Don't Throw Away Your Shot

Dallas Summer Musicals blows us all away with Hamilton and other Broadway hits

Dallas Summer Musicals has announced its 2017-18 season, along with two shows from the 2018-19 season, and it's a major turnaround from years past.

Broadway hits such as Waitress, School of Rock, The Color Purple, Les Miserables, and Disney's The Lion King populate the list, but the real coup is that the blockbuster musical Hamilton is slated to play the Music Hall at Fair Park the season after, along with Disney's Aladdin.

This lineup couldn't be more different from the current one, which was the final to be programmed by longtime DSM president Michael Jenkins before he was suddenly terminated last spring. Interim managing director David Hyslop was named, and soon inked a deal with booking partner Broadway Across America. That could explain why the Music Hall will soon be hosting a bevy of Tony winners and nominees, along with the hottest show in the world.

There is also, curiously, no mention of DSM partnering with Performing Arts Fort Worth, as it has in previous seasons. Broadway at the Bass has yet to announce its 2017-18 season. (UPDATE: The season was just announced, and DSM will co-present three shows with PAFW.)

The new era of Dallas Summer Musicals officially kicks off December 5-10, 2017, with a seasonal add-on: the return of Irving Berlin's White Christmas. The holiday show played the Music Hall in 2013, but Hyslop and crew probably figured it couldn't hurt to bring it (and its snow machines) back for another round.

The regular season lineup begins January 23-February 4, 2018, with the 2016 Tony Award winner for best revival, The Color Purple. Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning book provides the basis for this stirring musical, which mixes jazz, gospel, ragtime, and blues.

Next up is On Your Feet!, a "Behind the Music"-esque show about how Emilio and Gloria Estefan triumphed over adversity and tragedy to reach the top of the pop world. Yes, you're probably going to sing along. It runs February 27-March 11, 2018.

Speaking of pop stars, Grammy winner Sara Bareilles made her Broadway debut by penning the score for Waitress, based on Adrienne Shelley's cult film. An all-female creative team brought the show to Broadway, and it's a showcase for the lucky actress portraying the aspiring baker looking a way out of her small town and loveless marriage. Performance dates are March 28-April 8.

The new production of Les Miserables that recently closed on Broadway is now heading out on tour, with new staging and re-imagined scenery inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo. But all your favorite songs are still there, from "I Dreamed a Dream" to "One Day More" to "On My Own." See it April 24-May 6, 2018.

Another musical stalwart, Disney's The Lion King, is also on tap. Its larger-than-life puppets and lush score by Elton John and Tim Rice have filled the Music Hall before, but not since 2013. See Julie Taymor's stunning and imaginative staging June 13-July 8, 2018.

Did you know The Phantom of the Opera has a sequel? Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber's follow-up to his smash musical hit, premiered in London in 2010 but then mostly faded into obscurity (except for a 2012 DVD recording of the West End production). But now it's going on tour! So check in with the Phantom and Christine, who are now in Coney Island 10 years after the big showdown at the Paris Opera House. Performances are July 24-August 5, 2018.

Another Lloyd Webber show is up next: School of Rock, based on the Jack Black film about a substitute teacher who molds his private-school pupils into an awesome rock band. Yes, those kids are playing those instruments live, and no, you will never be that talented. The show closes out the season August 15-26.

Both Hamilton and Disney's Aladdin are awaiting official performance dates, but those eager to score tickets should sign up to become DSM subscribers now. According to the press release, "Only season-ticket holders who renew for the 2018-19 season will be able to guarantee their tickets for the engagements of both shows before tickets become available to the general public."

Dallas Summer Musicals’ seven-show season tickets start at $150 and are on sale now at www.DallasSummerMusicals.org or by phone at 1-866-276-4884. Season tickets can also be purchased in person at the box office at 5959 Royal Ln., Suite 542, and at the Music Hall at Fair Park box office.

Currently, An American in Paris is playing the Music Hall January 31 through February 12.

Hamilton is finally coming to Dallas, but not until the 2018-19 season.

Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast of Hamilton

Photo by Joan Marcus

Hamilton is finally coming to Dallas, but not until the 2018-19 season.

theater

All Eyes on Them

Dallas alt hip-hop group wins prestigious Tiny Desk Contest by NPR

Cure for Paranoia/Facebook

As winners of the Tiny Desk Contest, Cure for Paranoia will record their own Tiny Desk concert and go on tour.

Few live recording studios or musical web series have the cultural sway of NPR's Tiny Desk, and a Dallas band is poised to make an impactful debut: Cure For Paranoia, an alternative hip-hop project by rapper Cameron McCloud and producers Tomahawk Jonez and Jay Analo, has won the high-stakes annual Tiny Desk Contest for 2026.

They'll record their official Tiny Desk show "soon," the announcement by NPR says.

Winning the concert also means Cure for Paranoia is going on tour. The only Texas stop will be at Emo's Austin on June 24.

Tiny Desk is known for platforming both niche and majorly successful artists — NPR posted a new Foo Fighters set on YouTube on May 13 — for stripped-down sets that are literally played behind former All Things Considered director Bob Boilen's old desk. (Fun fact for Texans: Tiny Desk was created because folk artist Laura Gibson was disappointed with the sound at her South by Southwest show in Austin in 2008, and she wanted a redo.)

Most artists who appear on Tiny Desk more than 15 years later are already well-known, at least in their specific circles. But the Tiny Desk Contest, which launched in 2015, helps a growing group of newer, unsigned artists get their foot in the door. Contestants record one video of them performing a single song behind a desk, and a jury of radio staff and musicians chooses their favorite.

In their audition video, Cure for Paranoia gathered 11 musicians around a truly tiny desk and in front of downtown Dallas' iconic gigantic eyeball sculpture. They played the song "No Brainer," a frenetic track that starts with clever boasts and becomes a criticism of racism in the United States.

McCloud, a pre-school teacher, is known independently of Cure for Paranoia for rapping to his social media following about politics and current events. Some of those lyrics made it into "No Brainer." He says he started the group because he found that music was more helpful than medication for coping with bipolar depression and paranoid schizophrenia.

Alex Marrero, host of the Austin-based KUTX show Horizontes, was one of the judges this year. He was impressed with the visuals in Cure for Paranoia's audition.

“When this popped up, I immediately felt something different," he wrote in a blurb for the announcement. "It just jumped out. The visuals were super cool and creative, BUT I could still totally envision them bringing the heat behind the Desk.”

Madison McFerrin, jazz vocalist and daughter of the famous singer Bobby McFerrin, was one of the musical judges.

"Cure For Paranoia’s energy is infectious, fresh and distinctly theirs — exactly what you want in a Contest winner!" she wrote.

McCloud's post on Instagram announcing the group's win has only been up for three hours at the time of this article's publication, and it already has more than 8,000 likes. The YouTube audition has garnered 74,000 views.

music music video npr radio live music concerts