Our curated rundown of 13 unmissible cultural events you’ll wanna add to your to-do list
What’s your cultural poison… er, passion? Theater, opera, dance, spoken word, comedy, art, music, film? North Texas has it all. So how do you choose? We’ve curated a baker’s dozen of events from now until this time next year, culled from across the Metroplex, highlighting the likely standouts. None of these catch your fancy? Well, for a fuller lineup of arts seasons, read the story beginning at Season at a glance.
SUMMER/AUTUMN 2018
Kathy Griffin Laugh Your Head Off Tour at the Winspear Opera House, Aug. 18. Let’s get this party started! After suffering through a turbulent career ride that could have derailed her permanently, the gays’ favorite funny lady is back full force with a take-no-prisoners approach to “what does not kill me makes me funnier.” (Read our recent profile of Griffin at DallasVoice.com.) Presented by AT&T Performing Arts Center and Live Nation.
Angels In America Part II: Perestroika at the Kalita Humphreys Theater, Sept. 28–Oct. 7. The Tony Award-winning second half to the seminal epic play about AIDS in the time of Reagan… or is it politics in the era of AIDS? A followup to Part I which was brilliantly staged two years ago, with the same creative team intact. Presented by Uptown Players.
A Doll’s House at the Addison Theatre Centre, Oct. 12—Nov. 4. Ibsen has been undergoing a renaissance recently, with a local adaptation of An Enemy of the People as well as a Tony Award-winning “sequel” to A Doll’s House. But this version is the playwright’s original… though with a newly updated translation. Presented by WaterTower Theatre.
All Bruce at the Moody Performance Hall, Nov. 7–8. Bruce Wood Dance has continued to thrive despite its founder’s passing, with newly commissioned works at most concerts. This one, though, is all classic Wood, including his stirring and unforgettable Bolero. Presented by Bruce Wood Dance.
Complexions Contemporary Dance at Moody Performance Hall, Nov. 9–10 (pictured). One of the shining lights in contemporary dance, this inventive and intriguing company led by Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson (who recently performed at the Command Performance Gala) returns to Dallas for a recital. Presented by TITAS.
WINTER/SPRING 2019
Falsettos at the Winspear Opera House, Feb. 12–17. Composer William Finn’s two one-act musicals — March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland — combined into a single, hilarious, poignant show about modern gay urban relationships in the era or HIV. Presented by ATTPAC.
The Wolves at Winspear Opera House, March 6—April 14. “You throw like a girl” might still be a playground taught, but not “you kick like a girl” … at least not in this play about a high school girls’ soccer team. A Pulitzer finalist, this fierce play puts women as athletes at the center of attention. Presented by Dallas Theater Center.
Hamilton at Fair Park Music Hall, April 2–May 5. “This doesn’t sound very interesting to me,” said no one … at least, not since Hamilton became the biggest thing to hit Broadway since neon lights. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop history of the most complex Founding Father is a juggernaut. Presented by Dallas Summer Musicals.
Raptured: A Sex Farce at the End of the World at Theatre 3, April 25–May 19. We’ll turn out for anything Matt Lyle takes pen to … even when, as here, he’s only a co-author. But the words “farce” and “sex” are always enough to get us interested. Presented by Theatre 3.
SUMMER 2019
Penny Candy at the Wyly Theatre, June 7–July 14. Local gay playwright Jonathan Norton wrote this play — one of three specifically commissioned by the DTC as world premieres by North Texans — about life in Pleasant Grove. Presented by the Dallas Theater Center.
The Play That Went Wrong at the Winspear Opera House, June 11–16. One of the most acclaimed farces in a decade, this elaborate Broadway smash makes its North Texas debut. Presented by ATTPAC.
The View UpStairs at the Kalita Humphreys Theater, June 21–July 7. The off-Broadway musical, about the arson of a gay club in New Orleans that for decades was the largest mass-murder of gay people in history, makes its regional debut. Presented by Uptown Players.
Hello, Dolly! at Fair Park Music Hall, July 17–28. The recent Broadway revival starred Bette Midler and then Bernadette Peters; North Texas audiences get the treat of another Tony winner, local gal Betty Buckley. (See our review of Buckley’s latest album, Page 28). Presented by Dallas Summer Musicals.
— Arnold Wayne Jones
