Shine Bright

Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's Broadway triumph sweeps into Dallas

The five-time Tony Award-nominated musical Bright Star is coming to the Winspear Opera House for a limited run June 12-24, thanks to the AT&T Performing Arts Center's Broadway Series. It's the show's first national tour since its Broadway run, and while some audiences may not be familiar with the newish musical, they're almost certainly familiar with its creators.

Musician Edie Brickell and actor/author Steve Martin are the team behind the sweeping tale of love and redemption, set against the rich backdrop of the American South in the 1920s and '40s. Propelled by an ensemble of onstage musicians and dancers, the story unfolds as a rich tapestry of deep emotion, beautiful melodies, and powerfully moving performances.

Texas ties
Both Martin and were Brickell were born in Texas, with Brickell originating in Oak Cliff and Martin in Waco. Brickell called Dallas home for most of her life, attending Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and studying at Southern Methodist University before forming the folk band New Bohemians and focusing her career on music and songwriting.

Martin and his family, meanwhile, relocated early in his life to California.

Making it as musicians
After being signed to a recording contract with the band Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians in 1988, Brickell's musical career took off. She has had a tremendously successful career with groups such as the Gaddabouts and the Heavy Circles, as well as a critically acclaimed solo career. It was her work with Steve Martin in 2013, however, that eventually led her to Broadway.

Martin and Brickell first collaborated on the bluegrass album Love Has Come For You, featuring the Steep Canyon Rangers band. The title track won the Grammy Award for Best American Roots Song in 2013. The Texas-born duo toured with the band to promote the album, and eventually worked together to create the music, lyrics, and story of Bright Star, which opened at Broadway's Cort Theater in 2016.

Broadway bound
Martin had already ventured in playwrighting with Picasso at the Lapin Agile and The Underpants: A Play, but Bright Star was the first venture into musical theater for these two artists, who had already found vast success in film and commercial recording music. The score was lauded by theater critics for its buoyancy, warmth, and instrumentation, and it was nominated for a 2016 Tony Award for Best Original Score (along with Best Book of a Musical for Martin).

Don't miss an opportunity to see this refreshingly genuine musical when it stops in Dallas June 12-24. For tickets, call the box office at 214-880-0202 or visit the AT&T Performing Arts Center's website.

Dee Hoty, Carmen Cusack, and Stephen Lee Anderson in the original production.

Original Broadway company of "Bright Star"

Photo by Joan Marcus

Dee Hoty, Carmen Cusack, and Stephen Lee Anderson in the original production.

openings music celebrities promoted theater

shop local

Cool Deep Ellum shop named one of America’s best indie bookstores

Deep Vellum Books, independent bookstores in Dallas

Deep Vellum Books/Facebook

Dallas' Deep Vellum Bookstore claimed bragging rights as one of the 20 best independent bookstores in America

Dallas' Deep Vellum Bookstore is claiming new bragging rights as one of the 20 best independent bookstores in America, according to a new guide from Condé Nast Traveler.

The list was published in celebration of Independent Bookstore Day on April 25 — but every day can be Indie Bookstore Day when you're supporting your local shop rather than a national chain like Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Indie bookstores and physical media have been having a much needed renaissance in today's digital (and AI slop-filled) era. More than 400 new bookshops opened in 2025 alone, the American Booksellers Association reported, and local bookstores are welcome third spaces for many literature loving individuals.

Deep Vellum won the title as the best indie bookstore in the Lone Star State, outshining several other popular Texas booksellers. Located at 3000 Commerce St. in Dallas' Deep Ellum neighborhood, Condé Nast said the bookshop serves as "one of the country’s premier translators of contemporary global literature."

"As esoteric as its collection may seem, the bookstore itself makes exploration approachable," wrote editorial assistant Kat Chen. "Crack into a can of craft beer, gaze at the wall plastered with polaroids of smiling patrons, and tuck into an engrossing read on one of the tweed armchairs."

Deep Vellum was founded by Will Evans in 2013 as a community-focused literary arts center and nonprofit publishing house for diverse international literature, as well as local Dallas writers. The bookstore soon followed in 2015, and operations have now expanded to five publishing imprints that produce half English-original works and half international literature.

This mighty bookshop and publishing house has long proved its staying power even after its federal funding was axed last year. In early April, the organization revealed it would launch its inaugural Deep Vellum Music and Literature Festival from July 10-12, 2026.

"Through literary readings, author panels, spoken word, live music performances, and community activations this festival will bring voices from across Texas and around the world," a press release said.

Until then, Condé Nast provided some recommended reading for Dallas bibliophiles that want to check out some (new-to-you) literary and psychological fiction: Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila (translated by Roland Glasser) and Miss MacIntosh, My Darling by Marguerite Young.

dallas indie bookstore deep ellum bookstores conde nast traveler