The AT&T Performing Arts Center has brought a lot of great Broadway shows to the Winspear Opera House, but its 2014-2015 Broadway Series just might be its best one yet, as it features no fewer than three shows that won the Tony Award for Best Musical.
And that doesn't even include The Book of Mormon, which will return to Dallas for a second time, February 10-22, 2015. Mormon is technically not part of the five-show season, but it will be a special engagement available to season ticket subscribers.
The season kicks off in August 2014 with the perennial favorite, The Phantom of the Opera, running August 6-24. It will be followed four months later by the Dallas premiere of Once, which won the Tony for Best Musical in 2012. That show, based on the movie of the same name, comes to the Winspear December 17-28.
After The Book of Mormon storms through again, Newsies will come to town April 29-May 10, 2015. Newsies, based on the 1992 Disney film, is one of the more popular musicals to come along in recent years and only lost out on the Best Musical award because it came out the same year as Once.
Another all-time favorite (and Best Musical winner), Annie will be the season's fourth show, playing June 23-July 5, 2015. The season will wrap up with the jukebox production Motown the Musical. Playing July 28-August 16, 2015, it features pretty much all of the biggest hits from Motown's heyday in the 1960s and '70s.
Season tickets are now on sale, with prices ranging from $140 for Starlight Circle seating to $1,000 for packages in the Cree Box Circle, with the add-on of The Book of Mormon tacking on $50-$160 more. Individual tickets for each show will go on sale at a later date.
The Book of Mormon returns to the Winspear Opera House in February 2015 as an add-on to the 2014-2015 Broadway Series season.
Photo by Joan Marcus
The Book of Mormon returns to the Winspear Opera House in February 2015 as an add-on to the 2014-2015 Broadway Series season.
It was a shot fired from Austin that rang out around the art world: In a recent CNN/Variety Town Hall featuring actors Timothée Chalamet and Matthew McConaughey, Chalamet offered an assessment of ballet and opera that immediately went viral.
During the onstage conversation at the University of Texas at Austin, Chalamet said, "I don't want to be working in ballet or opera, or you know, things where it's like, 'hey, keep this thing alive, even though like no one cares about this anymore.' All respect to the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewership."
Chalamet immediately seemed to experience a twinge of regret, awkwardly adding, "But um...damn, I just took shots for no reason." He also sang a note and hid his face behind the cards he was holding.
Stars of the art forms, from Andrea Bocelli to Misty Copeland, immediately began to leap (jeté, if you will) to the the defense of opera and ballet.
In a genius marketing move, Austin's hometown ballet company is taking the unique opportunity to turn a hot topic into a promotion for its next production: Ballet Austin is inviting anyone named Timothée, Timothee, or Timothy to claim a free ticket to its upcoming world premiere of Marie Antoinette: Vampire Queen of Versailles, running March 27-29 at the Long Center for the Performing Arts.
"Timothée… you were in Austin? We were literally down the street," a Ballet Austin post says. "Austin has brisket. Austin has music. Austin also has ballet."
All Timothées and folks with similar names will have to do to claim a ticket is send a message to Ballet Austin on social media and show identification. Everyone else who wants to see the supernatural show where "the line between victim and villain blurs" will have to purchase a ticket ($25-$125) at balletaustin.org.
Ballet Austin isn't afraid to add some edge to classic stories. Photo courtesy of Ballet Austin
Even if Chalamet's words were dismissive, he's obviously not wrong about the relative distribution of public interest between the classical arts and major films like Marty Supreme, the late 2025 film he stars in and is busy promoting. The film's commercially successful release set a record for A24, an already renowned studio.
Chalamet brought up ballet and opera in service of a larger point about pacing in movies. He said he exists in a middle ground as a consumer between wanting to be drawn in early and being more patient as a film progresses. Ultimately, he juxtaposed Barbie and Oppenheimer with the classical arts, pointing out that if the masses want to go see a film, they will "be loud and proud about it" organically, without needing performers to advocate for the seriousness of the art form.
Coincidentally, there couldn't be a better counterpoint to this argument than Marie Antoinette: Vampire Queen of Versailles.
As the title suggests, the story follows historical figure Marie Antoinette as she chooses to become a vampire, seeking "power, immortality, and vengeance," according to a press release. It takes a somewhat silly premise and gives it dramatic gravitas, with an original score by Austin composer Graham Reynolds, who is known outside of classical circles and sometimes composes for movie soundtracks.
"For Ballet Austin, the moment is an opportunity to remind audiences that ballet isn’t fading away," says a release about the new promotion. "It’s evolving, drawing new audiences and continuing to thrive in creative cities like Austin."
If Chalamet really does fall in the middle of instant and delayed artistic gratification, this sounds like the perfect production to draw him in.
And perhaps Ballet Austin should add people named Matthew to their promotion, since McConaughey threw the younger star a bone after his momentary walk-back, saying, "That's not a shot — I hear what you're saying."
Ballet Austin isn't afraid to add some edge to classic stories. Photo courtesy of Ballet Austin 