Theater Critic Picks

These are the 8 can't-miss shows in Dallas-Fort Worth theater for May

They're trying to make "fetch" happen at the Music Hall.

Photo courtesy of Broadway Dallas

There's a nice mix of classic big Broadway and shows with international flair this month, touching on Mexico, Russia, and Africa (beyond Mean Girls).

In order of start date, here are eight local shows to watch this month:

Mean Girls
Broadway Dallas, through May 15
Do you even go here? Cady Heron may have grown up on an African savanna, but nothing prepared her for the vicious ways of her strange new home: suburban Illinois. Soon, this naïve newbie falls prey to a trio of lionized frenemies led by the charming but ruthless Regina George. But when Cady devises a plan to end Regina’s reign, she learns the hard way that you can’t cross a Queen Bee without getting stung.

Orígenes/Origins
Cara Mía Theatre, May 5-7
A collab with Mexico City’s Laboratorio de la Máscara, this workshop production focuses on youth immigration and will be performed mostly in Spanish with English supertitles. After each performance, audiences are invited to contribute ideas to further flesh out the play in a discussion with the actors and creators.

Macbeth
Fair Assembly, May 5-15
This interdisciplinary performance at Arts Mission Oak Cliff uses live sound, original music, and dance to tell Shakespeare's story of power, greed, and hauntingly bad decisions.

Michael Cavanaugh: The Music of Billy Joel & Elton John
Eismann Center for the Performing Arts, May 6
Michael Cavanaugh scored his big break when Billy Joel handpicked him for the lead in Broadway’s smash hit Movin’ Out. The role garnered him rave reviews and accolades, culminating with Grammy and Tony Award nominations. In this one-night-only concert, he will lead his band through the biggest hits by Joel and Elton John.

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum
Lyric Stage, May 12-15
Set in Ancient Rome, this musical laugh-fest combines the 2000-year-old comedies of Roman playwright Plautus with the infectious energy of classic vaudeville, all backed by an 18-piece orchestra directed by Vonda K. Bowling.

Waitress
AT&T Performing Arts Center, May 10-15
Meet Jenna, a waitress and expert pie-maker who dreams of a way out of her small town and rocky marriage. When a baking contest in a nearby county — and a satisfying encounter with someone new — show Jenna a chance at a fresh start, she must find the courage to seize it. Featuring an all-female creative team and original music and lyrics by eight-time Grammy nominee Sara Bareilles.

Sex, Guns & Vodka
The Classics Theatre Project, May 20-June 11
In a work that remained untitled and went undiscovered until 1923, two decades after his death, Anton Chekhov turns a farcical eye to a Russian retelling of the story of Don Juan. It wouldn't be Chekhov without parties, suicide attempts, and affairs, blended together in a tragi-comedy.

If Pretty Hurts, Ugly Must Be a “MF”: An African Folktale
Jubilee Theatre, May 27-June 26
Combining West African folklore and contemporary American culture, this show follows four teenage girls — Kaya, Massassi, Adama and Akim — all in their respective internal wars with the societal definitions of beauty and how it makes them feel. Set in the fictional village of Affreakah-Amirrorkah, the young women are given an opportunity to live in a society where their individual beauty can reign supreme. But that high stature also brings heart-wrenching pitfalls they must deal with to keep their souls sacred.

theater

Arts in Fort Worth

DFW museum debuts landmark exhibition about Statue of Liberty

Amon Carter Museum of American Art presents "The Statue of Liberty from Bartholdi to Warhol"

Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi (1834–1904), Early View of the Statue of Liberty, n.d.,, watercolor, Musée Bartholdi, Colmar, 2005.0.16.3, © Musée Bartholdi, Colmar, Photo Chr. Kempf

"The Statue of Liberty from Bartholdi to Warhol" opens at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art on August 15.

The Amon Carter Museum of American Art will celebrate the United States' 250th anniversary with a major exhibition examining one of the country's most recognizable symbols: "The Statue of Liberty from Bartholdi to Warhol" will open Saturday, August 15 for a nearly five-month run.

The exhibition, co-organized by the Denver Art Museum, is an examination of the Statue of Liberty’s enduring relevance in American visual culture and the evolution of its image from the 1870s to the present.

According to a release, it will bring together nearly 100 artworks and objects from more than 70 artists, exploring the statue’s varied manifestations - from artistic marvel and pop culture icon to symbol of immigration, patriotism, and resistance.

Successive generations of artists who have represented the statue's iconic form over the past 150 years will be included in the exhibition, including Pacita Abad, Benny Andrews, Edward Moran, Norman Rockwell, Nari Ward, and Andy Warhol.

The exhibition is anchored by a rare cast of French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s bronze sculpture Liberty Enlightening the World (Statue of Liberty) (1894-1901), one of only five domestic-scale bronze reductions made during the artist’s lifetime.

The exhibition will be broken up into four distinct sections:

Creating a Monument, which focuses on the statue’s origins and initial public reception in the tumultuous decades between the American Civil War and World War I.
A National Monument, which showcases the way society and visual culture were inundated with Statue of Liberty imagery between World War I and the 1950s. The installation of newspapers, advertisements, lithographs, images, films, and paintings demonstrate the turning point in the statue’s transformation into a dominant American icon.
Reimagining an Icon, which explores pop art and reproductions of the statue’s imagery, demonstrating its increasing detachment from its original image and malleability as an American symbol.
The Statue of Liberty Today, which closes the exhibition with a selection of works by living artists who have continued to investigate the Statue of Liberty’s meaning in the 21st century.

“This monumental exhibition tells the story of how our nation has interpreted the Statue of Liberty not only as a national icon, but also as a reflection of American values, creativity, and identity throughout our collective history,” said Scott Wilcox, Interim Director of the Carter, in a statement. “Premiering 'The Statue of Liberty from Bartholdi to Warhol' in Fort Worth on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding invites our community to see this emblematic statue in new dimensions.”

"The Statue of Liberty from Bartholdi to Warhol" will remain on display through January 3, 2027.

It will then travel to Denver for a presentation from March 14-July 4, 2027. The exhibition will also travel to the Munson Museum of Art in Utica, New York, from August 5-December 5, 2027.

The Amon Carter Museum will celebrate the opening with a special event called "Liberty Talks" on August 15 from 11 am-3 pm, featuring gallery talks, live music, poetry, treats, and more. A second event, "Second Thursdays: Monuments & Martinis," will take place September 10 and include Statue of Liberty-inspired flash tattoos by Fort Worth artist Joseph Ayala of Panther City Tattoo.

Admission to the Carter is free.

amon carter museum exhibitions-visual-arts museums statue of liberty