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 at TheaterJones.com

Jeff Swearingen and Natalie Young in Brad McEntire's RASPBERRY FIZZ

Warm Fizzies
Loop review: Audacity Theatre Lab's Raspberry Fizz is delectable at WaterTower Theatre's Out of the Loop Fringe Festival
by Mike Maiella for TheaterJones.com, Sunday, March 4, 2012

Addison — If you make it up to the intimate Studio Theater at Water Tower Theatre to catch Audacity Theatre Lab's production of Raspberry Fizz, you will be in for a real theatrical treat.

Running at just 45 minutes, the show—written by Audacity's Brad McEntire and directed by Andy Baldwin for the Out of the Loop Fringe Festival—is an endearing portrayal of two adolescents dealing with the awkward tension of young love. Ellson (Jeff Swearingen) has been stopping by the same steps to chat with Samantha (Natalie Young) for the past few days. She seems rather indifferent as she sits reading a newspaper and chewing gum. When Ellson first enters, he is drinking some raspberry fizz. And Samantha wants some, too.

Frustrated but wanting to win her affections, Ellson leaves to go buy her a bottle. When he returns, Samantha now wants some more gum, too. Meanwhile, Ellson repeatedly tries to muster the courage to ask her out to the fall harvest dance. Throughout the show, there is a strange man (Shane Beeson) on the other side of the stage who shouts random outbursts that sound like a carnival barker with his shouts of "step right up, folks!" There is something sinister about him though. He tells Ellson that for a nickel he can look inside a cardboard box and see a glimpse of the future.

The strength of the production lies in the simplicity of both the story and the set. Swearingen and Young are perfect together. He moves and sounds like a young boy. With his shorts pulled up high and donning a small cap, he has the awkward fidgety mannerisms and nervous stuttering of a boy speaking to the girl he has a crush on. And Young strikes the right balance of the girl who acts abrasive and bossy on the surface but actually likes the boy.

There are hilarious moments between them, too. At one point, Ellson very gingerly tries to sit next to Samantha on the step and then just as quickly stands back up when realizing what he is doing. When Samantha tells him to guess what she wants to be when she grows up, Ellson's first guess is a scientist. There is something funny but also tender and sweet in his response.

The show finds a beautiful balance between humor and the earnestness of a young crush. It's a fizzy delight.

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.