Must-See Theater

These are the 8 can't-miss shows in Dallas-Fort Worth theater for March

March is coming in like a lion onstage, with powerhouse productions all over Dallas-Fort Worth. Everything from presidents to famous movie couples to Babs herself (that would be Barbra Streisand to you) is on the docket, so plan ahead and get your tickets.

These are your best bets for theater this month, presented in order of start date:

All The Way
Dallas Theater Center, through April 3
DTC combined its resident acting company with that of Houston's Alley Theatre, and together they are producing the recent Tony Award-winning play about Lyndon Baines Johnson's "accidental presidency," and his landslide campaign win a year later. Brandon Potter is giving a hell of a performance as LBJ, and the political skullduggery feels especially prescient.

Light Up The Sky
Theatre Three, March 10-April 3
Moss Hart wrote this 1948 farce about what he knew best: out-of-town tryouts for Broadway shows. The tireless playwright authored, co-authored, and directed two dozen Broadway plays between 1930 and 1948, so his knowledge of behind-the-scenes drama is completely on point.

The Nether
Stage West, March 10-April 10
Questions about technology's hold on humanity? Check. The blurred lines of virtual reality? Check. Creepy child? Check. Jennifer Haley's "modern fairytale" delves into an online world where immoral acts are allowed — even encouraged —and one detective must determine if crime is still real if it's only online.

The Little Mermaid
Dallas Summer Musicals, March 11-27
Performing Arts Fort Worth, March 29-April 3
After premiering its revised version in Dallas last year, the Disney musical is swimming back to North Texas to play both Dallas and Fort Worth. The previous Prince Eric, the dreamy Eric Kunze, is back, and he's joined by Baylor alum Adam Garst as Flounder.

Buyer & Cellar
Stage West, March 17-April 10
Jonathan Tolins' one-man play starts with a nugget of truth — that Barbra Streisand has an actual mall in her basement — then veers into fan-fantasy as struggling actor Alex imagines what it would be like to work there and serve Babs.

The Realistic Joneses
WaterTower Theatre, March 19-April 10
"Keeping up with the Joneses" takes on a whole new meaning in this Will Eno play, which thrusts two suburban couples into each other's lives. The cast is stocked with local talent, including James Crawford, Diana Sheehan, Justin Locklear, and Martha Harms.

Love Letters
AT&T Performing Arts Center, March 22-April 3
Love means ... Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal starring in this back-and-forth between two childhood friends-turned-lovers. A.R. Gurney's touching play attracts a roster of big names — the recent Broadway production featured Carol Burnett, Brian Dennehy, Mia Farrow, Alan Alda, and Candice Bergen — and the Love Story couple are no exception.

God's Trombones
Jubilee Theatre, March 25-April 24
If you've never been to a show at Jubilee, this is a good one with which to start. The theater's founder, Rudy Eastman, wrote the book for this adaptation of the sermon poems of James Weldon Johnson, with music by Douglas Balentine. It's a Jubilee classic, and one of the theater's most popular productions.

Aaron Roberts and Allison Pistorius in The Nether.

Photo courtesy of Stage West

Aaron Roberts and Allison Pistorius in The Nether.

theater

History on Display

Landmark Nelson Mandela exhibition to kick off in Dallas during World Cup

Photo courtesy of Lawrence Jenkins

Mandela: The Official Exhibition will open at The African American Museum, Dallas on June 13.

The African American Museum in Dallas will capitalize on an expected influx of global tourists by hosting Mandela: The Official Exhibition, opening on June 13 to coincide with the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The exhibition will offer an attraction in Fair Park, which will also host a Fan Festival for the World Cup.

The World Cup will take place June 11-July 19 in locations throughout North America. Nine World Cup games will be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington between June 14 and July 14.

Making its debut in Texas, Mandela: The Official Exhibition explores the life of late South African president Nelson Mandela, one of the world’s most recognizable champions of freedom and justice.

Mandela also had strong ties to soccer, embracing the sport as a tool for unity and hope in post-apartheid South Africa. From organizing matches while imprisoned to championing the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Mandela demonstrated how soccer could bridge deep divisions.

His appearance at the tournament’s closing match, when he donned South Africa’s national team jersey, became an enduring symbol of sport’s power to unite a nation and inspire the world. Mandela died in December 2013.

“Nelson Mandela devoted his life to justice and to the fight against apartheid, enduring 27 years in prison before becoming South Africa’s first democratically elected president,” said Lisa Brown Ross, president and CEO of the African American Museum, Dallas, in a statement. “This exhibition tells the full arc of his life and affirms the Museum’s role as a vital cultural destination for North Texas and for visitors from around the world.”

According to the release, the exhibition will span all four galleries and unfold through multisensory experiences, tracing Mandela’s extraordinary journey from his rural childhood in the Eastern Cape to his decades of resistance against apartheid and his election as South Africa’s first democratically elected president.

His journey to becoming the “Father of South Africa” and a globally revered figure is presented in personal and revealing ways. Through his own reflections and stories shared by his family and those who knew him best, visitors will see Mandela - respectfully called Madiba - in a new light. Madiba is his Thembu clan name and is used as a sign of respect and affection.

One gallery will be transformed into a fully immersive, multimedia environment that places visitors within defining chapters of Mandela’s life. Guests will encounter rarely seen films, photographs and personal artifacts on loan from the Mandela family, as well as museums and archives worldwide, illuminating the people, places and pivotal experiences that shaped one of the 20th century’s most remarkable leaders.

The exhibition will remain on display through November 1. Admission to the museum is free, and it is open Tuesdays through Fridays from 11 am-5 pm and Saturdays from 10 am-5 pm, with special summer hours to be announced. Free self-parking is available in nearby lots.

exhibitions-visual-arts galleries history museums nelson mandela soccer sports world cup