Stage Notes: 'Our Town' review; 'Something Rotten' will make its regional premiere

Liz Mikel in Dallas Theater Center’s ‘Our Town | Nuestro Pueblo.’ (Photo courtesy DTC)

Stage Notes is a weekly aggregate post about theater, classical music and stage news, events, reviews and other pertinent information.

Review: DTC’s Our Town | Nuestro Pueblo simply delights

Not gonna lie — when I first saw Our Town on the season for the Dallas Theater Center, I kind of snored a little bit. This one of those plays from high school years that you feel should just stay there. Our Town? Really?

Well shut my mouth. DTC’s production made a deep impression even before the show opened with its marketing featuring a diverse cast and promises of Spanish-language passages. This clearly wasn’t the all-white high school version that fostered my first reaction, especially when it was reimagined as Our Town | Nuestro Pueblo.

Craftily directed by Tatiana Pandiani, the patchwork of peoples in Grover’s Corners felt more real than what the classic play evokes. It felt more real than perhaps even what Thornton Wilder envisioned. A Black family, a Spanish-speaking family, a variety of skins on stage gave the play a familiarity and charm feel even if it’s taking place in a different time.

Sure, representation matters and I loved that direction taken here, but it also felt like something we see everyday and maybe take for granted. That mix of people looks just like Dallas when we go to the market or go to school or talk with our neighbors (well, in some neighborhoods). That’s where the magic happened in OT|NP.

Anchoring the show was Liz Mikel as the Stage Manager. Her voice alone commands attention and she delivered with maternal resonance. She was not only our guide in the show, she was teacher and mother leading the characters down their paths. Her performance was a lovely send-off before her Broadway appearance in 1776.

OT|NP closes Sunday. Don’t be put off like I was by the title because Our Town really was our town which was a true delight.

Bruce Wood Dance announces key dates for spring/summer

BWD will offer in–person and virtual dance events for the second half of its season. Artistic director Joy Bollinger said in a press release, “We have a must–see season ahead with opportunities to experience performances both virtually and in person, including brave new WOOD/SHOP creations and a compelling collaboration with the Dallas Museum of Art. Our mainstage production, SPRING, features a passionate world premiere by Chicago-based Latina choreographer Stephanie Martinez, a multimedia production of Slip Zone Suite, and the Dallas premiere of Bruce Wood’s simmering Rite of Spring.” On Wednesday, the company announced the following performances for its season. For more information, visit brucewooddance.org.

March 24–27: SMU Spring Dance Concert featuring a world premiere by Joy Bollinger

Set to songs from the Vietnam war era, Bollinger’s work will explore the parallel between the youth of the 60s and 70s and the youth of today—both engaged in a culture shift, both looking for change.

March 27, April 24 and May 29 WOOD/SHOP | New Works by company dancers

WOODSHOP (Photo by Sharen Bradford_Vogelliebe)

The WOOD/SHOP virtual series returns for its second year, featuring world premieres by company dancers Cole Vernon, Jillyn Bryant, Weaver Rhodes, Sofia Downing, Matthew Roberts, Elliott Trahan, Seth York, Jaime Borkan, Alex Brown, and Megan Storey.

March 31–April 2: TCU School for Classical & Contemporary Dance Spring Concert, with a world premiere by Joy Bollinger

This classical ballet flows through selections from J.S. Bach’s Cello Suite No. 2 in D Minor to be played live onstage by TCU cellists. The work is a simple statement on the elegance of sound and the intrinsic expression of movement.

April 13: Bruce Wood Dance and Dallas Museum of Art present Slip Zone Suite

Slip Zone Suite explores the journey of the Abstract Expressionists in a series of solos, duets, and ensembles. The dances capture the swirls of color, the bursts of shapes and the serenity of monochrome. In the Dallas Museum of Art Horchow Auditorium. In–person and virtual tickets available.

June 10 and 11: SPRING at Moody Performance Hall:

Bruce Wood Dance presents SPRING, featuring a world premiere from guest choreographer Stephanie Martinez; the mainstage production of Joy Bollinger’s Slip Zone Suite and the Dallas premiere of Bruce Wood’s interpretation of Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky.

Rover Dramawerks announces Sweet Revenge

The theater company continues its 22nd season with the comedy Sweet Revenge by Julie Zaffarano. Performances will be at the Cox Playhouse in Plano, with a limited run of two weekends: March 17-26 on Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays at 3 and 8 p.m.

From Rover:

Sunny, a perpetual hippie (played by Suzy Dotson), and her sister Joni (Janie Breor) own a charming bakery in Spring Lake, NJ. Joni’s boyfriend Brian (David Colville) convinces them to take an extensive loan using the family home as collateral to renovate the bakery and enter a contest with the Treats and Tweets online reality show in order to increase sales. The host of the show, Maurice Bailee, and his assistant Charlie (played by Scott Hickman and Karina Barrett respectively), show up for live streaming a week early in the midst of the renovations, and expected (and unexpected) chaos ensues, including the local policeman (Russell Sims) showing up at the most inopportune times.

March 17 is the show’s Preview Night, with all seats $10 in advance online or “pay-what-you-can” at the door. Regular ticket prices are $24 Friday and Saturday nights and $18 on Thursdays and matinees, with discounts for teachers, students, and seniors. Tickets are available here.

Garland Civic Theatre to present regional premiere of Something Rotten

Garland Civic Theatre will open the musical Something Rotten in the Granville Arts Center on March 11. The regional premiere will run through March 27.

“I can’t wait for North Texas audiences to see this show,” director Patty Granville said in the announcement. “Something Rotten is one of those shows that gets you excited about theater all over again. We’ve been waiting to do this show for two years and the energy of this cast is phenomenal. This show is not to be missed!”

The musical follows the Bottom brothers (Ed. note: you can already imagine the jokes there), Nick and Nigel, who struggle to find success in the theatrical world as they compete with the wild popularity of their contemporary William Shakespeare.

Show times will be Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased here.

Nasher Sculpture Center to host music series

In accompaniment to its Harry Bertoia: Sculpting Mid-Century Modern Life exhibition, the Nasher will host Sculpting Sound. The series features six concerts featuring pairs of musicians animating Bertoia’s sounding sculptures. Each concert will highlight one instrument.

Each concert is at 7 p.m. Here is the Sculpting Sound schedule:

Feb. 22: Electric guitar night with Nels Cline and Ben Monder.

Feb. 23: Trumpet night with Ambrose Akinmusire and Nate Wooley.

Feb. 24: Saxophone night with Ingrid Laubrock and JD Allen.

Feb. 25: Acoustic strings night with Jen Shyu and Brandon Seabrook.

Feb. 26: Drums and percussion night with Marcus Gilmore and Dan Weiss.

Feb. 27: Piano night with Kris Davis and Craig Taborn.

For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.

Undermain Theatre will host its festival of New American play readings

The Undermain Theatre announced its fourth series of readings of new American plays that examine the American landscape. The Whither Goest Thou America festival will feature readings by local playwrights, Parker Davis Gray, Erin Malone Turner and Zander Pryor, along with Native American performance artist and activist Gregg Deal, the recipient of the Katherine Owens/Undermain Theatre Fund for New Work. He will close the festival with the performance piece, The Punk Pan Indian Romantic Comedy.

Beginning March 5, a new reading or performance will be presented each week through March 27. Each event will be presented live as well as streaming.

Here is the festival schedule:

March 5 at 7:30 p.m. and March 6 at 2 p.m.: Incarnate by Parker Davis Gray
A man kidnaps a young woman because he believes that she is his dead father reincarnated, and is trying to figure out what his father’s last moments were like and why his spirit reached out to him. Gray is a Dallas-based actor, teaching artist and playwright.

March 12 at 7:30 p.m and March 13 at 2 p.m.: Spaced Out by Erin Malone Turner

A science-fiction drama that explores a family in crisis; virtual reality, miscommunication, grief, and the various ways people attempt to escape their troubles—in Ollie’s case, to an alternate universe of sorts. This surrealist play is an adventure of movement, technology, and Sign Language, as well as a journey through space and time. Turner is a New Orleans born, Dallas-based playwright, poet, actor, and filmmaker.

March 19 at 7:30 p.m and March 20 at 2 p.m.: Parent, Legal Guardian, Angel, Other by Zander Pryor

Playwright Zander Pryor.

This full-length play explores the idea of “chosen family” for non-binary, trans teens, and secret-holders, all trying to move forward with inclusion, love and self-forgiveness. A play fluid in time, place and identity, it follows broken people moving through specific spaces and the love that accompanies them.
Zander Pryor (he/him) is a freshman at Sarah Lawrence College who has acted on professional stages across Dallas and Fort Worth. He makes a point of including queer characters and relationships in his writing in order to make space for more people like him in theater.

March 25 at 7:30 p.m.: The Punk Pan Indian Romantic Comedy by Gregg Deal

This music-themed talk and performance piece by indigenous artist and activist Gregg Deal focuses on the music that has moved him throughout his life, speaking in stories and anecdotes that follow a timeline of struggle, survival, and ultimately healing through the power of music. A work that is upsetting, dramatic and outlines the way music has affected Deal’s life from his earliest memories to the present and how it has influenced his ideas, his artistic work and his voice. Deal (Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe) is a contemporary artist who challenges Western perceptions of indigenous people, touching on issues of race, history, and stereotypes.

The Dallas Opera returns with full stage production of Madame Butterfly

After nearly two years on hiatus, TDO will mark its return with its production of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. The show opens Friday at the Winspear Opera House at 8 p.m. and will have three subsequent performances on Feb. 20 at 2 p.m., Feb. 23 and 26 at 7:30 p.m.

“It’s such a joy to to be able to bring fully staged productions back to the Winspear Opera House,” said Ian Derrer, The Kern Wildenthal General Director and CEO. “We are also eager to share TDO Connections with our audiences and community as we work towards ensuring that these great pieces can be presented in less stereotyped and more inclusive ways. We are grateful to our partners in this collaboration, and look forward to sharing our discoveries.”

The cast includes 2005 “Maria Callas Debut Artist of the Year” Latonia Moore (Cio-Cio-San), Evan LeRoy Johnson (Lt. B.F. Pinkerton, TDO debut), Kirstin Chávez (Suzuki), Michael Adams (Sharpless, TDO debut), Martin Bakari (Goro, TDO debut), Hyung Yun (Prince Yamadori), and Adam Lau (The Bonze).

Music director Emmanuel Villaume leads The Dallas Opera Orchestra, Laurie Feldman directs, Michael Yeargan is set and costume designer, and Duane Schuler is lighting designer. Alexander Rom, chorus master, leads The Dallas Opera Chorus.

Tickets are available here.

Opening this week:

Bishop Arts Theatre Center: The How To Be Project: Ten Plays for Racial Justice, through March 6.

The Dallas Opera: Madame Butterfly, Friday through Feb. 26 at the Winspear Opera House.

Dallas Summer Musicals: Rent the 25th anniversary Farewell Tour at the Music Hall at Fair Park Friday-Sunday.

Lyric Stage: Ragtime in Concert, through Sunday at the Majestic Theatre.

On stage now:

Onstage in Bedford: Love Letters, through Sunday.

Cirque du Soleil OVO, through Sunday at the Comerica Center, Frisco.

Arts Center Theatre: Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: The Musical, through Sunday, Plano.

Arts Center Theatre: The Vagina Monologues, through Saturday Plano.

Richardson Theatre Center: Drop Dead, through Sunday.