http://austinentertainmentweekly.com/2013/02/12/frankie-and-johnny-romance-without-the-fluff/
CiCi Barone has been a good friend for a long time, and I was delighted to see her writing for Austin Entertainment Weekly. I am glad she "got it," in spite of the fact that she had some reservations about the script and the nudity (sorry, CiCi...there was supposed to be a notification about the nudity, which, in fact, does exist at the reservation site). Thank you, CiCi, for a very nice review.
http://www.austinchronicle.com/arts/2013-02-15/frankie-and-johnny-in-the-clair-de-lune/
Thank you, Chronicle. In spite of not liking the script, you liked the show.
So, folks...three more performances. Valentine's Day Special--two tickets for $20. Be there.
The prolific Terrence McNally's play about two middle-agers finding one another and themselves in the course of an evening is well-cast, well-directed, and well-acted in FrogDog's rendition. It's just that the play itself is, well, pretty uneventful. And while everyday situations can turn intriguing when you're dealing with the wordplay of Will Eno, the heightened dramatic conceptualizations of Thornton Wilder, or even the slightest twist of Arthur Miller, this play doesn't boast any of those elements. There's just not much to grab onto – or that grabs you – in terms of the material itself.
ReplyDeleteThis is a shame, because Summer Lyn Bryant and Benjamin Weaver (who play Frankie and Johnny – respectively, of course) are such great fits for their roles, and they portray them well. Ronnie Dobel Prior's direction is both practical and smart, doing its best to create dimension from the fairly flat script. The set (unattributed in the playbill) is one of the best I've seen on City Theatre's stage, and Lee Reid's sound and lighting round out production aspects nicely. Aside from McNally's script, in fact, the production marks a very fine debut for FrogDog, one with a warmly homespun feel. (Bryant addresses her producer's note to "Cast, Crew, and Mom.") It's evident that this play has been brought to the stage by people who are passionate about this new company, and their connectivity shows throughout the production in sincere ways. Certainly, it's a production that deserves to be seen by far more than the 18 people present on the night I attended.