Season Announcement

Plenty of premieres populate Undermain Theatre's 2022-23 season

A scene from Fairview Off-Broadway in 2019.

Photo by Emon Hassan for The New York Times

For its 39th season, Undermain Theatre is returning to a full slate of professional live performances. It includes a co-production of a regional premiere, a world premiere inspired and commissioned by Undermain founding artistic director Katherine Owens, a long-awaited workshop production of a new play by an American theater icon, and the regional premiere of a play concerning a crisis of humanity in Juárez, Mexico.

A note on COVID: "As we keep an eye on the COVID-19 pandemic and the fluctuating infection rate, it is our hope to offer live performances with masks optional for our audiences," says artistic director Bruce DuBose. "We will continue to evaluate live performances based on the status of the pandemic. The health and safety of our audience, cast, crew, and staff is our top priority. We’ve made upgrades to our HVAC systems and environment to provide the healthiest atmosphere possible. Together we can stay safe, enjoy cutting edge performance, and find our way back to the art of live theater."

Up first is Fairview by Jackie Sibblies Drury, which won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Directed by Jiles King, this is a co-production with Bishop Arts Theatre Center and will be presented on the BATC stage instead of in Undermain's Deep Ellum performance space.

At the Frasier household, preparations for Grandma’s birthday party are underway. Beverly is holding onto her sanity by a thread to make sure this party is perfect, but her sister is drinking, her husband can’t seem to listen, her brother is MIA, her daughter is a teenager, and maybe nothing is what it seems in the first place. A play about race, though not only about race, it ultimately brings the audience into the actors’ community to face the deep-seated prejudices of societal perceptions. It runs October 20-November 6, 2022.

The world premiere of Lenora Champagne's Feeding on Light is next, directed by DuBose.

Nora is a curious writer who seeks to understand her friend and collaborator Katherine’s obsession with 20th-century French philosopher and activist Simone Weil. As their discussion deepens, Nora and Katherine embody scenes from Weil's life in an attempt to communicate with her across time and space. Feeding on Light is based on the playwright's personal relationship and discussions with Undermain Theatre’s late founding artistic director Katherine Owens, to whom the play is dedicated. It runs November 10-27, 2022, with no performance on Thanksgiving.

Directed by Kara-Lynn Vaeni and written by David Rabe, He's Born, He's Born is a workshop that explores a primitive, medieval world that exists outside of actual human history.

The characters are agrarian peasants who work the land. When a young child falls from a tree, the angel of death comes to claim him for the underworld. They embark on a quest to hide the child with help from two angels who are overseers of the stars and planets of the night sky. It runs April 12-30, 2023.

The regional premiere of Isaac Gómez's The Way She Spoke is a haunting and theatrical one-woman play that travels from the stage to the treacherous streets of Juárez, Mexico, where thousands of women have been murdered for decades in an epidemic of violence that has yet to stop.

Based on the playwright's intimate interviews, the play is a raw and riveting exploration of responsibility. Directed by Blake Hackler, it runs June 1-17, 2023.

Visit www.undermain.org to purchase subscriptions online or call the box office at 214-747-5515.

Discounts are available for seniors, students, KERA members, and groups for in person performances. You must call 214-747-5515 for your discount. Undermain is located at 3200 Main Street at the corner of Murray Street in Deep Ellum. The closest paid lot is on the corner of Main and Hall streets.

theater deep-ellum

Drama kings

Dallas theater lures new leaders away from Hollywood and Broadway

Photo courtesy of Lyric Stage

Malcolm Goodwin is an actor, director, and producer familiar for roles in Reacher, iZombie, and The Fall of the House of Usher.

Dallas theater company Lyric Stage has looked to Hollywood and Broadway for new leadership, hiring film and television actor and director Malcolm Goodwin and Broadway veteran Victor Hawks as the theater company's new co-artistic directors.

The appointments mark a new chapter for the company, which was founded in 1993 by Steven Jones, executive director Catherine Carpenter Cox says in a November 2 announcement.

Goodwin and Hawks are the co-founders of Team Vision Entertainment, a production company developing and producing film, television, and theater projects.

Their longstanding creative partnership will now extend to Lyric Stage, where they will work alongside Cox to develop programming, support new works, and strengthen the organization's connections to the broader entertainment industry, a press release says.

Goodwin is an actor, director, and producer best known for roles in Amazon Prime Video's Reacher and The CW's iZombie. Other credits include The Fall of the House of Usher, American Gangster, and Spike Lee's Miracle at St. Anna.

His new role at Lyric Stage brings him back to the art form that first inspired his career.

"Theater is where I first learned how to tell stories and where I discovered that I loved every part of the creative process, not just performing," Goodwin says in the release. "I was building theaters, working with lighting and sound, and learning how everything comes together to create something special for an audience. Being able to return to that world and help create opportunities for other artists is incredibly meaningful to me."

Hawks brings an extensive Broadway background to his new position, having appeared in the original Broadway company of Urinetown the Musical, the 2006 Broadway revival of Les Misérables, South Pacific at Lincoln Center, and The Producers national tour.

Victor Hawks, Lyric Stage Victor Hawks.Photo courtesy of Lyric Stage

"Musical theater changed the direction of my life," Hawks says in a statement. "I know firsthand what happens when someone gives a young performer an opportunity to learn, grow and be part of something bigger than themselves. That's what makes this next chapter so exciting. Lyric Stage already has an incredible history, and we want to build on that by creating great theater and opening doors for artists who are just beginning their journeys."

Over the past three decades, Lyric Stage has earned a reputation for its professional productions, world premieres, and restoration of classic Broadway works, with a big focus on musicals.

For Cox, the appointments are about bringing together artists who understand the importance of theater while offering the experience and relationships to help the organization grow.

"Steven Jones built something truly special with Lyric Stage, and we have a responsibility to honor what he created while continuing to move the organization forward," Cox says. "Malcolm and Victor have built remarkable careers in entertainment, but what I love most is that theatre is where both of their journeys began. They understand what the stage can mean to an artist, and they share my passion for creating opportunities for the next generation."

Cox also recently moved into a new role as director, making her directorial debut with Lyric Stage's production of the musical Godspell, which finished its run on October 25.

Upcoming Lyric Stage productions include A Very Lyric Christmas, A Chorus Line, Newsies, and Once.

Future planned endeavors for the company include Lyric Stage Academy, an educational program designed to introduce young people to the performing arts, as well as Children's Theatre, Summer Stock, professional training opportunities, a New Works Lab, and master classes.

lyric stage performing-arts theater