But no Dracula
Bold choices and a change of scenery mark the upcoming season at Dallas Theater Center
Dallas Theater Center is known for taking risks with its programming, whether presenting controversial productions, reimagining classics or staging all-new material. The just-announced 2013-2014 season continues that tradition. Four of the seven productions address race relations, one is a world premiere, and a Christmas classic gets a new home and a new adaptation.
The most-recognizable production in the upcoming season is Les Misérables (June 27-August 10, 2014), which couldn't be more relevant because it was just made into a movie for the first time. This will be the first time DTC puts on the musical, and the intimate confines of the Wyly Theatre should make the show even more epic.
With Fortress of Solitude, Dallas once again gets a leg up on New York in premiering a new musical.
The four productions that touch on the theme of race relations include the classic A Raisin in the Sun, plus newer shows Clybourne Park, Fortress of Solitude and Oedipus El Rey.
In fact, DTC is making a distinction between older and newer works, offering patrons the option of buying season tickets in a variety of packages. The full season, dubbed the Theater Lover's Series; the Classic Series, which includes Les Misérables, Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, A Christmas Carol and A Raisin in the Sun; or the Contemporary Series, featuring only newer productions.
Fortress of Solitude (March 7-April 6, 2014) is especially notable; Dallas once again gets a leg up on New York in premiering a new musical. Working with The Public Theater in New York, DTC presents the world premiere of a show that demonstrates how racial differences impact two close friends in 1970s Brooklyn. Their shared love of comic books helps them navigate the tricky world that they inhabit.
A Raisin in the Sun (September 13-October 27, 2013) and Clybourne Park (October 4-27) are actually companion pieces. A Raisin in the Sun is partially the story of what happens when an African-American family moves into a predominantly white neighborhood in 1959 Chicago. That neighborhood is Clybourne Park. In the play of the same name — a 2011 Pulitzer Prize winner and the 2012 Tony Award winner for Best Play — the house the family moved into becomes the focus, dramatized in events prior to and after they live there.
In a move that will perhaps cause the most outcry — at least among sentimentalists — Dallas Theater Center is moving its production of A Christmas Carol (November 21-December 24, 2013) from Kalita Humphreys Theater to the Wyly Theatre. Kalita Humphreys had continued to be the home of the DTC's classic holiday production, even after the center moved into the Wyly in 2009. The change of venue coincides with an all-new version of A Christmas Carol, which promises dramatic special effects and choreography by Joel Ferrell.
Oedipus El Rey, a "sexy reboot of the legendary classical Greek tragedy" about a Chicano ex-con who sets out on a journey to become the king of South Central LA, runs January 16-March 2, 2014. Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, about Holmes' ultimate confrontation with his adversary, Professor Moriarty, runs April 25-May 25 2014.
Notably absent from next season's lineup is The Dracula Cycle, which was bumped from the 2012-13 season due to scheduling conflicts with playwright Robert Aguirre-Sacasa, who was busy working on Glee and a new screen version of Carrie. In a statement last fall, DTC artistic director Kevin Moriarty explained the situation thusly:
In an effort to provide The Dracula Cycle with the utmost attention and care, and to give Roberto time to accomplish the many projects he has under way, we have decided to postpone its world premiere until next season. We are certain Dracula will thrill audiences in Dallas next season and then have a significant future life at theaters across the country for years to come.
We will be waiting for the thrill.
