The Verdigris Ensemble opens its new season with the concert experience ‘Convergence: In C’ that includes a world premiere by trans/nonbinary artist Yaz Lancaster. (Courtesy photos)
Stage Notes is a weekly aggregate post about theater, classical music and stage news, events, reviews and other pertinent information. Season announcements came in hot and heavy this week.
Stage Notes Calendar
Opening this week:
Shakespeare Dallas: Julius Caesar, opened Wednesday-Oct. 13 at Samuel-Grand Amphitheater.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra: Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky, today and Saturday.
Bishop Arts Theatre Center: Jet Fuel, today-Sept. 22.
She DFW Arts Summer Theater Festival: For Bo, Friday and Sunday at Lyric Stage Studios.
Texas Ballet Theater: Cinderella, Friday-Sunday at the Winspear.
Verdigris Ensemble: Convergence In C, Friday-Sunday at Hamon Hall.
Grand Prairie Arts Council: Bonnie and Clyde, Friday-Sept. 22.
Wylie Acting Group: Murder’s in the Heir, Friday-Sept. 22.
Theatre Arlington: Visiting Mr. Green, Friday–Sept 29.
Art Centre Theatre: Death Note Part 1: The Musical, Friday-Sept. 29.
Garland Civic Theatre: On Golden Pond, Friday-Sept. 29.
The Classics Theatre Project: Dylan, Friday-Oct. 5 at The Core Theatre, pictured.
Ballet Papillon: Breathless: Wings of Beauty, Saturday and Sunday at the Courtyard Theater.
DSO Organ Recital: Alcee Chriss III, 3 p.m. Sunday.
She DFW Arts Summer Theater Festival: The Martyr, Sunday at Lyric Stage Studios.
Casa Manana: Live at the Apollo, Tuesday-Oct. 5.
Fellowship for Performing Arts: The Screwtape Letters, Wednesday-Sept 22 at the Wyly Theatre.
Onstage now:
Casa Manana: Million Dollar Quartet, through Sunday.
Repertory Company Theatre: The Hound of the Baskervilles, through Sunday.
Stage West: The Importance of Being Earnest, through Sept. 22.
Theatre off the Square: Cabaret, through Sept. 22.
Hip Pocket Theatre: Big Love, through Sept. 29.
Undermain Theatre: Athena, through Sept. 29, pictured.
Verdigris Ensemble kicks off new season with debut by trans/nb composer
Composer and native Texas Yaz Lancaster (From yaz-lancaster.com)
This weekend, the Verdigis Ensemble will begin its new season with the concert experience Convergence: In C. And the piece fits appropriately into this Pride weekend as the sow will feature a world premiere composition by trans/nonbinary artist Yaz Lancaster. The show will also include the minimalist composition styles of Terry Riley with performances at Moody Performance Hall.
“Yaz’ unique musical style reflects their own journey balancing the turmoil and serenity of solitude while working to discover the base of their art in service to a community,” Verdigris Executive Director Kyle Igneczi wrote in an email. “In addition to composing works to explore the duality of existence, they run I Care if You Listen, an iconic resource under the American Composers Forum.”
Known for their genre-fluid musical approach, Lancaster’s piece “Synastry” offers an innovative voice that delves into the
complex dynamics of relationships through astrological symbolism. Blending lyrics and poetry with elements of classical music, hip-hop, and electronic sound, this blend of styles represents the convergence of energies and emotions.
Before this weekend’s performances, in a Stage Notes exclusive feature, we posed questions to Lancaster about their new work and its queer nature.
Dallas Voice How do you describe the new piece you’ll be presenting in Dallas this week? A friend of mine, Victoria Mbabazi, is a great poet and astrologer. I commissioned them to write a poem based on my own personal birth chart. Without getting too deep into it, I was drawn to the dissonance between being able to build fiery and intimate connections; and the tendency to be more emotionally withdrawn. So throughout “Synastry,” there’s a highlighting of sensuality, but also a feigning away.
What are the feelings you have when debuting a new work; have they changed throughout your career? I always attempt something new in each of my works as a way to continue growing, so it’s always exciting (and a little nerve wracking) to have a premiere. Lately, I’m interested in having a community of artists who are interested in uplifting one another and building ongoing connections. So I’m looking forward to what future projects will come out of this!
On your site, you describe work as queer, DIY and liberator frameworks. How does that come through in this piece? The piece deals with sensuality and sexuality, and explicitly queer sensuality. It’s about desire, but there’s also an emotional internal conflict being had within the “speaker of the poem.” This piece leaves room for guided improvisation, both collectively and individually – performers have agency over several decisions they make in the performance of the piece. I like for those who engage with my work to have that space to bring themselves in. I think it’s more interesting for artists to interpret without constraints or expectations. I love when the same piece can sound completely different depending on who is performing it!
Can you talk about connecting with Verdigris and how that came to be? [Verdigris Artistic Director] Sam Brukhman reached out to me in Fall 2023 about commissioning a piece. We connected online, which has been a common occurrence for me since 2020. I was really interested in writing for them – in terms of composed work, one of my favorite instrumentations is voice with instrumental ensemble, but at the time I hadn’t written for choir or a vocal ensemble. I was excited to take on a new (to me) instrumentation.
Do you have any prior relationship or connection to Dallas? How do you see it as a cultural hub of arts and culture? I was born in Killeen, Texas, but I moved to New York when I was pretty young and haven’t really returned to Texas as an adult. I know there are great musicians from Dallas – Erykah Badu, Kirk Franklin, DJ Felli Fel come to mind, and I’ve heard there is an interesting underground/punk/DIY history of the city as well. I’m bummed I can’t make it out for the premiere, but I am a huge fan of artists paving the way for more weird art and alt communities.
For the show as a whole, Igneczi added that “Looking to the future of Verdigris Ensemble, In C creates an exciting pathway to further immerse audiences in our creative process and celebrate the importance of directly engaging with our patrons and community.Whether you’re a trained musician or just an enthusiast, we hope you’ll let your curiosity guide you to become part of Verdigris Ensemble, even if just for one night.”
Performances are Friday-Sunday at Hamon Hall inside the Winspear. For tickets, click here.
Verdigris Ensemble has also released its entire season of concerts for 2024 and 2025. Here are the remaining concerts for its new season:
Nov. 8-10: Reflection: Travel Guide to Nicaragua at Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum.
Feb. 28-March 2: Transformation: Song from the Uproar at Theatre Three.
May 23-25: Transcendence: Shams with Bruce Wood Dance Dallas at Moody Performance Hall.
Rover Dramawerks announces its 25th anniversary season
The Plano-based company dropped its new season announcement on Monday. Rover will present five productions with two special events beginning in January. All performances by Rover will be held at the Cox Playhouse in historic downtown Plano.
The season includes:
Jan. 9-25: The Shakespeare Conspiracy by Andrew Shepherd. Shakespeare’s characters are real, the RSC is a branch of the government (a bit like MI6 but with better costumes), Iago is trying to destroy the world, and mankind’s last hope is a travel agent named Martin. Dive into a world where Shakespeare’s heroes and villains have been waging a secret war for over 400 years. If the rules of theatre are broken, it will bring about the end of the world? Directed by Carol M. Rice.
March 6-22: The Hat Box by Eric Coble. Do we ever really know our parents? Do we want to? Really? Two sisters are about to find out when they discover a hat box hidden in the back of their recently deceased father’s closet. What sits inside sends them off on an impromptu road trip to visit eccentric Aunt Esther and on an increasingly wild ride down memory lane. Directed by Charlotte Taylor.
April 12: One Day Only 31 is Rover’s signature play festival where seven short plays go fro concept to curtain in one day.
June 5-21: 10-Minute Comedies will feature the winners of Rover’s 10-minute comedy contest.
July 31-Aug. 16: Murder at the Orient Burlesque by Rice and directed by Eddy Herring. When Russian princess Katherina Anastasia Faberge Antoinette joins the cast of the burlesque at Christie’s Orient Palace, the trouble begins, so it’s not a surprise when she turns up dead after only one performance. As Detective Red Flannegan quickly discovers, everyone has a motive, and the Czarina was not only shot, but also poisoned, stabbed, electrocuted and strangled. The question then becomes not who did it, but who did what, and is there anyone who didn’t?
Sept. 11-27: Double Cut by Alfred Schaughnessy. Diamond heiress Olivia Prescott is disturbed by an enigmatic stranger arriving at her villa, claiming to be her supposedly dead brother. He seems to know every trivial detail of their past family life, his papers verify his identity, but Olivia insists with mounting hysteria that he is an imposter despite his convincing everyone around them. Is Olivia going mad…or is she concealing something? And what about the £10 million worth of diamonds that have gone missing? Directed by Sara Jones.
Nov. 6-22: The Dingdong or Take Me, I’m Yours! by Mark Shanahan. Vatelin is a faithful husband – mostly. Lucy is a faithful wife – kind of. But their “fidelity” is about to be put to the test when a series of importunate suitors and femmes fatales invade their cozy little world. Dive headfirst into the misadventures of one madcap night in a Parisian hotel in this new adaptation of Feydeau’s classic farce Le Dindon, and discover how opening the wrong door in the dark of night can lead to mayhem, laughter, and a few unlikely revelations about the secret to a happy marriage. and directed by Penny Elaine.
Tickets for shows are available now here. Season subscriptions include the five mainstage shows and 10-Minute Comedies are also available. For more information, click here.
Teatro Dallas unveils its 2025 productions
‘Between Pages’ was part of Teatro Dallas’ 2024 season. The company announced its new shows for 2025. (Photo via Facebook)
In a video last week on its socials, Teatro Dallas announced its season of shows for next year. The season will feature three productions including the new directors festival Nuevo Mundo. Teatro’s new artistic director will helm the first show of the season which launches in November.
Nov. 8-23: Time Stands Still by Donald Margulies. This dark comedy by Pulitzer-Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies explores the lives of an American photojournalist and her journalist partner as they grapple with their recent experiences overseas covering wars in which their involvement is ambiguous. The play delves into themes of personal sacrifice, emotional healing, and the search for meaning amidst chaos. Directed by Mac Welch.
Feb. 14-March 1: Nuevo Mundo – A New Directors Festival. Celebrating 40 years of developing new artists, Teatro Dallas is expanding on its biennial international festivals with the addition of Nuevo Mundo, a festival to incubate new directors and playwrights. Three up-and-coming directors that are under-represented on Dallas’ stages will be selected and paired with seasoned directors to mentor and support their selections of plays they believe deserve to be seen. Guest mentors include Christie Vela, Sasha Maya Ada and Lauren Leblanc. Explore the next generation of new voices connecting Dallas to the global South.
May 16-31: El Otro by Octavio Solis. A simple ride to retrieve a birthday gift sends a young teenage girl named Romy and her two fathers on a phantasmagoric ride through a harrowing night. Lupe, her birth father, forces her to choose between him and Ben, the fresh-faced Ft. Bliss soldier whom recently married her mother. The winner gets to live. Directed by Alyssa Carrasco.
Individual tickets and memberships are available now here.
–Rich Lopez