Pics from CYRANO A-GO-GO

CYRANO A-GO-GO wins Best of Fest

Brad McEntire in Cyrano A-Go-Go

‘The Spark,’ ‘I’ll Regret This Tomorrow,’ ‘Cyrano-A-Go-Go’ win Best of Loop awards 
by Nancy Churnin | DallasNews.com | March 15, 2015 

Out of the Loop passholders selected the three Best of Loop winners at WaterTower Theatre’s 2015 Out of the Loop Fringe Festival: The Spark for the main stage, Cyrano-A-Go-Go for the Stone Cottage and I’ll Regret This Tomorrow for the Studio space. The results were announced by WaterTower Theatre Sunday on the final day of the 10-day festival. 

Each has deep local roots. 

The Spark, a world premiere about a father who tells imaginative stories to his daughter, was WaterTower’s entry in its festival and was directed and written by Kelsey Leigh Ervi, who co-produced the festival with WaterTower’s artistic director Terry Martin. 

Cyrano-A-Go-Go, a monologue about the historical impact of the play, Cyrano de Bergerac, and what it meant to an impressionable young teenager who checked it out of a local library, was the second win in a row for Dallas-based Audacity Theatre Lab and Brad McEntire, the writer and star of the one-man show. 

I’ll Regret This Tomorrow offers a witty cabaret act by New York-based Tori Scott, who grew up in Arlington and wove stories of performing at Theatre Arlington into a performance backed by a three-person band.

Original post... HERE

CYRANO A-GO-GO in the Dallas Observer

Brad McEntire in Cyrano A-Go-Go

Some Strong Solo Turns at WaterTower's 14th Out of the Loop Festival 
By Elaine Liner | Tue., Mar. 10 2015 | DallasObserver.com 

Unrequited love, that hard right to the heart, that sharp cut to the gut, has inspired two good new solo shows by local actor-writers Van Quattro and Brad McEntire. Quattro's Standing 8 Count and McEntire's Cyrano A-Go-Go were audience faves on the opening weekend of the 14th annual Out of the Loop theater festival at Addison's WaterTower Theatre. 

 . . . 

Cyrano A-Go-Go also uses lost love as a theme, weaving in the history of Edmund Rostand's timeless play about the big-nosed romantic who is so insecure around women. Cyrano speaks his passionate thoughts through a handsome (but dumb) surrogate. McEntire unmasks his own hard lessons as a young performer, romantically and professionally. "Unrequited love was, by default, my love of choice," he says at the top of the one-hour show, presented in casual lecture format. 

McEntire acts some of the loveliest bits of Rostand's original Cyrano, occasionally digressing to discuss other topics. He refers to the "optimal experience" and the "flow" of true happiness, which McEntire says he felt as a high school kid in Carrollton, plucking Cyrano de Bergerac off a library shelf and reading it twice in one afternoon. 

"It takes a big-hearted character actor to play Cyrano," McEntire says in his play. And a man who's felt some heartbreak, too. (This one produced by Audacity Theatre Lab goes on again at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 13; and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 15, in the Stone Cottage at WaterTower.) 

 Out of the Loop Festival continues through March 15 at WaterTower Theatre, 15650 Addison Rd., Addison. Tickets, $10 per show, 972-450-6232. 

Original article... HERE

CYRANO A-GO-GO at OOtL

CYRANO A-GO-GO is an exploration of one restless theatre artist's fascination with the swashbuckling 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. A chance encounter with the script at a suburban public library at the age of 15 leads to a cruel and wonderful calling. Presented as an old-school oration the piece mixes the personal, historical and literary into a journey through Rostand's play.McEntire presents a funny, warm, insightful meditation on the nature of theatricality, the nobility of personal identity and the hard-won lessons of love, unrequited and otherwise. 

Playing as part of the 2015 Out of the Loop Fringe Festival 
 WaterTower Theatre at the Addison Theatre Centre 
Stone Cottage Theatre 
15650 Addison Road, 
Addison, TX 75001 

Saturday March 7 – 5:00 pm 
Friday March 13 – 7:30 pm 
Sunday March 15 – 7:30 pm 

TICKETS: Single tickets to all events go on sale Feb. 24. Festival Passes, now on sale, include one admission to each Festival event and are $65. WaterTower Theatre subscribers receive $10 off each Festival pass. Individual ticket prices for each event are $10 or $15. 

More ticket information at 972-450-6232 or via email at: boxoffice@watertowertheatre.org 

More info... HERE

ROBERTS' ETERNAL GOLDFISH wins 'Best of Loop'

‘Trick Boxing,’ ‘No Show,’ ‘Roberts’ Eternal Goldfish’ win Best of Loop

By Nancy Churnin | Dallasnews.com | March 15, 2014

Trick Boxing won Best of Loop for main stage, No Show: a One Woman Show for the studio space and Audacity Theatre Lab’s Roberts’ Eternal Goldfish won for the Stone Cottage space, it was announced Saturday. Of the three, only Roberts’ Eternal Goldfish is in town (fitting if you know Brad McEntire’s show about a goldfish that will not die), so that’s the only show that will be getting an encore. The goldfish will be swim in the Studio space Sunday at 7:30. It’s a good show that I wrote about in my Loop review here. Catch it if you can. 

Plan your life 
The 2014 Out of the Loop Fringe Festival continues through Sunday at WaterTower Theatre, 15650 Addison Road, Addison. $10, $65 pass. 972-450-6232. Find more information here.

Original HERE

Nice ROBERTS ETERNAL GOLDFISH write-up in the Dallas Observer

Out of the Loop Festival Brings 19 shows to WaterTower Theatre

 By Elaine Liner  | DallasObserver.com | Thursday, Mar 13 2014

The spring theater season begins with WaterTower Theatre's Out of the Loop Fringe Festival, which isn't a "fringe festival" at all but a juried collection of plays, solo performances, dance and music on three stages. This year's event, running through March 23 (and co-sponsored by the Dallas Observer), features 19 shows by various companies, some of which played only the first weekend, some only the second.
...
Audacity Theatre Lab's Roberts' Eternal Goldfish, written and performed by Brad McEntire, was a Loop standout (not running the second week). A bitter man, once left stranded in the ocean during a family snorkeling trip, has a life-altering epiphany thanks to a seemingly unkillable pet goldfish. McEntire's an expert at swimming solo onstage, charming the audience with sly looks and inventive storytelling.

Original post HERE

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ROBERTS ETERNAL GOLDFISH on PegasusNews.com

Robert's Eternal Goldfish

Reviewed by Richard Blake | PegasusNews.com | March 11, 2014

I’ll never look at a goldfish the same way again... ever! 

In this one-man show created and performed by Brad McEntire, you come face to face with Mr. Charlemagne J. Roberts. Roberts has a huge problem with people -- all people. One day he becomes the unlikely custodian of a magical goldfish, and Roberts' misanthropic view of the world is seriously challenged.

I have the utmost respect for one-man/woman shows and the ability of one performer to hold an audience captivated. It is a tremendous task to accomplish, and to do it with excellence as McEntire does for about an hour, is a testament to his outstanding level of talent! 

His character is engaging, illicit, antagonistic, and sometimes on the verge of a bit psychotic, yet every moment you hang on his every word, always wondering where he is taking you on this seemingly disjointed journey of self-awareness and discovery. There are sections where he directly engages the audience, either for motivation or out of the sheer joy of causing patron uneasiness, but whatever the actual reason, it’s brilliantly done. In the end, you discover yourself looking at his character with a different emotional understanding than when you begin, and a sense of compassion that comes from a place you can’t describe. 

McEntire is also the playwright, and in that arena he also shines. His character has an arc, albeit a strange and seemingly psychotic one, but it is there and it’s very powerful to watch evolve. The story takes you on a precisely laid out journey through one man’s psyche while making you feel like you shouldn’t be there, listening. The comedic elements allow necessary relief, and filter the sometimes harsh and intense moments. Without them, the story would be so overwhelming, you would lose interest. 

Robert’s Eternal Goldfish works, and McEntire does everything perfectly in his writing, only overshadowing it with his stellar performance in it! 

Original post HERE.

ROBERTS ETERNAL GOLDFISH in TheaterJones.com

Loop Review: Beware of Plastics / Robert's Eternal Goldfish 
In this odd double bill of Actor's Conservatory Theatre and Audacity Theatre Lab, Brad McEntire once again proves himself a master storyteller. 

TheaterJones.com | by Kris Noteboom | published Saturday, March 8, 2014 

 ... 

If the first show in this double feature was the beginners, then Audacity Theatre Lab’s Robert's Eternal Goldfish is the master. Created and performed by Brad McEntire, he plays Charlemagne J. Roberts, a man filled with hate. 

He begins by recounting a tale of a snorkeling excursion gone wrong. This lays the groundwork for his generally negative outlook towards life. However, after a chance and tragic encounter with his polar mood opposite, a particularly cheerful young woman, Roberts finds himself buying a goldfish in tribute to her. 

Of course, being such a sad sack, Roberts soon grows tired of the fish and flushes it. But, there’s something wrong. This fish doesn’t seem to die. 

One of McEntire’s many talents is being able to couch very real meditations on life into extraordinary stories. This show allows him to flash his bad boy side with hilarious ends. Normally a very pleasant man, it’s a lot of fun to see McEntire mean and complain about everything. His commitment to the role is believable and laugh inducing. Yet, when it’s all said and done, both Roberts and the audience learn a little something. 

This double feature performance is a strange pairing. The shows have nothing in common and represent a huge gap in talent and experience. That said, it’s worth giving the girls of Beware of Plastics a chance, if only to get to the awesome Roberts’ Eternal Goldfish. 

  original post HERE.

Coming Soon... ROBERTS ETERNAL GOLDFISH

In ROBERTS' ETERNAL GOLDFISH, a new solo show by Brad McEntire, the audience comes face to face with Mr. Charlemagne J. Roberts. Roberts has a huge problem with the world. In particular he dislikes people. One day he becomes the unlikely custodian of a magical goldfish and Mr. Roberts' misanthropic view of the world is seriously challenged. 

 Playing as part of the 2014 Out of the Loop Fringe Festival 
WaterTower Theatre at the Addison Theatre Centre 
Stone Cottage Theatre 
15650 Addison Road, Addison, TX 75001 

Friday March 7 – 7:00 pm 
Saturday March 8 – 8:00 pm 
Sunday March 9 – 5:00 pm 

TICKETS: Single tickets to all events go on sale Feb. 18. Festival Passes, now on sale, include one admission to each Festival event and are $65.  WaterTower Theatre subscribers receive $10 off each Festival pass. Individual ticket prices for each event are $10 or $15.  Loop passholders may make reservations starting February 11, 2014. 

More ticket information at 972-450-6232 or via email at: boxoffice@watertowertheatre.org

More info about the show... HERE

Opening minutes of RASPBERRY FIZZ

Another delightful RASPBERRY FIZZ review

Theater review: Raspberry Fizz at Out of the Loop Fringe Festival in Addison

PegasusNews.com - Thursday, March 8, 2012 - by Mary L. Clark of John Garcia's The Column

In the continuing saga of the Out of the Loop Fringe Festival, I journeyed back over to Addison Theatre Center to see two individual theatre's one-acts. A gusty, cloudy evening made for perfect play watching in their Studio Theatre.

First up was Audacity Theatre Lab and what was described as "A Sweet New Play" by local playwright and founder of Audacity, Brad McEntire. Entitled Raspberry Fizz (playing once more on March 9), a sweet play it was, set in 1949, when Truman was president and minimum wage was going up to 75 cents an hour. Dubble Bubble was the gum of choice, that fizzy soda was only 5 cents, and the worst thing you would ever say to someone was "Go suck an egg!"

A mysterious street corner barker sits in front of a record player and a taped up box. At intervals, he puts the needle on the record and tells passersby to witness "the expected, the unsuspected." Reciting short tales of unusual events, oddities, like those in the back of sensation rags, the barker then returns to his stool and paper.

Ellison has come to that same corner for the last five days, in particular to the stoop where high school friend Samantha has been, with an important question to ask her. But the "cat's got his tongue" and he just can't muster up the courage. Talking about what they want to be when they grow up, "Sam" teases "Ellie," calls him a sap and a square, and generally they both pass the time. Samantha is a flirt who gets poor Ellison to buy her things. As he leaves to purchase gum, he passes the barker, asks him what he's up to, and the con begins. In what McEntire describes as "a heart-warming exploration of expectations and the potentialities of the unmapped future tied up in ... an encounter between two young adolescents in small town America, Raspberry Fizz reminds us of an innocence we'll never see again.

All three actors used their talents to take the audience to that more innocent time -- when dreams were made on the steps of a stoop instead of playing the lottery or getting on a reality TV show. Your future or fortunes could change for just a nickel.

Shane Beeson played the barker with the friendly yet smarmy personality a good con artist needs. Both older than their characters, Natalie Young and Jeff Swearingen played that bygone era's youth with sincerity. Not trying to fake younger, they instead relied on the emotions of great potential all Americans felt coming out of World War II. Young was all smart-alecky, gum chewing, and kidding around as Sam. Swearingen made use of his natural clown/comic facial and body gestures to portray put upon Ellison as a true sad sack.

A thoughtful conception piece, a fun trip down a memory lane I traveled a bit of, and a sweet slice-of-life, coming-of-age play made Raspberry Fizz a tiny wonderment.

original post here.

Another swell RASPBERRY FIZZ write-up

Jeff Swearingen as "Ellson" in Brad Mcentire's RASPBERRY FIZZ

Review from Out of the Loop: Good Actors, Director Bring ‘Raspberry Fizz’ to Life

D Magazine FrontRow Blog - By M. Lance Lusk - March 5th, 2012 10:34am

Take two of the best actors in North Texas, put them in a fresh play by a local playwright, and give them a director (Andy Baldwin) who knows how to craft and elicit amazing performances, and you got something. It seems like a simple formula, but it is one too often overlooked in a lot of plays. Audacity Theatre Lab provides that straightforward prescription in their delightful and rousing production of Brad McEntire’s Raspberry Fizz at Water Tower Theatre’s Out of the Loop Fringe Festival.

The scene is 1949 in small town U.S.A., and young Ellson (Jeff Swearingen) is trying to screw up his courage to ask his adolescent classmate Samantha (Natalie Young) to the Harvest Dance. Throw in a bizarre carnival barker (an understated Shane Beeson) peddling mysterious wares on the corner who is not making things easy for “Ellie.”

Again, it is a modest setup, but one that is truly magical in these able hands. Swearingen (The Hand at Broken Gears and many plays at Plano Children’s Theatre) captures the essence of a sweet, yet annoying and awkward proto-nerd. He’s a hoot in high pants. Young (Red Light Winter at Second Thought) as the tough and fast-talking Sam is an incandescent ball of gum-chomping charm. She nails the wisecracking smarts and speech patterns of those screwball comedies from the 1930s and 40s.

The right ingredients make this Fizz beyond refreshing.

Original post here.

 

RASPBERRY FIZZ press

"As part of a double bill, Brad McEntire’s world premiere for Audacity Theatre Lab, Raspberry Fizz, proves slight but charming under Andy Baldwin’s direction. This tale of adolescent longing gives the city’s hottest young actress last season, Natalie Young, a chance to flirt knowingly with one of our funniest performers, Jeff Swearingen."

~ Lawson Taitte, Dallas Morning News, 3/3/12

RASPBERRY FIZZ opens next week!

The newest play from an Audacity artist, Brad McEntire's RASPBERRY FIZZ will recieve its World Premiere at the Addison Water Tower Theatre's Out of the Loop Fringe Festival March 3-9, 2012. Andy Baldwin will direct and fellow ATL member Jeff Swearingen will act. Cast also includes well-known Dallas actors Natalie Young and Shane Beeson.

Performance dates and time are:
Saturday, March 3 at 8 PM
Sunday, March 4 at 7:30 PM
Tuesday, March 6 at 7:30 PM
Wednesday, March 7 at 7:30 PM
Friday, March 9 at 8 PM

RASPBERRY FIZZ is an exploration of expectation and the potentialities of the future tied up in a tender and humorous slice-of-life coming-of-age encounter between two adolescents in 1949, in small town America.

More info as well as tickets at the Out of the Loop website. Consider a "Festival Pass" and catch all the great shows at the Festival!

OOTL flyer cover

Nice...

RASPBERRY FIZZ cast announced!

Director Andy Badwin has put together a top-notch cast for the upcoming production of RASPBERRY FIZZ at the 2012 Out of the Loop Fringe Festival. Here they are!

Natalie Young will play "Samantha" the gum-chewer

Shane Beeson will play the mysterious street corner "Barker"

Jeff Swearingen will play "Ellson" the kid that can't stop moving.

Out of the Loop 2012 promo video

Raspberry Fizz at Loop 2012

Wonderful news! We have just received word that Brad McEntire's new play RASPBERRY FIZZ has been accepted into the 2012 Out of the Loop Fringe Festival at the Water Tower Theatre in Addsion, Texas. This will be the eighth appearance of an Audacity piece in that festival (if you count the old Audacity production days) and it is an excellent place to World Premiere work.

Better yet, local theatre artist Andy Baldwin has agreed to come on board to direct and ATL member Jeff Swearingen will step into one of the main acting parts.

Andy Baldwin: Director

RASPBERRY FIZZ is a thematic exploration of expectation and the potentialities of the future tied up in a slice-of-life coming-of-age encounter between two young adolescents in 1949, in small town America.

Look for it in early March of 2012. More information as details develop. 

GREAT GOD off to a good start

Loop Review: I Have Angered a Great God
Audacity Theatre Lab gets Tiki with it at Out of the Loop.
by Kris Noteboom
published Monday, March 7, 2011

If there’s one thing theater sometimes needs, it’s a lighter side. In a landscape strewn with weighty dramas, the occasional quirky comedy is an oasis for the laughter-famished gut.

And in I Have Angered a Great God, Audacity Theatre Lab gives the audience that healthy dose of comedic nourishment they so desperately need.

The brainchild of Audacity founder Brad McEntire, I Have Angered a Great God takes the audience on the flashback-laden tale of Robert von Ritchie Ritchie (Oscar Contreras), as he tries to figure out just what he did to spark the wrath of an ancient Tiki god (Jeff Hernandez).

Much of this introspection is accomplished in the office of his therapist (Jeremy Whiteker), who coincidentally also happens to treat Robert’s now ex-girlfriend, Martha (Angela Parsons), and the Great God itself. Due to a crippling selfishness, Robert is oblivious to how his actions affect those around him, particularly the Great God. Naturally, he comes to realize his mistake and make amends, but not until after most of his friends and family have paid the price in his stead.

Opening with a rapped prologue complete with cardboard cut-out Tiki gods, McEntire quickly establishes the expectations for the performance. It’s gonna get a little weird…but, in a good way.

Jokes pepper the non-sequential, sometimes hard to follow, script, and while they don’t always fully land with the appropriate oomph, McEntire’s offbeat sense of humor still manages to shine through.

Parsons and Whiteker bring substantial comedy chops with them to the production, and it shows. With all apologies to Hernandez, whose lines under his giant, cardboard Tiki head consisted of a series of grunts and barely decipherable words, Parsons and Whiteker stood apart from the bunch when it came to communicating McEntire’s unique comic voice.

McEntire himself, who delivers the opening rap and plays several other minor characters, channels Graham Chapman with his deadpan delivery. The purest measure of a truly gifted comedic performer is their ability to make any character funny. McEntire does that with his turns as a barista and a MENSA rep.

I Have Angered a Great God is a quirky romp through the human psyche, externalized in the visage of a blue-clad Easter Island escapee. The comedy is sometimes bungled in the delivery, but enough of it connects that this remarkably peculiar, yet boldly inventive, story comes out all smiles.

◊ I Have Angered a Great God plays at the Addison Theatre Centre's Stone Cottage. View a full Out of the Loop Fringe Festival schedule here.

One critic's opinion of GREAT GOD

Loopy lite 2011: Audacity Theatre Lab’s I Have Angered A Great God

Alexandra Bonifield - Mar. 8, 2011 - CriticalRant.com

Audacity Theatre Lab produces some outstanding work regionally, so I was curious to see their show. According to the program notes, this is company founding artistic director Brad McEntire’s sixth presentation at Out of the Loop. Although it had a modicum of artistic continuity with respectable acting performances, the short work was less than compelling to watch.The rap-style prologue went on too long (don’t tell me what you’re going to show me, just show me) and its cardboard cutout puppets failed to amuse me or hold my interest. The female puppet lost a leg early in the show, inspiring polite tittering and causing improvised script adjustments. I expected more creative depth from Audacity, felt disappointed by what appeared to be very hastily thrown together. Pay to see this? Really? Acting ensemble: Oscar Contreras, Angela Parsons, Jeff Hernandez, Jeremy Whiteker and Brad McEntire ~AB