Theater Preview

These are the 12 can't-miss shows in Dallas-Fort Worth theater for May

May brings with it fresh weather and fresh theater. From world premieres to beloved classics, local debuts to touring hits, this month's dramatic offerings run the gamut.

Here are the 12 shows in order by start date:

Under the Skin
Circle Theatre, through May 21
Michael Hollinger's new play asks what it means to literally give a piece of yourself to someone else. In this case it's a kidney, which Raina must decide if she wants to give to her estranged father, Lou.

Memphis
Theatre Three, through May 22
This Tony-winning musical is notable for a few reasons, but the main one is that it wasn't based on a movie, book, or even band's song catalog. To be fair, though, Bon Jovi keyboardist Daid Bryan did write the score, but he did so in keeping with the style and sound of 1950s R&B and rock-and-roll. The story follows a white DJ who falls in love with a black singer, and how their passion for music attempts to unite their friends and family.

Broadway Our Way
Uptown Players, May 5-8
This raucous fundraiser is in its 14th year and promises to be more fabulous than ever. Big theater names from around DFW (including Janelle Lutz and David Lugo) sing songs from current and classic musicals that may not otherwise end up on their resumes. B.J. Cleveland is back to write and direct, with music arrangements from Adam C. Wright and choreography by Jeremy Dumont.

Intergalactic Nemesis
Off Broadway on Flora, May 12-14
AT&T Performing Arts Center is bringing a "live-action graphic novel" to the stage at Dallas City Performance Hall. Radio drama-style sci-fi is translated it into a pulp magazine-inspired mashup of Twilight Zone-esque plotlines, cosplay characters, and skilled foley artists.

The Last Five Years
Brick Road Theatre, May 12-22
DFW just can't get enough of Janelle Lutz, as she's back to star in this two-person exploration of what it's like to fall in and out of love. Perhaps you saw the movie with Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan?

Blackberry Winter and The Thrush & The Woodpecker
Kitchen Dog Theater, May 20-June 26
Both plays by popular playwright Steve Yockey are part of KDT's New Works Festival, and they are receiving their rolling world premieres thanks to the National New Play Network. Though running concurrently at Kitchen Dog's new temporary home at Undermain Theatre, each play has its own cast. Blackberry Winter explores how one woman is handling her mother's descent into Alzheimer's, while the The Thrush & The Woodpecker promises a "modern revenge tale" when a misbehaving son turns up at his mother's doorstep after being expelled from boarding school.

Bright Half Life
WaterTower Theatre, May 21-June 12
Garret Storms directs this Discover Series play in WaterTower's studio space, featuring actors Kelsey Leigh Ervi and Kenneisha Thompson. In Pulitzer Prize nominee Tanya Barfield's romantic play, we see decades of Erica and Vicky's relationship in a "kaleidoscopic" way of storytelling.

Ragtime
Dallas Summer Musicals, May 24-June 5
This all-new, scaled-down tour of the Tony Award-winning musical looks like it will focus less on gargantuan sets and more on Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens' sweeping score. And that's a great thing. Terrence McNally's adaptation of E.L. Doctorow's iconic novel about America at the turn of the century tells many stories in many different voices, and the musical ones are stunning in their complexity.

Cabaret
AT&T Performing Arts Center, May 25-June 5
Sam Mendes' 1998 reimagining of the Kander and Ebb musical, set on the eve of the Nazi takeover of Germany, was so successful it was revived intact on Broadway two years ago. Darker, grittier, and sexier, this version literally draws you into the seedy Kit Kat Klub as American writer Cliff meets British nightclub singer Sally Bowles, and the devilish Emcee looks on.

Wait Until Dark
Stage West, May 26-June 26
You might be familiar with the film version of Frederick Knott's play, in which Audrey Hepburn plays a blind woman who's terrorized in her home by intruders. But the premise is even more chilling live.

The Colored Museum
Soul Rep Theatre Company, May 28
This one-night-only presentation honors George C. Wolfe's groundbreaking play, which premiered 30 years ago. The satirical look at race and black culture is separated into 11 "exhibits" that provide a probing look at what it was — and sometimes still is — to be black in America.

Kenneisha Thompson and Kelsey Leigh Ervi star in Bright Half Life at WaterTower Theatre.

WaterTower Theatre presents Bright Half Life

Photo by Karen Almond

Kenneisha Thompson and Kelsey Leigh Ervi star in Bright Half Life at WaterTower Theatre.

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Dance Off

Texas ballet company turns Timothée Chalamet dig into genius promotion

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It was a shot fired from Austin that rang out around the art world: In a recent CNN/Variety Town Hall featuring actors Timothée Chalamet and Matthew McConaughey, Chalamet offered an assessment of ballet and opera that immediately went viral.

During the onstage conversation at the University of Texas at Austin, Chalamet said, "I don't want to be working in ballet or opera, or you know, things where it's like, 'hey, keep this thing alive, even though like no one cares about this anymore.' All respect to the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewership."

Chalamet immediately seemed to experience a twinge of regret, awkwardly adding, "But um...damn, I just took shots for no reason." He also sang a note and hid his face behind the cards he was holding.

Stars of the art forms, from Andrea Bocelli to Misty Copeland, immediately began to leap (jeté, if you will) to the the defense of opera and ballet.

In a genius marketing move, Austin's hometown ballet company is taking the unique opportunity to turn a hot topic into a promotion for its next production: Ballet Austin is inviting anyone named Timothée, Timothee, or Timothy to claim a free ticket to its upcoming world premiere of Marie Antoinette: Vampire Queen of Versailles, running March 27-29 at the Long Center for the Performing Arts.

"Timothée… you were in Austin? We were literally down the street," a Ballet Austin post says. "Austin has brisket. Austin has music. Austin also has ballet."

All Timothées and folks with similar names will have to do to claim a ticket is send a message to Ballet Austin on social media and show identification. Everyone else who wants to see the supernatural show where "the line between victim and villain blurs" will have to purchase a ticket ($25-$125) at balletaustin.org.

Ballet Austin Marie Antoinette: Vampire Queen of Versailles Ballet Austin isn't afraid to add some edge to classic stories. Photo courtesy of Ballet Austin

Even if Chalamet's words were dismissive, he's obviously not wrong about the relative distribution of public interest between the classical arts and major films like Marty Supreme, the late 2025 film he stars in and is busy promoting. The film's commercially successful release set a record for A24, an already renowned studio.

Chalamet brought up ballet and opera in service of a larger point about pacing in movies. He said he exists in a middle ground as a consumer between wanting to be drawn in early and being more patient as a film progresses. Ultimately, he juxtaposed Barbie and Oppenheimer with the classical arts, pointing out that if the masses want to go see a film, they will "be loud and proud about it" organically, without needing performers to advocate for the seriousness of the art form.

Coincidentally, there couldn't be a better counterpoint to this argument than Marie Antoinette: Vampire Queen of Versailles.

As the title suggests, the story follows historical figure Marie Antoinette as she chooses to become a vampire, seeking "power, immortality, and vengeance," according to a press release. It takes a somewhat silly premise and gives it dramatic gravitas, with an original score by Austin composer Graham Reynolds, who is known outside of classical circles and sometimes composes for movie soundtracks.

"For Ballet Austin, the moment is an opportunity to remind audiences that ballet isn’t fading away," says a release about the new promotion. "It’s evolving, drawing new audiences and continuing to thrive in creative cities like Austin."

If Chalamet really does fall in the middle of instant and delayed artistic gratification, this sounds like the perfect production to draw him in.

And perhaps Ballet Austin should add people named Matthew to their promotion, since McConaughey threw the younger star a bone after his momentary walk-back, saying, "That's not a shot — I hear what you're saying."

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Stephanie Allmon Merry contributed to this story.

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