Best Bets • 04.05.13

Friday 04.05

Dallas Opera returns with ‘Turandot’
It’s been a long hiatus since the Dallas Opera’s last full-scale musical of the 2012-13 season, but it should be worth the wait, with the return of one of the most beloved productions in the canon — Puccini’s last work, Turandot. Stage director Garnett Bruce, who led Aida last fall, returns with conductor Marco Zambelli to lead this story of intrigue, love and bloodlust as a barbarian princess in Beijing is pledged to any prince who can answer three riddles. Lise Lindstrom stars as Turandot, with Anotnello Palombi entrusted with the stirring aria “Nessun Dorma.”

DEETS:
Winspear Opera House
4203 Flora St. April 5, 10, 13 and 21 at 7:30 p.m. and April 7 and 19 matinees at 2 p.m.
The April 13 performance will be simulcast at Cowboys Stadium with free admission and parking.
DallasOpera.org.

Wednesday 04.10

Are you a friend of Dorothy? Then you simply must see ‘Wicked’
Wicked isn’t even a decade old, but already it’s one of the true classics of Broadway musicals. And why wouldn’t it be, with a staggering score by Stephen Schwartz, a smart, character-driven book by Winnie Holzman and faboo special effects (watching witchy Elphaba fly at the end of Act 2 will transform you). Dallas Summer Musicals again offers us nearly a month of performances to see what happened in Oz before Dorothy flew her house there.

DEETS:
Music Hall at Fair Park
901 First Ave. April 10–May 5.
DallasSummerMusicals.org.

Thursday 04.11

Mary Gauthier performs at Poor David’s Pub
Mary Gauthier’s last name (it’s pronounced “go-shay”) pegs her as a Louisiana girl, but her sound, filtered through her life in Nashville, bespeaks a rootless wandering that has made her a cult fave and one of our favorite LGBT artists. She delivers on her new live CD, Live at Blue Rock. But you don’t need to go to Blue Rock to hear it — you can just see the top-notch troubadour perform Thursday at Poor David’s Pub.

DEETS:
Poor David’s Pub
1313 S. Lamar St. Doors open at 7 p.m.
$20–$22.
FrontGateTickets.com.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition April 5, 2013.