Stage Notes is a weekly aggregate post about theater, classical music and stage news, events, reviews and other pertinent information.
Stage Notes Calendar
Opening this week:
Broadway Dallas: Mamma Mia!, opened Tuesday-April 27.
Sammons Jazz: WT Greer, 7:30 p.m. today at the Sammons Arts Center.
Broadway at the Center: Mean Girls, Thurday-Saturday at the Winspear.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra: Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony, today-Friday.
The Elevator Project: Alice by Plague Mask Players, today-April 27 at the Wyly Studio Theatre.
Circle Theatre: The Hatmaker’s Wife, today-May 10.
Lakeside Community Theatre: R.U.R.: Rossum’s Universal Robots, Friday-May 3.
Amphibian Stage: Rift, or White Lies, Friday-May 11, pictured.
Theatre Arlington: Club Cabaret: I’m Literally Every Woman, 8 p.m. Saturday.
Jeffrey Siegel’s Keyboard Conversations: Humor in Music, 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Eisemann Center.
Cliburn Concerts: Emanuel Ax, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Kimbell Art Museum.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra: Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Second Thought Theatre: Healed, Wednesday-May 10.
Onstage now:
Company of Rowlett Perfomers: Rex’s Exes, through Saturday at the Plaza Theater.
The Firehouse Theatre: Godspell, through Saturday.
Lyric Stage: Jekyll and Hyde, through Saturday at Lyric Stage Studio.
Repertory Company Theatre: 9 to 5 the Musical, through Saturday at the Courtyard Theater.
Resurrection of Freddy Chickan, through Saturday at University Theatre/UT Dallas.
Dallas Theater Center: Waitress, through Sunday, pictured.
Lewisville Playhouse: Uncle Vanya, through Sunday.
Runway Theatre: Catch Me If You Can the Musical, through Sunday.
Soul Rep Theatre Co.: Pretty Fire, through Sunday.
Theatre Three: Intimate Apparel, through Sunday.
Mesquite Arts Theatre: The Fortune Cookie, through April 27.
Art Centre Theatre: Reefer Madness: The Satire Musical, through May 4.
Richardson Theatre Centre: Run for Your Wife, through May 4.
Upright Theatre Company: Romeo and Juliet, through May 4.
Jubilee Theater: Thunder Knocking on the Door, through May 11.
Pocket Sandwich Theatre: Romeo and Juliet – The Melodrama, through May 17.
Stage Notes Exclusive: Queer actor José Raúl reflects on going straight for Mean Girls
Mean Girls will make its final Texas stop of its tour beginning tonight (April 17) at the Winspear. As part of the Broadway at the Center series, the musical based on the movie runs through the weekend. So, get in losers, we’re talking to actor José Raúl (he/him) who continues a quirky legacy of playing the high school comedy’s main heartthrob.
Raul stars as Aaron Samuels who gains the attention of Cady, the new transfer student. Originally cast as a member of the ensemble as Shane while covering the lead role a year ago, he graduated to the lead last June. Taking on the role was an opportunity for the 27 year-old, but Raul also deconstructed the role in his thought process.
“I always felt this immense disconnect from my masculine self and so it took me a while to feel secure as Aaron,” he said. “But also, I could see the privilege that comes with being a straight man.”
That’s not to say he had issues with playing straight. Initially, Raul had concern. And he has a certain pride in his femme side. But hey, a job is a job for an actor. Raul just found a silver lining to go with the gig.
“I felt like no one was going to believe I was this character,” he said. “It was inhibiting my process the more I intellectualized it.I voiced that to my director who said she never thought about that with me and that helped me release all the worry. Now, I think there’s something useful in playing these male roles that might be hypermasculine,” he said.
Raul also fully realizes that we’re talking about Mean Girls and not Ibsen or Chekhov.
But coming to terms with his identity and the character strengthened the actor and now he’s in a happier place with his role and performance
The movie was a bit of inspiration for Raul in his own high school days.
“Regina (George) was so iconic for us. For a time, I tried to be a ‘mean girl.’ I would be lying if I said I didn’t try it on for size,” he said.
But the now-classic iconic villain also helped Raul with his own expression. Regina George was – to Raul – queer coded in subversive ways that spoke to him.
“Where she spoke to me even more was her embodiment of sexuality. She flaunted the things people wanted and to me, that was code. My queerness is about openness and I got some of that from her,” he said.
Ultimately, Mean Girls the Musical is bitchy fun. The character Damien brings the queer element to the stage. Raul brings the hetero vibes with Aaron – but even then…
“It’s funny that Aaron was played by Jonathan Barrett in the movie and in a small way I can continue that legacy,” Raul said with a laugh.
For tickets, visit ATTPAC.com.
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Plague Mask Players head into Wonderland with a new take on a classic tale
—Rich Lopez