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:
Stage West: Penelope, opened Thursday-March 30.
Eisemann Center Presents: Hip-Hop Orchestra Experience, 8 p.m. Friday.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra: Brahms and Schumann, Friday-March 16.
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra: Spano Conducts Mahler’s Ninth, Friday-March 16.
Theatre Three: The Miss B Show and Dry Clean Only, Friday-March 22.
Grand Prairie Arts Council: Disaster!, Friday-March 23 at Uptown Theater.
NTPA Repertory: Into the Woods, Friday-March 23.
Pegasus Theatre: Mystery at the Old Cafe, Friday-March 29 at the Bath House Cultural Center.
Allen Contemporary Theatre: Moriarty, Friday-March 30.
The Core Theatre: The Glass Menagerie, Friday-March 30.
Theatre Off the Square: Proof, Friday-March 30.
Plano Symphony Orchestra: An Oceanic Adventure, 8 p.m. Saturday at Robinson Fine Arts Center.
Richardson Community Band: Aargh!, 3 p.m. Sunday at the Eisemann.
World Ballet Company: The Great Gatsby, 6 p.m. Sunday at the Majestic Theatre.
Broadway at the Bass: Les Miserables, Tuesday-March 23 at Bass Hall.
Broadway Dallas: Back to the Future the Musical, Tuesday-March 30.
Onstage now:
Circle Theatre: Ain’t Misbehavin’, opened through Saturday.
McKinney Repertory Theatre: 12 Angry Jurors, through Saturday.
Art Centre Theatre: Brighton Beach Memoirs, through Sunday.
Dallas Theater Center: Primary Trust, through Sunday.
MainStage ILC: Into the Breeches!, through March 22.
Rover Dramawerks: The Hat Box, opened through March 22.
Undermain Theatre: Box, through March 23.
Upright Theatre Company: Shrek The Musical, through March 23.
Pocket Sandwich Theatre: Laughter on the 23rd Floor, through March 29.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra announces its 2025/26 season of performances
On Thursday, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) announced its programming for the 2025/26 concert season, led by Music Director Fabio Luisi, Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik and Principal Conductor of Dallas Symphony Presents series Enrico Lopez-Yañez.
“We are delighted to unveil an extraordinary concert season that celebrates the DSO’s 125th anniversary,” President & CEO Michelle Miller Burns said in the press release. “This season, we continue our longstanding tradition of artistic excellence with a dynamic lineup of programming, including world premieres and cherished masterworks within the Texas Instruments Classical Series, and thrilling fan-favorites in the Pops Series presented by Capital One. We look forward to welcoming audiences to experience the joy of 125 years of music with us at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center.”
The 2025/26 season was programmed with nods to the DSO’s 125-year history making it the oldest symphony orchestra in Texas and one of the oldest in the country.
Subscriptions for the season are on sale now, with single tickets available on June 20. Note that the start time for all Sunday concerts will be 2 p.m. this season.
Due to the sheer number of performances, we won’t list them here, but view the entire upcoming season directly by following this link to the DSO 2025/26 calendar.
Review: MainStage delivers a charming gem of history with Into the Breeches
In George Brant’s Into the Breeches, a theater company during World War II has lost all of its men who are serving overseas. The remaining women decide to put on an all-female version of Shakespeare’s The Henriad while saving The Oberon Theater from completely shutting its doors. But is their audience ready for such a production?
Written in 2018, Brant infuses the show with enough contemporary humor and dialogue to resonate without alienating the time setting. This also allowed the onstage banter to move along with ease as did Lisa Devine’s direction. Devine led the show with a comforting pace that was immediately captivating.
Joseph Cummings added to the vibe with an impressive set design that depicted a sort of underbelly of The Oberon Theater that audiences don’t see. The vast use of space worked to envelop the actors and the audience into the story. Cummings’ subtle touches like the floorlights and architectural elements completed the look of the vintage theater.
Onstage, the intended play is led by Maggie Dalton who runs the theater with her husband who is overseas. With his usual notes, she is determined to open a show and Kim Harris’ portrayal of Maggie was executed to perfection. As Maggie finds her own will to produce the show, Harris unpacked Maggie’s determination with remarkable flair. Harris built on the character’s initial strength into a profound performance. Maggie was tender and heartful and progressive and Harris memorably wrapped all that into a fully-realized character.
As the company’s seasoned actor and resident diva Celeste, Mary-Margaret Pyeatt crafted all that prestige and ego into a strong performance. To give an idea, Celeste is an actor of a certain age who still plays Juliet. Pyeatt never played her over-the-top but did give Celeste some star power and flair when she tried to take over the production whether by undermining Maggie or departing the show altogether to play Cinderella at the children’s theater.
Natalie Hinds performance as Grace was delightful as a mother with an absent husband. Grace was the show’s heart and Hinds delivered equally on the character’s sympathetic situation and her enthusiasm to be involved. This was the same for Lexa Childress’ exuberant role as June, a young woman waiting for her future husband to return.
As The Snows, a longtime couple high in society, Stan Graner and Darise Error were solid. Graner’s Ellsworth played the reluctant financier to the show with amusing angst. Error was delightful as Winifred in her first show since childhood.The character was a nice surprise mostly due to Error’s physicality in her performance which gave Winifred an added confidence.
Another surprise was Brant’s inclusion of topical ideas to the story which were played out by characters Ida and Stuart. Ida is the Oberon’s costume designer and a woman of color played with endearing disposition by Anell Rey. When Ida offers to help by joining the cast, the tension was palpable but played with strength between Rey and Harris. Matthew Good played the very dedicated stage manager Stuart and when accused of not joining the other men, the character comes out of the closet. Good’s performance was heartfelt in that moment and the aftermath was both funny and sweet. Stuart joins the Oberon cast only in contrast, he plays a female character.
Where this production lost me a lot was on its insistence that it was set in 1940s Irving. The author allows for this setting but the Oberon felt more like a big city venue. Every sort of implication to the surrounding didn’t feel like the suburban setting of vintage Irving and references to Midlothian and Pleasant Grove simply felt whimsical but inauthentic. These slightly distracted from the play’s spirit.
The play itself asks questions about feminism and well, DEI before it was its own thing and it also answers those questions. Why can’t a woman lead this show? Why can’t women produce this play? Why can’t a person of color or an out gay man be an equal player in the production. Into the Breeches simply answers the question with another: Why not?
Into the Breeches succeeded on many levels. The story was uplifting and the cast was dialed into that spirit while still taking on the story’s specific challenges. But even without the complex issues it tackled, the show thrived as an escape due to its impeccable comic timing and a lovely romance with the magic of theater.
The show runs through March 22.