The spirit of spring can't be contained, as May's theatrical offerings venture outside and off the stage with several immersive, non-traditional works that make the audience part of the show.
Here are the 10 shows to see — and experience — in order by start date:
Babette's Feast
Amphibian Stage Productions, May 3-26
Based on Isak Dinesen's short story (made famous by the 1987 Academy Award-winning film), this new stage adaptation by Rose Courtney tells the story of Babette, a French refugee, who finds asylum in a pious Norwegian village. With boundless generosity, she throws a lavish feast that becomes an agent of transformative grace, healing a fractured community.
City Dionysia
Giant Entertainment, May 9-11
Grab your gladiator sandals and Grecian garb for this fancy-dress outdoor arts and music festival celebrating the sensual and the divine within us all. Featuring dance, music, performance art, vendors, performers, and arts and crafts in honor of the birth of Theatre and its patron god, Dionysus, spectators will be guided through various activities including mask making, choral chanting, and movement that will culminate into part of the storytelling of Euripides' The Bacchae.
Miss Saigon
Dallas Summer Musicals, May 14-26
A young Vietnamese woman named Kim meets an American G.I. during the Vietnam War in this epic musical from the creators of Les Miserables. This national tour production features a stunning spectacle, a cast of 42, and a soaring score that includes Broadway hits like "Last Night of the World," "The Movie in My Mind," and "The Heat is On in Saigon."
The Real James Bond Was Dominican
Bishop Arts Theatre Co., May 17-19
This is a true story about Porfirio Rubirosa, Ian Fleming's inspiration for Bond, and how this discovery set off a whole tragi-comic journey for a young Dominican actor-to-be in Queens.
The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical
AT&T Performing Arts Center, May 21-26
In this adaptation of the best-selling Disney-Hyperion novel by Rick Riordan, the Greek gods are real and they're ruining Percy Jackson's life. As a son of Poseidon, Percy has newly discovered powers he can't control, monsters on his trail, and is on an epic quest to find Zeus' lightning bolt to prevent a war between the gods.
Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical
AT&T Performing Arts Center, May 22-26
Featuring throwback hits by artists like Boyz II Men, Christina Aguilera, REM, *NSYNC, and Britney Spears, this stage adaptation of the cult film pulls its audience into the manipulative world of Manhattan's most dangerous liaisons: Sebastian Valmont and Kathryn Merteuil. Seduced by revenge and fueled by passion, the two diabolically charming step-siblings place a bet on whether or not Sebastian can deflower their incoming headmaster's daughter, Annette Hargrove.
Split Second
Jubilee Theatre, May 24-June 23
This stimulating drama by Dennis McIntyre explores the story of a respected African-American police officer who arrests a white man on suspicion of attempted car theft. The suspect taunts the officer with racist insults and verbal attacks until, in the grip of uncontrollable rage, the officer loses his cool and guns down his handcuffed antagonist. There are no witnesses; the cop can probably get away with it. Does he turn himself in or does he cover himself?
Anastasia
Broadway at the Bass, May 28-June 2
Journey to the past with this stage adaptation that boasts a score by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens and a book by Terrence McNally. Years after the Russian royal family is executed, a young woman surfaces with knowledge only a princess would have.
Holmes and Watson
Stage West, May 30-June 30
Three years after the mysterious death of beloved master sleuth Sherlock Holmes, his loyal assistant Dr. John H. Watson is summoned to a remote asylum on a rocky island to investigate three inmates who all claim to be the late detective Holmes. In this riveting and stirring new puzzler by Jeffrey Hatcher, the trusty Watson is drawn into a web of intrigue, suspicion, murder, and surprise that finally reveals what really happened that fateful day between Sherlock Holmes and his nemesis, Professor Moriarty.
Ghost Quartet
Imprint Theatreworks, May 31-June 15
From the creator of the recent Broadway musical sensation Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 comes a fully immersive song cycle about love, death, and whiskey. Four friends drink and tell interwoven narratives spanning seven centuries, following Rose Red and Pearl White, who repeatedly cross paths, sometimes as strangers, sometimes as sisters, sometimes as lovers, sometimes as mother and daughter, in an experience that questions love and defines forgiveness and regret.
The national tour of Miss Saigon is coming to Dallas Summer Musicals.
