READ PRESS RELEASE

---

The Dallas Morning News
REVIEW: 'Greendale' will have you revved up to save the planet
By Lawson Taitte

“…Greendale is an overwhelming experience, musically and theatrically.”

“…The singing actors all have stunning moments, but the three instrumentalists are the real stars here. Kenny Withrow of New Bohemians leads from the guitar; Paul Semrad of Course of Empire plays bass; and Alan Emert of Brave Combo is on drums. The music drives this show like the rolling river mentioned in one of the songs.
They're calling this Greendale a rock opera, but it's really a fresh form of its own. The musicians are on the greatly expanded Undermain stage the whole time, sometimes stepping forward into the central spotlight. The actors, too, sit or move around, pantomiming some clarifying action when they're not singing, breaking into dance that looks spontaneous but is carefully integrated.

… this bunch will have you leaving the theater rarin' to go and determined to save the planet.”

---

Turtle Creek News
Review: Neil Young’s Music Rocks Undermain
By Martha Heimberg

"Undermain’s intimate boutique theater on Main Street in Deep Ellum is suddenly huge. The basement playing space reaches back to the brick walls and over to the far corners. There’s room for a woman on a bicycle to ride round the big concrete columns – and room for a big cast of singers and a stunning trio of musicians to get the whole place rocking to Neil Young’s pounding rhythms. The dense, driving sound goes right through the audience and makes for a terrific night of music and theater.

“Greendale” is a kind of pop-rock opera, smartly directed together by Katherine Owens as a rhythmic, wave-on-wave series of events. Owens brings together Neil Young’s spotty impression of the emotional life of citizens in a small, close-knit community by virtually eliminating the space between songs, and clarifying lyrics with actors silently dancing or playing out the story. It works; somehow you see a plot emerge from the series of nine songs with no narrative voice over.

The whole town is affected when young Jed (handsome, clear-voiced Jonathan Brooks) is led astray by the devilish drug dealer (a sleazy, omnipresent Newton Pittman), and ends up shooting the town’s good cop. Sun Green (fetching Kristen Campbell in blonde braids and tight jeans) is lost and angry. The policeman’s widow (touching, dark-eyed Stefanie Tovar) mourns, and the media swoops down on the local community. Soon the serious painter puts on new glasses provided by the devil, and sees that he can sell his work if he sells out.

As the title indicates, the destructive forces at work here are withering the once-green haven. The guitars are soaring solo, the drums are pounding, and the harmonica is wailing in sadness “Be the Rain,” is evocative and powerfully delivered by the whole cast. And you’re left to decide if all destruction – to lives or to the natural world – are made of the same web of deception and violence. An interesting question."

---

KERA: Arts & Culture
By Jerome Weeks

"As presented by the Undermain Theatre, Neil Young’s Greendale is a hellacious piece of rock ‘n’ roll… This baby kicks; you’re not likely to hear a livelier performance in any area theater."