Stage Notes: Theft sidelines Art Centre Theatre; Lyric Stage announces new season

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

Plano’s Art Centre Theatre posts for help after truck theft

This past weekend should have been a normal one for ACT as its produciton of Clue continues it run through July 10. But on Saturday, the nonprofit theater posted that its truck had been stolen on Saturday. The vehicle was primarily used for set and costume transport. Now the company is asking for help.

From ACT:

Hello Patrons and friends,

ACT has sad news. We have been robbed…again, and this one hurts. On Saturday June 25th between the hours of midnight and Sunday sometime someone stole the ACT Truck that we use to transport set pieces, pick up donations, transport costumes, lumber, paint, and all ACT business.

We are crippled at this point and do not have the funds to replace it – although it was insured it was a 2002 work truck, so theft insurance was not a priority on it. It was just a silly little work truck – I have no idea why anyone would want it – the A/C didn’t even work.

We are in need of help. We would accept the donation of a running work truck that we can tow the ACT trailer with, a van with a trailer hitch, anything right now. We also though about starting a fund to take donations, but the market has no trucks right now and even if we could find one they are going for a premium. If anyone has an idea we are open to suggestions. If you are interested in donating to a fund to purchase ACT a new work truck – please contact me at capys@aol.com

Until then, we’re looking to coordinate with the public to find ways to have people with trucks meet us at storage in Garland. (five minutes away) and let us load things in your truck to take to and from the theatre. We can coordinate around your schedules. If you have the means to do so – we will of course pay for your fuel. Thank you!

B. Moore Dance to make its Moody Performance Hall debut

Rayven Leak of B. Moore Dance. (Courtesy photo)

The local dance company will end its season on a high note. Not only will its Create + Innovate + Repeat include two world premieres, the company will make its first appearance performing in the Moody. Its season three finale takes place July 8 and 9 at 8 p.m.

The first world premiere is “Rose Gold” choreographed by artistic director Bridget Moore, a piece about the human experience and its reflection of love.

“There is nothing sweeter and yet more lethal in symbolism than the rose,” Moore said about the piece in a press release.

Following that will be an homage to the queen diva Janet Jackson. In “J A N E T,” the company celebrates and honors the singer acknowledging both her music and her socially-conscious work.

Set to a series of passionate folk songs, Moore’s signature “Sketches of Flames” is a seven-part piece of flamenco-influenced dance with African-American contemporary aesthetics.

Tickets are available here.

Lyric Stage announces 2022-2023 season

This week, producer Catherine Carpenter Cox and executive artistic director Christopher J. Deaton announced Lyric Stage’s 29th Season, Twenty-nine and Feelin’ Fine. The new season will celebrate shows by pop/rock music composers. The 2022/2023 season also marks Lyric’s fifth season at the historic Majestic Theatre in downtown Dallas. The new season features five musicals by a variety of hitmakers such as Elton John, Richard O’Brien and ELO.

“When looking at our 2022/2023 season, we knew we wanted to celebrate our 29th year by featuring titles that would be fun, exciting, and perhaps a bit unexpected,” Deaton said in the press release. “Though the theme of the season expands our repertoire to include all well-known pop/rock composers, we remain committed to great, powerful storytelling and beautiful music, all performed by our talented, diverse, local artists.”

The new season begins in August (from Lyric Stage):

Aug. 24-28: Mamma Mia! Lyric Stage opens its season and celebrates the end of summer with this international hit. A jukebox musical based on the hit songs of the Swedish pop/rock group, ABBA, Mamma Mia! tells the story of Sophie, a young woman in search of her birth father on the eve of her wedding. Mamma Mia! will be directed by Deaton, and choreographed by Kelly McCain. The orchestra will be led by music director Vonda K. Bowling, and Bruce Greer will serve as the production’s music supervisor. Lighting design by Scott Guenther; sound design and engineering by Jorge Guerra; costume design and coordination by Megan A. Liles. McCain, Bowling, Greer, Guenther, Guerra, and Liles will all also serve as Lyric Stage’s Season 29 resident artists and designers.

Oct. 26-30: The Rocky Horror Show. Put on your best, wildest costume and come celebrate Halloween by doing the “Time Warp” in the aisles of the Majestic Theatre with the cult classic The Rocky Horror Show with music, lyrics and book by O’Brien. This rock concert-style show is a ridiculously wonderful tribute to the science fiction and horror B movies of the ’30s through the ’60s, and tells the story of the newly engaged Brad and Janet, who get caught in a storm and find themselves seeking shelter at the eerie mansion of mad scientist, Dr. Frank-N-Furter, where they meet a houseful of wild characters, including a rocking biker, a creepy butler and a Frankenstein-style muscle man named Rocky.

Feb. 15-19: Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida. Lyric Stage celebrates Black History Month with Elton John and Tim Rice’s Tony and Grammy Award-Winning Aida. Based on the Verdi opera of the same name, this epic tale of love, loyalty and betrayal, chronicles the story of an enslaved Nubian princess, Aida, who finds her heart entangled with Radames, an Egyptian soldier who is betrothed to the Pharaoh’s daughter, Amneris. As their forbidden love blossoms, Aida is forced to weigh her heart against the responsibility that she faces as the leader of her people, but her and Radames’ love for one another become a shining example of true devotion that ultimately transcends the vast cultural differences between their warring nations, heralding a time of unprecedented peace and prosperity.

May 17-21: Tarzan. Adapted from the 1999 Walt Disney Animation Studios film of the same name, Tarzan follows the journey from ‘boy to man’ of an infant who is raised by gorillas in the jungles of West Africa. Based on Edgar Rice Burrough’s 1912 novel, Tarzan of the Apes, Tarzan features music and lyrics by rock legend Phil Collins, and a book by Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang.

June 14-18: Xanadu. Based on the 1980 Universal Pictures cult classic movie of the same title, which starred Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly, Xanadu follows the journey of a magical and beautiful Greek muse, Kira, who descends from the heavens of Mount Olympus to Venice Beach, California in 1980. On her quest to inspire struggling artist Sonny Malone to achieve the greatest artistic creation of all time (the first roller disco…hey, it’s 1980!), Kira falls into a forbidden love. Music and lyrics by Jeff Lynne of ELO and John Farrar, producer and songwriter for Olivia Newton-John, and book by Douglas Carter Beane — based on the screenplay by Richard Danus & Marc Rubel, Xanadu will be a bonafide ’80s blast.

Ticket sales to be announced at a later date.

Theatre Three’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? to refund all patrons

T3’s next production has been quite a saga with delayed opening dates. So much so that the company made the following decision.

From the theater:

Due to ongoing building inspections, Theatre Three will refund all patrons for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Originally rescheduled to open on July 7, the theatre is still awaiting a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO). Contractors are working hard to meet new requests made by city inspectors. As a reminder, the current construction at Theatre Three is to accommodate larger construction projects at the Quadrangle.

For the time being, Theatre Three is hopeful that the rescheduled performances will run as planned. If the theatre receives a TCO by Thursday, July 7, all performances will now be Pay-What-You-Will. Those with season tickets will be contacted by Theatre Three’s Box Office and they will maintain their reserved seating.

All patrons with tickets to Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? will be refunded in a few working days. If a patron wishes to donate the price of their ticket to the theatre, patrons are encouraged to visit theatre3dallas.com/support. Subscribers will be contacted by the Theatre Three Box Office if anything changes.

Patrons with questions should call the Theatre Three Box Office at 214-871-3300 or e-mail at boxoffice@theatre3dallas.com.

Artstillery debuts free immersive experience In Spite of History at Fair Park

Perhaps more stage adjacent, local nonprofit Arstillery will give Dallasites a look at the history of Fair Park complete with its troubling narrative of racism, segregation and governmental neglect. The event opens Friday and runs through July 23. The organization teamed with Broadway Dallas on this project.

From the organization:

Artstillery heard the stories of the neighborhood residents and are giving them a platform to be told. Through hundreds of hours of interviews, Artstillery has created a brand-new, free of charge immersive experience titled, In Spite of History. This story will take audience members through the 1960s to today as they travel around Fair Park, experiencing the joy, heartbreak and humanity of this historic neighborhood.

Six months of community interviews, research, and collaboration weave stories into a community driven performance that will weave the audience to the Natural History Museum to the Leonhardt Lagoon to the Cotton Bowl to the Tower Building to the front of the Women’s Building. Main character Izzy simply wants to go to the fair, her grandpa Julius questions the destruction of the Hall of Negro Life at Fair Park, and the family has an important conversation about their own place in history, present and the future.

Projection mapping on the Cotton Bowl Stadium, Tower Building, and the interior of the Grand Place turns these Fair Park buildings into a canvas for uplifting narratives. Through this experience, Artstillery amplifies the historical voices of the community, land, and buildings to create space for discussion and racial healing.

The future is big enough (or has space enough) for all of us, as long as we acknowledge our history and don’t repeat our failures of the past.

In Spite of History will play Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. from July 1-23, with an additional performance on July 14 at 7:30 p.m. To reserve a free ticket, click here.

Show announcements

Hamilton and Tina –The Tina Turner Musical announced for Broadway Dallas 2023-24 season

The national tour of ‘Hamilton.’ (Courtesy photo)

Start planning ahead. Broadway Dallas and Broadway Across America (BAA) recently announced that the 2023-2024 season lineup will include the return of Hamilton and the North Texas premiere of Tina –The Tina Turner Musical. The only way to guarantee seats now for then is to subscribe to the 2022-2023 Germania Insurance Broadway Series presented by Broadway Dallas, on sale now.

“We are very excited to give everyone a taste of what’s to come in the 2023-2024 season by announcing these two hit shows,” Ken Novice, president of Broadway Dallas said in the announcement. “There will be even more fantastic titles to announce when the time comes, as we work hard to ensure we’re serving our audiences the best Broadway has to offer.”

Subscriber benefits include access to primo seats for one price, priority access to additional tickets before public sales open, the option to enroll in payment plans and ticket exchange privileges. Subscribers for the 2022-23 season will have first access to reserve seats for those two shows of the 2023-2024 season.

See the 2022-23 Broadway Dallas season here.

Theatre Frisco announces Something Rotten dates

Theatre Frisco’s ‘Something Rotten.’ (Courtesy photo)

Theatre Frisco will present Something Rotten July 29-Aug. 14 at Frisco Discovery Center’s Black Box Theater. With a book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrel, this production is directed by Neale Whitmore with music direction by Shane Hurst and features an eight-piece band.

The cast includes Sterling Beard as Nick Bottom, Nathan May as Nigel Bottom, Anthony Holmes as Shakespeare, Alex Rain as Nostradamus, Samantha Snow as Bea, Rae Hillman as Portia, Eric Feldman as Minstrel, Doug Fowler at Brother Jeremiah, Austin Bender as Lord Clapham, Peter Tremmel as Shylock, Bryson Beavers at Tom Snout, Jacob Sellers at Robin, John Avant III as Peter Quince, Dayton Wilson as Frances Flute, and Abby Copeland, Elanor Gross, Amy Parsons, Layla Rorem, Mia Tremmel, and Shelby Tuffnell as the ensemble.

Tickets are available now here.

Uptown Players to present Kinky Boots

Lee Walter as Lola in Uptown Players’ ‘Kinky Boots.’ (Courtesy photo)

Uptown Players continues its season with the winner of six Tony Awards, including Best Musical Kinky Boots. The musical tells the story of Charlie Price, a factory owner struggling to save his family business. Having inherited a shoe factory from his late father, Charlie forms an unlikely partnership with cabaret performer and drag queen Lola to produce a line of high-heeled boots to continue his father’s legacy and save the business.

Singer and songwriter, Cyndi Lauper, and Tony Award-winning theatre legend, Harvey Fierstein, teamed up as composer and playwright to tell the story based on the 2005 film.

“In these uncertain times, finding the energy to cope or a reason to smile can be a challenge. Uptown Players’ Kinky Boots, with songs by Cyndi Lauper, a phenomenal cast, explosive dancing, and a universal message of finding strength through friendship is sure to inspire everyone who comes to clap along with us and smile towards a greater tomorrow,” director John de los Santos said in the show announcement.

Directed by de los Santos, Kinky Boots will feature music direction by Vonda K. Bowling and choreography by de los Santos and Evor Wright.

The cast includes Tim Brawner, Olivia Cartwright, Presley Duyck, Hope Endrenyi, Stephanie Felton, Kyle Fleig, Jason Hallman, Isaiah Christopher-Lord Harris, Domanick Hubbard, Spencer Laboda, Thi Lee, Gena Loe, Tony Martin, William Martin, Joshua McLemore, Mark Quach, Ace Rainey, Dre Reed, Rachel Nicole Poole, Allen Porterie, Max J. Swarner, Sammy Swim, Gerald Taylor II, Trey Tolleson and Lee Walter.

From Uptown:

Kinky Boots is an inspiring musical for this age as its primary theme focuses on the need for society to change its viewpoint on people it perceives as being different. Kinky Boots is one of the few Broadway musicals that features a gender-nonconforming African-American lead (Lola). In the Uptown Players production, the role will be played by out transfeminine artist Lee Walter. Kinky Boots certainly serves an important end goal: to empower not just its central characters, but the entire audience, in the spirit of acceptance. This message of tolerance and understanding is extremely important given the challenges the LGBTQ+ community once again faces in today’s society

The show runs July 15-31 at the Kalita Humphreys Theater with an ASL-interpreted performance on July 17. Tickets are now available.

New this week:

PNC Patio Sessions: Colton Blue, 5:30 p.m. today in Sammons Park.

Theatre Arlington: Club Cabaret with Micah Green, 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Downtown Cowtown at the Isis: Bette Davis Ain’t for Sissies, 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Allen Contemporary Theatre: It’s Only a Play, Friday-July 17.

Turtle Creek Chorale: Let Us March On!, July 2 and 3 at the Meyerson.

Dallas Winds: Star-Spangled Spectacular, 1 p.m. Monday at the Meyerson.

Stage West: First Tuesday featuring An Old-fashioned Sock Hop, 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Eisemann Center: The Secret Comedy of Women – Girls Only, Wednesday-July 31.

Cry Havoc: Women of Troy, July 7-17 at South Side on Lamar.

Theatre Three: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, July 7-17.