Theater Critic Picks

These are the 10 can't-miss shows in Dallas-Fort Worth theater for December

Some theaters have decked the halls and are offering holiday fare, while others are just as happy to present shows with year-round appeal. No matter which you're drawn to, there's plenty of choice.

Here are the 10 shows to see in order by start date:

Miss Saigon
Performing Arts Fort Worth, December 3-8
The acclaimed new production of the legendary musical from the creators of Les Misérables is an epic love story of a young Vietnamese woman and an American G.I. The production features stunning spectacle, a sensational cast of 42, and a soaring score that includes Broadway hits like "Last Night of the World," "The Movie in My Mind," and "The Heat is On in Saigon."

A Dean Martin Christmas
Casa Mañana, December 4-21
Enjoy with a cup of hot chocolate, spiked or not, and celebrate the stories and songs of the "King of Cool," including "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!," "Baby It's Cold Outside," and "Marshmallow World."

Cirque Holidays
WaterTowerTheatre, December 5-22
In partnership with Lone Star Circus, WTT is celebrating the diversity of holidays from around the world through a magical collaboration of theater and circus. Featuring international stars alongside Dallas' amazing and entertaining circus talent, the show will treat audiences of all ages to incredible acts ranging from hula hoops to death-defying trapeze stunts, all tied together with a charismatic host and hilarious clowns.

Black Nativity
Bishop Arts Theatre Center, December 5-22
For 16 years, Langston Hughes' story of the birth of Christ has transformed the Bishop Arts Theatre stage into a gathering that unites artists and audiences of different ages, backgrounds, and beliefs through the heart-stirring power of song, story, and dance.

Nuncrackers a-MEN!
Uptown Players, December 6-15
Dan Goggin's Christmas musical stars the nuns you love, this time played by men, plus Father Virgil and four of Mount Saint Helen's most talented students. This show is filled with wacky Nunsense humor as the sisters tape their first TV special in the Cable Access Studio built by Reverend Mother in the convent basement.

Have Yourself a Broadway Little Christmas
Mainstage Irving-Las Colinas, December 12-14
This revue brings together your favorite holiday songs made famous through Broadway shows and movie musicals. Be swept away by hits from Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Mame, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Songs for A New World, Holiday Inn, Broadway's Elf, and many more. The evening will conclude with a holiday sing-along as well as auction and raffle opportunities.

A Christmas Carol: The Radio Show
The Classics Theatre Project, December 12-21
It was just announced that TCTP favorite B.J. Cleveland will be doing a one-person version of the classic Dickens tale, written by David Alberts. Expect lots of crazy voices and a tireless performance from one of DFW's most tireless performers.

Gold, Frankincense, and Credit Card Debt: A ~~Christmas Holiday~~ December Sketch Comedy Show
Theatre Three, December 13-28
Co-presented by Bootstraps Comedy Theatre and directed by celebrated playwright Matt Lyle, this show has Dallas-Fort Worth's funniest comedians roasting Santa’s chestnuts until they're a delicious golden brown. Topics under the microscope for this show include holiday parties, Thanksgiving, marketing speak, White Elephants gone very wrong with sexy results, Crossfit, the power of holiday music over a person's sanity, snow in Texas, and the sick, unforgivable, cute lies we tell our children.

Dreams of Icarus
Outcry Theatre, December 20-29
Directed by Becca Johnson-Spinos and starring Logan Beutel and Dylan Weand, this play is a devised work created by the actors and director based on the classic Greek myth of Icarus and Daedalus.

The Color of Death
Pegasus Theatre, December 29-January 19
The only three-act Living Black & White Hunsacker adventure, this original from Kurt Kleinmann serves up act two in Techno-Color. Harry Hunsacker, would-be actor turned would-be detective, and his paid-by-the-hour-assistant and friend Nigel Grouse are enlisted by the Army in 1944 to join forces with Lt. Foster and go undercover to infiltrate a top-secret Nazi research lab in Bavaria.

Dreams of Icarus was devised by Outcry Theatre.

Photo courtesy of Outcry Theatre

Dreams of Icarus was devised by Outcry Theatre.

openings music theater

Theater Critic Picks

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

Second Thought Theatre presents Your Wife’s Dead Body

Photo courtesy of Second Thought Theatre

undefined

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 bass musicals national tour plays second thought theatre uptown players shakespeare under stars shakespeare in the park theater