Theater Critic Picks

These are the 10 can't-miss shows in Dallas-Fort Worth theater for March

Regional premieres are the theme this month, with at least half of the shows in this list qualifying. The number skyrockets, however, if you include each of the original works in WaterTower Theatre's new Detour festival, which makes its debut under the watch of new-ish artistic director Joanie Schultz.

Here are the 10 shows to see, in order by start date:

The Royale
Kitchen Dog Theater, March 1-18
Marco Ramirez's play about a talented, charismatic African-American boxer who dreams of being the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world — in 1905 — was inspired by the often-overlooked story of Jack Johnson. At the height of the Jim Crow era, Johnson became the most famous and the most notorious black man on Earth. KDT co-artistic director Christopher Carlos is behind this regional premiere, which stars Jamal Gibran Sterling, Adrian Churchill, Jaquai Wade, Marcus M. Maudlin, and Lee George.

Detour: A Festival of New Work
WaterTower Theatre, March 1-4
Instead of its traditional Out of the Loop festival, WaterTower is this year instead partnering with local and national artists to bring audiences four new play readings, three devised works, and two "late nite" comedy/musical performances. Highlights include a reading from Oregon Shakespeare Festival's "Play On!" initiative commissioning modern adaptations of 39 of Shakespeare's works, three new works from rising company Dark Circles Contemporary Dance, the next installment of Brigham Mosley's laugh-out-loud creation, Movies That Should Be Musicals.

Jekyll & Hyde
Casa Mañana, March 3-11
A pop-rock musical from Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse, this staging stars Broadway veteran Bradley Dean in the title role (he's fresh off playing the part on the international Korean tour). Based on Robert Louis Stevenson's story, the show tells the saga of one man who's battling his two sides: one, a passionate and romantic doctor; and the other, a terrifying madman.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center of New York City
Stage West, March 3-April 1
A regional premiere, Halley Feiffer's outrageously funny and ultimately touching new play throws together Karla, a young comedian, and Don, a middle-aged man going through a nasty divorce. Both their mothers are fighting cancer and sharing a room, and the pair's initial confrontation eventually leads to mutual understanding and support. Dana Schultes directs, with Janielle Kastner making her Stage West debut as Karla and Thomas Ward playing Don.

The Great Society
Dallas Theater Center, March 9-April 1
The second part of Robert Schenkkan's LBJ saga explores the turbulent presidency amid the Vietnam war, with such historical figures as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Bobby Kennedy, and Richard Nixon all making an appearance. Just as with 2016's All the Way, this is a co-production with Houston's Alley Theatre (it played there in February). Former DTC company member Brandon Potter returns as President Lyndon Baines Johnson, while Houston's Shawn Hamilton once again plays Dr. King.

She Kills Monsters
Theatre Three, March 8-April 1
Laden with homicidal fairies, nasty ogres, and '90s pop culture references, this comedic romp into the world of fantasy role-playing games is an homage to the geek and warrior within us all. Agnes Evans leaves her childhood home in Ohio following the death of her teenage sister, Tilly, but stumbles into a journey of discovery and action-packed adventure in the imaginary world that was Tilly's refuge once she finds her sister's D&D notebook.

Finding Neverland
Performing Arts Fort Worth, March 20-25
Thanks to playwright James Graham and composers Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy, the popular film starring Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet got the musical stage treatment. Now the national tour of the Broadway production is coming to Bass Hall for a quick run, sprinkling pixie dust with its story of Peter Pan creator J. M. Barrie and the family that inspired him.

Riverdance: The 20th Anniversary World Tour
AT&T Performing Arts Center, March 3
Those fast feet are still flying, and are now coming to North America directly from a sold-out run across Europe and Asia. Drawing on Irish traditions, the combined talents of the performers propel Irish dancing and music into the present day, resulting in an innovative and exciting blend of dance, music, and song.

Luna Gale
Circle Theatre, March 22-April 14
Circle is teaming up with Theatre TCU for this regional premiere, which asks its audience if the end always justifies the means. Caroline (Lisa Fairchild), a veteran social worker, swears to protect baby Luna Gale, but her mission may be motivated by a hidden agenda. DFW favorites Jakie Cabe and Ken Orman also star.

Waitress
Dallas Summer Musicals, March 28-April 8
Grammy winner Sara Bareilles penned the score for this musical, which is based on Adrienne Shelley's cult film. An all-female creative team brought the show to Broadway, and it's a showcase for the lucky actress portraying the aspiring baker looking a way out of her small town and loveless marriage (that would be Desi Oakley on the tour, with Robin Hood alum Nick Bailey as her husband).

The national tour of Finding Neverland comes to Fort Worth as part of Broadway at the Bass.

Photo by Jeremy Daniel

The national tour of Finding Neverland comes to Fort Worth as part of Broadway at the Bass.

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Movie review

Clarity of visuals in Avatar: The Way of Water is a double-edged sword

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) in Avatar: The Way of Water

It’s long been said that you doubt writer/director James Cameron at your own peril. Starting with 1984’s The Terminator, he has brought some of the wildest – and most expensive – ideas to the screen, succeeding time and again even when people thought he had gone too far. And so releasing the sequel to 2009’s Avatar 13 years later is just the latest gamble in a career full of them.

Avatar: The Way of Water finds Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) living in bliss with his Na’vi wife, Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and their children in the jungles of Pandora. But after many years, the humans of Earth have returned, this time not to mine Unobtainium, but to colonize another world because their planet has become uninhabitable. Oh, and if they happen to get revenge on Jake in the process, so much the better.

To do so, a group of Marines led by the now-deceased Quaritch (Stephen Lang) have had their memories implanted in lab-grown Avatars, allowing them to go on even past death. Their hunt of Jake forces him to move his family to live with the Metkayina clan, led by Ronal (Kate Winslet) and Tonowari (Cliff Curtis), who live next to the ocean. There, the two groups have to learn to co-exist and perhaps band together when the humans come calling once again.

Perhaps more than any other modern filmmaker, Cameron is obsessed with pushing the boundaries of technology. For the most part, American filmmakers have stopped filming in 3D, retrofitting their movies to be shown in 3D if they so desire. But Cameron is all-in, using motion capture suits for his actors and cutting-edge work from New Zealand’s Weta Workshop to bring the world of Pandora to life.

That decision turns out to be a double-edged sword. There’s no denying that everything in the film looks spectacular, from the Na’vi to the different animals of the world to the abundant water. But Cameron has also employed the high frame rate of 48 frames-per-second (24 fps is the standard) infamously used by Peter Jackson in The Hobbit trilogy, giving everything a hyper-real look that, at least for this critic, does not make for a great viewing experience.

There’s a certain look that most fiction films have, providing an invisible “barrier” between the world of the film and the audience. Cameron thinks he’s doing a service for filmgoers in removing that barrier, when in reality it undercuts the other aspects of the film. The visuals too often serve as a distraction from the story, which is surely not his intent.

Not that the story of The Way of Water is all that fantastic, mind you. Cameron and co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver spend a lot of time with the family aspect of the story, giving Jake and Neytiri’s children many scenes to delve into their personalities and issues. While they each become fully-formed characters, the emotional connection with them never materializes.

They also rush through the return of what the Na’vi call the “Sky People,” expecting the audience to just accept a series of events that deserve more than the perfunctory exposition they’re given. For a film that’s 3 hours and 12 minutes long, you’d think there would be plenty of time to devote to all aspects of the story, but somehow that isn’t the case.

As the majority of the characters in the film are courtesy of motion capture, it’s difficult to judge the total performances of the actors. Worthington and Saldaña reprise their roles well, but it’s next-to-impossible to decipher Winslet in hers. Edie Falco and Jemaine Clement show up for mostly forgettable parts, and it’s best not to talk about the weirdness of seeing Sigourney Weaver play a teenager.

Perhaps Avatar: The Way of Water will improve on second or third viewing, once the story is already known and ultra-clear visuals aren’t as distracting. But once is often enough for most moviegoers, and it just doesn’t offer enough enticement the first time around to want to go back for more.

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Avatar: The Way of Water opens in theaters on December 16.

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) in Avatar: The Way of Water

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Theater Critic Picks

These are the 10 can't-miss shows in Dallas-Fort Worth theater for March

The national tour of Finding Neverland comes to Fort Worth as part of Broadway at the Bass.

Movie review

Clarity of visuals in Avatar: The Way of Water is a double-edged sword

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