Season Announcement

Addison's WaterTower Theatre goes Hollywood for big 27th season

A scene from The Play That Goes Wrong on Broadway.

Photo by Jeremy Daniel

For its first fully produced season back onstage since the pandemic, WaterTower Theatre has four big shows on tap.

First up is perhaps the biggest, especially when you consider that it's the first time in decades this hit show has been produced locally in North Texas, featuring an all-local cast and team. It's Jesus Christ Superstar, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's iconic rock opera that also happens to have just celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Set against the backdrop of an extraordinary series of events during the final weeks in the life of Jesus Christ, as seen through the eyes of Judas, the show reflects the rock roots that defined a generation and includes the songs "I Don't Know How to Love Him," "Gethsemane," and "Superstar." Directed by Natalie King, music directed by Cody Dry, and choreographed by Kelly McCain, it runs November 30-December 11, 2022.

The regional premiere of The Play That Goes Wrong is next, an Olivier Award-winning comedy that's a hilarious hybrid of Sherlock Holmes and Monty Python. This co-production with Stage West is written by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields, and Jonathan Sayer and directed by Harry Parker. Welcome to opening night of The Murder at Haversham Manor, where things are quickly going from bad to utterly disastrous with an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can't play dead, and actors who trip over everything (including their lines). It runs February 1-12, 2023.

Created By Zachary Burton and Elisa Hofmeister and directed by Ashley Puckett Gonzales, The Manic Monologues is having its regional premiere, as well. When creator Zack had his first psychotic break and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in May 2017, he was just finishing his PhD at Stanford University — and his world imploded. Would mental illness dictate his whole life? Would everything change?

Zack was underwater, and his then-girlfriend Elisa (and future co-creator) had no way of knowing whether her happy, gregarious partner-in-crime would ever resurface. One of the hardest parts about those early days was the absence of relatable, lived experiences. Zack and Elisa decided to create a play based on true stories to disrupt the stigma around mental illness. It runs April 19-30, 2023.

The world premiere musical Goin' Hollywood closes out the season, with book and lyrics by Stephen Cole and music by David Krane. Have you ever wished you were born in a different time? Alice Chandler did. Alice does not feel like she belongs in the 21st century, but she never dreamed that while at lunch with her best friend and writing partner, Garson Stein, a magical birthday wish would find them both instantly transported back in time to 1949 Hollywood.

Alice and Garson arrive smack in the golden age of movie musicals, where they land their dream job writing for L. B. Mayer at MGM and are surrounded by glittering stars of Hollywood, but they soon see that under all the glamour lies a studio system crumbling while the blacklist threatens their closest allies, and their eyes are opened to Hollywood's darker side. It runs July 19-30, 2023.

"Season 27 brings forth new voices, new works, and new light indeed," says producing artistic director Shane Peterman, who programmed the season with associate artistic director Elizabeth Kensek. "Two stunning pieces of musical theater, one classic and one world premiere, and two plays, one comedic and an enlightening and educational piece that is very close to my heart. With this season, I think you will agree, WaterTower Theatre is making a thrilling comeback."

WaterTower is also committed to the development of musical theater and will be workshopping two brand-new musicals during its 27th season, beginning with Donald Fowler's Oregon in the Fall. WaterTower Theatre had been planning the workshop of this new musical before Fowler's unexpected death in 2020, and now it has been posthumously completed.

Individual tickets go on sale in summer 2022, but season tickets are currently on sale now, with prices increasing after June 1, 2022. New or renewed season tickets are available for purchase by calling 972-450-6232 or emailing boxoffice@watertowertheatre.org.

theater

Arts in Fort Worth

DFW museum debuts landmark exhibition about Statue of Liberty

Amon Carter Museum of American Art presents "The Statue of Liberty from Bartholdi to Warhol"

Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi (1834–1904), Early View of the Statue of Liberty, n.d.,, watercolor, Musée Bartholdi, Colmar, 2005.0.16.3, © Musée Bartholdi, Colmar, Photo Chr. Kempf

"The Statue of Liberty from Bartholdi to Warhol" opens at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art on August 15.

The Amon Carter Museum of American Art will celebrate the United States' 250th anniversary with a major exhibition examining one of the country's most recognizable symbols: "The Statue of Liberty from Bartholdi to Warhol" will open Saturday, August 15 for a nearly five-month run.

The exhibition, co-organized by the Denver Art Museum, is an examination of the Statue of Liberty’s enduring relevance in American visual culture and the evolution of its image from the 1870s to the present.

According to a release, it will bring together nearly 100 artworks and objects from more than 70 artists, exploring the statue’s varied manifestations - from artistic marvel and pop culture icon to symbol of immigration, patriotism, and resistance.

Successive generations of artists who have represented the statue's iconic form over the past 150 years will be included in the exhibition, including Pacita Abad, Benny Andrews, Edward Moran, Norman Rockwell, Nari Ward, and Andy Warhol.

The exhibition is anchored by a rare cast of French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s bronze sculpture Liberty Enlightening the World (Statue of Liberty) (1894-1901), one of only five domestic-scale bronze reductions made during the artist’s lifetime.

The exhibition will be broken up into four distinct sections:

Creating a Monument, which focuses on the statue’s origins and initial public reception in the tumultuous decades between the American Civil War and World War I.
A National Monument, which showcases the way society and visual culture were inundated with Statue of Liberty imagery between World War I and the 1950s. The installation of newspapers, advertisements, lithographs, images, films, and paintings demonstrate the turning point in the statue’s transformation into a dominant American icon.
Reimagining an Icon, which explores pop art and reproductions of the statue’s imagery, demonstrating its increasing detachment from its original image and malleability as an American symbol.
The Statue of Liberty Today, which closes the exhibition with a selection of works by living artists who have continued to investigate the Statue of Liberty’s meaning in the 21st century.

“This monumental exhibition tells the story of how our nation has interpreted the Statue of Liberty not only as a national icon, but also as a reflection of American values, creativity, and identity throughout our collective history,” said Scott Wilcox, Interim Director of the Carter, in a statement. “Premiering 'The Statue of Liberty from Bartholdi to Warhol' in Fort Worth on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding invites our community to see this emblematic statue in new dimensions.”

"The Statue of Liberty from Bartholdi to Warhol" will remain on display through January 3, 2027.

It will then travel to Denver for a presentation from March 14-July 4, 2027. The exhibition will also travel to the Munson Museum of Art in Utica, New York, from August 5-December 5, 2027.

The Amon Carter Museum will celebrate the opening with a special event called "Liberty Talks" on August 15 from 11 am-3 pm, featuring gallery talks, live music, poetry, treats, and more. A second event, "Second Thursdays: Monuments & Martinis," will take place September 10 and include Statue of Liberty-inspired flash tattoos by Fort Worth artist Joseph Ayala of Panther City Tattoo.

Admission to the Carter is free.

amon carter museum exhibitions-visual-arts museums statue of liberty