Theater Critic Picks

These are the 8 can't-miss shows in Dallas-Fort Worth theater for February

UPDATE: Kitchen Dog Theater's streaming production of Last Ship to Proxima Centauri has been rescheduled to March 5-21. Dallas Theater Center's production of Something Grim(m) will now open on March 18.

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If Netflix and chill is getting old, try putting on a streaming play — you'll actually want to pay attention. This month, there are world premieres, variety shows, interactive experiments, and even a reprise from one of the most entertaining solo performers ever. Two of these picks are also in-person, with plenty of social distancing and creativity.

Here are eight local shows to watch this month:

Bennett & Babs: The Songs of Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand
Casa Mañana, February 9-14
Presented in the Reid Cabaret on the Mainstage, Bennett & Babs features Broadway veterans Jackie Burns and Joe Cassidy as two of the world's most iconic performers. Hum along to tunes like "The Lady Is a Tramp," "The Way We Were," and "Don't Rain on My Parade" while ordering drinks tableside and enjoy a socially distanced evening. Tickets start at $65 and can be purchased here.

Before You Get Married
Bishop Arts Theatre Center, streaming February 11-March 12
Franky D. Gonzalez's play explores the relationship between siblings on the night before the sister's wedding, with the knowledge they may not be related. With the passing night and flowing wine, both siblings struggle to understand what they mean to each other as they reveal secrets of the past and explore the desires of two people at once impossibly connected and separated. Tickets are $18-$28 and can be purchased here or by calling 214-948-0716.

Ghosts in the Kitchen: The Romantic Night
Ochre House Theatre, streaming February 11-28
The avant garde Deep Ellum troupe has created a new series of storytelling through virtual theater, as written and told by core company members Carla Parker, Justin Locklear, Kevin Grammer, and Matthew Posey, filmed and directed by Josh Jordan, and with music by Locklear and Sarah Rubio- Rogerson. First up is The Romantic Night, written and performed by Posey. Athalgarde Christhelmet walks home from his favorite bar, The Rustic Inn, and loses his way and himself in a baffling boozy world. Chance, misfortune, visitations of an angry God, and chaos marble a journey into a secret and wondrous night of a self-destructive boozer who finds redemption by sheer luck. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased here or by calling 214-826-6273.

Love Sucks – An Anti-Valentine’s Day Special
Amphibian Stage, streaming February 13-20
Created to make sure all of us who hate Valentine's Day know we are not alone, the online variety show will take a tongue-in cheek approach to the holiday. Hosted by Broadway veteran Eric Jon Mahlum, the show will feature tales of bad romance from comics Lauren Davis, Erin Harper, Dante Martinez, MK Paulsen, and Hannah Vaughan; a drag performance from Kylee O’Hara Fatale; and more. Audiences should be ready for anything — except the usual Valentine's fare of cheap champagne and teddy-bears. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased here or by calling 817-923-3012.

Something Grim(m)
Dallas Theater Center, February 20-March 6
This creative journey inspired by Grimm's fairytales is a self-guided walking tour through various locations, starting in the Lexus Silver parking garage and then moving around the exterior of the Wyly Theatre. The production will include comic strips, pop-up story books, and pre-recorded video and audio elements, and was created specifically for this cast and this location. Tickets are $17.50-$35 and can be purchased here.

In Search of the Sublime
Moonrise Initiative and Stage West, streaming February 23-March 25
Written and directed by Kara-Lynn Vaeni and created by Victoria Cruz, Olivia de Guzman, Shyama Nithiananda, Galen Sho Sato, Garret Storms, Kelsey Milbourn, and Mitchell Stephens, this interactive, live, online experience is part poem, part story, and part something else altogether. Using suggestions from the online audience, the cleansing power of running, and some truly excellent music, you join in weaving together tales of terror and awe in a concerted effort to achieve The Sublime. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased here or by calling 817-784-9378.

The Be(a)st of Taylor Mac
UndermainTheatre, streaming February 24-March 14
Clad in exotic dress and sequined makeup, Taylor Mac brings this showcase of work to the stage with a multitude of costumes and props from a giant suitcase and self-accompaniment on the ukulele and mandolin. This virtual stream of the 2010 solo performance, filmed by Katherine Owens, is available only to season subscribers. Subscriptions can be purchased here or by calling 214-747-5515.

Last Ship to Proxima Centauri
Kitchen Dog Theater, streaming February 25-March 14
In Greg Lam's dark science-fiction comedy (a world premiere!), the earth has become uninhabitable. The last escape ship arrives at its new home centuries after all the others. The passengers are not prepared for what they find there: A planet full of unimpressed people of color who are not happy to see them. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased here or by calling 214-953-1055.

Get ready to go on a journey with Dallas Theater Center's Something Grim(m).

Something Grim(m) at Dallas Theater Center

Dallas Theater Center/Facebook

Get ready to go on a journey with Dallas Theater Center's Something Grim(m).

theater

RIP, Irma

Dallas actress and 'Soul Food' star Irma P. Hall passes away at 91

Courtesy photo

Irma P. Hall

Dallas actress and longtime resident Irma P. Hall, best known for playing Big Mama Jo in the 1997 film Soul Food, died Tuesday, November 10, surrounded by loved ones, according to an announcement from her family. She was 91.

Hall built a nearly five-decade career in film, television, and theater, earning an NAACP Image Award for Soul Food and a Jury Prize at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival for her performance in The Ladykillers.

"Her commanding presence and remarkable ability to bring depth and authenticity to every character made her one of Hollywood's most respected and recognizable character actresses and a cultural icon," her family says in a statement.

Before becoming a familiar face on movie screens, Hall spent more than 20 years teaching English and foreign languages in Dallas public schools. She maintained her ties to her native Texas throughout her Hollywood career.

Born Irma Dolores Player on June 3, 1935, in Beaumont, Hall grew up in Chicago before returning to Texas to attend Texas College in Tyler. Her path to acting began unexpectedly when actor and director Raymond St. Jacques discovered her talent during a poetry reading in Dallas, her family says.

She made her film debut in Book of Numbers in 1973, launching a second career that would take her from Dallas stages to Tinseltown sets.

Hall became widely recognized for her portrayal of Big Mama Jo in Soul Food, the 1997 film about a close-knit family whose Sunday dinners bring generations together. She starred alongside stars Vanessa Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, and Michael Beach.

"One of the most iconic mother roles in film history, "A Song for Mama" by Boyz II Men was written and produced by Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds, specifically centering on Irma P. Hall's character in Soul Food," the family statement says. "Decades after its original release, this song is still one of the most popular and enduring Mother's Day anthems of all time."

Hall's other credits included A Family Thing (1996), Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), Beloved (1998), Patch Adams (1998), The Ladykillers (2004), Collateral (2004), and Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns (2008). She also reprised her role as Mama Joe in the television series based on the film.

Hall's performance in Soul Food earned her an NAACP Image Award for outstanding supporting actress in a motion picture. In 2004, she shared a Jury Prize at Cannes for The Ladykillers, in which she starred opposite Tom Hanks. She also received honors from the Chicago and Kansas City film critics associations for A Family Thing and was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame.

Courtesy photo

Irma P. Hall stayed connected to the Dallas arts and theater community throughout her life.

Hall remained connected to Dallas and its arts community her whole life, her family says. She co-founded the Dallas Minority Repertory Theatre in 1973. Her contributions are also remembered through the Irma P. Hall Black Theatre Awards, known as The Irmas, an annual celebration of performing and technical theater talent across Dallas-Fort Worth, founded in 2015.

Education remained another lifelong passion. Hall received an honorary doctorate in Fine Arts and Education from Texas College in recognition of her work in the arts and education. At Inspiring Body of Christ Church in Dallas, where she was a longtime member and cherished Church Mother, she regularly visited the church's University of Dreams school to read to children and share her love of storytelling. She also participated in the church's theater ministry.

“Today, we celebrate the extraordinary life of a woman whose faith, wisdom and love touched so many," senior pastor Rickie G. Rush says in a statement. "Our beloved Church Mother, Irma P. Hall, has taken her final bow on the stage of life and stepped into eternity.”

Hall is survived by her only daughter, Irma Hall Crayton, who remembered her mother's influence as both an educator and a mentor.

“She started as a teacher in the classroom but ended up being a teacher to the world,” Crayton says. “My mom used to always say, ‘To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.’ And she was just that to many people.”

Funeral services and memorial arrangements will be announced at a later date.

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