"Stinkers" at Jungle Theater

Friends, I had a little rough day yesterday. No specific reason for it, I was just feeling a little crabby. And then I had to drive to Uptown which makes me really crabby, and then I realized I forgot my wallet at home so I had to drive around and find street parking. But nothing turns around a "little rough day" faster than a show at the Jungle. Specifically a comedy at the Jungle. More specifically a world premiere new comedy at the Jungle, about a family of people having their own kind of little rough days. Whether the rough day is due to not getting the cookie they wanted, or trying to find a way to launder the money they embezzled, they get through it together. And live to face the next little rough day. Stinkers is a hilarious and heartfelt comedy about family, relationships, and a pickup with the hiccups.

"Lone Star Spirits" at the Jungle Theater

Y'all, Jungle Theater's Lone Star Spirits got me feeling all the feels! Hilarious and heart-breaking, it's one of the best plays I've seen this year. Brought to us by wife/husband director/playwright team Sarah Rasmussen and Josh Tobiessen, it features crisply drawn characters beautifully brought to life by a brilliant five-person cast, an incredibly detailed and realistic set, family drama, a poignant exploration of small town life, ghosts, country music, and accidental gunshots. I was laughing throughout the show and wiping away tears at the end, which is pretty much my favorite kind of play. Friends, you'd be wise to get on down to the Jungle between now and May 7 to experience this practically perfect 90 minutes of theater.

"Crashing the Party" at Mixed Blood Theatre

Mixed Blood Theatre's world premiere of Crashing the Party is a ridiculous farce of a play, in the style of the big broad comedies of the 1930s, but dealing with very modern themes.  The plot is a bit convoluted, but that's forgivable when the cast is this great and the laughs are this outrageous.

The party in question is a surprise birthday party (or more accurately, a surprise family dinner) for the hard-working self-made successful businessman who's the head of this wacky family (an appropriately exasperated Joe Minjares).  His wife (the divine Sally Wingert, who's equally good at drama and comedy) has become bored in her role of housewife and fondly remembers the struggling family business in which she worked alongside her husband.  They have two spoiled sons who have never had to work or struggle for anything in their lives.  The youngest son (the earnest Ricardo Vazquez) is fresh out of college and really wants to do something important with his life, even if he has no idea what that is.  The elder son (Rolando Martinez, very funny and adorable in a Josh Gad sort of way) is 30, has several graduate degrees, owns a t-shirt business, and still lives at home with his parents.  He seems to spend most of his time sitting around in his pajamas watching Jeopardy and yelling at the TV.  In addition to the family unit, we also have a new girlfriend trying to impress the parents (Rose Le Tran from last year's Avenue Q), an employee who's discovered a secret (Laura Esposito), a friendly neighborhood police officer who turns out to be not quite what he seems (Ansa Akyea, who isn't afraid to bare it all), and a serious FBI agent (Mo Perry, who was so good as the victim of love in Dangerous Liaisons and is almost recognizable here).  Phew, that's a mixed bag of characters that, along with corporate embezzlement, a surprise stripper, and a false arrest, adds up to some wacky fun.

Crashing the Party is a new play by the husband/wife playwrighting/directing team of Josh Tobiessen and Sarah Rasmussen.  It definitely accomplishes the goal of laughter and escapism, but also has some sweet moments of a family trying to connect.  These are parents who gave their children everything, but in doing so deprived them of that feeling of accomplishment that comes from earning something on your own.

The stage at the Mixed Blood is transformed into a beautifully decorated living and dining room of a home, in a rich color scheme of tan and red.  A packed house (they had to bring in extra chairs to seat everyone) on a Saturday night towards the end of the run suggests good word of mouth.  Audiences seem to be enjoying themselves (as did I), and the cast seemed to be having a pretty good time too.  You only have one more week to crash this party.