Stage Notes is a weekly aggregate post about theater, classical music and stage news, events, reviews and other relevant information.
Opening this week:
Broadway Dallas: MJ, opened Tuesday-Dec. 3, pictured.
Uptown Review: The Effing Burlesque Show, 7:30 p.m. Friday at The Nines.
Chamberlain Ballet: The Nutcracker, Friday-Sunday at the Eisemann Center.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra: Stravinsky The Firebird, Friday-Sunday at the Meyerson.
Fort Worth Symphony Pops: Home for the Holidays, Friday-Sunday at Bass Hall.
Texas Ballet Theater: The Nutcracker, Friday-Dec. 3 at the Winspear.
McKinney Repertory Theatre: A Christmas Carol, Friday-Dec. 9.
Casa Manana: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Friday-Dec. 23.
Jubilee Theater: A Gospel Black Nativity, Nov. 24-Dec. 23.
Pocket Sandwich Theatre: Ebenezer Scrooge, Nov. 24-Dec. 23.
Broadway at the Bass: Six, Nov. 28-Dec. 3.
Casa Manana: Christmas in the Movies, Nov. 28-Dec. 16.
Onstage now:
Rockwall Community Playhouse: The Bishop’s Wife, through Dec. 3.
Undermain Theatre: No Man’s Land, through Dec. 3, pictured.
Artisan Center Theatre: Guys and Dolls, through Dec. 16.
The Core Theatre: Stop Along the Way, through Dec. 17.
Theatre Three: Scrooge in Rouge, through Dec. 17 in Theatre Too.
Amphibian Stage reveals its “amazing, fabulous and spectacular” 25th season
Marking a quarter-century, Amphibian Stage unveiled its 2024 season lineup that begins in February. Amphibian’s announcement came shortly after the conclusion of the 2023 season, which featured an inaugural acting competition, a co-production, and a rollout of its tiered ticketing model. In this new season, audiences can participate in a séance, jam out to a gospel/rock concert, and travel to the city of Oaxaca all at the company’s Fort Worth home.
Amphibian Stage’s 2024 season includes:
Feb. 2-11: Instructions for a Séance is a journey created by Texas theatre artist Katie Bender and directed by Lily Wolff. Bender’s “DIY séance party” where she attempts night after night to escape her own life by summoning the spirit of master escapologist Harry Houdini.
April 5-28: Marie and Rosetta by George Brant. Witness the collision of gospel and rock as DFW favorite Denise Lee embodies the “Godmother of Rock ‘N’ Roll,” Sister Rosetta Tharpe. The play chronicles Tharpe’s first rehearsal with protégée Marie Knight in 1947, setting the stage for a historic tour that would establish them as one of the most significant music duos of the 20th century.
June 13-26: Spark Fest. Amphibian’s annual performing arts festival, will shift its focus to celebrate the AAPI community. Building on the success of the 2023 festival, which featured the inaugural Acting Competition, the 2024 festival will continue to showcase and develop new plays, offering Fort Worth a glimpse into the future of performing arts. The festival will host a national acting competition, drawing inspiration from the “Van Cliburn Festival,” offering a cash prize of $18,000 for the finalists. This competition will be open exclusively to AAPI actors. The festival lineup and details on the acting competition will be revealed in early 2024.
July 26-Aug. 18: The Handless King is a morbid new comedy by Harley Elias set in the Assyrian Empire. The play casts its heroes as two lowly government employees, both tasked with tallying the dead in wake of a recent battle. The problem? Only one of them can keep their jobs. As the day wears on, truths are revealed, revolution draws near, and someone’s losing limbs before the sun is set. Directed by Jay Duffer.
Oct. 11-Nov. 3: The Amazing, Fabulous, and Spectacular Untruths of Juan Garcia is a new comedy by Kathleen Culebro based on the play La Verdad Sospechosa by Juan Ruiz de Alarcón. Juan Garcia has returned to his hometown of Oaxaca, armed with grand tales and big dreams of becoming the city’s biggest celebrity. But as bills pile up and tired servants reach their limit, the stage is set for a comedy of errors that even Juan can’t lie his way out of. Directed by Evan Michael Woods.
The company also announced its National Theatre Live screenings of stage productions. They include:
Jan. 24 and 27: Titanic the Musical celebrates the 10th anniversary of its London premiere. Aboard the most legendary ship in the world, the musical gives focus to the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of her passengers who each boarded with stories and personal ambitions of their own.
Feb. 28 and March 2: Romeo and Juliet. This bold film brings to life the backstage spaces of the National Theatre in which desire, dreams and destiny collide to make Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy sing in an entirely new way.
May 8 and 11: 42nd Street. One of Broadway’s most classic and beloved tales comes cinema screens in the largest-ever production of the musical. The musical, set in 1933, tells the story of Peggy Sawyer, a talented young performer with stars in her eyes who gets her big break on Broadway.
July 10 and 13: Vanya. Andrew Scott (Fleabag) brings multiple characters to life in Simon Stephens’ radical new version of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya. Hopes, dreams, and regrets are thrust into sharp focus in this one-man adaptation which explores the complexities of human emotions.
For more information, click here.
The Firehouse Theatre drops its 2024 season lineup
On its socials, the Farmers Branch theater announced its new season of shows that features seven shows for 2024. Primarily musicals, the season will launch in February. A holiday musical will be annoucned in spring.
The lineup includes:
Feb. 8-25: Something Rotten!
April 4-21: 9 to 5.
May 16-June 2: Footloose.
June 20-July 7: Disney’s Aladdin (dual-langauge edition).
Aug. 8-25: Jimmy Buffett’s Escape to Margaritaville.
Oct. 17-Nov. 3: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder.
TBA: Holiday musical.
Season ticket packages are available now here.
Union Coffee to host Broadway We-Care-aoke contest
Unleash your showtune magic at Union Coffee’s Broadway We-Care-aoke on Nov. 30. The two-day contest will begin with the prelims at the coffee shop and then the finals will be held Friday, Dec. 1 at Oak Lawn UMC. Contestants will be judged by a panel along with audience votes.
Hey, Michael Urie is even telling you to do it.
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–Rich Lopez