Stage Notes is a weekly aggregate post about theater, classical music, dance, comedy and stage news, events, reviews and other pertinent information.
Stage Notes Calendar
Opening this week:
Dallas Symphony Orchestra: Dvořák & Korngold, Friday and Saturday at the Meyerson.
TITAS/Dance Unbound: SAMA by Gallim, Friday and Saturday at Moody Performance Hall.
Community of Rowlett Players (CORP): The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Friday-June 7.
Runway Theatre: The Tin Woman, Friday-June 14.
Jubilee Theatre: Sassy Mamas, Friday-June 28.
Casa Manana: Come From Away, Saturday-June 7., pictured.
Prism Movement Theater: Free Sword Fighting Class, 6 p.m. Sunday at Dallas Children’s Theater.
Turtle Creek Chorale: Pride as Big as Texas, 4 p.m. Sunday at Temple Emanu-el.
Turtle Creek Chorale: Pride as Big as Texas, 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Meyerson.
DSO Parks in the Concert: 8:15 p.m. Tuesday at Fretz Park.
DSO Parks in the Concert: 8:15 p.m. Wednesday at Exall Park.
Onstage now:
Ochre House Theater: Immovable Beast, through Saturday.
The Core Theatre: Everynight Live! Comedy, through Sunday.
The Firehouse Theatre: Sister Act, through Sunday.
Theatre Denton: The Importance of Being Earnest, through Sunday at Point Bank Auditorium.
WaterTower Theatre: Always…Patsy Cline, through Sunday, pictured.
Broadway Dallas: Wicked, through June 14.
Upright Theatre Co.: Camelot, through June 14.
The Classic Theatre Project: American Buffalo, through June 20 at The Stone Cottage.
Pocket Sandwich Theatre: Home, I’m Darling, through June 20.
Stage West has postponed the opening of its final Sherlock Holmes installment
Just ahead of next week’s opening, Stage West dropped the news of pushing the show’s opening to June 10 but extended the closing date.
From Stage West:
Due to unavoidable cast member circumstances, we need to postpone the opening of the show by one week. We will also be extending the show by one week with a new closing date of July 5.
Because this is a personal circumstance, we ask for your understanding and discretion. The simplest way to say it is: Stage West is powered by human beings, and sometimes life happens.
What does this mean?
If you have tickets for the now canceled performances, our Box Office will be reaching out to move your reservation into a later week of the run. Thank you for your patience, flexibility, and understanding as we make this pivot with care for the artists, the production, and you, our dear audiences.
Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Ghost Machine is the grand finale in David MacGregor’s Sherlock Holmes trilogy. The regional premiere will run four weeks beginning Wednesday, June 10.
In this installment, Sherlock Holmes has retired, trading mysteries for domestic bliss with Irene Adler, much to the dismay of both her and Dr. Watson. Meanwhile, bitter rivals Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison have arrived in London with their latest inventions only to have them promptly stolen. And at the center of it all? Professor Moriarty’s formidable daughter.
“In all my years, I’ve never known a theatre to do a series like this with the same team. This final play is the meatiest of the three. I want people to feel like they’ve gotten to know Sherlock, Watson, Adler, and Chartier and are happy they met them. I want people to have had fun and be glad they were here, and to be spurred into buying tickets for next season,” Stage West Executive Producer Dana Schultes and the show’s Irene Adler
That being said, for those who have followed the entire trilogy, the cast this year looks a bit different. Taking over Watson this year, played previous by Brian Gonzalez, is Robert San Juan. And due to unforeseen circumstances, John-Michael Marrs, who played the titular character, had to leave the show which led to the postponement. Brandon J. Murphy will take over the role. Jay Duffer directs.
“This being the last of the three, I hope people walk away satisfied and feeling like they’ve been a part of a rare thing,” Schultes stated.
SHATA of the Ghost Machine will open June 10 and run through July 5. For tickets, click here.
WaterTower Theatre board announces leadership transition as artistic director exits
In an email earlier this week, the WTT Board of Directors announced the departure of its Producing Artistic Director Shane Peterman. After a tenure of seven years at the WTT helm, he will resign from the company with a formal announcement to be released on June 1. The same day, the board announces the interim ad.
From the WTT Board:
Dear Friends and Patrons of WaterTower Theatre,
We’re writing to share news of a leadership transition at WaterTower Theatre. After seven dedicated years of service, Producing Artistic Director Shane Peterman is leaving to take on a new leadership role in the arts and entertainment industry. The organization is expected to make its formal announcement on June 1.
Over the past seven years, Mr. Peterman has been a steady and creative force at the heart of WaterTower Theatre. Under his leadership, the company produced ambitious work, grew its community relationships, and navigated one of the most challenging periods in the history of regional theatre – not just in Texas but throughout the country. We are proud of what has been accomplished together, and we are grateful for his commitment, vision, and artistry. We wish him every success in this next chapter!
Effective June 1, 2026, JC Schuster will serve as Interim Producing Artistic Director. A Dallas native with over 20 years of Broadway and other entertainment experience, Mr. Schuster has served as WaterTower Theatre’s Associate Producing Artistic Director for over a year. He has been an integral part of the leadership of this organization, and the board has full confidence in his ability to guide the company through this transition.
Thank you for your ongoing support. Our patrons, sponsors, staff, artists, and the Town of Addison make our mission possible.
We look forward to sharing more about the path ahead and seeing you at the theatre.
Please join us at the final performance of the fantastic Always…Patsy Cline on Sunday, May 31, and stay after the curtain closes to raise a glass in appreciation of Shane!
With gratitude,
The Board of Directors, WaterTower Theatre
SheDFW Arts reveals shows selected for the 2026 SheDFW Summer Theater Festival
This week, SheDFW Arts announced its 2026 SheDFW Summer Theater Festival. The annual event features the works of Texas-based and national women, trans and nonbinary playwrights and composers. This year’s festival will run Sept. 8-13 at Stage West Theatre in Fort Worth.
“These three shows are a reminder of why we do this work. A genre-bending musical that rewrites gaming history, an intimate Texas drama about grief and grace, and a mythological Irish folk tale rooted in the oldest kind of longing — they couldn’t be more different from one another, and yet they all ask the same essential question: what do we do with the things we’ve lost, and who do we become on the other side of that?” Sarah Powell, Executive Producer of the SheDFW Summer Theater Festival said in a press release. “SheDFW has always been about creating a home in North Texas for stories that deserve to be told at the highest level, and we are so proud to bring this lineup to audiences at Stage West.”
This year’s productions include:
BATTLE CROWN: The Legend of Princess Pink, a new musical with book, music and lyrics by Amanda Dills. When three teenage gamers discover a mysterious 1980s console, they unlock an unfinished 8-bit adventure where the Princess is finally the playable character. This musical blends retro video game nostalgia, a synth-pop score and a coming-of-age story about friendship, failure and unfinished quests. In this feminist musical adventure, the biggest power-up just might be the courage to act before you know you can win.
Hamill, TX. by Analisa Salinas. Freshly graduated from a big university, Aurora returns to her small hometown for the funeral of two family friends. While navigating her next chapter and the new grief hanging over her family, she starts to find solace where she shouldn’t. As her visit turns into a quickly spiraling cycle of tension and recklessness, it gets harder and harder for her to admit why she really came back home.
The Other Side of the Shore by Tilda Grace. What happens when three children become the byproduct of a love that began as free-spirited infatuation but transformed into possessive imprisonment? Following the presumed death of their mother, Orlaith is left to care for her younger twin siblings: Fiadh, a sickly girl with a vivid imagination, and Ruairi, a hot-headed boy often at odds with their brash and abusive father, Cian. The Other Side of the Shore is a reimagining of a classic Celtic folktale where in the face of grief, expectation, and raging ocean storms, the siblings must decipher the mysterious origins of their family and discover their own roots along the way.
This year, MusicalWriters.com returns to SheDFW to sponsor the festival’s musical production of Battle Crown, which will be directed and co-produced by MW.c’s Rebecca Lowrey.
Tickets for the 2026 SheDFW Summer Theater Festival will go on sale July 10 at SheNYCArts.org/she-dfw.
–Rich Lopez