Regional Theater Heavyweight

Dallas Theater Center gets props as one to watch outside of New York

The Dallas arts community gets another nod, this time for its theater prowess. Time.com recently posted a list of "10 Reasons for Theater Lovers to Leave New York in 2014." Included is The Fortress of Solitude, a musical that begins performances at Dallas Theater Center in March.

Dallas Theater Center appears alongside such well-known and established theaters as the Goodman and Steppenwolf in Chicago, La Jolla Playhouse in California, Signature Theatre in Virginia, and Yale Rep in Connecticut. Heck, even rock stars Sting and Billie Joe Armstrong appear on the list.

A collaboration with Manhattan's Public Theater — which plans to include the show in its 2014/15 season — Fortress is an adaptation of Jonathan Lethem's 2003 novel of the same name, about two boys growing up in 1970s Brooklyn. The friends, one black and one white, confront race, culture, gentrification and self-discovery through the bonding agents of comic books and music.

The title is a reference to Superman's headquarters, the only place the fictional hero could truly be himself. And, as Time notes, it's not an obvious subject for a musical, but these theater heavies are giving a try.

Fortress — directed by Daniel Aukin (Bad Jews,The Winslow Boy) and featuring a score by Michael Friedman (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson) and book by Itamar Moses (Boardwalk Empire) — is only the latest in a string of productions that have gone on to enjoy New York runs. Among them: Lysistrata Jones on Broadway (which ran under the title Give It Up! in Dallas), Giant (which played the Public Theater in 2012) and Fly By Night (which will play Off-Broadway's Playwrights Horizons in May).

Catch Fortress of Solitude at Wyly Theatre from March 7 through April 6. You can also see Jonathan Lethem at Arts & Letters Live at the Dallas Museum of Art on February 13.

Art for all

Dallas’ Katy Trail will debut new public art biennial in 2027

Man jogging on the Katy Trail

The Katy Trail/Facebook

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Dallas' most popular jogging trails will fill with art next year: A new contemporary public art biennial called KTX Biennial will debut in spring 2027 along Dallas’ Katy Trail.

"The KTX Biennial marks Texas’ first biennial of its kind dedicated to public art and provides an open-air platform for engaging with ambitious contemporary artworks, free and accessible to all," says a release.

Organized by Friends of the Katy Trail executive director Amy Bean and Katy Trail art director Amanda Dillard Shufeldt, the inaugural event will invite New York-based curator Jovanna Venegas to organize a display of nearly a dozen existing and newly commissioned works by living artists from across the world. Venegas, the curator at SculptureCenter, has an international reputation for exhibiting and commissioning major works by living artists.

The Dallas presentation will span the 3.5-mile former railroad corridor running through Dallas’ Uptown, Knox, and Highland Park neighborhoods, which attracts 2 million annual visitors, they say. Artworks will be thoughtfully integrated into the trail’s natural environment, organizers say.

"Building on the Katy Trail’s existing public art program - which has featured work from the likes of Iván Argote, Eddie Martinez, Will Boone, Nic Nicosia, Carolyn Salas, and more - the Biennial thoughtfully integrates art into its natural environment, creates new avenues for discovery for local and national audiences, and fortifies Dallas’ standing as an international art destination," the release says.

Beyond the artworks that fill the trails, the event will include educational programs, public activities, panel conversations, and partnerships with local institutions and organizations, organizers say.

“The KTX Biennial grows directly out of our belief that the Katy Trail belongs to everyone," says Bean in the release. "By bringing ambitious contemporary art into an open-air setting, free and accessible to all, we are inviting both longtime visitors and first-time audiences to experience the Trail in an entirely new way. This Biennial strengthens the Trail’s role not only as a place for recreation, but also as a space for creativity, reflection, and shared discovery."

The inaugural KTX Biennial will open in spring 2027 and will be free and open to the public.

arts art festival sculptures gallery museums katy trail

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