Bruce Wood Dance Company dancers Weaver Rhodes and Cole Vernon
RICH LOPEZ | Staff Writer
Rich@DallasVoice.com
Co-productions — or co-pros — are nothing new to North Texas stages. Theater companies often will team up to present one show.
But this month, audiences in DFW get back-to-back performances by a total of four organizations that have doubled up for vastly different productions. Two of them have teamed up for an original dance/cabaret performance while the other two gear up for a classic musical with big sound.
First, co-pros can make simple sense financially as two or more organizations can work together to cover the costs of a show. Second, they are a sort of dialogue not only with each other, but with audiences. Two entities speaking the same language work to create something special.
Uptown Players and Bruce Wood Dance
This week, Uptown Players and Bruce Wood Dance Dallas come together for the first time to present IMAGINE, a cabaret performance of dance and song. For two performances only, on Saturday and Sunday at the Kalita Humphreys Theater, the companies will bring to life this show that “celebrates love, identity and the power of expression through song and movement.”
BWDD Executive Director Gayle Halperin sees this as an opportunity to not only entertain but to say something more at this particular moment.
“It’s the perfect time that, as artists, we come together to focus on relevant issues,” she said. “We respect and value our individual choices. We are here together to celebrate and champion our relationships.”
The two organizations are favorites among the LGBTQ+ community, representing that community both through each of their productions and/or their company members. The pairing seemed a natural fit, but Halperin said the idea came from elsewhere.
“I want to give a big shout-out to a truly awesome patron, Jim Williams. He’s the one who had this idea to bring both of our companies together for a cabaret show,” Halperin revealed. “Jim was spot on. He’s an impresario and lover of the arts in Dallas. Together, each of our art forms create a greater whole and have meaningful impact. We are also both expanding our reach to new audiences.”
IMAGINE features vocals by Peter DiCesare, Seth Paden, Kylie Stewart and Brett Warner, performing alongside BWDD artists Mia Rosin, Weaver Rhodes, Elliott Trahan, Cole Vernon and Megan Storey, all making their Kalita Humphries Theater stage debut. Rhodes, Trahan and Vernon serve as choreographers, working with director Clayton Younkin and music director Adam C. Wright.
Uptown Founder and Co-Producer Jeff Rane described the show as a combination of visuals and storytelling.
“We identified 18 songs that would celebrate love, family and relationships and include the artistry of the BWDD members in combination with the vocals of four Uptown favorites, who all create amazing visuals and storytelling. And our director, Clayton Younkin, weaves the vignettes together with some dialogue for this unique evening of entertainment,” Rane said.
Halperin offered a lovely sentiment about the significance of this collaboration not just for her organization but for presenting a distinct representation onstage.
“We are so grateful to work together. At BWDD, we love Uptown Players and everything they represent and produce. We support their mission,” she said. “To work with their amazing staff, directors and cast uplifts and inspires us and to work in a musical theater genre, expands and nourishes our creativity and versatility.
“This work enables us to create a cabaret spotlighting all genders and love for all relationships,” Halperin said.
This partnership may be the first for Uptown and BWDD, but Rane said he hopes it’s the first of many. He envisions future cabaret-type collaborations as season calendars and venues permit for each organization.
“The thought is that this could lead to a full musical production that focuses on dance,” he said. “When two organizations that speak so much to the community — especially those that support the LGBTQ+ community — combine their areas of expertise, the end result is always a unique experience for audiences who love dance or theater.”
For tickets, visit UptownPlayers.org or BruceWoodDance.org.
Turtle Creek Chorale and Lyric Stage
In similar form, the Turtle Creek Chorale and Lyric Stage partner next weekend for a limited run of the musical Guys and Dolls. Theater and choir come together for this 140-plus-person cast that will be accompanied by the Grammy-nominated Stockton Helbing Band.
Guys and Dolls, by Frank Loesser, Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, received overwhelmingly positive reviews when it opened on Broadway in 1950d. The show’s legacy has made it an American musical masterpiece.
This production is directed by Michael Serrecchia.
The idea was pitched by Lyric Stage Managing and Co-Artistic Director Scott Guenther, who is as familiar with TCC as he is with his own organization.
“I have been a team member at both Lyric Stage and TCC for years, and it seemed like a natural fit to bring together such talented artists for a show like this,” he said. “I proposed it to Sean Baugh and Michael Serrecchia, and they both loved the idea. Our producer, Catherine Carpenter Cox, also agreed it was a great idea, and so the wheels were set in motion.”
At the beginning of TCC’s current season, Executive Director Dawson Taylor had already expressed his enthusiasm for the joint effort. “That’s going to be a remarkable show with our singers in the show’s chorus and a guest band,” Taylor told Dallas Voice back in June.
Guys and Dolls runs Aug. 15-17 at Moody Performance Hall.
The co-pro was also a wise choice for this show. With the two forces combined, Guenther said, it gives both the ability to make the show bigger and better than either could do on their own.
“This kind of production is a giant undertaking, and the audience is the real winner, seeing a different take on a theater classic,” he said.
From a music perspective, TCC Artistic Director Sean Baugh is enthusiastic about the show’s unforgettable sounds.
“Oftentimes, the music of this amazing show is overlooked. This production puts extra emphasis on the wonderful score and presents it in a way never heard before. It will be thrilling,” he said in a press release.
The musical tells the tale of Nathan Detroit, played by BJ Cleveland, the organizer of the oldest floating crap game in New York. He has a bet with his fellow gambler Sky Masterson, portrayed by Michael Leadbetter, that Masterson can’t woo the missionary Sarah Brown, played by Abigail Bensman, who may be a challenge.
Detroit may have ulterior motives since his own fiancée, Catherine Carpenter Cox as Miss Adelaide, is pressuring him to get married.
Director Michael Serrecchia is a pro at these productions so taking this big task on has been another day at the office. But he said that working with his Lyric family and TCC has been ideal for this particular production.
“I have loved this project. The style and premise of the plot is a perfect fit for Lyric Stage and the TCC,” he said.
Bandleader Helbing sees this production as an ideal example of community, saying this union of TCC and Lyric and his own band is a special treat for local audiences.
“We have an amazing and diverse arts community in Dallas, and this show is going to be a fine example of that community,” Helbing said in the show’s announcement. “I am grateful to be a small part of the big things happening in Dallas and with venerable arts organizations such as TCC and Lyric Stage. It’s going to be fun.” ■
For tickets, visit LyricStage.org or TurtleCreekChorale.com.