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    What To Watch Onstage

    Stay cool with these sizzling hot Dallas theater picks

    Lindsey Wilson
    Aug 7, 2013 | 2:10 pm

    Here’s a lovely fact about theaters: more often than not, they come equipped with air conditioning. Heck, Trinity Shakespeare Festival in Fort Worth even includes this fact in its marketing!

     

    As the summer begins to wind down, this cool coincidence becomes even more attractive to overheated Texans who want to seek shelter from the 100-plus-degree temps with some icy entertainment.

     

    Below is a list of upcoming productions that look like they will include — in addition to sweet, sweet AC — some pretty incredible performances.

     

     The Aliens
     Upstart Productions, August 8-31

    Upstart Productions was poised to become the new “it” group on the Dallas theater scene when it debuted five years ago — and then it disappeared. Now the company is back and producing Annie Baker’s hit Off-Broadway play about two directionless slackers who make a pet of a young coffee shop employee who’s desperate for inclusion.

     

    Another new company, PlaySites, recently presented a well-reviewed production of the show and performed it in an actual back alley. This one is at the Magnolia Lounge in Fair Park, the same venue that launched local mega-hit On the Eve.

     

     So Help Me God!
     Theatre Three, August 8-September 1

    Fresh off the national tour of Memphis, Dallas treasure Julie Johnson returns home in a backstage satire penned by the woman who introduced the world to merry murderess Roxie Hart (the character that would later inspire the musical Chicago).

     

    Maurine Dallas Watkins’ 1929 comedy has all the ingredients for a biting, old-fashioned romp through the world of show business: ditzy divas, greedy commercialism and backstage back-stabbing.

     

     In a Forest, Dark and Deep
     Second Thought Theatre, August 9-31

    Neil LaBute is famously provocative, both onstage and off. Besides writing a trilogy known as The Beauty Plays that includes a play titled Fat Pig, he’s also engaged in some pretty petty online sparring with critics who have panned his shows.

     

    But Second Thought is one of Dallas’ best theater companies, and the group has been known to impress: Playwright Rajiv Joseph was a huge fan of Second Thought’s staging of his Gruesome Playground Injuries a few months ago.

     

    In this psychological thriller, adult siblings confront long-hidden secrets and past bad choices. Regan Adair, whose handling of Red Light Winter in 2011 was masterful, returns from New York City to direct.

     

     The Book of Mormon
     Lexus Broadway Series, August 20-September 1

    It’s here. IT’S FINALLY HERE. Broadway’s hottest ticket since The Producers arrives in Dallas for 16 performances only, and although a lot of the tickets were scooped up immediately when they first went on sale in June, there might still be time to call in a few favors.

     

    Trey Parker and Matt Stone, they of South Park fame, wrote a deliciously un-PC musical about straight-laced Mormon missionaries trying to introduce African “heathens” to their religion. Expect crass language, vulgar jokes, and some surprisingly beautiful melodies in this definitely not-for-kids show.

     

     Miss Saigon
     Casa Mañana, August 10-18

    Broadway’s Jennifer Paz and Fort Worth native Daniel Rowan (who’s taking a hiatus from his role in Off-Broadway’s The Fantasticks) headline as star-crossed lovers Kim and Chris in Casa Mañana’s ambitious mounting of the Vietnam War-era musical.

     

    Will the famous helicopter make an appearance? Director Tim Bennett is being coy, but he does promise that this version will pour just as much energy into the story as it does into the special effects.

     

     The Zoo Story
     Fun House Theatre & Film, September 4-7

    They wowed with Hamlet and shocked with Daffodil Girls: Inspired by David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross. Now Bren Rapp and Jeff Swearingen are back with a pint-sized version of Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story.

     

    Young Chris Rodenbaugh and Doak Campbell Rapp are taking the bond they formed by playing Hamlet and Claudius and using it to interpret the two men in Albee’s 1959 play, who famously meet on a bench in Central Park and hurtle toward a brutal climax.

     

     Jailbait
     Dallas Actors Lab, August 22-31

    In only its second production, Dallas Actors Lab is presenting the Texas and DFW premiere of Jailbait, written by Deirdre O’Connor. Undermain Theatre associate director Dylan Key directs this look into what it really means to be a grown-up, as the audience follows two teenagers during a night out clubbing.

     

    Katherine Bourne, last seen as the overachieving little sister in WaterTower Theatre’s Black Tie, and Mikaela Krantz, of WaterTower’s The Grapes of Wrath, star.

     

     Profanity
     Undermain Theatre, September 12-October 12

    We revealed a tiny preview of this play while discussing Undermain’s challenging upcoming season, but now it’s time to dive deeper. Starring Undermain artistic director Bruce DuBose, Alex Organ, Michael Federico, Shannon Kearns-Simmons and Katy Tye, Sylvan Oswald’s world-premiere dark comedy explores corruption and the unraveling of one family’s foundation.

     

    Family secrets of course play a part, as they always must in drama. But this time there’s squabbling brothers and a nosy secretary to help things along.

     

     Matt & Ben
     Echo Theatre, September 12-28

    Before she was Kelly Kapoor on The Office and Dr. Mindy Lahiri on The Mindy Project, Mindy Kaling was writing and starring in this two-woman show about Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. That’s right: the wicked-smaht bros who wrote Good Will Hunting and went on to become two of Hollywood’s hottest commodities.

     

    Here, two ladies embody the playful rivalry between the best buds, shown mostly as flashbacks before they hit it big. Charming, funny, delightfully self-aware — and with not a J-Lo in sight.

     

     A Raisin in the Sun and Clybourne Park
     Dallas Theater Center, September 13-October 27
    and October 4-27
    Written in 2010 by Bruce Norris in response to Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 drama about a dream deferred, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Clybourne Park picks up where A Raisin in the Sun left off. Dallas Theater Center presents the two plays almost in repertory, clearly spotlighting the ties shared by the two works and illustrating how well they play off each other.

     

    Tre Garrett and Joel Farrell each direct, and some of the same cast members appear in both shows.

     

     Peter and the Starcatcher
     Lexus Broadway Series, September 17-29

     Fly may have presented the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up in a new, more tribal light, but this inventive take on the Peter Pan myth focuses instead on how Peter ended up in Neverland in the first place.

     

    Using unassuming props and a cast of 12, Peter and the Starcatcher creates a world that relies heavily on the audience’s imaginations yet spins a magical, fantastic origin story that’s as captivating as it is infectious.

     

     Bonus: Pride Performing Arts Festival
     Uptown Players, September 5-14

    Now in its third year, Uptown’s theatrical Pride Fest invites local companies and visiting performers to present works that express the gay experience. Staged readings, plays and cabaret performances abound during the nine-day festival, with offerings by Second Thought Theatre (Cock), Theatre New West (The Timekeepers), and Uptown itself (Dishing it Out, Made in Heaven, Good Boys and True and Five Lesbians Eating a Quiche).

     

    A performance by Chicago-based cabaret duo Amy and Freddy opens the festival.

    Jennifer Pzaz stars in Casa Manana's Miss Saigon.

    Casa Manana presents Miss Saigon
      
    Photo courtesy of Casa Manana
    Jennifer Pzaz stars in Casa Manana's Miss Saigon.
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    Theater Critic Picks

    From Wilde to 'The Wiz': 8 unmissable July shows in North Texas

    Lindsey Wilson
    Jul 2, 2025 | 10:18 am
    Second Thought Theatre presents Your Wife’s Dead Body
    Photo courtesy of Second Thought Theatre
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    Your instinct during the summer might be to hide out in an air-conditioned theater, and there are plenty of options to do exactly this month. But we would be remiss if we didn't remind you about a North Texas tradition: Shakespeare under the stars. Pack a picnic, bring a blanket, and watch The Bard (and this year Oscar Wilde) at Samuell-Grand Amphitheater with Shakespeare Dallas. Both shows opened in June, but continue through most of July.

    Here are eight shows local shows, listed in order of start date:

    The Importance of Being Earnest
    Shakespeare Dallas, through July 18
    This witty romantic comedy by Oscar Wilde, first performed in 1895, tells the story of two men who assume the identities of a fictional man named Ernest. This leads them to each fall in love and encounter an assortment of comical problems along the way.

    Othello
    Shakespeare Dallas, through July 20
    In this Shakespearean tragedy, Othello is at the peak of his powers: not only Venice's greatest general but also husband to the noble and beautiful Desdemona. But he does not know that in passing over his servant Iago for promotion, he has created a deadly but brilliant enemy. This production is set in an alternate-history version of the 1990s in which the Venetian empire is the predominant political, military, and economic power.

    King Kirby
    American Chronicle Theatre Co., July 4-12
    This is the story of Jack "King of Comics" Kirby. The play follows him from the tough Jewish ghetto of Hell’s Kitchen in New York, to the harrowing battlefields of Normandy during WWII, to tense Senate hearings in the 1950s. Watch as he creates some of the most iconic heroes in pop culture: Captain America, Thor, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Iron Man, the New Gods, and countless others.

    Your Wife’s Dead Body
    Second Thought Theatre, July 9-26
    Written by Second Though Theatre artistic associate Jenny Ledel in her playwriting premiere, the play takes place in the near future, as Jane takes advantage of a new AI technology that would extend her lifespan ... even if she's not around to see it for herself.

    The Wiz
    Broadway at the Bass, July 15-20
    This all-new production of the groundbreaking, Tony Award-winning musical returns “home” in an all-new pre-Broadway tour, the first one in 40 years. The groundbreaking twist on The Wizard of Oz changed the face of Broadway, from its iconic score packed with soul, gospel, rock, and finger-snapping '70s funk to its stirring tale of Dorothy’s journey to find her place in a contemporary world.

    Noises Off
    Mainstage Irving-Las Colinas, July 18-August 2
    This play-within-a-play captures a touring theater troupe’s production of Nothing On in three stages: dress rehearsal, the opening performance, and a performance towards the end of a debilitating run. Playwright Michael Frayn gives a window into the inner workings of theatre behind-the-scenes, progressing from flubbed lines and missed cues in the dress rehearsal to mounting friction between cast members in the final performance.

    Everybody's Talking About Jamie
    Uptown Players, July 18-August 3
    Inspired by true events, this musical tells the inspiring story of Jamie New, a 16-year-old boy from Sheffield who dreams of becoming a drag queen. His loving mom showers him with endless support but it's not all rainbows for Jamie as his deadbeat dad and some ignorant school kids attempt to rain on his sensational aspirations.

    Shucked
    Broadway at the Bass, July 29-August 3
    This Tony Award-winning musical comedy features a book by Tony Award winner Robert Horn, a score by the Grammy Award-winning songwriting team of Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, and direction by Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien. The corn-fed, corn-bred American musical is sure to satisfy an appetite for great musical theater.

    broadway at the bassmusicalsnational tourplayssecond thought theatreuptown playersshakespeare under starsshakespeare in the parktheater
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