Season Announcement
Dallas' Lyric Stage surprises with a season full of change
On the same day that it opens its much-discussed world-premiere musical Quanah, Lyric Stage has announced a new season that's chock full of changes.
First, founding producer Steven Jones is stepping down and former associate producer Shane Peterman is taking the reins. Peterman is a co-founder, along with his wife, Erica, and Kellie Caroll of the Acting Studio, North Texas' largest independently owned children's theater program. Before that, he worked with theaters all over the country as an actor, director, educator, and producer.
"Shane has done an outstanding job as associate producer throughout the past three seasons, and I know he will continue as he guides Lyric Stage into the future," says Jones in a release.
The second bit of news is that Lyric's home this year will not be the Irving Arts Center, but both the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center and the Majestic Theatre. The Meyerson makes sense in context of Lyric's first 2017-18 show: Dallas Divas and the Dallas Winds. The world-renowned Winds make their home at the Meyerson, and they will be joined after a 10-year hiatus by the Divas, some of Dallas' best singers. The one-night only show will be September 29, 2017.
Then Lyric will then move to the Majestic for the regional premiere of Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Based on Victor Hugo's epic novel, and with a score from the Oscar-winning team of Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, the stage version of Disney's animated feature will run November 17-19, 2017.
An intimate and lovely gem of a musical is next, playing at the Majestic from January 19-21, 2018. Daddy Long Legs is based on the classic novel (which inspired the 1955 movie starring Fred Astaire) about a young orphaned woman and the mysterious benefactor who changes her life.
Guys and Dolls is the final show of the season, running June 8-10, 2018, at the Majestic. It's also the most traditionally "Lyric" offering, with its classic American Broadway cred and a Frank Loesser score that's just begging for a big orchestra (there is no mention of celebrated music director Jay Dias, and if he will continue under the new leadership).
Season subscriptions are $175 until June 1, and $195 after that date. Visit www.lyricstage.org or call 972-594-1904 for more information.
"I’m very grateful to Steven and the community for shaping one of the country’s most prominent musical theater companies," says Peterman in the release. "Not only has Lyric Stage earned a stellar national reputation by holding to its mission, Lyric Stage has also paved the way for many current and future artists with its annual Schmidt & Jones Awards program honoring excellence in high school musical theater. I’m excited to lead this institution as we continue to explore new works and endeavor to restore this uniquely American art form."
Lyric Stage was founded in 1993 and is dedicated to the development and preservation of the American musical. It gained national fame for its restorations of The King and I, West Side Story, Gypsy, Show Boat, Funny Girl, Bye Bye Birdie, and The Most Happy Fella.
Further accolades include producing 21 world premiere musicals and two Off-Broadway productions, as well as the first full-length professional recording of The Golden Apple.
Lyric's production of Carousel, the first to feature a 40-piece orchestra playing the original orchestrations since the original Broadway production closed in 1947, led to Lincoln Center’s Broadway revival of South Pacific with a 30-piece orchestra the following year. Lyric Stage’s restoration of West Side Story was the basis of the 2010 Broadway revival.
