Your guide to theater, dance, music and more in 2017–18
Truth: 24 frames per second will be at the DMA this fall.
PLAYS AND MUSICALS
‘Waitress’ opens at the Dallas Summer Musicals in March.
Dallas Summer Musicals and Performing Arts Fort Worth (Broadway at the Bass)
The two companies again share marketing and booking this season, with plenty of overlap.
DSM’s season starts later than usual, with its holiday add-on, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (Dec. 5–10). That’s followed in 2018 with the Tony Award-winning hit The Color Purple (Jan. 23–Feb. 4); the Gloria Estefan musical On Your Feet! (Feb. 27–March 11); the acclaimed Sara Bareilles musical Waitress (March 28–April 8), the revival of Les Miserables (April 24–May 6); umpteenth return of Disney’s The Lion King (June 13–July 8); Love Never Dies: The Phantom Returns (July 24–Aug. 5), Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to his monster hit; and finally Webber’s latest hit, School of Rock (Aug. 15–26). All performances take place at Fair Park Music Hall. DallasSummerMusicals.org.
PAFW still has two more shows this summer and fall (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Sept. 12–17, and Rent, Oct. 17–22) before beginning its 2018 season in January with the hilarious Something Rotten! (Jan. 17–21); Finding Neverland (March 20–25); Waitress (June 19–24); Love Never Dies (Aug. 7–12) and finally School of Rock (Aug. 28–Sept. 2). Sister’s Christmas Catechism: The Mystery of the Magi’s Gold (Dec. 13–17) at the McDavid Studio and Chicago (Feb. 16–18). Performances are at Bass Performance Hall. BassHall.com.
AT&T Performing Arts Center
The Broadway Series starts with the Tony Award winner for best musical Fun Home (Sept. 13–24); followed by Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Dec. 5–17); Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King and I (Dec. 19–31); The 2016 best play Tony winner The Humans (May 9–20); and finally Bright Star by Steve Martin and Dallas native Edie Brickell (June 12–24). Bonus shows include Riverdance (March 20–25) and Jersey Boys (May 22–27). All performances are at the Winspear Opera House. ATTPAC.org.
‘The Color Purple’ returns to North Texas in January.
Dallas Theater Center
The Dallas Theater Center — now officially the Tony Award-winning regional theater — starts off with a world premiere about the civil rights movement, Boo Killebrew’s Miller, Mississippi (Aug. 30–Oct. 1, Wyly Studio). That will be followed by the musical Hair (Sept. 22–Oct. 22, Wyly); Fade (Dec. 6–Jan. 7, Kalita) about a Latino writer hired for a TV show; Frankenstein (Feb. 2–March 4, Kalita); The Great Society (March 9–April 1, Wyly), the follow-up to last season’s All the Way about LBJ; the world premiere The Trials of Sam Houston (April 20–May 1, Kalita); and finally the unusual cannot-be-discussed White Rabbit Red Rabbit (May 30–July 1). As usual, the winter offers the add-on tradition: A Christmas Carol (Nov. 22–Dec. 28, Wyly). DallasTheaterCenter.org.
Uptown Players
The gay-centric troupe ends its 16th season this month (see the story on Page 18) with The Tribute Artist, then kicks off its 2018 season early, with The Full Monty (Oct. 20–Nov. 5); the regional premiere of The Legend of Georgia McBride (Dec. 1–17); the big summer musical Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (July 13–29); and finally Perfect Arrangement (Aug. 24–Sept. 2), a comedy set during the red scare. Bonus shows include its annual fundraiser, Broadway Our Way (June 14-17), and A Chorus Line, a one-weekend-only version performed at Moody Performance Hall (Feb. 2–4). All performances (except A Chorus Line) are at the Kalita. UptownPlayers.org.
WaterTower Theatre
The first season created by new artistic director Joanie Schultz includes a world premiere and several regional premieres. Pride and Prejudice (Oct. 13–Nov. 5), a new adaptation of the Jane Austen novel. That’s followed by Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue (Jan. 26–Feb. 18) by Pulitzer winner Quiara Alegria Hudes; Bread (April 13–May 6), a world premiere family drama from Dallas native Regina Taylor; The Last Five Years (June 8–July 1), Jason Robert Brown’s romantic musical told in reverse time; and finally Hand to God (Aug. 3–26), directed by Schultz, about a hand puppet that might be the devil. A bonus show, The Great Distance Home by WTT artistic associate Kelsey Leigh Ervi, will play Dec. 1–17, and Detour: A Festival of New Work, will run March 1–4. All performances at the Addison Theatre Centre. WaterTowerTheatre.org.
Theatre 3
The theater just began its first full season under new artistic director Jeffrey Schmidt with The Minotaur (through Aug. 27) and continues with: Cedar Springs or Big Scary Animals (Sept. 7–Oct. 1), a world premiere set in Dallas from Matt Lyle (in the Theatre Too space); Adding Machine: A Musical (Sept. 28–Oct. 22); Prism Movement Theatre’s Lear (Oct. 26–Nov. 19), a wordless retelling of the doomed king (Theatre Too); Solstice: Stories and Songs for the Holidays (Nov. 24–Dec. 17); the 18th and final production of I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Jan. 11–March 4, Theatre Too); Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Jan. 18–Feb. 11); She Kills Monsters (March 8–April 1), a romp through role-playing games; The Last One-Nighter on The Death Trail starring the Disappointment Players (April 26–May 20), a locally-written world premiere musical; Self Injurious Behavior (May 17–June 10), a world premiere from local actress Jessica Cavanaugh about parenting an autistic child (Theatre Too); and finally Les Liaisons Dangereuses (June 14–July 8), Christopher Hampton’s delicious evil version of the epistolary novel. Theatre3Dallas.com.
‘On your feet’ will play in 2018 at Fair Park Music Hall.
Stage West
The Fort Worth company begins its 39th season with Life Sucks (Oct. 12–Nov. 12), a modern updating of Uncle Vanya; Like a Billion Likes (Jan. 18–Feb. 4), a world premiere; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecological Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center of New York City (March 8–April 1), a regional premiere; Hir (May 17–June 17), Taylor Mac’s take on a family drama; Don’t Dress for Dinner (July 12–Aug. 12), the Marc Camoletti farce that isn’t Boeing Boeing; and An Octoroon (Aug. 30–Sept. 30), set on a Southern plantation. A season extra is An Act of God (Nov. 30–Dec. 31), starring B.J. Cleveland. StageWest.org.
Lyric Stage
The musical theater company enters its 19th season with a new artistic director and a new home. The season begins with the return of Dallas Divas, which takes place at the Meyerson with the Dallas Winds (Sept. 29). It then jumps to its new homebase at the Majestic Theatre with Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Nov. 17–19); Daddy Long Legs (Jan. 19–21); and finally Guys and Dolls (June 8–10). LyricStage.org.
MBS Productions
North Texas’ only company dedicated to forgotten classics and new works returns with its Halloween show, Blood Feast (Oct. 19–Nov. 5), and its holiday staple The Beulaville Baptist Book Club Presents: A Bur-Less-Que Nutcracker (Nov. 24-Dec. 26), which moves into the Addison Theatre Centre’s main stage; 7 Plays, 7 Days (Feb. 19–25), a festival of new works; Marianela (March 28–April 21); the world premiere Portrait of a Man (June 1–17) and finally A Lovely Goodbye (July 19–Aug. 12), about the third-rate drag queen Lovely Uranus. MBSProductions.net.
OPERA AND MUSIC
Dallas Opera
The Dallas Opera begins the 2017-18 with Camille Saint-Saens’ Samson & Dalila (Oct. 20–Nov. 5), performed in rep with Verdi’s La Traviata (Oct. 27–Nov. 10). Next up will be the duo of Korngold’s early, forgotten masterpiece The Ring of Polykrates and his Violin Concerto in D Major (Opus 35) (Feb. 9–17). Then comes the U.S. premiere of Michel van der Aa’s Sunken Garden (March 9–17) and Mozart’s Don Giovanni (April 13–29). DallasOpera.org.
Fort Worth Opera
North Texas’ oldest opera company returns with a new general director for its annual spring festival, which in 2018 will be Wagner’s Das Rheingold; Rossini’s Don Pasquale; and Piazzolla’s Maria de Buenos Aires. The festival runs April 28–May 13. FWOpera.org.
Turtle Creek Chorale
The men’s chorus’ 2017–18 season, called Renegades, features three mainstage concerts: Its holiday show, Snowflakes (Dec. 7–10); Anthems: The Songs That Shaped the Movements (March 23–25); and finally Outlaw (June 8–10). All performances take place at Moody Performance Hall. TurtleCreekChorale.com.
BALLET AND DANCE
Texas Ballet Theater
As usual, many shows will perform both at Fort Worth’s Bass Performance Hall and Dallas’ Winspear Opera House. Beauty and the Beast (Sept. 7–10 at Bass Hall; Sept. 29–Oct.1 at the Winspear); The Nutcracker (Nov. 24–Dec. 3 at Winspear; Dec. 6–24 at Bass Hall); The Nutty Nutcracker (Dec. 15 at Bass Hall); Henry VIII and Seven Sonatas (March 2–4 at Bass Hall); Mozart Requiem and Matinu Pieces (March 29–31 at Bass Hall); Swan Lake (May 25–27 at Bass Hall; June 1–3 at Winspear. TexasBalletTheater.org.
TITAS
TITAS kicks off its latest all-dance season later this month with MOMIX (Aug. 31, Winspear Opera House), followed by: Ballet Hispanico (Sept. 15–16, Moody Performance Hall); Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company (Oct 27–28, Moody); Malpaso Dance Company (Nov, 10–11, Moody); Cie. Herve Koubi (Jan. 20, Winspear); Lucky Plush (March 9–10, Moody); L.A. Dance Porject (March 30–31, Moody); Alonzo King LINES Ballet (June 9, Winspear); Parsons Dance Company (June 30, Winspear). As usual, the Command Performance Gala will take place at the Winspear in the spring (May 5). ATTPAC.org.
Bruce Wood Dance
The company has dropped the “project” from its title but will be back at Moody Performance Hall with Home (Nov. 17–18). BruceWoodDance.org.
This list is not, and cannot be, exhaustive. For more season information, visit the following arts organizations’ websites: KitchenDogTheater.org. Undermain.org. WingspanTheatre.com. CircleTheatre.org. TheWomensChorusOfDallas.com. EisemannCenter.com. DBDT.com. DMA.org. KimbellArt.org. TheModern.org. TicketDFW.com. ATTPAC.org. BassHall.com.
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FWO’s HGIC
(Head Gay in Charge)
Six months after the Fort Worth Opera terminated Darren K. Woods — who brought national acclaim to the company — it has named another gay leader. The new general director, who took over at the beginning of the month, is Finnish-born, New York-based Tuomas Hiltunen. He shares leadership with newly-appointed artistic director Joe Illick, the company’s music director since 2002. Hiltunen, 45, who is an expert on Nordic drama, comes here with his husband Damon Clyde, a San Antonio native who works for OutRight Action International, a New York-based organization promoting global LGBTIQ human rights. We will have a full profile of Hiltunen for the Dallas Pride edition of Dallas Voice.
— Mark Lowry
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition August 11, 2017.