never became caricatures. And I tend to love macabre humor, so I found American Psycho to be great, dark fun. And for silly fun, the not-dead Romeo’s Bon Jovi entrance in the touring & Juliet had me giggling.