Theater Critic Picks

Best of 2018-19 get standing O from Dallas-Fort Worth theater critics

It was a strong season for women in Dallas-Fort Worth theater, not just acting-wise but also directing, music directing, writing, designing, leading, and playing musical instruments.

That made it that much harder for the eight critics of the DFW Critics Forum to narrow down our choices for the best of 2018-19. There was much debating, much lobbying, only a little name-calling (kidding), but eventually we finalized our list.

Not everyone's picks made it through the voting process, which needed either more than 50 percent of the votes or a unanimous decision if only two or three critics had seen the production. Look for personal favorites not included here to pop up in critics' end-of-year lists.

Without further ado, here are the awards:

Outstanding Direction:

Tim Bond, Sweat, Dallas Theater Center
Kelsey Leigh Ervi, Everything Is Wonderful, WaterTower Theatre
Joel Ferrell, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Circle Theatre
Jonathan Fielding and Brenda Withers, Artist Descending a Staircase, Amphibian Stage Productions
Alex Organ, Incognito, Second Thought Theatre
Mara Richards Bim and Tim Johnson, Crossing the Line, Cry Havoc Theater Company and Kitchen Dog Theater
Christie Vela, What We Were, Second Thought Theatre
Ashley H. White, Ghost Quartet, Imprint Theatreworks

Outstanding New Play or Musical

Crossing the Line, ensemble of Cry Havoc Theater Company
penny candy, Jonathan Norton, Dallas Theater Center
Jo & Louisa, Isabella Russell-Ides, WingSpan Theatre Company
What We Were, Blake Hackler, Second Thought Theatre

Outstanding Performance by an Actor

Chad Cline, Raptured, Theatre Three
Sonny Franks, The Cake, Uptown Players
Blake Hackler, Twelfth Night, Dallas Theater Center; and Drunk Enough to Say I Love You & Here We Go, Second Thought Theatre
David Meglino, In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play), Imprint TheatreWorks; and Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika, Uptown Players
Steven Pounders, Everything Is Wonderful, WaterTower Theatre
Christopher Llewyn Ramirez, Sweat and Twelfth Night, Dallas Theater Center
Drew Wall, Incognito, Second Thought Theatre

Outstanding Performance by an Actress

Betty Buckley, Hello, Dolly!, Dallas Summer Musicals
Sarah Gay, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Circle Theatre
Ana Hagedorn, Steel Magnolias and The Wolves, Dallas Theater Center; and The Armor Plays: Cinched & Strapped, Theatre Three
Lindsay Hayward, Fur, Teatro Dallas
Jennifer Kuenzer, In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play), Imprint Theatreworks
Laura Lites, Disaster!, Uptown Players
Shannon McGrann, The Cake, Uptown Players; Raptured, Theatre Three; Incognito, Second Thought Theatre; A Doll’s House, Part 2, Stage West
Christine Sanders, Artist Descending a Staircase, Amphibian Stage Productions; and Obama-ology, Jubilee Theatre
Lucy Shea, Bright Star, The Firehouse Theatre
Sally Nystuen Vahle, Sweat and Steel Magnolias, Dallas Theater Center

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast

Bright Star, The Firehouse Theatre
Crossing the Line, Cry Havoc Theater Company
Ghost Quartet, Imprint Theatreworks
Incognito, Second Thought Theatre
Men on Boats, Circle Theatre
penny candy, Dallas Theater Center
What We Were, Second Thought Theatre
The Wolves, Dallas Theater Center

Outstanding Touring Production

Aladdin, Dallas Summer Musicals
Hamilton, Dallas Summer Musicals
Hello, Dolly!, Dallas Summer Musicals
The Play That Goes Wrong, AT&T Performing Arts Center
Unveiled, WaterTower Theatre

Outstanding Design or Creative Contribution

Vonda K. Bowling, music direction, The Ballad of Little Jo, WaterTower Theatre
Aimee Hurst Bozarth, pianist and musical associate, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Circle Theatre
Design team, Artist Descending a Staircase, Amphibian Stage Productions
Design team, Everything Is Wonderful, WaterTower Theatre
John M. Flores, sound design, What We Were, Second Thought Theatre
Olivia de Guzman, music, and Justin Locklear, lyrics, Doom McCoy and the Death Nugget, Ochre House Theater
Rusty Jones, scenic design, Babette’s Feast, Amphibian Stage Productions
Justin Locklear, score, Elwood, and puppet design, Doom McCoy and the Death Nugget, Ochre House Theater
Kelly McCain, choreography, Bright Star, The Firehouse Theatre
Adam C. Wright, music direction, Ghost Quartet, Imprint Theatreworks

Special Citations

To Katherine Owens (1957-2019), co-founding artistic director of Undermain Theatre, for groundbreaking work in experimental theater and excellence in producing modern classics, staging 35 world premieres in 35 years, and seeding the ground for the birth of exciting new companies in North Texas over the past three decades.
To Cora Cardona, founder and former artistic director of Teatro Dallas, for introducing North Texas audiences to writers from the Spanish-speaking world, giving emerging theater artists a home, creating the International Theater Festival, and keeping alive the legacy of Teatro Dallas.
To Joanie Schultz for her brief but significant contributions during her tenure as artistic director of WaterTower Theatre (December 2016–December 2018), including championing female directors, playwrights of color, and other inclusive initiatives; encouraging new works; and reinvigorating the DFW theater scene.
To Mara Richards Bim, Tim Johnson, Cry Havoc Theater Company, and Kitchen Dog Theater for creating Crossing the Line, a thorough and compelling look at the immigration controversy devised through extensive research that included a trip to the border to gather facts and opinions from a wide range of sources. Bim and Johnson edited hundreds of pages of interview transcripts into a narrative that delved deeply into the immigration issue.

Participating Critics

Lindsey Wilson, CultureMap
Janice L. Franklin, TheaterJones.com
Jan Farrington, TheaterJones.com
Martha Heimberg, TheaterJones.com and Dallas Weekly
Arnold Wayne Jones, Dallas Voice
Mark Lowry, TheaterJones.com
Manny Mendoza, Dallas Morning News
Jill Sweeney, TheaterJones.com

Dallas-Fort Worth Theater Critics Forum is an organization of professional, paid critics that recognizes outstanding theatrical contributions in North Texas. Members see 40 or more productions per season (Sept. 1-Aug. 31) and are not practicing theater artists.

Cry Havoc Theater Company and Kitchen Dog Theater collaborated on Crossing the Line, about the border crisis.

Photo courtesy of Kitchen Dog Theater

Cry Havoc Theater Company and Kitchen Dog Theater collaborated on Crossing the Line, about the border crisis.

awards theater music bests

Piano competition news

Cliburn piano competition locks in 20-year commitment to Dallas and SMU

Shuan Hern Lee at 2019 Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival

Photo by Ralph Lauer

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The Fort Worth-based Cliburn is crossing county lines and making a long-term commitment to Dallas: The arts organization is entering a 20-year partnership with Southern Methodist University and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for the next five editions of its Cliburn International Competition for Young Pianists.

The next one will be contested June 10-19, 2027, in Dallas.

Formerly the Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival, the contest welcomes top pianists aged 13 to 17 from around the world for both fierce competition and educational enrichment. The Dallas partnership will include an in-residence fellowship program on the campus of SMU consisting of masterclasses, workshops, artist conversations, performance opportunities, and other scheduled activities, a release says.

“As the Cliburn continues to encourage the futures of the amazing young artists who participate in the Cliburn International Competition for Young Pianists, we must also invest in the future of the communities that make events like this possible,” says Cliburn president and CEO Jacques Marquis in the release. “By cementing the partnership with SMU and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra - true pillars of the Dallas artistic community - for the next 20 years, we are telling the people of Dallas that the Cliburn is here, and that we are committed to the development of the next generation of great artists.”

'Cliburn Junior' history
The inaugural Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival was held in June 2015 at Texas Christian University, with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra accompanying the finalists. The top three finishers in 2015 were from Kazakhstan, Russia, and China.

Cliburn Junior Competition winners Cliburn Junior 2023 winner Seokyoung Hong (center) with second-place Yifan Wu (left), and third-place Jan Schulmeister. Photo by Ralph Lauer

The competition for teens moved to Dallas and partnered with SMU and the DSO for the 2019 edition, attracting a new audience of piano enthusiasts on the east side of the Metroplex. (The Cliburn-experts at CultureMap Fort Worth published a guide to getting the most out of the competition in Dallas.)

The move to Dallas marked the first time the organization, a crown jewel of Fort Worth culture, staged a major program outside namesake Van Cliburn’s adopted hometown since Cliburn competitions began in 1962.

At the time, Marquis explained that, "One key to continuing the Cliburn’s strategic advancement is to continuously reach a broader community, both around the world and in our own backyard."

The junior competition was held in Dallas again in 2023; Seokyoung Hong, a 15-year-old phenom from South Korea, took home the top prize.

A few "Cliburn Junior" laureates have gone on to compete in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition; notably, Tony Yike Yang, a Canadian pianist who competed in both the 2015 Cliburn junior and the 2017 Cliburn International, where he earned a spot in the semifinals. And Clayton Stephenson, who competed in the 2015 Cliburn Junior and returned for the 2022 Cliburn International, where he was a fan-favorite finalist (and brought the house down in Bass Hall with a performance of the Gershwin Piano Concerto.)

Clayton Stephenson, 23, of the United States Clayton Stephenson competed in the 2015 Cliburn Junior Competition and returned for the 2022 Cliburn International Competition, where he was a finalist. Photo courtesy of The Cliburn

The Cliburn also just announced its further stretch, to Houston, where the inaugural Cliburn International Competition for Conductors will take place in June 2028.

Looking ahead to 2027
For the 2027 young pianists' competition, per tradition, the Preliminary and Semifinal Rounds will be hosted on the campus of SMU, where participants will also reside throughout their time in Dallas.

The Final Round will move to the Meyerson Symphony Center, where six young pianists will perform one concerto movement with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Maurice Cohn, music director of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra and former assistant conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

The 2027 competition jury will be chaired by Sa Chen, the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition bronze medalist. Additional jurors will include:

Kenny Broberg, USA (2017 Cliburn silver medalist)
Lucille Chung, Canada/USA
Alessandro Deljavan, Italy (2009 & 2013 Cliburn jury prize winner who returns to DFW frequently for concerts)
Marie-Josèphe Jude, France
Alexander Korsantia, Georgia/USA
Alessandro Mazzamuto, Italy
Noriko Ogawa, Japan
Steven Osborne, Scotland

Italian pianist and Cliburn alum Alessandro Deljavan will serve on the jury. Photo courtesy of Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth

Pianists aged 13 to 17 are invited to apply by November 17, 2026. The Cliburn will invite 38 artists to participate as Piano Fellows; from this group, 24 pianists will be selected to compete for prizes. All applicants must have been born on or after June 7, 2010, and before June 19, 2014.

More information can be found at the competition's website.

dallas symphony orchestra smu van cliburn competition piano cliburn Cliburn