Hello from Texas! I am finishing up the last few hours of my 9 day trip to Austin, Texas with my thoughts on 2 live shows I got to experience during my trip. Unfortunately I got a bad case of Texas allergies and was pretty sick especially at the end of my trip so it’s been a challenging trip but I am always glad when I get to see live theatre whether I’m at home or abroad.

DANCING AT LUGHNASA- CITY THEATRE AUSTIN, AUSTIN TEXAS

I love finding small community theatres across the country to support and encourage in their productions, so I was thrilled when City Theatre Austin accepted my request to come and review their latest production of the play Dancing at Lughnasa. This is one of those plays I had heard of but had never seen and of course I know of the movie version starring Meryl Streep although I have also never seen that. So I went to CTA not knowing what to expect and I left having seen a delightful piece of community theatre with a big heart attached to it.

Dancing at Lughnasa won the Tony Award for best play in 1992 and was written by Brian Friel. The production at CTA is directed by Peyton Trahan with artistic director and manager Andy Berkovsky leading things along. The stage for the play is at a church and the sets and props stay constant throughout the runtime.

The most important factor to the success of a play like this is are the sisters a believable family unit? Do they have chemistry together so they can sell the scenes and fortunately I’d say the cast at CTA has chemistry in spades. They also all did well with their Irish accents which I found impressive for community theatre. My favorite of the women were Josie Hood as Kate and Catherine Woodiwiss as Maggie. I also enjoyed Moses Kutz as the narrator Michael who is an old man remembering this time with his Mother and aunts.

I was also impressed that it didn’t appear any of the actors were microphoned and yet they all projected well. I do think the actors could move around a little more as much of the action was spent sitting at the family table. For a play with dancing in the title there’s not much of it to be found and that can make it a little dry in spurts.

Still, if you are a someone who has sisters or family of any kind you should be able to relate to the dynamics going on with these 5 sisters. It’s real and honest and explores the deep topics of life with everything from war to religion to what makes a fulfilling life.

If you are in the Austin area check out City Theatre Austin. I know I will be on future trips. Dancing at Lughnasa plays through March 31st and one can purchase tickets here.

COME FROM AWAY- NATIONAL TOUR, MAJESTIC THEATRE, SAN ANTONIO

I have long wanted to see Come From Away on the stage but hadn’t had the chance aside from the excellent pro-shot that is available on Apple TV (which I highly recommend.) Needless to say I jumped at the chance to see it with my friends when visiting San Antonio as part of my trip. And even though I was not feeling well it still wowed me as a heartfelt and human musical.

Come From Away has music, book and lyrics by Irene Sankoff annd David Hein and it tells the story of what happened in Newfoundland when 7000 people were transferred there after the Sept 11 attacks. What this show does so well is it takes on weighty themes of loss, racism, war, fear and more but it tells its story with such humanity and warmth that it all works. I was so impressed with how many stories it manages to tell in a relatively brief 100 minute runtime.

Technically Come From Away is a simple show with mostly chairs that are rearranged to make the plane and other rooms for the passengers so it’s really all about the writing and characters and these are winners. They didn’t give us a program (which is very annoying for Broadway level pricing) but the highlights are probably Hannah singing “I Am Here” and Beverley singing “Me and the Sky.”

Truly it is the ensemble that makes Come From Away special. It’s one of those shows I have a hard time imagine anyone disliking. It’s such a positive yet impactful musical. If the tour is coming by you I recommend giving it a watch.

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