Rachel Nicole Poole in the title role of Aida by Lyric Stage (Courtesy photo)

Women left a lasting impression on stage this year

RICH LOPEZ | Staff writer
rich@dallasvoice.com

To look back on the performing arts in Dallas/Fort Worth over the last 12 months is, honestly, a joy. This year brought us numerous shows that didn’t just entertain us; they satisfied us, inspired us and sparked wonder and delight. They broke hearts, and they called forth laughing tears.

What stuck out the most, though, was how women ruled the stages this year. Actors, directors, playwrights all stood out depicting a number of women’s stories, from history to today. The diverse strength of these women was a thrilling wave that washed over North Texas theater in 2023.

And let’s not forget those behind the scenes jewels, like — to name a few — Breianna Barrington’s costumes, Ellen Doyle Mizener’s and Sara Ryung Clement’s sets, Danielle Georgiou’s choreography and the prolific Vonda K. Bowling, who seemingly had a presence in every company throughout the year.

Plus, there is also the leadership of Kitchen Dog Theater’s Tina Parker, Circle Theatre’s newly-named Artistic Director Ashley White, Soul Rep’s Anyika McMillan Herod and in the dance world, Bruce Wood Dance’s Gayle Halperin and Joy Bollinger, Diana Crowder at Pegasus and Bridget L. Moore of B. Moore Dance.

These ladies perpetually get in formation, and area stages are all the better for it.

The year started strong with the robust MainStage ILC January production of Ada and the Engine, about Ada Byron Lovelace, who wrote the first-ever computer program. It starred Cheyenne Haynes in a powerful performance.

The cast of Kitchen Dog Theater’s Man Cave. (Photo by Jordan Fraker)

And Theater Arlington’s Gypsy was a thrilling showcase for the talents of Brandy Raper and Presley Duyck in February.

Those who caught Lyric’s Aida, directed that same month by Sasha Maya Ada, witnessed power and grace from Rachel Nicole Poole, who would repeat that in August as Cinderella, also for Lyric. Kiani Stone went fully unhinged as Annie in Lakeside Community Theatre’s Misery with unnerving — but amazing — results.

And director Sylvia Cervantes Blush gave audiences distinct characters in Native Gardens for Dallas Theater Center in February, with contrasting performances by Tiffany Solano and Sally Nystuen Vahle as neighbors who start out friendly but devolve over flowers and boundary lines.

Echo Theatre served up another Ada-helmed show with Natural Shocks, featuring a titanic performance by Liz Sankarsingh in the one-actor show back in May.

This was the first of two playwright Lauren Gunderson shows by the company this year that followed up with I and You in the same month starring the always-impressive Olivia Cinquepalmi, who was shattering as a homebound, ailing young woman dealing with high school assignments and a dramatic mother.

This was quite a year for Gigi Cervantes who reigned over the one-actor drama The Way She Spoke at Undermain in June and, before, as part of the quartet of women Kitchen Dog Theater’s dark and terrifying Man Cave, directed by Christe Vela in February and also starring the strong cast of Gloria Vivica Benavides, Sheila D. Rose and Fatima Y. Flores.

MainStage ILC continued its season with the period piece Intimate Apparel featuring inspired performances by its lead, Stormi Demerson, and a supporting cast of Yolanda Davis, Lindsay Hayward and Kayland Jordan. Jordan most recently slayed the stage at the end of November in Stage West’s Poor Clare, about Saint Clare of Assisi.

Ellen Eberhardt offered a layered performance in I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart at Stage West

Vela directed a pristine Next to Normal for Theatre Three this summer with the masterful Cara Serber as the mother, and then she did a 180-turn as Linoleum in Lyric’s Trailer Park Musical. Duyck turned in another amazing turn in Normal then followed that up playing the dynamic titular murderous character in T3’s Lizzie the Rock Musical in October alongside fabulous castmates Ja’Naye Flanagan, Lauren Urso Gray and Lauren Le Blanc.

From a different perspective, Stage West’s I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart showed another side of a straight woman friend to her gay bestie. Ellen Eberhardt’s Sam(antha) was a layered performance that ran the gamut of emotions. Mary-Margaret Pyeatt offered the same kind of performance as the matriarch in The Classics Theatre Project Long Day’s Journey Into Night in June to gut-wrenching effect.

In Bruce R. Coleman’s final show as director Tigers Be Still, Raven Lawes gave a particularly gleeful performance with notes of exasperation mixed in. Lawes also directed the aforementioned Ada and the Engine.

There was a strong contingent of all-women quartet casts this year. Among those were Man Cave, Lizzie, Second Thought’s Our Dear Dead Drug Lord in June and Soul Rep Theatre’s collab with Echo Theatre for the historic drama Cadillac Crew that featured a sensational cast including Mikaela Baker, Autumn Robinson, CD Lovehall and Stephanie Oustalet.

Lee Walter gave audiences the old one-two with a magnetic and unforgettable performance as Frank N. Furter in Dallas Theater Center’s The Rocky Horror Show in September, and then, as if it were nothing, soon after Rocky wrapped, she turned in a delightfully charming role as her alter ego Jada Pinkett Fox in Uptown Players’ holiday-themed Jada Bells in December.

Star Finch’s play Bondage was a heavy drama at Undermain, with themes of betrayal and prejudice in the time of slavery. Victoria Lloyd and Christina Cranshaw delivered some of the most compelling performances of the year in that year. Kristi Funk Dana served a fiendish turn, and Rhonda Boutte’s acting was rich with texture.

Janette Oswald directed Carol Rice in Theresa Rebeck’s Bernhardt/Hamlet this October. The role of the world’s greatest actress, Sarah Bernhardt, was a good fit for Rice’s excellent performance that kept her onstage for about 95 percent of the show.

Arianna Reed, left, and Kat Lozano in Soul Rep’s ‘What Fits Inside a Human Heart.’ (Courtesy photo)

Local playwright Erin Malone Turner stepped away from her usual sci-fi themes to deliver a beautiful premiere with What Fits Inside a Human Heart for Soul Rep in October. Arianna Reed and Kat Lozano as Charm and Ivy were the couple to root for in this romantic dramedy set in a bookstore.

Thank you to these creatives named and the rest unintentionally overlooked for helping to deliver not just quality theater to the DFW masses, but for crafting theatrical experiences that left unforgettable impressions.

Also of note this year was Lyric Stage’s new black box space that the company christened with the Trailer Park Musical in September. The company will continue to present at the Majestic Theatre as well as in the new space in the Design District.

In March, Uptown Players premiered Silver Foxes by The Golden Girls and Roseanne writers Stan Zimmerman and James Berg. Presented at Theatre Three, the play was directed by actor Michael Urie (Ugly Betty, Single All the Way) and played to sold out crowds.

Shows that refused to go unnoticed were WaterTower’s Chaplin with a triumphant performance by Max J. Swarner in November; Circle Theatre’s impeccably winsome The Other Josh Cohen musical in August; the ridiculously fun spectacle of DTC’s The Rocky Horror Show that opened in September; the sublime drama of The Classics Theatre Project’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night over the summer. and Theatre Arlington’s outstanding quality in its production of Avenue Q in August.