Theater Critic Picks

Dallas-Fort Worth theater critics applaud the best of 2016-17 season

Bucking the national trend of diminishing arts coverage, attendance at the annual Dallas-Fort Worth Theater Critics Forum was actually up this year. Nine professional critics gathered to nominate, vote for, and debate our favorites from the 2016-17 season — and was there ever debate.

In categories spanning new works to stellar performances, the nine critics fought for their favorites. 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, so look out for personal favorites not included here to pop up in those end-of-year lists.

It was a strong year for women, with female directors earning six of the eight nods (way up from last year's four out of 10). Kitchen Dog Theater had a stellar showing, as did Stage West and Dallas Theater Center, and the majority of theaters stepped up their community involvement thanks to the pioneering spirit of performer, producer, and activist Denise Lee. Some artists scored both on and off the stage, earning nods for their performances as well as directing and/or design contributions.

Without further ado, here are the awards:

Outstanding Direction

Robin Armstrong, Ripcord, Circle Theatre
Emily Scott Banks, Stupid Fucking Bird, Stage West; The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens, and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord, WaterTower Theatre
Cheryl Denson, Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches, Uptown Players
Marianne Galloway, Stiff, Risk Theater Initiative (Festival of Independent Theatres)
Kevin Moriarty, Electra, The Tempest, and Inherit the Wind, Dallas Theater Center
Jeffrey Schmidt, The Minotaur, Theatre Three
Joanie Schultz, Hit the Wall, WaterTower Theatre
Christie Vela, 'night, Mother, Echo Theatre; Straight White Men, Second Thought Theatre

Outstanding New Play or Musical

Br'er Cotton by Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm, Kitchen Dog Theater
Hood: The Robin Hood Musical Adventure by Douglas Carter Beane and Lewis Flinn
The Necessities, by Blake Hackler, Second Thought Theatre
Stiff by Sherry Jo Ward, Risk Theater Initiative (Festival of Independent Theatres)

Outstanding Touring Production

An American in Paris, Dallas Summer Musicals and Performing Arts Fort Worth
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, AT&T Performing Arts Center Broadway Series
Hedwig and the Angry Inch, AT&T Performing Arts Center Broadway Series
Into the Woods, AT&T Performing Arts Center Broadway Series
Tina Packer's Women of Will, Eisemann Center Presents

Outstanding Performance by an Actor

Christopher Carlos, Paper Flowers, Kitchen Dog Theater
Cameron Cobb, Trevor, Kitchen Dog Theater
Blake Hackler, Richard III and Measure for Measure, Trinity Shakespeare Festival; so go the ghosts of méxico, part one: a brave woman in méxico, Undermain Theatre
Selmore Haines III, Thurgood, Jubilee Theatre
Max Hartman, Trevor, Kitchen Dog Theater
Bob Hess, La Cage aux Folles, Uptown Players
Alex Organ, The Tempest, Dallas Theater Center
Randy Pearlman, Funnyman, Circle Theatre
Thomas Ward, Straight White Men, Second Thought Theatre

Outstanding Performance by an Actress

Deborah Brown, Ripcord, Circle Theatre
Whitney LaTrice Coulter, The Submission, Proper Hijinx Productions
Steph Garrett, The Great Dictator, Audacity Theatre Lab (Festival of Independent Theatres); Waiting for Lefty, Upstart Productions
Julie Johnson, Mame, Lyric Stage
Jenny Ledel, Grounded, Second Thought Theatre
Kelsey Milbourn, Richard III and Measure for Measure, Trinity Shakespeare Festival
Sally Nystuen Vahle, Electra and A Christmas Carol, Dallas Theater Center
Christie Vela, Paper Flowers, Kitchen Dog Theater; The Necessities, Second Thought Theatre
Sherry Jo Ward, Stiff, Risk Theater Initiative (Festival of Independent Theatres)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast

Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches, Uptown Players
Hood: The Robin Hood Musical Adventure, Dallas Theater Center
Inherit the Wind, Dallas Theater Center
'night, Mother, Echo Theatre
Richard III and Measure for Measure, Trinity Shakespeare Festival
Stupid Fucking Bird, Stage West

Outstanding Design or Creative Contribution

Design team, Br'er Cotton, Kitchen Dog Theater
Stefany Cambra, properties design, Feathers and Teeth, Kitchen Dog Theater
Jay Dias, music direction, Camelot, Lyric Stage
John M. Flores, sound design, Feathers and Teeth, Kitchen Dog Theater
Pam Holcomb-McLain, musical direction, The Light in the Piazza, Brick Road Theatre
Design team, Jesus Christ Superstar, Casa Mañana
Brian McDonald, set and sound design, Grounded, Second Thought Theatre
Aaron Johansen, lighting design, Grounded, Second Thought Theatre
Michael B. Moore, wigs and makeup design, La Cage aux Folles, Uptown Players
Lauren Morgan, a season of costume design for Stolen Shakespeare Guild
James Ortiz, puppet design, Stefano Brancato, associate puppet design, Hood: The Robin Hood Musical Adventure, Dallas Theater Center
Design team, Trinity Shakespeare Festival
Sean J. Smith and Rhonda Jones, choreography, Fly, African American Repertory Theater
Trigg Watson, magic consultation, Midas, Prism Movement Theater

Special Citations

Dallas Theater Center, for engaging the city with its Public Works production of The Tempest, which used 200 members of the community in its cast, and for committing to continue the program in future seasons.
Denise Lee, for starting Community Conversation, following the Dallas Police shootings, as an ongoing, free, inclusive program that gives theater audiences an opportunity to discuss tense issues and create fellowship across different cultures, races, orientations, and/or social-economic statuses in a safe, judgment-free setting. The program is held every fourth Monday at Dallas Children's Theater, alternates every other month at Circle Theatre and Stage West in Fort Worth, and has been offered after Second Thought Theatre's Straight White Men, Kitchen Dog Theater's Br'er Cotton, and WaterTower Theatre's Hit the Wall.

Participating Critics
Lindsey Wilson, CultureMap
Alexandra Bonifield, CriticalRant.com
Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News
Jan Farrington, TheaterJones.com
Janice Franklin, TheaterJones.com
Martha Heimberg, TheaterJones.com and Dallas Weekly
Arnold Wayne Jones, Dallas Voice
Mark Lowry, TheaterJones.com and Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Punch Shaw, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Dallas-Fort Worth Theater Critics Forum is an organization of professional, paid critics that recognizes outstanding theatrical contributions in North Texas. Members see 45 or more productions per season (Sept. 1-Aug. 31) and are not practicing theater artists.

Sherry Jo Ward wrote and performed one of the year's most remarkable plays, Stiff.

Photo by Thomas Ward

Sherry Jo Ward wrote and performed one of the year's most remarkable plays, Stiff.

theater awards bests

RIP Albert

Colorful and iconoclastic Dallas artist Albert Scherbarth dies at 70

Courtesy

Dallas artist Albert Scherbarth

Dallas artist Albert Scherbarth, known for his jubilant creativity which he displayed in a wide range of media, died on February 18; he was 70 years old. According to friends, he suffered a heart attack.

Scherbarth's myriad "canvases" ranged from printmaking to furniture to steel and metal working. He was a colorful presence in the Dallas art scene with a shock of thick hair that stood tall, definitive horn-rimmed glasses, and an unfiltered, no-nonsense personal style.

He was also a key figure in The Cedars district: an urban pioneer who settled in the area directly south of downtown Dallas in the early '80s when the neighborhood was a mostly-deserted collection of abandoned warehouses, before it became a major art nexus.

A post by Lee Harvey's, the Cedars District bar, said that "Some people don’t just live in a neighborhood — they leave their mark on it. Albert did exactly that. Through his art, his presence, and his time at our bar, he became part of the story here. We’ll miss him more than we can say. Rest easy Bert."

He was a real character, as well — a stocky physical presence (he played football in high school) who'd fix his stare upon you as if you were a critter to be studied.

One friend said, "I always feel that Albert is going to spring some meta shit on me every time i see him and he rarely disappoints. What a cool cat."

A native of Nebraska, Scherbarth moved to Dallas in 1979 to earn a master's in fine arts at the University of Dallas, Irving. After graduating in 1981, he began teaching in the community college district, including Brookhaven College, Northlake College, University of Texas at Dallas, and the Creative Art Center, as well as at Dallas' Arts Magnet.

Sculpture by Albert Scherbarth which appeared at the State Fair of Texas in 2018.Laura Walters/Facebook

After graduating from art school, he felt the need to do "real" work like his father, and took jobs in construction and woodwork, which helped shape the very physical nature of his art.

He was one of the early and many artists who resided in the Continental Gin Building, where he worked on his designs and commissions, fabricated other artists’ ideas, and helped galleries with installations, crating, and shipping.

Through the years he made furniture, got into fused and cast glass, poured concrete countertops, and painted, including a successful era of doing giant flower paintings. In his latter years, he acquired a welding machine and worked with builders, designers, and architects constructing screens, fences, furniture, and sculptures.

His works around town include a giant wine tree for Fleming Steakhouse in Frisco, and a sculpture named, "Cecil, age 12" up on Henderson Avenue at Capital Street which was was a finalists for the Henderson Art Prize. He also worked on the famed Bowler Hat sculpture in the Cedars.

In an interview with Voyage Dallas, he said, "I’m constantly looking for more meaning and more permanence in the work that I’m doing," and acknowledged that "I’ve been very, very fortunate to get a lot of really great commissions over the years. I’ve sold a lot of work and fallen into great studio situations – large spaces, cheap rent and wonderful landlords. Today, I think my ignorance of all the pitfalls ahead allowed me to storm through life and I have a certain stubbornness, a dogged determination to succeed."

"My grandfathers died before I came of age, my father died, my favorite uncle died so there was not much in the way of male guidance or perspective on how to be a man, so I’ve just kind of made it up on my own, stumbling through, winging it and I’m still alive, amazingly enough."

deaths artists

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