Season Announcement

Addison's WaterTower Theatre returns to live, indoor shows for 2021-22

The Taming at Synchronicity Theatre in Atlanta.

Photo by Jerry Siegal

The COVID-19 pandemic put the kibosh on WaterTower Theatre's 25th anniversary season, but the Addison company is ready to come back big for its 26th.

Although WaterTower is officially returning to indoor, live performance with the regional premiere of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in July — one of only two shows to be produced from the 2020-21 season, the other being Raisin in the Sun in September — this new season kicks off in October.

"October will mark the start of our 26th season, and with the return of live theater we look toward a rebirth of what it means to be a community," says producing artistic director Shane Peterman, who with associate producer Elizabeth Kensek programmed their third season together.

It all starts with The Taming by Lauren Gunderson, a raucous, all-female "power-play" inspired by Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. In it, a patriotism obsessed Miss Georgia has kidnapped a Republican Senator’s campaign manager and a liberal activist who is fighting to save the endangered pandashrew, and is holding them hostage in her hotel room the night before the big Miss America Pageant. It runs October 13-24, 2021.

Ella’s Swinging Christmas returns for the holidays, conceived by Kensek and featuring Felecia Wilson, with music supervision by Vonda K. Bowling. This all-ages musical treat was recorded and broadcast in 2020, but this year subscribers will get to gather for an exclusive holiday party at the theater and watch the film together. It "runs" December 9-12, 2021.

Early 2022 brings a mystery show to WaterTower, teased as "a thrilling new project in partnership with one of the largest arts organizations in Dallas, bringing a world premiere experience to both of our audiences. While the title must remain a mystery for now, the show centers around the story of a famous female character whose story has been only written by men until this moment."

Neil Simon's The Odd Couple is next, a Tony Award-winning classic comedy that centers around two unlikely roommates: uptight, neat Felix Ungar and easygoing, disheveled Oscar Madison. It runs March 30-April 10, 2022.

A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder closes out the season, written by Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak. Set in 1907 London, the musical centers on Monty Navarro, a penniless clerk who is informed after the death of his mother that he is ninth in line to inherit the earldom of Highhurst, controlled by the wealthy D’Ysquith banking family. After the imperious ruling Lord dismisses Monty’s claim of being a relative, the eight D’Ysquiths ahead of young Mr. Navarro begin dying in natural and unnatural ways. It runs July 20-31, 2022.

Season tickets will be available beginning May 17, 2021, and subscription prices increase from $129 to $149 if purchased after September 1, 2021. New subscriptions are available by calling the box office at 972-450-6232, and renewals can be made by phone or in person. Individual tickets go on sale in summer 2020.

theater

Turning the Page

Indie bookstore to open in Grapevine with coffee and wine

Talking Animals

Talking Animals Books and cozy velvet chair.

A new independent bookstore is opening in Grapevine from a familiar name: Talking Animals Books, which which owners Valerie Walizadeh and Katy Lemieux opened in 2023 at 103 W. Worth St., is spinning off a second, bigger, more ambitious location this fall.

The offshoot will be at 909 S. Main St. in historic downtown Grapevine, in the “The 925” mixed-use development — taking over the space that was previously OG Cellars Winery on Main, which closed in June 2025.

The new location, which is about 2,800 square feet, will not only sell books but will also house a full-service coffee bar, wine tasting room, and event space. The original shop will remain open.

“We’ve grown alongside our readers,” Walizadeh says. “This new location is more than just a bookstore; it’s a place to gather, explore ideas, and now we can enjoy coffee and wine while surrounded by stories."

The coffee bar will serve espresso, teas, and pastries. The wine tasting offering will continue the legacy left by the previous tenant, Lemieux says.

"It'll include a mix of Texas wines, domestic cabernet, red blends, Oregon and Washington pinot noir, my favorite," Lemieux says. "Of course, a banger Prosecco and Pinot Grigio. I'm lucky that my brother-in-law is an elite wine distributor and can help us pull together a great mix of wines, by the glass and bottle, you may not find everywhere."

Lemieux says they will be serving wine, coffee, and other caffeinated drinks, like recharger iced energy drinks.

"Valerie went to the Texas Coffee School's 3 day seminar this weekend and got hardcore into the specifics of opening a coffee shop, so we are hitting the ground running," Lemieux says.

The larger space will allow for increased seating for author talks, book clubs, live music, and community gatherings. And there will be all the fiction, nonfiction, children’s books, and titles by local authors that TAB fans have been enjoying for the past two years.

The original TAB went from the page to real life thanks to a Kickstarter campaign in 2022, where more than 350 donors raised $54,000 in less than two months.

They're once again taking that same approach, shooting for $100,000 through another Kickstarter campaign.

"We’re inviting our community once again to help us write the next chapter," Walizadeh says. "We are growing thanks to them!”

They're hoping to do a soft opening in October, with owners hinting at a ticketed event and movie screening for the 20th anniversary of the 2008 film Twilight.

grapevine talking animals books indie bookstore bookstores