Politics as an extension of reality television isn’t so farfetched. That’s part of the premise of Ugly People, an interactive comedy by Fort Worth playwright James Venhaus that opens October 18 at the 100-seat Pantagleize Theatre. Two candidates — Scott, a sincere politician trying to do right by his community,…
Sex, racism, dirty politics, spousal abuse — Shakepeare’s The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is so full of juicy double-dealing, behind-the-back gossiping and physical violence, it could get its own reality show. It’s one of the Bard’s best, with a beaut of a plot about a white lady,…
They’re creepy and they’re kooky, mysterious and spooky. But are they worth a looky? They’ll close before Halloween, but the creepy-kooky-not-really-spooky comedies The Mystery of Irma Vep: A Penny Dreadful and The Addams Family Musical have set up camp, in the clutch-the-pearls sense, on two local stages. What frightful disappointments…
We’re beginning to suspect that Dallas Theater Center’s Kevin Moriarty has a secret plan to stage all the plays that put our teeth on edge. Besides all the Shakespeare he loves doing (they have King Lear coming up at DTC this season), he added Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat…
In Freud’s Last Session, the smart one-act now on view at Theatre Three, novelist and Oxford don C.S. Lewis utters this snappy line: “The greatest problem with Christianity is Christians.” It sounds like something he might have written. The play uses a great many lines that Lewis, most famous for…
One dark and stormy night, Lady Enid arrives at a spooky old estate with her new husband. But the ghost of his first wife haunts the place (shades of DuMaurier’s Rebecca) and a portrait over the mansion’s fireplace seems to hold the answers to “Why?” Camp classic The Mystery of…
Is that a handgun that I see before me? It is. In Shakespeare Dallas’ just-opened production of Macbeth, the Scottish and Norwegian troops wear modern camo and fire pistols and automatic weapons. Not as visually graceful as clanging swords perhaps, but going bang-bang sure could shorten the battle scenes. If…
When you hear someone say “Out, damned spot!,” that’s from a line in Macbeth (used in endless headlines for stories about acne cures and stain removers). When you hear “there will be blood” or a reference to “the milk of human kindness” or that someone leads “a charmed life,” Macbeth…
It’s 1968 and a couple of bored girls from Mesquite venture into Big D to find some thrills in Party Mouth, the latest new play from avant garde actor, playwright and director Matthew Posey, founder of the Ochre House Theater near Fair Park. Elizabeth Evans plays “Baby Doll” and Natalie…
In the Latino Cultural Center’s three-day one-act play festival, a trio of theater companies present pieces telling stories from the perspective of women. Opening night Thursday features Cara Mía Theatre Company’s workshop of The Dreamers Trilogy — Part 1, a new play written by Cara Mía’s artistic ensemble, directed by…
Honey Boo Boo, reality TV’s hillbilly kiddie diva, has nothing on Puddles Johnson, a tiny titan in the world of glitzy tots with fake tans and snap-in flipper teeth. As Puddles and her adorable rival, Chevrolet Corningfield, battle it out to become “Miss Alabama Haystack” and “Miss Texas Twinkle,” their…
Dallas Theater Center’s next main event sounds like a knockout. Or, more accurately, it hopes to bring the “white heat.” Kristoffer Diaz’ Pulitzer-finalist play The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, opening October 19 for 26 performances at the Wyly Theatre, is set in the world of professional wrestling, where “white…
See also: Holy War Horse There’s a Lot of Great Theater Opening in Dallas in the Next Week So a couple of snooty critics and uptight theater patrons are upset about a sketch in The Second City Does Dallas, the new Dallas Theater Center comedy that just opened at the…
Something wicked this way comes in Shakespeare Dallas’ fall production of Macbeth, directed by Stefan Novinski with an all-local cast. Let’s hope it’s not the weather. Cool breezes would complement the Bard’s short but hot-tempered drama about unbridled ambitions. Brave Macbeth murders his way to the throne of Scotland at…
The national tour of the Tony-winning drama War Horse is at the Winspear right now, with double matinees on its two Sundays. Based on the 1982 children’s book by Michael Morpurgo, the play tells the story of Joey, a farm horse sold into the British cavalry in WWI and shipped…
It gives us pleasure to confess that Frank Loesser’s snappy show tune “Big D” (little-A, double-L-A-S) helps spell success for two productions that just opened in local theaters. The song is a by-god, knee-slapping showstopper as performed by Catherine Carpenter Cox and Alex Organ in the second act of Lyric…
See also: Ten Must-Hear Classical Music Shows in Dallas This Fall No flab? Check. No shirt? Check. No singing talent? Check, and you still get a paycheck if Dallas Opera deems you and your tight abs suitable for casting as an extra in the upcoming production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Aïda…
See also: Holy War Horse There’s a Lot of Great Theater Opening in Dallas in the Next Week The annual fried chicken and loud cackling session known as the DFW Critics Forum luncheon was lighter on both grease and arguing this year. The group reached unusually strong consensus on menu…
What a trip! Stage West’s production of Around the World in 80 Days is featherweight comedy that floats along nicely, thanks to the steady breeze stirred by the constant motion of its five hard-charging actors. Director Jerry Russell keeps the pace frantic throughout this immensely amusing farce, lest we notice…
See also: Dallas’ Seven Best Post-Theater Hangs Dallas doesn’t really have a theater “season.” With more than 50 professional and semi-professional companies crowding the stages, there’s hardly a weekend when there aren’t new shows popping up. But the weekend starting September 6 presents a crazy-busy blitz of plays and musicals…
How did Uptown Players prepare for the first local production of the hit Broadway musical The Producers? Step One: They snagged actor B.J. Cleveland to play the leading role of sleazy Broadway showman Max Bialystock. Cleveland is Dallas-Fort Worth’s Nathan Lane with one major difference: He actually shows up for…
See also: The Five Best Bald Actors on DFW Stages The circle of life for Dallas Summer Musicals is to find big shows based on popular movies and bring them back to the Music Hall at Fair Park season after season. Why else would they book return visits of The…
