The Little Dog Laughed, City Theatre, June 9 - July 3

City Theatre Artistic Director Andy Berkovsky had wanted to do Douglas Carter Beane's four-character sex farce since at least mid-2009. The title floated out there on the City's season listings, pending availability of performance rights. When City finally got the rights and ran it for four weeks in June and July, the silence was deafening. Not a single review appeared.

The City has faced controversy with equanimity -- a year ago, Paul Ruddick's gay-themed comedy The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told played in this same slot in the season and drew demonstrators and on-line comment (a new one from Oklahoma City just showed up today on the ALT blog (www.austinlivetheatre.blogspot.com)). But silence?

Ruddick's play was a gay spoof of the Bible; Beane's play is a gay spoof of Hollywood, with the thesis that A-List Hollywood actors are obliged to cover up homosexual or bisexual identities because they fear becoming damaged goods at the box office. Perhaps there was no one willing to go to bat for Tinsel Town.

Ruddick's play was pretty silly stuff, done with the exuberance of consciously naughty adolescents. Beane's play is something more. He does launch lots of raucous cheap shots at Hollywood hypocrisy, incarnated in the character the narrator-agent Diane, played by Michelle Cheney. Beane's career as a screenwriter suggests strongly that in this 2006 play he knew what he was talking about. The core of the play, however, is the struggle between commercialized lust and affection.

Read more and view image at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Images by Aleks Ortynski: The Little Dog Laughed, City Theatre, June 9 - July 3

Images by Aleks Ortynski for

The City Theatre's

The Little Dog Laughed

June 9 - July 3

Austin premiere of the hilarious Broadway comedy hit. A fast-paced look at the world of celebrity, Little Dog tells the story of a hot Hollywood actor out to win the role of a lifetime, if he can keep his sexuality under wraps. Add a rent-boy looking for love, his girlfriend looking for a home, and a scheming talent agent out to make the ultimate deal, this wild and steamy comedy is the perfect way to enjoy an Austin summer night.

The comedy stars Victor Trevino and Michelle Cheney and features Micah Sudduth and Keylee Koop. Directed by Andy Berkovsky and Bridget Farias.

June 9 - July 3. Thurs - Sat 8:00 p.m. Sun 5:30 p.m. The City Theatre, 3823 Airport Blvd. Suite D. 78722 – east corner of Airport Blvd. and 38 ½ Street. For reservations, call 512-524-2870 or e-mail info@citytheatreaustin.org. $15 - $20. Front Row Reserved $25. Thursday all seats $10. Group and student discounts. www.citytheatreaustin.org

Click to view additional images by Aleks Ortynski at AustinLiveTheatre.com

Buried Child by Sam Shepard, City Theatre, February 4 - 21

Tom Waits’ discordant, sardonic music is a perfect match for Sam Shepard’s Buried Child. The program doesn't credit anyone, but City's artistic director Andy Berkovsky tells me director Caleb Straus made the choice. Like Tom Waits, Shepard brings us into a world of discord and grotesque despair. He creates a distorted vision of the all American rural idyll.

Think you’ve had a tough time visiting the prospective in-laws? Forget it. Shepard topped your experience, all the way back in 1978, just as Waits was stumbling into alcoholic stardom.

Vince and Shelly take a road trip, heading through Illinois, the heart of America, on their way to New Mexico for an unannounced visit on Vince’s dad. Shelly puts up with Vince’s enthusiasms and anecdotes about this school, that playground and his other narcissistic memories, and then they pull into the drive of a ramshackle farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. Into the middle of a very bad dream.

Read more and see images at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .