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

Music and Fashion

Miranda Lambert's 'Velvet Rodeo' wardrobe stars in new DFW exhibition

“Miranda Lambert: Velvet Rodeo” at National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame

Photo by Tyler Conrad

“Miranda Lambert: Velvet Rodeo” will open on November 7 at the National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame.

Country star Miranda Lambert is bringing a bit of Las Vegas glamour and bling to North Texas. Her one-of-a-kind wardrobe from her "Velvet Rodeo" residency will go on display at the National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame in Fort Worth when its new Icons Gallery opens November 7.

According to a release, the exhibition, called "Miranda Lambert: Velvet Rodeo," was created in collaboration with Lambert, and will feature costumes from the singer's Las Vegas residency, which ran from September 2022 to April 2024.

Lambert said her inspiration came from an earlier visit to the Fort Worth museum, where she spotted historic Western pieces that she photographed and sent to her stylist, Tiffany Gifford. They combined those influences with the glitz of Elvis Presley's heyday to create the "Velvet Rodeo" wardrobe.

“Seeing these pieces now have a life beyond the stage as part of the Museum’s new Icons Gallery feels really full circle and special,” Lambert said in a statement.

Visitors will now have the opportunity to study garments usually seen in motion and under stage lights, appreciating the details that help transform clothing into an essential part of a performance.

The Icons Gallery is part of the Museum’s 16,000-square-foot expansion, which introduces new galleries and experiences that explore the accomplishments and influence of women of the West. The $19 million expansion features a new entrance facing Dickies Arena, new galleries including a photography gallery, an event space accommodating up to 250, and the new Cowgirl Carousel.

Miranda Lambert, right, with rodeo queens onstage at the 45th Cowgirl Hall of Fame Induction Luncheon at Dickies Arena. Photo by Ashley Gongora

Lambert, who was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 2021, is an active mounted shooting competitor and horsewoman, giving her a connection to the West that reaches beyond her music. "Velvet Rodeo" brings together Lambert's identity as a cowgirl and her creative expression as a performer.

“Miranda’s confidence, determination and independence make her a wonderful representative of the women we honor,” says Pat Riley, executive director of the National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame, in the release. “Opening our Icons Gallery with this collaboration celebrates her accomplishments while giving visitors a new way to connect with a cowgirl they know and admire.”

According to a museum spokesperson, the temporary exhibition will remain on display for at least one year; no specific end date was given.

In preparation for the expansion grand opening, the Cowgirl will be closed to the public beginning October 19 and will reopen November 7, with a members-only preview at 10 am and a public opening at noon.

celebrities country music exhibitions-visual-arts fashion miranda lambert museums music national cowgirl museum temporary exhibition