After a couple years of traveling shows, virtual productions, construction-related closures, and a pandemic, Theatre Three is celebrating six decades of creating theater with an all-new season that will take place "back home" at the Norma Young Arena Stage in the Quadrangle.
"Theatre Three, founded in 1961, is celebrating its 60th season. Let that sink in," says artistic director Jeffrey Schmidt. "We are part of the fabric of Dallas arts and culture. Uptown grew up around us. We were and are integral to the success of one of the most vibrant and lucrative neighborhoods in the country. As the Quadrangle, our home, receives a much needed transformation, Theatre Three continues to do what it does best with its sights set on the future and a nod to the past."
Opening the season five years after its wildly popular production downstairs in Theatre Too is Matt Lyle's Big Scary Animals. An older white couple from the country moves to the city to be closer to their granddaughter and unknowingly settles in the gay neighborhood. What begins as polite dinner conversation with their gay, multi-ethnic neighbors careens out of control. It runs September 1-25, 2022.
Next up is Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan's hilarious musical Young Frankenstein, in partnership with Fort Worth's Circle Theatre and directed by Joel Ferrell with music direction by Cody Dry. When the grandson of the infamous Victor Frankenstein, Frederick Frankenstein, inherits his family's estate, his mad scientist genes come to fruition. With the help of his assistant, Igor, he brings a monster to life and hilarity ensues. Includes such memorable tunes as "The Transylvania Mania," "Don't Touch Me," and "Puttin' on the Ritz." It runs October 13-November 13, 2022.
The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance follows, directed by Schmidt (this was originally scheduled for April 2020). John Merrick, an intelligent and friendly man shunned by Victorian-era society and called a "freak" due to his skin and bone disorders, is found abandoned. Under the care of physician Frederick Treves, Merrick begins to slowly evolve from an object of pity to an urbane and witty favorite of the aristocracy and literati, only to be denied his ultimate dream: to become a man like any other. It runs January 19-February 19, 2023.
The regional premiere of the English translation by Dante Flores of Federico García Lorca's The Butterfly's Evil Spell is next, also directed by Schmidt. In a whimsical world of beetles, scorpions, and bugs of all sorts, a beetle falls in love with an injured butterfly. An "insect comedy" written in verse, The Butterfly's Evil Spell is a story about unrequited love in a "green and humble meadow" covered in dewdrops and dripping in poetry. It runs April 6-30, 2023.
Closing the 60th anniversary season is the emotionally charged rock musical Next to Normal, directed by Christie Vela with music direction by Vonda K. Bowling. The Goodman family is just a "normal" family: Dad's an architect, mom packs lunches and makes birthday cakes, and their daughter and son are bright, wise-cracking teens. Under the surface, their family is anything but. Next to Normal explores a family's raw and emotional journey with a mother struggling with chronic bipolar disorder as they navigate a world of therapists and medication. It runs June 1-July 7, 2023.
"I'm thrilled to be bringing this eclectic mix to Theatre Three audiences," says associate artistic director Christie Vela. "These are some of my favorite newer, well-known shows intermingled with an obscure classic that we're breathing new life into. These shows will be a feast for the senses."
The Monday Night Playwright series will continue, offering an affordable and accessible venue for new works by local writers.
Theatre Three also plans to continue the T3 Translates initiative, where a commissioned writer will translate a play that doesn't have an English translation, ending with a staged reading.
The Festival of Bad Ideas will also return in the summer of 2023.
Subscriptions for the 2022-23 season will go on sale April 7 and single tickets will be available on May 4. Tickets can be purchased online at www.theatre3dallas.com or over the phone at 214-871-3300.
