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.

Jennifer Kuenzer won an acting award for Imprint Theatreworks' In The Next Room (or The Vibrator Play).

Imprint Theatreworks presents In The Next Room (Or the Vibrator Play)

Photo by Kris Ikejiri

Jennifer Kuenzer won an acting award for Imprint Theatreworks' In The Next Room (or The Vibrator Play).

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Theater Critic Picks

DFW theater heats up with 14 must-see shows this February

Photo by Jordan Fraker

Kitchen Dog Theater is opening its new performance space with a remounting of 'Pompeii!!'

It's cold outside but hot onstage, as evidenced by this extra-large list of plays and musicals opening in Dallas-Fort Worth this month. From theater festivals to one-night-only concerts, world premieres and returns to old favorites, there truly is something for everyone in February.

Here are 14 shows appearing in Dallas-Fort Worth theaters in January, listed in order of start date:

Hype Man: A Break Beat Play
Jubilee Theatre, through February 28
A pulse-pounding, thought-provoking work by Idris Goodwin that explores friendship, accountability, and the often-unseen creative forces shaping hip-hop culture. It follows three artists on the brink of a breakthrough: a rising rap star, his longtime hype man, and a gifted woman beat maker whose sound fuels their success. When an unexpected crisis erupts on the eve of a career-defining performance, all three must confront difficult truths about loyalty, responsibility, and whose voices are truly heard when the spotlight hits.

Gem of the Ocean
Soul Rep Theatre Company, February 5-22
Set in 1904, August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean begins the playwright's legendary Century Cycle with a spiritual journey toward freedom and redemption. Through the mystical presence of Aunt Ester, a 285-year-old spiritual guide, Wilson weaves a powerful meditation on memory, responsibility, and Black survival.

Pompeii!!
Kitchen Dog Theater, February 11-March 8
Opening their brand-new home in the Design District, Kitchen Dog Theater co-artistic directors Christopher Carlos and Tina Parker will direct a remounting of the company's first-ever company-created musical. Under the shadow of a volcano, the citizens of Pompeii sing, dance, and tell jokes in this zany vaudeville show. It's togas and tap shoes, centurions and sing-alongs in the timely satire of nationalistic hubris and narcissistic excess.

Medea/Liturgia
Cara Mía Theatre, February 12-22
This world premiere of a contemporary, multimedia adaptation of the Greek tragedy Medea is written and directed by Diego Fernando Montoya, Colombia’s 2025 National Playwriting Award winner. The production reimagines Medea through a modern lens that confronts imperialism, immigration, and rebellion.

22nd International Theatre Festival
Teatro Dallas, February 7, 14, 21
The festival takes place over three weeks, featuring three separate productions from Portugal, England, and Argentina.

Six
Broadway at the Bass, February 10-15
Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. From Tudor queens to pop icons, the six wives of Henry VIII take the microphone to remix 50 years of historical heartbreak into a euphoric celebration of 21st-century girl power.

Dallas Divas
Lyric Stage, February 11
This one-night-only event serves as a fundraiser for Lyric Stage, with some of Dallas' most talented voices singing songs that run the gamut from Broadway to pop.

Bull in a China Shop
Amphibian Stage, February 11-March 1
This is an explosive queer romantic comedy set amidst the fight for women’s rights. Galloping across four decades at Mount Holyoke, Mary Woolley and Jeannette Marks light fires in the classroom and in the bedroom. As their ambitions grow bolder, so do the cracks in their relationship.

The Skin of Our Teeth
Undermain Theatre, February 12-March 8
Thornton Wilder’s classic three-part allegory about the resilience of mankind centers on the Antrobus family of the fictional town of Excelsior, New Jersey. The epic comedy-drama follows the family through an impending Ice Age, a world war, and a devastating flood, all of which they survive by the skin of their teeth.

The Great Gatsby
Broadway Dallas, February 17-March 1
Based on the classic American novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, this musical is an unforgettable journey of love, wealth, and tragedy that brings the Roaring Twenties to life onstage.

Penelope
Theatre Three, February 19-March 22
What’s Penelope been up to since Odysseus went off to war? She’s had a few drinks and started a band! So go ahead and grab a drink too, and listen to this ancient tale made new with a beautiful folk-inflected pop score about a woman wondering who she is if she’s alone, and discovering that she has, is, and will always be complete, with her husband by her side or otherwise.

Where We Stand
Dallas Theater Center, February 25-March 22
Your town stands at a crossroads. A neighbor, desperate and out of options, has struck a dangerous bargain. Now their fate lies in your hands. In this interactive play presented as a town hall gathering, the audience must choose: mercy or justice? Broadway actor and Dallas legend Liz Mikel plays a lone storyteller who weaves a world through music and magic. The play, making its regional premiere, is a co-production with Stage West.

You Must Wear a Hat
Echo Theatre, February 26-March 14
Two survivors of a climate apocalypse strive to preserve their humanity, and community.

Hairspray
Casa Mañana, February 27-March 8
Set in 1962 Baltimore, the musical follows Tracy Turnblad, a big-hearted teen with dreams of dancing on The Corny Collins Show. As she fights for a chance to shine, Tracy challenges outdated norms and pushes for a more inclusive future. RuPaul's Drag Race star Nina West plays Edna Turnblad.

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