Dance Moves

TITAS taps legendary choreographer for milestone dance tour that starts in Dallas

Twyla Tharp will launch her Fiftieth Anniversary Tour in Dallas with two dates at Winspear Opera House, September 18 and 19.

Photo by Richard Avedon

A performing arts milestone event that has been years in the making will finally hit a Dallas stage this fall. Legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp is celebrating her 50th anniversary in the dance profession in 2015, and Dallasites will get the first chance to see her latest creation when her Fiftieth Anniversary Tour launches at Winspear Opera House in the AT&T Performing Arts Center on September 18 and 19.

The event is being co-commissioned by TITAS Presents, the organization that has been bringing national arts groups to Dallas for more than 30 years. Tharp’s work also will mark the beginning of TITAS Presents’ 2015-2016 season.

This will be the first time since 2002 that Twyla Tharp has toured with a group of dancers.

To make it happen, TITAS joined forces with the Joyce Theater in New York City and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., who initiated the commissioning, as well as the Ravinia Festival Association/Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University in Chicago and the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.

The world premiere of the Fiftieth Anniversary Tour, which honors Tharp’s five decades of choreographing for stage, TV and film, will start in Dallas before heading out to at least 15 North American cities over 10 weeks. It will be the first time since 2002 that Tharp has toured with a group of dancers.

Tharp has done more than 160 works across a variety of media, for which she has been honored with a Tony Award, two Emmy Awards, a National Medal of the Arts, a Kennedy Center Honor and many others.

“This commissioning project has been years in the making,” said Charles Santos, executive and artistic director of TITAS Presents, in a release. “The national partnership and commissioning of an artist as important as Twyla Tharp, with the world premiere taking place here in Dallas, is enormously important for the missions of TITAS Presents, the AT&T Performing Arts Center and our city.”

Tickets for Tharp’s Fiftieth Anniversary Tour will go on sale closer to the performance dates. To stay up-to-date, go to attpac.org/on-sale/2015/twyla-tharp-dance/.

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Theater Critic Picks

The 13 must-see shows in Dallas-Fort Worth theater for December

Dallas Theater Center presents A Christmas Carol (2024)

Photo by Jordan Fraker

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It's December, and we've thrown the rules out the window. There are plenty of shows still running from November that are either holiday-tinged or something you'd be wise to bring out-of-town guests to. After all, isn't most of December just figuring out how to entertain family?

Below are those five savior shows in alphabetical order, with eight soon-to-open plays and musicals following in their typical listing by start date:

A Charlie Brown Christmas
Dallas Children's Theater, through December 22
Discover the meaning of Christmas — or experience the nostalgia of childhood — while sharing laughs with the Peanuts Gang along the way. As a live combo fills hearts with music, merriment, and warmth, the story based on the Charles Schulz classic special is here just in time for the holidays.

A Christmas Carol
Dallas Theater Center, through December 28
Three spirits have come to visit the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge and take him on a fantastic journey through Christmases past, present, and future. Brimming with joyful songs, magical spirits, and holiday cheer, this holiday classic embodies a story of joy, redemption, and the spirit of Christmas.

Forever Plaid: Plaid Tidings
Lyric Stage, through December 22
The holiday classic by Stewart Ross opens Lyric Stage's 31st season. At first, Francis, Jinx, Smudge, and Sparky aren't sure why they've returned to Earth for another posthumous performance, but a phone call from the heavenly Rosemary Clooney lets them know that they're needed to put a little harmony into a discordant world.

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812
Theatre Three, through December 29
The vibrant musical spectacle set in 19th-century Russia, and based on a 70-page segment of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, lets romance and intrigue unfold amid glittering ballrooms and tumultuous relationships. Its score features a unique blend of electro-pop and Russian folk-inspired music.

The Play That Goes Wrong
Stage West, through December 22
WaterTower Theatre, December 31-January 12
At opening night of The Murder at Haversham Manor, things are quickly going from bad to horrible. With an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can’t play dead, and actors who trip over everything (including their lines), the whole evening is a disastrous smash.

Opening in December:

Shucked
Broadway Dallas, December 3-15
This Tony Award-winning musical comedy features a book by Tony Award winner Robert Horn, a score by the Grammy Award-winning songwriting team of Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, and direction by Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien. The corn-fed, corn-bred American musical is sure to satisfy an appetite for great musical theater.

Christmas with Kenny & Dolly
Casa Mañana, December 3-22
Fort Worth’s own Jolie Holliday returns to The Reid Cabaret for a production that celebrates Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers' 1984 quadruple-platinum Christmas album. Get in the holiday spirit with songs like “Once Upon a Christmas,” “I Believe in Santa Claus,” “A Christmas to Remember,” “Silent Night,” and more.

Auntie Explains Xmas
Jubilee Theatre, December 5-15
In this heartwarming journey of holiday cheer from Jubilee Theatre's founding artistic director, Rudy Eastman, the family musical brings the magic of Christmases past and present.

Black Nativity
Bishop Arts Theatre Center, December 5-22
Inspired by Langston Hughes' 1960 Broadway production, Black Nativity returns with hand-clapping, toe-tapping, and finger-snapping theatrical wonderment for the 20th anniversary production at Bishop Arts Theatre Center. The holiday favorite is the heartwarming retelling of the Nativity story that includes Gospel music, dramatic dance, and biblical narrative.

A Queer Carol
Uptown Players, December 6-15
Written by Joe Godfrey, the contemporary retelling of Dickens' classic set in modern-day Manhattan follows Ben Scrooge, a prominent interior decorator, and his assistant Bob Cratchit, who endures the abuses of Scrooge while simultaneously trying to take care of his lover, Tim. With humorous twists on the three Ghosts, including an over-the-top drag queen as the Ghost of Christmas Present, this retelling through a queer lens promises to be a festive and thought-provoking experience.

Christmas Actually
Uptown Players, December 17
This one-of-a-kind cabaret show from Blake McIver (from Full House and The Little Rascals) and Emerson Collins (A Very Sordid Wedding and Southern Baptist Sissies) bring their signature flair, fun banter, and powerhouse vocals to kick-start the season.

Dear Evan Hansen
Broadway at the Center, December 19-21
Meet Evan Hansen, a high school student who always feels like he’s on the outside looking in. After writing a letter to himself that was never meant to be seen, Evan becomes entangled in a lie that was never meant to be told and a life he never dreamt could be his. As a result, Evan finally gets what so many of us are searching for: the chance to finally fit in.

Peter Pan
Broadway Dallas, December 25-January 5
This high-flying musical has been thrilling audiences of all ages for close to 70 years and is now being brought back to life in a new adaptation by celebrated playwright Larissa FastHorse, directed by Emmy Award winner Lonny Price and choreographed by Lorin Latarro.

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