Stage Notes is a weekly aggregate post about theater, classical music, dance, comedy and stage news, events, reviews and other pertinent information.
Stage Notes Calendar
Opening this week:
WaterTower Theatre: Always…Patsy Cline, opened Tuesday-May 31.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra: Chamber Concert, 5 p.m. today at McIntyre Park.
Eisemann Center Jazz Series: The Stockton Helbing Quartet, 7:30 p.m. today.
Sammons Cabaret: David Gaschen, 7:30 p.m. today at Sammons Center.
GXR Show One: The Dining Room, today-Sunday at Stolen Shakespeare Guild.
Theatre Denton: The Importance of Being Earnest, today-May 31 at Point Bank Auditorium.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra: Top Gun: Maverick in Concert, Friday-Sunday at the Meyerson.
FWSO Symphonic Series: An Evening in Finland, Friday-Sunday.
Pocket Sandwich Theatre: Home, I’m Darling, Friday-June 20.
Jen Kober, 5 p.m. Saturday at Dallas Comedy Club, pictured.
DSO Parks Concert: 8:15 p.m. Monday at Flag Pole Hill.
Onstage now:
Teatro Dallas: Los Niños Santos de Maria Sabina, through Sunday at the Latino Cultural Center.
Undermain Theatre: Saturn Return, through Sunday.
Ochre House Theater: Immovable Beast, through May 30.
The Core Theatre: Everynight Live! Comedy, through May 31.
The Firehouse Theatre: Sister Act, through May 31.
Broadway Dallas: Wicked, through June 14.
Upright Theatre Co.: Camelot, through June 14.
The Classic Theatre Project: American Buffalo, through June 20 at The Stone Cottage, pictured.
Kitchen Dog’s 35th season of theater concludes with the Rolling World Premiere of Venus
Breakups are never fun and in playwright Steve Yockey’s new play Venus, it’s easy to romanticize all the good times and even easier to forget about all the bad times, like when they ghosted you after the perfect first date, or that one time you woke up in a shallow grave. In this black comedy, two women learn that true love isn’t the only thing that bonds two people together forever.
A perfectly timed love story by KDT for Pride Month as the company finishes its New Works Festival with this mainstage production.
The show stars Kitchen Dog founding member Sally Nysteun Vahle as Nicole. As Beth, KDT Co-Artistic Director Tina Parker plays opposite Vahle. This also marks the first time these two have acted onstage together.
The show is directed by Christie Vela who, along with Parker, designed the show’s costumes. The creative team includes KDT Artistic Company Members John M. Flores (sound design), Aaron Johansen (light design) and Abby Kraemer (carpentry) with Maggie Sproul (scenic painter).
Reagan Fitzgerald serves as Stage Manager with Shatorey Watson as Assistant Director. Maggie Proul Maggie Sproul (Scenic Painter), and Shatorey Watson (Assistant Director).
Yockey is a Los Angeles-based writer with deep roots in Atlanta. His plays include The Thrush & The Woodpecker, ReykjavĂk, Large Animal Games, Sleeping Giant. He holds an MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Steve was a Co- Executive Producer on the long-running series Supernatural and is the Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated creator/showrunner of HBO Max’s thriller The Flight Attendant. He is also the
creator/showrunner of Netflix’s Dead Boy Detectives, adapted from the cult Vertigo/DC comic.
This production marks the 15th time KDT has presented a Rolling World Premiere for the National New Play Network (NNPN), of which KDT is a founding core member. Partner Theaters for Venus are Actor’s Express (Atlanta, GA), Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
(Washington, DC), and Salt Lake Acting Company (Salt Lake City, UT).
Now in its 27th year, Kitchen Dog Theater’s New Works Festival is a series that along with this production, includes two staged readings of brand new plays by KDT Artistic Company Members and the landmark 25th Anniversary of PUP Fest, a co-production with Dallas
ISD and Junior Players, that features works by area high school playwrights.
Venus runs June 4-28. Tickets available now.
New York City Center will present Encores! La Cage Aux Folles with Wayne Brady and Billy Porter
If you’re traveling next month to NYC, the New York City Center may be added to any Pride plans. This June, New York City Center presents the Encores! production of La Cage Aux Folles, the Tony-winning musical comedy about love, chosen family, and acceptance—and, of course, the greatest drag show on the French Riviera!
Emmy, Grammy, and Tony winner Billy Porter (Pose, Kinky Boots) plays Albin to Wayne Brady’s (Whose Line Is It Anyway?) Georges in this musical by Harvey Fierstein and Jerry Herman.
Longtime partners Albin and Georges are proprietors of a vibrant drag nightclub in St. Tropez whose world turns upside down when their son brings home his fiancée’s conservative parents.
Directed by Robert O’Hara (Encores! Jelly’s Last Jam) with Guest Music Director Joseph Joubert, this production features an all-star, all-Black cast including Tony Award winner Tonya Pinkins (Jacqueline), James Jackson Jr. (Jacob), Peter Francis James (Eduoard), Michael McElroy (Francis), Sharon Washington (Marie), and Lance Coadie Williams (Renaud).
This concert staging features Broadway composer Jerry Herman’s original orchestrations, not heard live since the show’s original run in 1983, played on stage by the 38-piece Encores! Orchestra.
As a bonus, the Pride Block Party will be held on June 26. Celebrate with free drag performances, live music, and DJ 2FACE, hosted by Shequida Hall. The party is open to all, but only ticketholders will be able to attend the 7:30 p.m. performance.
For more information, visit NYCityCenter.org.
Dallas Theater Center hosted a record-breaking CenterStage Gala
DTC’s annual gala, CenterStage 42, was held on May 2 at the Wyly Theatre. More than 250 supporters gathered for an evening of storytelling, music, and philanthropy. The fundraiser netted a record-breaking $545,000 in support of DTC’s artistic and community programs.
DTC artists Bri Woods and Akron Watson served as emcees throughout the evening, guiding guests through tributes, announcements and performances. The evening also included a special presentation honoring Larry Angelilli with the Linda and Bill Custard Award, recognizing his decades of leadership and service to DTC.
The night was highlighted by a performance from Dallas native and Broadway star Tiffany Mann capping off the night with her cover of Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club.”
The 2026 gala chaired by Andy Smith, Paul Von Wupperfeld, Melinda Johnson, Ann Mahowald, Mickie and Jeff Bragalone, Bret Levy, Michelle Lockhart, Krista Weinstein, Scott Davis, Scott Moore, Scott Orr, Peter Altabef, Deborah McMurray, Stephanie Byrd and Hamilton A. Sneed.
See photos from the event by Chase Hall and Tamytha Cameron below:
–Rich Lopez