Review: STARMITES at MacTheatre Austin, TX

McCallum Fine Arts Academy has mounted a major musical of inter-stellar proportions worthy of a good run with packed houses.

This show has everything including the kitchen sink ("including the kitchen sink" is actually one of the lyrics).

Special Effects abound in this "teen love story meets science fiction fantasy" - lasers, strobes, fog, along with head-pounding music, fantastic sets, lights and costumes and a cast and crew of Austin's finest young performing artists. Triple-threats abound in this adult-sized, fully-formed Broadway musical. There are NO shortcuts taken here.

The story revolves around Eleanor, a teenaged girl comic-book geek. She seems to be going through "a phase" as they say, like all young folks do and the comic book scene appears to be simply that - a harmless obsession that her Jewish mother just won't tolerate.

In fact her mother is so upset with Eleanor that she sold the priceless comic book collection out from under her, no warning, so it's no wonder that Eleanor breaks with reality and time-travels to the world of "Innerspace". (Eleanor's "inner-space" I presume).

She becomes a "superhero girl", a bit of a feminist twist on the usually all-male world of sci-fi fantasy. The good guys in this story (the Starmites of the title) believe her to be the leader they've been waiting for - Milady (as in m'lady, my lady).

"Cruelty" is the name of the big villain of this story and protected by the diva of all comic relief... you guessed it - "DIVA". Let me tell you now, Diva loves being diva. It's so hard to be the diva, but someone has to do it, and besides, she has her band of banshees to back her up. These are some awesome banshees who take their jobs so seriously they have to be told to shut up now and then - wickedly delicious fun. (They also reminded me of the 'furies' of Roman myth fame).

To get the full story, you'll just have to get yourselves some seats and enjoy this rock/punk/pop space ride for yourselves, and please do take the youngsters. They love it as much as the adults, and kids need theatre just as much as everyone else.

Word of warning:

If you're old enough to remember the 1980s, be prepared to be bombarded with all those cringe-worthy trends. Who knew they'd come roaring back with such a passion?

STARMITES plays Thursdays - Sundays through September 30th at:

MacTheatre, McCallum Fine Arts Academy

• Tickets $7 - $16 plus service fees.
• Tickets may be purchased in advance at https://mccallum.ludustickets.com/
• Student tickets are $7; adults are $16, and seniors are $12. Add $2 for tickets purchased at the door, except at the student rate.
• Group rates for groups of 10 or more receive a 10% discount when purchasing tickets online.
• Show times are at 7 pm, except for 3 pm Sundays.

Location: McCallum Arts Center Theatre, 5600 Sunshine Dr. Austin, TX 78756