Theater Critic Picks

These are the 4 can't-miss shows in Dallas-Fort Worth theater for January

A new year warrants fresh entertainment, and Dallas-area artists are more than happy to supply it. This month, three of the four productions are online. The one that's in-person is meant to be experienced by, well, only your person, as there are no live performers or other audience members.

Here are four local shows to watch this month:

Do No Harm
Soul Rep Theatre Co., streaming January 11-31
The company's 25th season continues with a world premiere (and co-production with SMU's Perkins School of Theology) by Anyika McMillan-Herod, Soul Rep's co-founder and executive director. Inspired by three enslaved women — Anarcha, Betsey, and Lucy — who served as "guinea pigs" for the 19th-century physician Dr. James Marion Sims, the play will be used as a teaching tool at SMU for a series of lectures and new curriculum exploring ethics in medicine. Dr. Sims performed numerous procedures and surgeries on the three women with no anesthesia, under the racist notion that Black people did not feel pain. Tickets start at $14 and can be purchased here.

Application Pending
Uptown Players, streaming January 29-February 7
B.J. Cleveland stars as Chris Evans, a kindergarten assistant at Edgely Prep, an elite Manhattan private school with an acceptance rate that puts Harvard's to shame. On the day applications are due, Edgely's Head of Admissions is ousted in a scandal, and Chris is unexpectedly thrust into the job. With phones ringing off the hook, Chris must balance beleaguered applicants, venal administrators, and an army of parents who will stop at nothing to get their kids into this exclusive school. Cleveland plays all 44 characters in this production, directed by Linda Leonard and written by Greg Edwards and Andy Sanberg. Tickets are $20-$30 and can be purchased online here or by calling 214-219-2718.

The Cube: An Interactive Experience For The Socially Distanced Era
Latino Cultural Center, January 13-30
Through projections, audio, and lights, this immersive experience asks audiences to redefine what community and loneliness mean to them. Masked audience members reserve a 30-minute time slot, then experience the show alone or with up to two guests — meaning you're never around anyone but your own party. The project is a recipient of a Culture of Value micro-grant from the City of Dallas and is co-funded by the Latino Cultural Center. It's a collaboration between artists Emily Bernet, Ruben Carrazana, Aaron Johansen, Jeffery Bryant Moffitt, and Nigel Newton, based on a concept by Carrazana and Moffitt. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online (in advance only) here.

Things Missing/Missed
Undermain Theatre & Danielle Georgiou Dance Group, streaming January 13-February 7
Through fascinating visual storytelling and surreal stagecraft, this new work by Justin Locklear, Melissa Flower, and Philip Hays reveals how quickly missing/forgetting/evading becomes our human response to the emptiness in our lives. The show explores the relationship of a couple dealing with gaps appearing in their memories, their domestic environment, and their relationship. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased here.

B.J. Cleveland plays all 44 roles in Application Pending at Uptown Players.

Photo courtesy of Uptown Players

B.J. Cleveland plays all 44 roles in Application Pending at Uptown Players.

dance theater

Music and Fashion

Miranda Lambert's 'Velvet Rodeo' wardrobe stars in new DFW exhibition

“Miranda Lambert: Velvet Rodeo” at National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame

Photo by Tyler Conrad

“Miranda Lambert: Velvet Rodeo” will open on November 7 at the National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame.

Country star Miranda Lambert is bringing a bit of Las Vegas glamour and bling to North Texas. Her one-of-a-kind wardrobe from her "Velvet Rodeo" residency will go on display at the National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame in Fort Worth when its new Icons Gallery opens November 7.

According to a release, the exhibition, called "Miranda Lambert: Velvet Rodeo," was created in collaboration with Lambert, and will feature costumes from the singer's Las Vegas residency, which ran from September 2022 to April 2024.

Lambert said her inspiration came from an earlier visit to the Fort Worth museum, where she spotted historic Western pieces that she photographed and sent to her stylist, Tiffany Gifford. They combined those influences with the glitz of Elvis Presley's heyday to create the "Velvet Rodeo" wardrobe.

“Seeing these pieces now have a life beyond the stage as part of the Museum’s new Icons Gallery feels really full circle and special,” Lambert said in a statement.

Visitors will now have the opportunity to study garments usually seen in motion and under stage lights, appreciating the details that help transform clothing into an essential part of a performance.

The Icons Gallery is part of the Museum’s 16,000-square-foot expansion, which introduces new galleries and experiences that explore the accomplishments and influence of women of the West. The $19 million expansion features a new entrance facing Dickies Arena, new galleries including a photography gallery, an event space accommodating up to 250, and the new Cowgirl Carousel.

Miranda Lambert, right, with rodeo queens onstage at the 45th Cowgirl Hall of Fame Induction Luncheon at Dickies Arena. Photo by Ashley Gongora

Lambert, who was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 2021, is an active mounted shooting competitor and horsewoman, giving her a connection to the West that reaches beyond her music. "Velvet Rodeo" brings together Lambert's identity as a cowgirl and her creative expression as a performer.

“Miranda’s confidence, determination and independence make her a wonderful representative of the women we honor,” says Pat Riley, executive director of the National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame, in the release. “Opening our Icons Gallery with this collaboration celebrates her accomplishments while giving visitors a new way to connect with a cowgirl they know and admire.”

According to a museum spokesperson, the temporary exhibition will remain on display for at least one year; no specific end date was given.

In preparation for the expansion grand opening, the Cowgirl will be closed to the public beginning October 19 and will reopen November 7, with a members-only preview at 10 am and a public opening at noon.

celebrities country music exhibitions-visual-arts fashion miranda lambert museums music national cowgirl museum temporary exhibition