Opera News

The Dallas Opera drops curtain on 2020 performances due to COVID-19

Orfeo ed Euridice has been cut from the 2020-21 season.

Photo by Cory Weaver

There will be no performances in 2020, The Dallas Opera has decided. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the cancellation of nine performances — or 38 percent of the season — one replacement title, and one cut to the previously announced 2020-21 roster of operas.

Ian Derrer, the Kern Wildenthal general director and CEO of The Dallas Opera, has said that the entire season will be consolidated into the spring of 2021, with four opera productions presented instead of the original five. Verdi's Don Carlo will replace Wagner's Lohengrin, and Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice will be eliminated.

"This virus is a serious threat to all the hallmarks of grand opera, which include amassing huge forces on stage and in the pit, bringing large crowds together in our theaters, assembling casts from all over the world, and listening to singers, sometimes in passionate embrace, filling the hall with powerful voices and glorious sound without the use of microphones," Derrer says in a release.

"Our mission at The Dallas Opera has always been to give our audiences thrilling, world-class opera, but the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to re-position our operations, at least for the near future. Safety concerns for our audiences, artists, and staff; travel restrictions for artists; new social distancing needs both onstage and in the theater — the myriad uncertainties and restrictions caused by this pandemic have led us to the difficult decision that we cannot open in October 2020 as originally scheduled," he continues.

The 2020/2021 season, which was to have opened on October 9, 2020, will now begin on March 5, 2021, with the world premiere of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Composed by Joby Talbot with libretto by Gene Scheer, the opera will perform two additional performances: March 13 and a matinee on March 7.

Verdi's Don Carlo is next, with performances March 27 (matinee), March 31, and April 3 (matinee).

The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart, which was originally planned to be the season opener, continues on April 9, April 11 (matinee), April 14, and April 17.

As planned, Tosca's Puccini will close the season with performances on April 16, April 18 (matinee), April 21, April 24, and May 2 (matinee).

The traditional fall concert and gala dinner, this season titled Viva Diva! and featuring Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, has been moved from November 6, 2020, to May 10, 2021.

Full series subscribers will have the opportunity to replace their fifth opera with seats to Viva Diva!, donate the prorated value of their fifth-opera tickets to TDO's fundraising efforts (an emergency relief fund has a goal of raising $4 million by September 30, 2020), apply the credit to their 2021/2022 season tickets, or receive a refund.

The productions of the family performance series are also affected. Instead of two performances each, one in the fall and one in the spring, Doctor Miracle and Jack and the Beanstalk will each perform once in March. Bizet's Doctor Miracle is scheduled for March 6, 2021, and John Davies and Sir Arthur Sullivan's Jack on March 14, 2021.

Regarding repertoire changes, Derrer said that both he and music director Emmanuel Villaume were committed to bringing Wagner's rarely performed Lohengrin to Dallas audiences.

"But given the large number of forces required to produce this monumental masterpiece and unpredictable travel restrictions for our international artists, we are postponing its presentation until we can assure our audiences of the highest artistic experience," Derrer explains. "Also, with so much of Verdi's magnificent Don Carlo already rehearsed, a cost saving for TDO — and with many original cast members — it seemed appropriate to give Don Carlo a second chance, knowing that Orfeo ed Euridice can easily be programmed in a future season."

The company has also been forced to introduce layoffs and make further staff cutbacks. Five administrative staff members will be laid off, six full-time positions will become part-time or seasonal, and two positions will be furloughed. TDO’s full-time administrative and artistic staff has been reduced from 40 to 26, with previously announced salary reductions remaining in place.

TDO has already suffered the loss of $1.6 million in projected revenue from canceled performances in the 2019/2020 season, and ticket revenue for the 2021 season will be reduced because of the constriction of the season.

The company is in contract negotiations with two of its major unions: the American Federation of Musicians (AFM), which represents the orchestra; and the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), which represents principal artists, chorus, dancers, and production staff.

A new fundraising initiative will follow in October 2020. An extension of the current DOER campaign, it will be "a three-year effort to solidify TDO's financial foundation for stable and continued growth, and will position the company to weather future unexpected events."

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Theater News

Dallas' Kitchen Dog Theater unveils powerful 2026-2027 season lineup

Photo by Cameron Cobb

Kitchen Dog Theater in Dallas will put on three mainstage productions for their 2026-2027 season.

Kitchen Dog Theater in Dallas has revealed the lineup for the 2026-2027 season, featuring a slate of plays that boasts power players like kings, prime ministers, space force commanders, and would-be presidents.

According to a release, the theater company's 36th season — their "most powerful yet" — will consist of three mainstage productions at its new permanent home in the Design District, as well as the annual New Works Festival, featuring a readings series and the 26th annual D-PAC PUP (Playwrights Under Progress) Fest.

The season will start with The Absentee by Julia Doolittle, running September 10-October 4, 2026. The play was the winner of the 2019-2020 Woodward/Newman Drama Award.

Far out in the Milky Way, “Beacons” serve as lighthouses for warping spaceships around the galaxy. When a U.S. Space Force ship explodes in the galaxy, the Operator finds herself alone in deep space, with only her ship’s AI for companionship. That is, until a persistent canvasser calls, desperate to convince her to vote absentee in the 2088 election.

As the Operator waits for the clean up to be over, she finds she has to come to terms with her isolation, grief, and her political voice.

The season's second production comes four months later, with Equivocation by Bill Cain, running February 4-28, 2027. In 1605 England, a terrorist plots to assassinate King James I and blow Parliament to kingdom come. Shagspeare (after a contemporary spelling of the Bard's name) is commissioned by the prime minister, to write the “true historie” of the plot. And it must have witches — the king wants witches.

But as Shag and the acting company of the Globe investigate the plot, they discover that the king's version of the story might, in fact, be a coverup. Shag and his actors are confronted with the ultimate moral and artistic dilemma. Speak truth to power and perhaps lose their heads? Or take the money and lie? Is there a third option? Equivocation?

A high-stakes political thriller with contemporary resonances, Equivocation gallops from the great Globe to the Tower of London to the halls of Parliament to the heart of Judith, Shag's younger daughter, who finds herself unexpectedly at the very heart of the political, dramatic and — ultimately — human mystery.

The final mainstage production of the season comes at the 2027 New Works Festival with Black Republican by KDT Artistic Company Member Jamal Gibran Sterling, running June 3-27, 2027.

Originally featured as a Staged Reading in the 2026 New Works Festival, the ambitious first play by Sterling centers on a Black Republican candidate on the national stage who finds his campaign threatened by an activist who challenges everything he claims to stand for. Their battle exposes uncomfortable truths about race, politics, and the stories we tell ourselves.

In addition to Black Republican, the 2027 New Works Festival will showcase four staged readings of some of the newest and most exciting Texas-based playwrights. Each reading will feature accomplished Dallas-Fort Worth actors and directors to highlight the breadth of talent in the area.

The final part of the festival is D-PAC PUP (Playwrights Under Progress) Fest, featuring six staged readings of jury-selected plays written by Dallas-Fort Worth high school students and featuring student actors directed by area professionals. PUP Fest is the culmination of Dallas Playwriting Arts Collective (D-PAC), a partnership with Dallas ISD and Junior Players.

Kitchen Dog Theater offers two season subscription packages for their inaugural season in their new facility. The Kitchen Dog package includes a ticket to all three mainstage productions for any performance date for $90+ $8 fees for adults and $75 +$8 fees for students and seniors (ages 65+). The Saver Dog package includes a ticket to all three mainstage productions for Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays only. It is $60 + $8 fees for adults and $45 + $8 fees for students and seniors.

Both packages grant full access to the Staged Reading Series and PUP Fest. Subscribers also receive premium reserved seating for in-person performances, as well as subscriber-only discounts on additional single tickets, 2026 special events, and KDT merchandise.

Subscription packages are on sale now, and single tickets for each show will go on sale on Monday, August 24, at kitchendogtheater.org.

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