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Review of Das Barbecü by Anna B.Das Barbecü (don’t forget the umlaut) is all good fun. Really, it is. If Wagner’s epic 15+ hour opera (known as Der Ring des Nibelungen) ran full tilt into Texas, this musical was the result. Stern and somber Teutonic gods, made over with the addition of a guitar, fringed vest, and cowboy hat, suddenly blend in with the desert scenery. Add some twangy country music, thick accents, and a bit of two-step and that’s Das Barbecü. It’s an amazing show—confused fiancés, meddling parents, dancing triplets, a spiteful dwarf—these all make for quite an entertaining plotline. It even won over the skeptical redhead I invited to attend with me.Jennifer Sue Johnson, Carter J. Davis, and Billie Wildrick (The Norn Triplets) in Das Barbecü photo by Chris BennionBut this is just Das Barbecü by itself. If you look slightly deeper then the surface (i.e. deeper then the "y’alls" scattered liberally throughout the play), Wagner is still there. His themes of true love, nobility and sacrifice resonate throughout the play, and the humanity of his gods and men remains. Das Barbecü does not mock Wagner’s Ring, despite the Texas twang. It presents the same passionate saga, it's just more accessible (and funnier, too). This musical really is the Ring—despite the immense barbecue in the middle. And though you may not have a cynical redhead to provide occasional sarcastic commentary, you still can find much amusement in Das Barbecü. Siegfried and Brunnhilde will win you over soon enough—despite the, erm, familial issues with their relationship.- Anna B.Thursday, August 6thDas BarbecüACT TheatreThrough September 6thDid you see this show? Leave a comment and tell everybody what you thought!

to the cast and crew of RENT shcool edition, you were all absolutely fabulous. You've raised the bar for summer drama school theater. This one will be very, very hard to top. I was totally impressed by all the kids in this show and the energy everyone of them brought to it. My heart swells with joy to see such wonderful young and talented people put so much effort into creating something that was authentically moving. Unless your veins are filled with ice water, how could you not be moved when seeing all of those young actors on stage singing Seasons of Love with all of their hearts? Yes, there were a few rough spots. Thank god! Otherwise I would have wondered if these kids were actually human. I think most who saw the show would agree that the stage was filled with talented teens from the lead roles to every member of the ensemble cast. I loved the message machine moms and agent. I loved Maureen's Over the Moon. It was over the top with the TV screens and that girl can sing. Her and Joanne were phenomenal in their duet Take Me Baby. Those two girls have got some pipes. Everyone was terrific. Tom and Angel moved me to laughter and then tears. Mark was well cast and very well played. Just a terrific job by all involved. I'm surprised by some of the comments left on this page. My feeling from reading them is that someone didn't get selected to be in the show and is very bitter about it. I would be disappointed too if I had not been selected to be a part of this cast and this show. The real reveiws came from the audience. A standing O.

I'm 14 and have done some childrens/teen theatre here. I am really sure this person is not telling the truth. If some kid my age was getting paid and doing productions in two weeks, I think I would have heard of it. The theatre community is pretty tight. This person probably just enjoys making feel bad, and they are probably like 10 and is just making up stories.

I think we should let up on this "14 year old kid". Obviously, he or she has serious issues. We all know they are lying. If something like what he or she was taking about actually was real, don't you think it would be all over the news? Don't listen to this person, he/she is full of lies and is probably some creepy 40 year old man who gets a thrill from speading hate over the internet. We should all ignore this mentally ill person and just review the show. They probably just do it for the attension anyway.

Rent Cast: Don't take the bait. There is no such thing as a musical theatre event on the scale of what you did with the equivalent choreography and character development anywhere in Seattle that is done in two weeks. Even if the deck is fully stacked with adult equity talent whom by the way would not have the time to rehearse 24/7 to pull such a show off in two weeks. Maybe in concert but that is it and that rarely involves kids. It's a non-starter. This is nothing but smoke and bravado at play here. Likely many of you have worked with him/her before because the theatre community in this town is pretty tight. Do you know any 14-year-old that could have done a significantly better job in two weeks that you did? Thought not. Be confident and happy with what you showcased. It was terrific. Bravo!

To the SCT Rent Cast: As a 20+ year theatre professional, including many Broadway shows, you have done an amazing job with Rent. I thoroughly enjoyed it. That said, the blog comments are actually giving you a great lesson in showbiz: You could be great, and you'll have harsh critics no matter how great you are. Just keep doing what you love, and work your butt off while having fun. Get your high from the positive comments, and learn from any mistakes to do even better next time.To the 14 yr old theatre "pro" who's commenting from the peanut gallery: Fine, you added your perspective. But I truly hope you're getting similar feedback from any show you're in, since we all know your sh%*$t stinks just like anyone else. If you don't believe me, try it as a science experiment.

Sorry, I'm writing on a blackberry and I keep making spelling mistakes. Sorry for the grammar issues.

Adrian, that solo you sang was amazing and I thought the production was great. At first I did'nt really like it, but the most I thought about it, I realized I was being really stupid. I was expecting it to be exactly like the OBC and that was a really dumb thing on my part. No prodution is exactly like the the OBC, and that's what made it awesome. You guys were great and I wish I could have been in it! It was great!

Woah, let's calm this down. this is not about actors or other shows. This is about this show, which was great. So let's stop calling people untalented, tools or immature and just focas on the actual show. I think that sounds resonable.

to the 14-year old who thinks he/she knows enough to challenge and insult fellow actors, who are also many years older....you are a complete tool. if you are 14 and take part in professional adult theater, that obviously means you are only cast because you are childish enough to play young roles that adults can't play. back off, and stop spending so much time criticizing us, you are making it painfully clear that you have absolutely no life, except surfing blogs reviewing teen productions...

Ummm... Okay. In the show I did in two weeks, we completly revamped the score and made all our own style. Oh. Wait, that was a paid show at an adult theatre. Whoops. I really shouldn't compare our professional prodution to your little workshop. My mistake.

i liked it. and whoever wrote that bitch comment is a noobie

first bad reviewer, the 14 year old actor kid, uhm im pretty sure that your two weeks of rehearsals spent on huge RENT-like productions was probably just spent memorizing what the actors sang and did on the broaday OBC CD not developing your own characters and style. We had only 70 hours of total rehearsal time to put this show together, 3 1/2 hours a day, five days a week, for four weeks. And to mr 'un-authentic', we were'nt trying to put on the broadway show, we were trying to put our own flair to it. I felt we put on a great performance with the cards we were dealt. If you wanted to see the actual broadway show with the same set and choreography they've used for twelve years you should buy a plane ticket and go watch the touring show at the Akasaka ACT Theater in Tokyo, Japan.

I never want to see a teen production of RENT ever again. It was so terribly un-authenic.I wish SCT would have picked something they could have acually pulled off...

I really enjoyed this production. I believed that teens doing RENT would be positively awful, but I was pleasantly surprised. I felt all of the leads had something great to offer. Mark was perfectly cast. He is born to play that role. He even looks like Mark. I thought he was a great actor and had a good connection to his part. Roger did a great job of showing how tormented his character was and the pain that he went through when he lost April and almost lost Mimi. Angel was a delight to watch, and he really encapsulated what I believe the character Angel should be like. He was full of love and joy, and showed how he wanted everyone to be happy and accept others. Maureen was a riot. Her version of "over the moon" had the whole audience hooked, and I also thought the backup singers really added a level of humor to that song. I couldn't stop laughing. Benny was decent, I just wish his mic would have been a little louder, I could tell that he had a nice voice. Collins was fantastic. His love for Angel seemed so real, and he captured the sadness one would feel if his or her lover died. Joanne's voice was clear and soulful, and even though it may have been better if she were a black teen, she was the next best thing to it. The Tango was so fun to watch, and Mark and Joanne's voices blended together really nicely. I also thought Maureen and Joanne had a fabulous rendition of Take Me Or Leave Me, they really pulled it off. I was really impressed with Mimi, doing high-kicks and singing a difficult belty song while still maintaining the sex appeal can't be easy, though she and Roger lacked chemistry. All of the voicemails were hilarious, and the ensemble had great presence and made the most of the solos they were given. I think everyone who wrote bad comments should cut the cast a bit of slack. For doing RENT as teenagers, they did a great job.

Here is the deal, I am a 14 year old working actor in Seattle. I've been in all teen shows that have only had two weeks of rehearsal time, big musicals like RENT and we've done better. I was just expecting more from SCT. Don't give me this "drama school" crap. Botton line, it could have been better.

I was one of the lucky few to see the show and I was quite impressed with this "school edition" version of a very well known musical. I have to applaud SCT partially because they are very 'processes' over 'performance', and with that, they did a fantastic job. I feel as though "Rent" will set the bar for the remainder two shows and for the future of the SCT Drama School. Well done guys.

Two comments above me: back off. It's called a "drama school" for a reason - those kids worked their asses off to put up a show in 5 weeks and did everything asked of them. It's unfortunate that people like yourself feel it is your duty to downplay the creative outlets for young artists today. Sadly, some of the young actors will read comments like this and be turned off completely from the arts because of comments like this. No one said you had to see the show, you went there of your own volition I'm sure. Got a problem? Do something about it and give those kids a place where YOU can "obviously" do something that SCT, in your opinion, hasn't been able to do.

I thought it strange as well to see no mention of Tom Collins (Jon Llarenas). The actor's voice was amazing. Collins and Angel (Zane Cimino) were possibly the two characters that felt like real people on stage. Mark (Matt Lang) fell in to that catagory as well. But the duo of Llarenas and Cimino seemed to have spent the most time trying to understand their characters' relationship. I think that Roger (Camden Morris) and Mimi (Kelsey Schergen) could have benefited a bit from that same sort of connection. I think the cast did a fantastic job overall and they ought to be proud of what they produced.

I thought this prodution was pretty mediocre. I knew that the lyrics would be beeped and what-not, but most these kids could niether act nor sing. The singing was dreadful and I was surprized that no one help these kids out by changing the key for them. It seemed like the director didn't care if the kids could hit the notes or understand the script. All the actors seemed to think that ment being a druggie was all about folding your arms,shivering, ratting your hair and wearing fishnets. I could see that these kids never came close to any sort of adversity. On a positive note: The young man who played Angel was delightful and showed extreme courage in playing his role. Also, Seasons of Love soloist Adrian Slade brought the house down when she belted that high C (even though she was less soulful and more Miley Cyrus), She was the only one that could really sing. Mark, Maureen and Collins were pretty good and only hit a few sour notes. Mimi's Out Tonight was painful, but vocally she got better thoughout the show (acting-wise, not to much) However Joanne and Roger were pretty difficult to sit through and I almost was embarrassed for them. They were both terribly mis-cast Overall, they all tried their best, you could sense that, but there were still some really bad moments.