Theater Critic Picks

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

The Savage Seconds also has an interactive website.

Photo by Justin Locklear

UPDATE: As of June 3, "fine arts performance halls" are allowed to reopen at 50 percent capacity. Jubilee Theatre's live production has since been added to the below list.

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Those in the performing arts keep innovating. You can still watch a livestreamed production, but now there are also drive-in performances, Zoom audiences, and recordings of works from the archives.

These Dallas-Fort Worth theater companies have definitely found creative ways to still deliver their programming, and some are even free (though we highly suggest donating the ticket price — or more — if you're in a position to do so).

Here are eight local shows to watch this month:

The Savage Seconds
Undermain Theatre and Danielle Georgiou Dance Group, streaming June 4-12
Conceived by Danielle Georgiou and Justin Locklear, this experimental opera centers on a young girl — sent home from boarding school during a great plague — whose coming of age is hijacked by her powerful but absent parents, malicious siblings, and the surreal confusion of sexuality. Exploring the genre of tragédie en musique and the concepts inherent in the Greek tragedies of Oedipus and Medea, The Savage Seconds looks at the effects of obsession and celebrity in a world catapulted into disarray by disease and political turmoil. Tickets can be purchased here, and the audience is encouraged to wander wander through the layers of the multi-media website created especially for the show, to deepen their curiosity, and bond with the story — you just might end up in the show.

22nd Annual New Works Festival
Kitchen Dog Theater, live on Zoom, June 6-28
The NWF is going completely digital this year, with KDT offering a series of six virtual readings as well as the 19th year of PUP (Playwrights Under Progress) Fest, in collaboration with Junior Players. Showcasing some of the newest and most exciting voices and visions in contemporary theater, the winning plays are selected from almost 500 annual submissions from around the globe and will feature a strong cadre of DFW's most accomplished actors and directors. Tickets to the NWF can be purchased here, and free reservations to PUP Fest on June 6 can be made here.

The Immigrant
Theatre Three, streaming, June 15-28
Mark Harelik's play is getting an experimental streamed production, with a full cast, set, costumes, lighting and projection — all safely within social distancing guidelines, T3 promises. Streaming is limited to 200 for each of the 10 viewing opportunities, which begin at the published time and must be accessed within 30 minutes of the start time. The most widely produced play in the country in 1991, The Immigrant gently grapples with the thorny questions that plague the U.S.: who deserves to belong here, and what do we owe each other? Streaming access codes are $15 and available to purchase here.

How I Got Over
Jubilee Theatre, June 19-July 19
Premiering on the theater company's 39th birthday, Nate Jacobs' musical celebrates the legendary Queen of Gospel, Mahalia Jackson, and other gospel greats in the style of a revue. Note: Audience sizes will be limited to 50 percent capacity, and temperature screenings and face masks are required for all attendees.

Everything Will Be Fine
Prism Movement Theatre, drive-in at the Latino Cultural Center's parking lot, June 26-27 and July 11-12
Packed into 45 minutes and designed to be enjoyed from your car, Everything Will Be Fine is about a woman learning how to deal with a new world and her well-meaning (if slightly clueless) friends after experiencing an unthinkable loss. Once guests arrive, they will be directed to their assigned parking spots and instructed to tune in to a specific radio station to hear the show's electronic/rock music underscoring. Tickets are $30 per car and can be purchased here.

The Aftermath
Junior Players, June 26-28
This exploratory piece fuses together the concepts and stories from Junior Players' 2019 broadcast journalism project with playwriting, movement, and acting to manifest as a live production. This timely piece interweaves stories about gender identity, family pressures, power, and determination to create a zany series of events, based off challenges and experiences from the day-to-day lives that North Texas teens are currently facing. Pay-what-you-can tickets can be purchased here.

Take 10
Stage West, streaming now
Designed to help cure those corona blues, each installment in this online series features a bite-sized story performed by local artists. Watch all productions for free here.

Smile, Smile Again
Ochre House Theatre, streaming now
Written and directed by artist-in-residence Justin Locklear and performed in 2017, this original work is a thought-provoking tale of man's inhumanity toward his fellow man. There will also be a video-conference discussion with cast and crew to reflect on your experience, and how the show's impact has become relevant considering the current awareness of Black Lives Matter. You can watch for free on Ochre House's YouTube channel.

dance theater music

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