Stage Notes is a weekly aggregate post about theater, classical music, dance, comedy and stage news, events, reviews and other pertinent information.
Opening this week:
Broadway Dallas: The Sound of Music, opened Tuesday-Sept. 20.
Stupid Sparrow: Stupid F**king Bird, today-Sept. 26 at Mainstage 222.
Rover Dramawerks: A Texas Romance, today-Sept. 26.
Theatre Three: Spring Awakening, today-Sept. 27.
Kitchen Dog Theater: The Absentee, today-Oct. 4, pictured.
Mesquite Symphony Orchestra: What Remains, Rises, 7 p.m. Friday at Mesquite Arts Center.
Opera Arlington: Fairtyale Masquerade, 7 p.m. Friday at Wellspring on Main.
The Vocal Majority: Freedom’s Song, 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Eisemann Center.
DSO Pops: The Music of Elvis with Frankie Moreno, Friday-Sunday.
Theatre Denton: When Hitchcock Met Addams, Friday-Sunday at Golden Triangle Mall.
Repertory Company Theatre: Sherlock Holmes and the Adventures of Suicide Club, Friday-Sept. 20.
Dallas Theater Center: Reykjavik86, Friday-Sept. 27 at the Wyly.
Hip Pocket Theatre: Soul Notes from the Velvet Elk, Friday-Sept. 27.
Eleven 11 Productions: Barbecue Apocalypse staged reading, 8 p.m. Saturday in Theatre Too.
TITAS/Dance Unbound: Ronald K Brown/ EVIDENCE, 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Winspear.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra: Lang Lang in Recital, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Shakespeare Dallas: Titus Andronicus, Wednesday-Oct. 18 at Samuell-Grand Amphitheater.
Onstage now:
Art Centre Theatre: Clue, through Sunday.
Garland Civic Theatre: Angel Street (Gaslight), through Sunday, pictured.
Pegasus Theatre: Big Mouth, Thunder Thighs, through Sunday at The Stone Cottage.
SheDFW: Summer Theater Festival, through Sunday at Stage West.
Upright Theatre Co.: In the Heights, through Sunday.
Drunk Shakespeare Society: Romeo and Juliet, through Sept. 20 at Deep Ellum Art Co.
Theatre Off the Square: Groundhog Day, through Sept. 20.
Pocket Sandwich Theatre: It’s a Scream, through Sept. 26.
Oh, Mary! heads to HBO next year
Not HBO again serving up some prime queer content. After Tuesday’s news of its premiere of its Siren documentary about the bi bodybuilder Shelley Beattie, it followed up with good news for theater fans. The network announced the debut of the Broadway smash Oh, Mary! in 2027.
Starring and written by Tony Award winner Cole Escola, and directed for the stage and screen by Tony Award winner Sam Pinkleton, the film will star the following actors reprising their roles: Escola as Mary Todd Lincoln, Olivier Award winner Giles Terera as Mary’s Husband, Bianca Leigh as Mary’s Chaperone, Tony Macht as Mary’s Husband’s Assistant, and Emmy nominee Michael Urie as Mary’s Teacher.
“I’m so happy to share this show with a wider audience and spread Oh, Mary! awareness,” Escola said in Wednesday’s announcement. “Knowing about Oh, Mary! is the first step in getting rid of it.”
The Tony Award and Olivier Award-winning play will debut on HBO and be available to stream on HBO Max in 2027. The special is the filmed version of the July 28, 2026 performance that took place at the Trafalgar Theatre in London’s West End.
From HBO:
Oh, Mary! is a dark comedy about a miserable, suffocated Mary Todd Lincoln in the weeks leading up to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Unrequited yearning, alcoholism and suppressed desires abound in this 80-minute, one-act play that finally examines the forgotten life and dreams of Mrs. Lincoln, through the lens of an idiot (playwright Cole Escola).
“I fell in love with theater as a kid by absolutely wearing out the VHS tapes of Cats and Into The Woods and I am honored to continue that legacy with Oh, Mary! on HBO, “director Pinkleto stated in the release. “Shepherding Oh, Mary! through its many lives (and Marys) has been an ecstatic experience and I’m giddy that the genius of original idiot Cole Escola will now be immortalized on televisions across America and beyond.”
The show opened Off Broadway in January 2024 before transferring to Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre in July 2024, where it became the first show in the theater’s 121-year history to gross over $1 million in a single week. It has since broken its own box office record 15 times and became the first show of the 2024-25 Broadway season to recoup its investment. It premiered on the West End in December 2025 and will launch a North American tour this month.
The live capture of Oh, Mary! is executive produced by Cole Escola, Alex Bach and Daniel Powell for Irony Point, Carlee Briglia and Mike Lavoie for Mike & Carlee Productions, and Kevin McCollum and Lucas McMahon for Alchemation.
Watch the teaser below:
–Rich Lopez