The Fortress of Solitude, Dallas Theater Center's co-production with New York's Public Theater, was just nominated for four Lucille Lortel Awards — best described as the Tonys for Off-Broadway.
Fortress is up for Outstanding Musical; Outstanding Choreographer for Camille A. Brown, who also choreographed DTC's recent Stagger Lee; Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical for Adam Chanler-Berat, who played the lead role of Dylan in Dallas; and Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical for Kevin Mambo, who also portrayed R&B vocalist Barrett Rude Junior at the Wyly Theatre.
The ambitious adaptation of Jonathan Lethem's 2003 novel features a score by Michael Friedman and book by Itamar Moses. The story of two boys in a 1970s Brooklyn neighborhood, and how they bond over superheroes and music, had its Dallas run from March 7 through April 6 at the Wyly. It went on to perform in New York from September 30 through November 16.
The Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway were created in 1985 by the Off-Broadway League. The Lortel Awards recognize excellence Off-Broadway by honoring the invaluable contribution of artists to the theater community. The 30th annual awards will be presented during a ceremony in New York City on May 10, with hosts Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Anna Chlumsky.
As winners of the Tiny Desk Contest, Cure for Paranoia will record their own Tiny Desk concert and go on tour.
Few live recording studios or musical web series have the cultural sway of NPR's Tiny Desk, and a Dallas band is poised to make an impactful debut: Cure For Paranoia, an alternative hip-hop project by rapper Cameron McCloud and producers Tomahawk Jonez and Jay Analo, has won the high-stakes annual Tiny Desk Contest for 2026.
They'll record their official Tiny Desk show "soon," the announcement by NPR says.
Winning the concert also means Cure for Paranoia is going on tour. The only Texas stop will be at Emo's Austin on June 24.
Tiny Desk is known for platforming both niche and majorly successful artists — NPR posted a new Foo Fighters set on YouTube on May 13 — for stripped-down sets that are literally played behind former All Things Considered director Bob Boilen's old desk. (Fun fact for Texans: Tiny Desk was created because folk artist Laura Gibson was disappointed with the sound at her South by Southwest show in Austin in 2008, and she wanted a redo.)
Most artists who appear on Tiny Desk more than 15 years later are already well-known, at least in their specific circles. But the Tiny Desk Contest, which launched in 2015, helps a growing group of newer, unsigned artists get their foot in the door. Contestants record one video of them performing a single song behind a desk, and a jury of radio staff and musicians chooses their favorite.
In their audition video, Cure for Paranoia gathered 11 musicians around a truly tiny desk and in front of downtown Dallas' iconic gigantic eyeball sculpture. They played the song "No Brainer," a frenetic track that starts with clever boasts and becomes a criticism of racism in the United States.
McCloud, a pre-school teacher, is known independently of Cure for Paranoia for rapping to his social media following about politics and current events. Some of those lyrics made it into "No Brainer." He says he started the group because he found that music was more helpful than medication for coping with bipolar depression and paranoid schizophrenia.
Alex Marrero, host of the Austin-based KUTX show Horizontes, was one of the judges this year. He was impressed with the visuals in Cure for Paranoia's audition.
“When this popped up, I immediately felt something different," he wrote in a blurb for the announcement. "It just jumped out. The visuals were super cool and creative, BUT I could still totally envision them bringing the heat behind the Desk.”
Madison McFerrin, jazz vocalist and daughter of the famous singer Bobby McFerrin, was one of the musical judges.
"Cure For Paranoia’s energy is infectious, fresh and distinctly theirs — exactly what you want in a Contest winner!" she wrote.
McCloud's post on Instagram announcing the group's win has only been up for three hours at the time of this article's publication, and it already has more than 8,000 likes. The YouTube audition has garnered 74,000 views.
