From left, Blake McNamara, Rodney Richardson and Natalie King in Uptown Players’ ‘Chicken and Biscuits.’ (Courtesy photo by Mike Morgan)
Stage Notes is a weekly aggregate post about theater, classical music and stage news, events, reviews and other pertinent information.
Opening this week:
The Watering Hole Collective: Spring Awakening, opened Wednesday through July 22.
North Texas Performing Arts: Newsies, Friday-July 23.
Richardson Centre Theatre: Boeing, Boeing, Friday-July 30.
Theatre Coppell: Young Frankenstein, Friday-July 30.
Fine Arts Chamber Players: Basically Beethoven Festival, 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Moody Performance Hall.
Onstage now:
Art Centre Theatre: The Elephant Man, through Sunday.
Shakespeare Dallas: Two Gentlemen of Verona (in repertory), through Friday.
The Core Theatre: City of Richardson History Play, through Sunday.
Shakespeare Dallas: Much Ado About Nothing (in repertory), through Sunday.
Theatre Denton: Singin’ in the Rain, though July 23.
Hip Pocket Theatre:The Butterfly’s Evil Spell, through July 26.
Artisan Center Theatre: Godspell, through Aug. 12.
Pocket Sandwich Theatre: Captain Blood – A Pirate Melodrama, through Aug. 12.
Uptown Players about to serve up some Chicken and Biscuits
After just announcing its new season, Uptown Players will conclude its current season with the regional premiere of Chicken and Biscuits. The company announced the show’s cast and creative team this week. Written by Douglas Lyons, the comedy centers on a family reunion where all the secrets come out. The play will open July 28-Aug. 13 at the Kalita Humphreys Theatre.
From Uptown:
Chicken and Biscuits tells the tale of the Jenkins family, whose July unexpected reunion during a funeral gathering exposes long-buried secrets, uproarious chaos, and laugh-out-loud encounters. With genuine wit and astute observations, Douglas Lyons delivers a heartwarming and hilarious story that celebrates the joy and resilience found within families.
This humorous and touching piece will be directed by Akin Babatunde. “If you haven’t been to a black funeral you haven’t lived,” states Akin. “The various genres of theatre are inherent in this work: Theater of the absurd, Commedia dell-arte, tragedy, realism and of course comedy. All are expressed through the perspective of the African American experience.” This highly anticipated regional premiere is set to leave audiences rolling in the aisles and will leave them inspired by the enduring power of love and family.
The cast includes Joelle Eon, Kathy-Ann Hart, Natalie King , Meami Maszewski, Blake McNamara, Michael Page, Rodney Richardson and Crystal Williams. Along with Babatunde, the production team includes musical supervisor Michael Childs, scenic design by Donna Marquet, lighting design by Kyle Harris, sound by Brian Christensen and props by Jane Quetin. Costumes will be by the team of Suzi Cranford and Brei Bairrington with hair and makeup design by Michael B. Moore and Leslie Brooks. Renee Dessommes serves as stage manager.
Tickets are available here.
Amphibian Stage explores queer themes with world premiere
The cast of Amphibian Stage’s ‘Miss Molly.’ (Courtesy photo)
Coming off SparkFest, Amphibian Stage will head into the summer with the world premiere of the Victorian comedy Miss Molly, A Marital Deceit of Honest Intentions, a play by Christine Carmela and directed by Amphibian’s Evan Michael Woods. Inspired by Oscar Wilde, the play throws audience back to Victorian England with modern and queer themes throughout the comedy. The show will open July 21-Aug. 13.
Carmela and Woods are TCU alumni and former roommates. This is also Woods directorial debut. The two might just make the perfect team.
“To have Miss Molly premiere in any other city, at any other theatre, with any other director would feel blasphemous. DFW has always been an artistic home for me; it’s where I started my career as a writer and performer,” Carmela said in a press release. “Before USC and Off-Broadway, Amphibian was the first professional theatre to give me a chance when they hosted a staged reading of one of my early plays. There is not a single director better suited to bring Miss Molly to life than the person who lived in the room next door to me for most of my time in DFW, whom I consider a go-to collaborator, confidant, and friend.”
Amphibian announced the cast and creative team behind Miss Molly this week.
Keeping it in the TCU family will be Logan Graye as Genevieve Houseington, Brayden Raqueño as Aloysius Thurston. Bothwere in the first staged reading of Miss Molly at TCU in 2018. Luke Atkison will serve as lighting designer.
The team includes actors Parker Gray, Laurel Collins, Shannon McGrann, and Emily Scott Banks. Creative includes Aaron Patrick DeClerk as costume designer, Paige Hathaway, set design, hair and wigs by Nicole Alvarez and the sound team of Patrick Emile, Aivson Young and Benjamin Moore.
–Rich Lopez
