Theater Critics' Picks

Dallas-Fort Worth theater critics declare standouts from 2013-14 season

Members of the DFW Theater Critics Forum gathered September 6 to hash out their picks from the 2013-14 season in categories such as best direction, best actor and actress, and best new play. Rather than declare a single winner in each category, the critics dole out accolades to several deserving works.

With stellar seasons from Uptown Players, Jubilee Theatre, Dallas Theater Center and Kitchen Dog Theater, several contenders just missed the five-vote minimum for inclusion, which led to many impassioned pleas from individuals who fought for their favorites, says Lindsey Wilson, CultureMap contributor and critic for D Magazine. So expect to see more people and plays than these on end-of-year best-of lists.

Without further ado, these are the critics’ picks for 2013-14:

Direction

Liesl Tommy, Les Miserables (Dallas Theater Center)
Tim Johnson, Detroit (Kitchen Dog Theater)
Tre Garrett, A Raisin in the Sun (Dallas Theater Center) and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Jubilee Theatre)
Susan Sargeant, The Diaries of Adam and Eve and Happy Days (WingSpan Theatre Co.)
Daniel Aukin, The Fortress of Solitude (Dallas Theater Center)
Terry Martin, Dogfight (WaterTower Theatre)
Kevin Moriarty, Oedipus el Rey (Dallas Theater Center)
David Denson, Year of the Rooster (Upstart Productions)
B.J. Cleveland, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Uptown Players)

Actor

Steven Walters, Les Miserables (Dallas Theater Center)
Drew Wall, Nocturne (Second Thought Theatre)
Garret Storms, for his season of performances
Adam A. Anderson, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Jubilee Theatre)
Joey Folsom, Year of the Rooster (Upstart Productions) and Hank Williams: Lost Highway (WaterTower Theatre)
Alex Ross, The Boy From Oz (Uptown Players)
Jaxon Beeson, Stiff (Fun House Theatre and Film)

Actress

Tina Parker, Detroit (Kitchen Dog Theater)
Liz Mikel, A Raisin in the Sun (Dallas Theater Center)
Tiffany Hobbs, A Raisin in the Sun (Dallas Theater Center) and Spunk (WaterTower Theatre)
Allison Pistorius, Venus in Fur (Circle Theatre) and Clybourne Park (Dallas Theater Center)
Juliette Talley, Dogfight (WaterTower Theatre)
Janelle Lutz, The Boy from Oz (Uptown Players)
Sarah Elizabeth Smith, The Boy from Oz (Uptown Players)
Ashley Wilkerson, The Mountaintop (Jubilee Theatre)

Ensemble

Heroes (Stage West)
Barbecue Apocalypse (Kitchen Dog Theater)
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Uptown Players)
The Echo Room Presents: Her Song (Echo Theatre)

Creative Contribution

Coy Covington for his wig and makeup design for The Boy From Oz (Uptown Players) and wig designs for Pageant: The Musical (Uptown Players)
Gary James for his wig designs for Dogfight (WaterTower Theatre)
Clare Floyd DeVries for her set design for Detroit (Kitchen Dog Theater)
Jay Dias for his music direction of Nine and Titanic (Lyric Stage)
The design team for their season with Trinity Shakespeare Festival
Jeffrey Colangelo and Katy Tye for their movement design in Galatea (Prism Co.)

New Play or Musical

Stiff by Jeff Swearingen (Fun House Theatre and Film)
Booth by Steven Walters (Second Thought Theatre)
Barbecue Apocalypse by Matt Lyle (Kitchen Dog Theater)
Mania/Gift by Shelby-Allison Hibbs (Echo Theatre)
The Fortress of Solitude by Itamar Moses and Michael Friedman (Dallas Theater Center)

Touring Production

Evita (Dallas Summer Musicals)
Trick Boxing (Sossy Mechanics)
The Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess (ATTPAC)
Peter and the Starcatcher (ATTPAC)

Special Citations

To Matt Tomlanovich for reviving the Margo Jones as a busy performance space; opening it to fledgling companies at a reasonable price; and making it available to small festivals, poetry slams, readings and dance groups.
To Lawson Taitte for his distinguished career in arts criticism.

Contributing critics:

Lindsey Wilson, D Magazine
Elaine Liner and Lauren Smart, Dallas Observer
Mark Lowry, TheaterJones.com and Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Martha Heimberg, Dallas Weekly and TheaterJones.com
Jan Farrington, M. Lance Lusk, David Novinski, TheaterJones.com
Alexandra Bonifield, Criticalrant.com
Punch Shaw, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Arnold Wayne Jones, Dallas Voice
Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News

Tiffany Hobbs was recognized for her work in Raisin in the Sun and Spunk.

Dallas actress Tiffany Hobbs will next appear in "The Odd Couple" at Dallas Theater Center.

Photo courtesy of Dallas Theater Center

Tiffany Hobbs was recognized for her work in Raisin in the Sun and Spunk.

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All Eyes on Them

Dallas alt hip-hop group wins prestigious Tiny Desk Contest by NPR

Cure for Paranoia/Facebook

As winners of the Tiny Desk Contest, Cure for Paranoia will record their own Tiny Desk concert and go on tour.

Few live recording studios or musical web series have the cultural sway of NPR's Tiny Desk, and a Dallas band is poised to make an impactful debut: Cure For Paranoia, an alternative hip-hop project by rapper Cameron McCloud and producers Tomahawk Jonez and Jay Analo, has won the high-stakes annual Tiny Desk Contest for 2026.

They'll record their official Tiny Desk show "soon," the announcement by NPR says.

Winning the concert also means Cure for Paranoia is going on tour. The only Texas stop will be at Emo's Austin on June 24.

Tiny Desk is known for platforming both niche and majorly successful artists — NPR posted a new Foo Fighters set on YouTube on May 13 — for stripped-down sets that are literally played behind former All Things Considered director Bob Boilen's old desk. (Fun fact for Texans: Tiny Desk was created because folk artist Laura Gibson was disappointed with the sound at her South by Southwest show in Austin in 2008, and she wanted a redo.)

Most artists who appear on Tiny Desk more than 15 years later are already well-known, at least in their specific circles. But the Tiny Desk Contest, which launched in 2015, helps a growing group of newer, unsigned artists get their foot in the door. Contestants record one video of them performing a single song behind a desk, and a jury of radio staff and musicians chooses their favorite.

In their audition video, Cure for Paranoia gathered 11 musicians around a truly tiny desk and in front of downtown Dallas' iconic gigantic eyeball sculpture. They played the song "No Brainer," a frenetic track that starts with clever boasts and becomes a criticism of racism in the United States.

McCloud, a pre-school teacher, is known independently of Cure for Paranoia for rapping to his social media following about politics and current events. Some of those lyrics made it into "No Brainer." He says he started the group because he found that music was more helpful than medication for coping with bipolar depression and paranoid schizophrenia.

Alex Marrero, host of the Austin-based KUTX show Horizontes, was one of the judges this year. He was impressed with the visuals in Cure for Paranoia's audition.

“When this popped up, I immediately felt something different," he wrote in a blurb for the announcement. "It just jumped out. The visuals were super cool and creative, BUT I could still totally envision them bringing the heat behind the Desk.”

Madison McFerrin, jazz vocalist and daughter of the famous singer Bobby McFerrin, was one of the musical judges.

"Cure For Paranoia’s energy is infectious, fresh and distinctly theirs — exactly what you want in a Contest winner!" she wrote.

McCloud's post on Instagram announcing the group's win has only been up for three hours at the time of this article's publication, and it already has more than 8,000 likes. The YouTube audition has garnered 74,000 views.

music music video npr radio live music concerts

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All Eyes on Them

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