Your onstage choices for August are varied and very fun, ranging from new works to Broadway tours, concerts to classic revivals, and even a few puppets. Here are 12 local shows, listed in order of start date:
The Heart Sellers
Amphibian Stage, through August 17
Thanksgiving, 1973: Jane and Luna are new to America, a bit lost, and definitely homesick. When they meet by chance, a simple grocery store run turns into a night of laughter, wine, and instant connection. From a botched frozen turkey to dreams of Disneyland, The Heart Sellers beautifully captures the highs and lows of new beginnings.
Old Mother West Wind
Hip Pocket Theatre, through August 24
Old Mother West Wind makes its return to Hip Pocket Theatre in celebration of the upcoming 50th anniversary season. First produced in the theater’s third season, the company will revisit the Simons and Balentine legacy production. A soulful balm for these unsteady days, Old Mother West Wind comes down from the purple hills to teach us all, young and old, to love each other.
SheDFW Theater Festival
SheDFW Arts, August 5-10
Now in its second year, the festival is dedicated to amplifying the voices of women, trans, and non-binary playwrights and theater artists from Texas and the central U.S. The festival will showcase four new productions, including two musicals and two plays, at the Studio Theatre on the UT Arlington campus.
Life of Pi
Broadway Dallas, August 5-17
Based on the novel that sold more than 15 million copies and became a worldwide phenomenon, Life of Pi is told with jaw-dropping visuals, world class puppetry, and exquisite stagecraft. After a shipwreck in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a 16-year-old boy named Pi survives on a lifeboat with four companions: a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan, and a Royal Bengal tiger.
The Book of Mormon
Broadway at the Bass, August 8-10
This nine-time Tony Award-winning Best Musical is an outrageous comedy that follows the misadventures of a mismatched pair of missionaries, sent halfway across the world to spread the Good Word.
Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds
Jubilee Theatre, August 8-31
Set against the backdrop of Jamaica, the heartwarming tale follows the adventures of Ziggy, a young boy who embarks on a journey of self-discovery and bravery. With the help of his friends, Nansi and Doctor Bird, Ziggy learns valuable lessons about courage, friendship, and the power of hope.
Imagine
Uptown Players and Bruce Wood Dance Dallas, August 9-10
Uptown Players and Bruce Wood Dance join creative forces for the first time to blend the expressive styles of cabaret, contemporary dance, and live music, offering audiences a moving and multidisciplinary experience that honors the LGBTQ+ community and its allies.
The Last Five Years
Circle Theatre, August 14-September 6
A powerful piece that speaks to the universal experience of love and loss, Jason Robert Brown's musical explores the five-year romance between Cathy and Jamie, two aspiring artists, through a unique narrative structure: Cathy’s story unfolds from the end of their relationship moving backward, while Jamie’s perspective moves forward from the start.
Guys & Dolls
Lyric Stage and Turtle Creek Chorale, August 15-17
Set in Damon Runyon’s mythical New York City, Guys & Dolls follows gambler Nathan Detroit as he tries to find the cash to set up the biggest craps game in town. Meanwhile, his girlfriend and nightclub performer Adelaide, laments that they’ve been engaged for 14 years. Nathan turns to fellow gambler Sky Masterson for the dough, and Sky ends up chasing the straight-laced missionary Sarah Brown as a result.
The Penumbra
Ian Ferguson and Lauren LeBlanc, August 20-21
A team of Dallas-based creatives will present a workshop of the brand-new musical The Penumbra, with music by composer/lyricist Ian Ferguson and libretto by writer Lauren LeBlanc. Based on LeBlanc’s unpublished young adult novel of the same name, The Penumbra is a supernatural thriller told in a three-part narrative: a teenage girl in a struggling family, a town reeling from an escalating pattern of missing children, and an ancient folktale of love and destruction.
Fat Ham
Stage West Theatre, August 28-September 14
Juicy’s got a lot on his plate, considering his mom just married his uncle. All he wants is to make his own way as a queer Black man in a Southern family. But here’s the rub: His father’s ghost just turned up at a backyard barbecue demanding vengeance. In this reinvention of Shakespeare’s masterpiece, a young man vows to break the cycles of violence in service of his own liberation and joy.
An Evening with Bernadette Peters
Plano Symphony Orchestra, August 30
Throughout her illustrious career, Peters has dazzled audiences and critics with her performances on stage, film and television, in concert, and on recordings. Expect a one-of-a-kind night of songs with selections from great music masters like Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Jerry Herman, and more.
