Theater Critic Picks
These are the 13 can't-miss shows in Dallas-Fort Worth theater for February
Love is in the air and on the boards, especially at Amphibian Stage and the Music Hall at Fair Park. There's also a nice variety of serious topics and concerts in the mix for February, so you're bound to find something you love.
In order of start date, here are 13 local shows to watch this month:
On the Exhale
Stage West, February 3-20
When a senseless act of violence changes her life forever, a college professor finds herself inexplicably drawn to the very weapon used to perpetrate the crime — and to the irresistible feeling of power that comes from holding life and death in her hands. Stage West artistic director Dana Schultes stars in this one-woman show, which is also a regional premiere.
Matilda the Musical
Casa Mañana, February 4-13
Two years after coronavirus postponed it, Matilda is back. A little girl with astonishing wit, intelligence, and psychokinetic powers, Matilda is unloved by her cruel parents but impresses her schoolteacher, the highly lovable Miss Honey. However, the school’s mean headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, hates children and just loves thinking up new punishments for those who don’t abide by her rules.
Disney Princess: The Concert
Music Hall at Fair Park, February 5
This concert features Broadway's Belle, Jasmine, Anastasia, and Nala and celebrates all the Disney Princesses in an evening of story, animation, and song. Tony nominee Susan Egan, Grammy nominee Courtney Reed, Drama Desk nominee Christy Altomare, and rising star Syndee Winters join forces alongside music director Benjamin Rauhala and Prince Adam J. Levy.
Maytag Virgin
Theatre Three, February 5-20
Originally set to open in January, the regional premiere of Audrey Cefaly’s play follows Alabama schoolteacher Lizzy Nash and her new neighbor, Jack Key, over the year following the tragic death of Lizzy’s husband. The play explores the ideas of inertia and self-enlightenment, and the bridge between the two. Directed by Whitney Latrice Coulter, this new play is packed with wit, passion, and the weight of moving forward through loss.
Luchadora!
Cara Mía Theatre, February 11-13
Told through a series of flashbacks, playwright Alvaro Saar Rios' Luchadora! tells the story of a teenager named Lupita who pursues her dreams of becoming a lucha libre wrestler, contrary to the norms of Latinx women in the 1960s. A filmed version of the production will be made available for schools and audiences to stream starting in March 2022.
The Pleasure Trials
Amphibian Stage, February 11-27
When Rachel and Callie start clinical trials on their new female libido enhancement drug, willing participants come out of the woodwork looking for an internal revolution. Quickly after the first dose, the effectiveness of the medicine is undeniable, but the overwhelming pressure for its success may corrupt the experiment and everyone involved.
Major Attaway's Magical Cabaret Disney Date Night
Downtown Cowtown at the Isis, February 12
Major Attaway was the first to take over the Tony Award-winning role of The Genie in Aladdin from James Monroe Iglehart, and he currently holds the title of Broadway's longest-running Genie with over 1,500 performances. At this event, he will sing the best of Disney love songs to help bring true love.
20th International Festival
Teatro Dallas, February 12, 19-20
The world premiere Pastor's Paradox joins a Spanish version of Ionesco's The Chairs presented by Mexico's Teatro Gotico and starring Teatro Dallas founder Cora Cardona.
Dylan on Dylan
Casa Mañana, February 15-19
Jared Weiss will take audiences on a musical journey through Bob Dylan’s early Greenwich Village days to his seminal mid-'70s Rolling Thunder Revue Tour. Expect such classics such as "Mr. Tambourine Man," "The Times They Are a Changin’," "Like a Rolling Stone," and deep cuts from one of the greatest songwriters of all time.
Ragtime
Lyric Stage, February 17-20
Set in the volatile melting pot of turn-of-the-century New York, and based on E.L. Doctorow’s 1975 novel, Ragtime confronts history's timeless contradictions of wealth and poverty, freedom and prejudice, hope and despair, and what it means to live in America. This fully-staged concert production is directed by Feleceia Benton Wilson and choreographed by Ania Lyons. The 19-piece orchestra will be conducted by Sheilah Vaughn Walker, who will also serve as the production’s music director.
The How To Be Project: Ten Plays for Racial Justice
Bishop Arts Theatre Center, February 17-March 5
Ten Black playwrights were commissioned to write a short one-act play inspired by and in conversation with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's book How To Be An Antiracist. At a time where Black authors such as Ta-Nahasi Coates and Nikole Hannah-Jones are engaged in a dialogue about America's racial reckoning, The How To Be Project seeks to present works that continue the dialogue in the enduring struggle for racial justice.
Rent
Dallas Summer Musicals, February 18-20
A re-imagining of Puccini's La Bohème, the Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning Rent, by Jonathan Larson, follows an unforgettable year in the lives of seven artists struggling to follow their dreams without selling out.
Jess Garland in Concert
Undermain Theatre, February 19
This Dallas-based singer/songwriter, recording, and performing artist is kicking off this season of Undermain's In Concert series. Garland is a multi-instrumentalist, using a combination of harp and guitar loops, evoking elements of ambient folk and celestial tones.
