See what ALT patrons are saying...

"The Light in the Piazza" 2010

We really enjoyed "Light in the Piazza" last night.  I didn't want it to end!  What amazing talent we have in Amarillo!  We also were extremely impressed with "Tuesdays with Morie."  The quality of the ALT productions is always superb!  We're so grateful to have such outstanding theater right here in Amarillo and want to say THANK YOU to all who work so diligently, creatively, and tirelessly to make it all happen

~ Joan Horn

"Tuesdays with Morrie" 2010

I read the book and listened to the book on CD, but never had it touch me until I watched Bobby Schaffer and John Bernard.  John, I will never picture Morrie in my mind without seeing your face. Carolyn and I enjoy our membership because we are never disappointed.  Allen Shankles, the cast and crew and even the handsome young man who escorted us to our seats...we have a treasure in the Texas Panhandle.  Thank you all for your hard work and outstanding performances.

~ Loren Brand

Dear ALT Actors, Staff and Board,

I just wanted to thank you for a wonderful evening of entertainment that my 16 year old daughter Rachel and I enjoyed last night (Friday).  My daughter had read the book and watched the Tuesdays with Morrie movie and so I thought that she might enjoy going to see the play with her Dad, so I bought tickets (a big surprise to her!) and we went. We had a wonderful time and both of us loved the play.

We ate dinner afterwards and talked about the play, and you know it was one of the nicest times that I've ever had with my daughter. Thank you for all the work that went into the play and all you do to bring great theatre to the community. We just moved here from Amarillo last summer and this is one the first things we've done in Amariilo associated with the arts. I'm exicted to take my wife, daughter and son back to another play in the future. Thanks again.

~ Lance Robinson, Canyon, Texas

I guess I too have to jump on the band wagon with the praise of this show. I saw it sort of last minute with Joanna this afternoon. I didn't expect to be one of those that affected by it. Well wow was I ever wrong!! What a beautiful story and two of the finest actors to boot. I wish more people my age would discover this precious treasure in Amarillo. I'd rather see real live theatre than a movie any day! Bravo!

~ Sarah Fordham

We went to play yesterday.  It was one of the best we have ever seen.  Those two were superb!  Appreciate you!

~ Ernie & Mary Flippo

This play was an inspiration! While I knew the performances were going to be good (they always are at ALT), I never imagined how spectacular they would would be. And they truly were. I am presently practicing part time (in my retirement) as a Nurse Practitioner with Hospice Care of the Southwest. After 40 some years in the healthcare field, it is not often I am moved to tears. I was last night. John Bernard was so supberb, that I actually saw a man dying, not just someone who was acting. Bobby Schaffer, as Mitch, reminded me so much of loved ones and friends who struggle with the grief one feels, while watching someone die. What I and other received last night was a gift. The lessons this play teaches are immeaurable. Thank you.

~ Rose Ann Smith

I went to an ALT production for the first time this weekend and saw Tuesdays with Morrie.  And, I really enjoyed the show.  The acting by John and Bobby was superb!  The show’s description was spot on.  For such a tender storyline, it was quite funny!  I laughed and cried, but by the end, I felt so good.  It was a fantastic show, and I can’t wait to come back again.

~ Anonymous

I just want to congratulate John Bernard and Bobby Schaffer on their performance last night in TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE and to anyone else who had any part in it.  I think it is probably one of the best things I have ever seen at ALT !   Excellent!

~ Mrs. Johnnie Thompson

As a theatre “rat“ I get to hang around and help with sets, sound and general stuff.  I find that my taste in theatre is the “song and dance” fun musicals.  I know what I like!  I must admit that I don’t like getting preached to or made to feel bad when I go to the theatre. Last night I took advantage of my “rat” status and watched one of the final rehearsals for “Tuesdays with Morrie”.  It’s about a guy dying so I thought no way for me.  I was wrong.  This is such a wonderful story.  I found myself being each one of these guys at different times in my life.  I am always amazed at the musical talent in this town.  I get to see that so many times.  I was stunned by the actors in this story. Truly masterful acting.  During this hour you could tell that actors got older, more mature and how they changed.  They didn’t do this with make-up but by acting.  The set, simple, the tech not seen, but all so true to the story.  Great jobs guys!  This is a must see for all. (Even us musical guys)

~ Gary Graham

"Schoolhouse Rock Live!" 2010

Saw it and loved it!

~ Julia Koumalats

"You Can't Take it With You" 2009

We attended the performance on December 3rd, and it was fantastic!!  Personally I was blown away at the set - you guys just go "over the top".  We had a great evening of laughter and our guests enjoyed it immensely.  Thanks for all you do to entertain us. 

~ Sue Norman

ALT's current production of "You Can't Take It With You" is both well-executed and engaging.  Plays from the 1st half of the 20th century often seem dated; the language is hard to follow, and the situations don't seem to apply to modern life.  "You Can't Take It With You" avoids those traps for the most part.  The themes are ageless and the comedy easily translates into modern sensibilities.

Bright spots include perennial ALT favorites Melanie Sanders and Don Washburn, who provide much of the comedy.  Both use their bodies to play physical comedy very well.  Another standout is Jeffrey Pickens as Mr. De Pinna. He gives a wonderfully bumbling performance, reminiscent of Stan Laurel or the Three Stooges.

The main weakness involves the script.  As is the case with many older plays, it's written in 3 acts,  drags at times, and seems rather choppy, with multiple scenes changes.  Director Allen Shankles even appears between acts to give an apology/warning for the length of the show.  Modern audiences, used to 1-2 act plays will chafe a bit at the pace.  An edit to 2 acts would have been a plus.

Overall, a very classic play with timeless themes, a solid cast, and few obvious weaknesses.  Well worth a viewing.

~ Rusty Robinson

"The Woman in Black" 2009

We saw "The Woman in Black" this afternoon and it was terrific. It's really hard to do a "horror" story in live theatre in this day and age, because of the special effects from the movies having numbed audiences to the point of being blase.

This show was a reminder that it still can be done by combining a good script, solid direction, and outstanding performers. Congratulations on pulling it off.

~ Dr. Rusty Robinson

Last week, I was on holiday in Texas (I'm from London, UK) and we got tickets for your show, "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'' whilst we were there and it was so BRILLIANT!!! It was such a treat and a stroke of luck for us Brit's to be in Amarillo and catch this show, it made our holiday!  Best Wishes!

~ Alice Hawkins

The show on Saturday evening was fantastic!!!!  I have been to many Broadway shows in New York, and I want to tell you that the participants have “nothing” on the folks from Amarillo.  This show was so good, so entertaining….there are not enough adjectives to say how wonderful it was.  What a fantastic group ALT has………….I just can’t say enough!!!!!

~ Lynda L. Gerace-Acton

This was me and my wife's first experience here and it was awesome! What a show! The vocals and acting were great. I would recommend a night out here anytime.I'll be coming back!

~  Kevin and Teresa Kieth

We attended the show on Friday and it was fantastic. The cast, the acting, and the singing were all first rate. That was our first production to attend at the ALT, but it certainly will not be the last.

~  Bob Murray

What FUN!  What a wonderfully timed piece!  Cara worked hard to get that level of comedic timing for the whole cast through the whole show and the business and reaction was really terrific.   

Jeff was a joy to watch through the whole play as was Alexis.  The entire cast was terrific and meshed really well and played just far enough over the top to make our faces and sides hurt well after the evening was over.   Well done to all hands!  4.0

~ John & Linda Miller

I've been in Texas since 1978 performing as a professional musician and working as an educator. I've performed with many, many musical productions associated with Equity playhouses and community theatres. I have to tell you that I am very impressed...extremely impressed with the talent on stage for Smokey Joe's Cafe!! It is absolutely the best community production that I've witnessed; either as a musician in the pit, or as an audience member. I'm very pleased to be a part of this production and am very pleased to encourage my friends to attend.  

Wow! Amarillo is talented, indeed.  

~ Regards,
James A. Rennier, Dean
Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities
West Texas A&M University

Why “Blackbird?” Is that the question? Certainly not because it will leave you humming the final song like we did with “Urinetown” or chuckling over the recognizable characters as we did with “Daddy’s Dyin’ Whose Got the Will.” Much more like “Doubt” or “Pillowman,” Harrower’s “Blackbird” falls back on Aristotle’s definition of tragedy in order to present “incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its catharsis of emotions.” In fact, the author said he wanted to shake people up — and shake us he did. With clever direction from Allen Shankels and some of the most powerfully controlled performances I have every seen thanks to Don Washburn and Melodie Weis, “Blackbird” took my breath away on more than one occasion. Anger, disgust, pity, compassion, confusion. . . I experienced it all within the short 80 minute production. Nothing about this play was easy — not to write, perform, or watch — but that does not mean it was not worthy of staging. It would have been easy for the actors to portray these characters as stereotypes instead of humans wallowing in the grey between truth and fiction. Certainly “Blackbird” isn’t for everyone but then neither is skydiving. As both an actor and a patron, I appreciate how hard Allen and the ALT board work to give us a variety of plays so there is something for everyone. The website gives a description and rating for each play and, although the newspaper wrongly declared it to be a “dark comedy”, the description of the play in the Get Out section left little doubt that the plot was about dealing with an “abusive” relationship. If that type of theatre isn’t for you, don’t buy a ticket to “Blackbird” but wait for “Smokey Joe’s.”

~ Kim Shreffler

I had the pleasure of seeing Blackbird on Sunday, and staying for the Ovation Series afterwards. I agree that it is a tough show, content wise to watch. It is a show that was hard to read as well, but is it hard because of the show or because of how true to life it is. I feel that it probably hits closer to home that many shows that we do at the Adventure space, but I think that we, as a group of artists, should strive to challenge our audience and make them think. That is exactly what this show does. I feel that the show will have its positives and negatives as we have one more week of performances, and we have already had some feedback. I also feel that we did make the right choice in presenting this show, and after our Ovation Series yesterday, I believe that they did too. Kudos to you Allen for choosing this show and to you and the actors for doing such a great job with it.

~ Tana Roberson

~ John and Linda Miller

~ Lynae' Jacob

The premise here is fascinating; the tales of ancient classical playwright Ovid performed in and around a pool of water.  This was clearly a departure for Amarillo theatre goers, many of whom openly admitted before the show started that they didn't really know what to expect.   

The set was stunning, both visaully and aurally.  The colors and hanging panels effectively complimented the water.  Even the costumes, mostly long and flowing, seemed perfectly fitted to the atmosphere being created.  The music and lighting combined with the set to produce a sensous, quasi-mystical feel.    

The performances were generally solid; Kevin Fuller and Leigh Anne Stewart continue to demonstrate their growing talent.  Both young graduates of the ALT Academy, they predict a bright future for the theatre.  The structure and direction of the show were well done also.  Another comlicated show that has been well-crafted by Director Allen Shankles.   

The tales themselves left me a bit confused.  I walked out wondering if I'd missed the point somehow.  The stories are generally very simple.  I thought King Midas was basically a children's story, but the complicated and relatively arcane language of the play combined with the mystical feeling of the set made me wonder if there wasn't somthing else there, some deeper theme or message.  I almost felt I had to concentrate too much, or that there was some "inside" joke or theme I was missing.  

Allen stated in his pre-show speech that the tales were to taken at face value.  I guess I didn't take that admonishment seriously.   

Overall, "Metamorphoses" was a strong production.  The individual pieces were solid, although the show in it's totality may not appeal to everyone.  Another success for the Adventure Space.  

~ Dr. Russell Robinson

Wow!  Thank you for such an eventful evening of theater.  We really enjoyed the performance.  Thank you for presenting such a challenging piece.
 
We were unanimous in our admiration of the cast's ability to perform under difficult conditions.  Their professional approach and delivery was really top notch.
 
This seemed to me to be one of the best productions you have staged in that the timing and flow was nearly seamless.  Props and business were handled extraordinarily well, lines were delivered clearly, the lighting and sound were well done and cued very well.  All in all this was one of the high points in a good season of theater for us.
 
Please let the cast know how much we enjoyed the production.

 ~ John and Linda Miller

~ Dr. Russell Robinson

Our family went to the Civic Amarillo production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat last night.  It was a great play and one that we all enjoyed.  But, I must tell you in all honesty that the ALT production that was done a couple of years ago could easily hold its own and in many cases the ALT production was much better.  The presentation last night did not have any kids in the production, which we really missed.  Cara could easily hold her own with the narrator last night.  Chuck completely blew away their Pharoh. Jeff and Patrick were much better than the actors portraying that role last night.  The play last night had nice choreography, which you expect, but I am very proud of the performance that ALT presented.  The cast of ALT can hold their own with any production that comes to town.  Last night was a very good reminder of the quality of programs that ALT offers and the amount of talent in Amarillo.  My wife and I were wondering if the people sitting around us had seen the ALT presentation because they were amazed at the production last night.  If only they had seen the ALT production they would have realized that ALT is equal to the task.

Thanks for a great job at ALT!!

~ Mike, Cheryl, Danielle, and JT Sherrer

I attended "A Christmas Carol" last Friday evening and enjoyed every minute of it.  Time flew by I was so engrossed in this beautiful production.  I applause ALT for staging such a professional production.

Thanks for a wonderful evening full of the Christmas spirit!

~ Jane Hudson

Wow!  It was wonderful!  The cast, the scenes, fabulous!  Bravo!

~ Valerie Naugle, Bailey Naugle, Martha Duncan, Keely Chumley, Keisha Naugle, Domnique Lehr, Megan Lehr

I consider it a mark of high praise when our conversation in the car on the way home skipped from performer to performer while trying to mark the strongest character.  The entire cast was a strong and vital one.  Thank you for a riveting albeit uncomfortable at times piece of theater.

~ John and Linda Miller

My definition of art has always included the notion that the piece
should prompt both thought and emotion from the viewer. "Assassins,"
recently at ALT's Adventure Space certainly did that. I left the
theatre thinking that I didn't like the overall work; and at first didn't quite understand why, as many of the individual performances were stirring.

Jonathan Cardenas gave a breakout performance as Samuel Byck, who attempted to assassinate Richard Nixon. His barely controlled rage was both menacing and captivating. Brilliant work from a relative
newcomer to the Amarillo stage. Jim Gardner, cast as Leon Czolgosz,
assassin of William McKinley, gave his most satisfying performance to
date at ALT. His substantial acting skills have formerly been overshadowed by his spectacular voice, but not this time.

Other strong efforts included that of Sarah Johnston, who displayed
previously unappreciated vocal ability as Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme,
and the consistently outstanding Jeff Jarnagin as John Wilkes Booth,
who toughed out a very credible performance on the second weekend
despite having laryngitis.

As has also become a standard of the Adventure Space, the lighting,
sound and intimacy of the thrust setting were powerful additions to
the overall feel of the piece. Once again, Allen Shankles has done a
fine job staging a complicated show.

So why did I walk away feeling somehow disappointed? I think the
problem is with the show's intrinsic design. Part of the magic of the
theatre is that it prompts us to suspend disbelief. We can enter an
imaginary world for a short period of time. The depiction of
historical events in the form a musical simply did not allow me to do
that. I think its hard enough for a playwright to deal with historical
events that the audience is mostly familiar with in a pure dramatic
setting. The addition of a musical score, particularly one as quirky
as this, (typical Sondheim-odd rhythms, dissonate melodies) simply did not allow this piece to work for me. I lost the ability to suspend
disbelief on multiple occasions when the music started, despite the
fact that the songs were generally very well performed.

Finally, the idea of displaying these characters in what might be
considered a sympathetic light bothers me a little. Allen remarked in
his directors' notes that he was not trying to make a social or
political comment. But it can't help but be so. Is there truly a
purpose in trying to understand evil? It has always been with us and
always will be. The depiction of several of the characters as victims
of one form or another does not change the fact that their actions
were evil; and you can't separate a man from his actions.

I applaud Allen for having the courage to tackle this show with its'
clearly limited appeal. The Adventure Space continues to be my
favorite theatre setting anywhere. We are lucky to have this venue,
and I hope we never change it.

~ Dr. Russell Robinson

What an incredible show!!! My husband and I just attended the Thursday evening show and it was wonderful!!! Steel Magnolia has always been my favorite movie, and now, I have this production to add to my all time favorites!!! The cast was great, and I loved them all!!! Thank you ALT for this brilliant show, and all your hard work!

Bravo!!! Went to the play this afternoon (Sunday) and loved it. Can't say that I had a favorite actress as you all did a superb job. You all worked so smoothly together. I've seen the movie many times but in person, it's a real treat. Thanks for all your hard work and dedication. Hats off to you all.

~ Sharon Bowers

To whom it may concern; My friend and I had the very distinct privilege of attending the Sun. matinee today, & it was most enjoyable. We thought the casting was excellent & each actor did a wonderful job. Congrats on another fine presentation of ALT. Thanks again for a very pleasant Sunday afternoon.

~ unknown

Wow! Words are paltry things sometimes. Thank you and your marvelous cast for a marvelous evening of theater. The first act was stunning with difficult dialog and tight timing. It showed a great deal of work and polish. The cast was wonderful, accents were good and consistent. The characters believable and well rounded. Just a great evening. Thank you so much for the work that went into this production, it truly did pay off. When most of the audience is in tears you are present at a great moment in theater.

~ John and Linda Miller

What a funny piece. The play was funny with some good lines and good business. Very interesting staging, very simple but very effective. Pulled the audience into the play and got the suspension of disbelief that was needed to work. Jayme was great going over the top or around the bend. Nice business in lots of scenes, very enjoyable. Cara has a nice feel for comedy and the cast worked nicely in their roles to keep the characters straight.

~ John Miller

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