Wednesday, May 8, 2019

reviews - COOKIN'S A DRAG - The Phoenix Theatre Company


D. Scott Withers
photo by Reg Madison Photography
highlights from local critics reviews - (click link at bottom of each review to read complete review)

Click here for more information on this production that runs through May 26th.

"...a humorous but not entirely successful production featuring D. Scott Withers as TV cooking show diva Betty D. Licious....Some bits go on too long or are repetitive and, while the characters are fun, upbeat, and incredibly charming and there are some good jokes and visual gags, the show is truly only slightly amusing, and overly long with an opening sequence that is unfocused and chaotic. ..Withers is lovely as Betty and infuses her with an appropriate mix of high strung gestures and frenzied facial expressions to portray the excitable drag queen who is uncertain about her future and questions her past, though from Withers' nuanced portrayal we also see that, underneath, Betty has a huge amount of strength. ...While Cookin's a Drag isn't entirely a drag of a show, as the characters are fun and the cast and creative elements are very enjoyable, it could use a little more time simmering on the developmental stove in order to make a more appetizing meal of a musical." -Gil Benbrook, Talkin' Broadway (click here to read the complete review)

"...The show and its book, written by director Michael Barnard with co-writers Vincent Vanfleet and D. Scott Withers, is labored at best...  The play is really only intermittently funny...  With a first act that clocks in at 75 minutes and a second at 55, add the intermission and the evening runs for much longer than the material deserves...." -David Appleford, Valley Screen and Stage (click here to read the complete review)

"...this overlong, underdeveloped trifle is... packed with culinary sight gags, bad puns and tepid double entendres, which is fine if that’s what you’re into, but it also substitutes easy stereotypes for character development and squeezes a thin, holey plot into the spaces between sketch-comedy musical numbers like “Bacon Conga” and “All in the Packaging” that rarely move the show past its one-joke premise....." Kerry Lengel, Arizona Republic (click here to read the complete review)


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