Eclectic Theatre

Past

Psycho Beach Party

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Cartoonish parody of Surfer, Hitchcock, Mommie Dearest and Slasher movies

An artist run LGBTQ company, Fantastic Z opened a production of Psycho Beach Party by Charles Busch at Eclectic Theatre this weekend. As a left thinking person who believes in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer rights, I would like to have liked this production; however, there is more to entertaining an audience for one hour and forty minutes, without an intermission, than just playing to clichéd, once shocking stereotypes, repetitive, superficial humor and loud screechy voices.

Past

Shooting the Stars

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Mixed Reaction Reunion with ex-Lover

Shooting the Stars, an In the Moment Theatre production, opened this past weekend at Eclectic Theatre. It was full of nostalgia, for those of us who went to college in the 1970’s in quintessential activitist college towns like Madison, Wisconsin, where it took place. However, the script played on stereotypes and clichés so much that even two very fine actors and a competent director could not rescue it from sit-com and soap-opera predictability.

Past

Of Mice and Men

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“Ain’t many guys travel around together. I don’t know why. Maybe everybody in the whole damn world is scared of each other.”

Expressed one of the major themes in the outstanding stage adaptation of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, which previewed on June 19th at the Eclectic Theatre.

Past

Checkoff in the Sun

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Not quite Chekhov

Checkoff in the Sun, a “World Premier” which is really a sophisticated name for an original script opened this weekend at the Eclectic Theatre, in Capitol Hill. As its name implies, there is a connection between it and Chekhov the Russian playwright. Like many of Chekov’s plays, a group of interconnected relatives and friends are gathered in an isolated country house for a few days and spend the time discussing life’s disappointments.

Past

Total Family Massage: The Musical!

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All happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Leo Tolstoy

For Gay-themed shows, I usually send a 23-year old reviewer who moonlights as a drag-queen, but he was unavailable, so I covered The Total Family Massage. Clearly, I didn’t fit into the demographic for which this show was written.

Past

Flame in the Mirror

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Five Star Production in the Hood

Perhaps the best show I have reviewed this whole season, Flame in the Mirror, opened this weekend, at Eclectic Theatre Company in the Pike/Pine corridor, written by a Capitol Hill homeboy, playwright, John Ruoff.

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