Season Announcement

WaterTower Theatre finds a groove with musical-heavy 2019-20 season

Elizabeth Stanley and Andrew Samonsky in The Bridges of Madison County

The musical The Bridges of Madison County is based on the bestselling novel.

Photo by Matthew Murphy

UPDATE:The final production will be a concert-style production of the 1960s musical Golden Boy, by Charles Strouse, Lee Adams, Clifford Odets, and William Gibson. It will run from August 20-30, 2020.

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Shane Peterman, the new artistic director of WaterTower Theatre, is making his love of musicals known. Shortly after replacing a play in the Addison theater's current season with Stephen Schwartz's Godspell, he has made sure that two of the company's five upcoming mainstage productions are musicals, along with another limited-run engagement musical to be announced later.

The 2019-20 season is quite different from that which was planned by Joanie Schultz last year before she resigned. Peterman came to WaterTower from Lyric Stage, a company that focuses exclusively on musicals.

"Our goal is simple: to build community through diverse storytelling that is both thought-provoking and entertaining," says Peterman. "Our 24th season focuses on unique stories across generations, emphasizing the importance of diverse backgrounds and the communities from which these stories are told."

First up is the movie-turned-musical Sister Act, with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Glenn Slater, and book by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner. This "divine musical comedy" follows disco diva Deloris Van Cartier, who witnesses a murder and is put in protective custody in the one place she won't be found: a convent. Cheryl Denson directs with Adam C. Wright music directing, and it runs October 24-November 10, 2019.

A co-production with Lone Star Circus is next, just in time for the holidays. Incredible acts ranging from hula hoops to death-defying trapeze stunts are all tied together with a charismatic host and hilarious clowns for Cirque Holidays, running December 5-22, 2019.

Mary Chase's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Harvey rings in 2020 under the direction of Dick Monday. It follows Elwood P. Dowd, whose best friend is a six-foot, three-and-one-half-inch invisible rabbit named Harvey. Naturally, this worries his socialite sister Veta, who tries to have Elwood committed but ends up in a doctor's care herself after recounting her brother's condition. It runs February 6-23, 2020.

The astonishing true story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf forms the basis for Doug Wright's I Am My Own Wife, directed by Ashley Puckett Gonzales. Using more than 30 characters, Wright pieces together Charlotte's captivating and controversial life as a 65-year old German transgender woman who managed to survive both the Nazi onslaught and the repressive East German Communist regime. The Pulitzer Prize-winning, one-person play runs April 16-May 3, 2020.

Jason Robert Brown's The Bridges of Madison County finishes out the 2019-20 season, directed by John De Los Santos and music directed by Vonda K. Bowling. Based on the bestselling novel and with a book by Marsha Norman, the musical recalls the unexpected affair between Francesca Johnson, a devoted Italian-born housewife, and Robert Kincaid, a roving National Geographic photographer in 1965 Iowa. It runs June 11-28, 2020.

Five-show season subscriptions range in price from $119-$175 and go on sale starting April 30. The renewal deadline for current subscribers is June 30. If you subscribe or renew by August 1, you can get up to $26 off.

Individual tickets range from $33-$39 and go on sale in September. For more information, go online at www.watertowertheatre.org or call the box office at 972-450-6232.

theater music

Season Announcement

Kitchen Dog Theater unleashes immersive 2025 season in new Dallas space

Kitchen Dog Theater presents Safe at Home

Photo by Jordan Fraker

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Seven years after announcing it had purchased a building in the Design District, Kitchen Dog Theater is finally ready to move into its new home.

The third and final production of its 2025 season — the theater company's 34th — will take place all around the new "Doghouse." The other two productions will follow the immersive format at non-traditional performance spaces that was established last season.

With three fully produced events that each run the gambit from captivating and gutsy to heartfelt and hilarious, the monthly New Works Festival Staged Readings Series returns, as does the 23rd annual PUP Fest, nurturing high school talent from all over DFW.

First up is the area premiere of Will Eno's Wakey, Wakey, directed by KDT's artistic director Tina Parker and starring KDT co-artistic director Christopher Carlos.

"Is it now? I thought I had more time." These first words in Will Eno's play are spoken by Guy, a man who knows, like all of us on some level, that he is about to die. The play questions why we are here and the journeys that everyone takes to eventually get to the same place. Performances will take place at Expo Park, 840 Exposition Avenue, and run February 7-23, 2025.

Production No. 2 is full of mystery: The title and performance location will be announced soon and run in March/April 2025.

The Happiness Gymby Ken Weitzman closes out the season in August 2025 (exact dates TBA).

This regional premiere is a joyous, experiential event based on the science of well-being. Participants take part in a curated theatrical experience meant to boost their sense of happiness, joy, and feelings of connection. This one-of-a-kind project will be the soft opening to Kitchen Dog’s new theater and will take place all over the entire facility, giving patrons unparalleled access to KDT’s new home.

From March to July 2025, the 26th annual 2025 New Works Festival will showcase four-to-five staged readings of the newest and most exciting local and regional playwrights working in contemporary theater today. Each reading will feature some of DFW's most accomplished actors and directors and will take place at different venues across DFW.

For its 23rd annual event, PUP Fest will feature six staged readings of jury-selected plays written by DFW high school students, featuring student actors directed by area professional directors. PUP Fest is the culminating event of Dallas Playwriting Arts Collective (D-PAC), a partnership with Dallas ISD and Junior Players. Performance location is TBA, but the event will happen June 7, 2025.

For more information, visit kitchendogtheater.org or call 214-953-1055.

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