Actor Spotlight

Dallas actor Walter Lee divulges love for painting and Beyonce

In the musical Songs for a New World, nearly 20 of cult composer Jason Robert Brown's songs come together in a concert-style format to explore life's emotions. This means that the songs vary wildly in tone, tempo and style, putting extra pressure on the singers who are called upon to perform them. In Uptown Players' upcoming production of Songs, versatile actor Walter Lee is one of those talented performers.

The word "versatile" is especially apt when talking about Lee, who has inhabited roles as wide-ranging as a dapper doo-wop singer (WaterTower Theatre's Smokey Joe's Cafe), a chain-gang convict (Parade, also at WaterTower) and a sultry, sexy Kit Kat Girl (Dallas Theater Center's Cabaret). His one-man cabaret performance recently played at the Out of the Loop Fringe Festival, and now Lee will be tackling some of Songs' emotionally complex and musically satisfying tunes.

He recently took the time to fill out our survey of serious, fun and sometimes ridiculous questions.

Name: Walter Lee

Role in Songs for a New World: Man 1

Previous work in the DFW area: Smokey Joe's Cafe at WaterTower Theatre, Angel in Casa Mañana's RENT, and Frenchie in Dallas Theater Center's Cabaret

Hometown: Abilene, Texas

Where you currently reside: Dallas

First theater role: Enjolras in Cooper High School's production of Les Miserables

First stage show you ever saw: Abilene Christian University's production of Jekyll and Hyde

Moment you decided to pursue a career in theater: After I saw ACU's production, I fell in love and never looked back!

Most challenging role you've played: Coalhouse Walker Jr. in Ragtime. I'm not the most masculine person.

Special skills: Some gymnastics, makeup artistry, and painting

Something you're REALLY bad at: Cooking! Hands down!

Current pop culture obsession: Beyonce Knowles Carter!!!

Last book you read: The libretto for Fortress of Solitude

Favorite movie(s): The First Wives Club

Favorite musician(s): Beyonce, Ciara, Chaka Kahn, Michael Jackson and Ledesi

Favorite song: "Kiss the Air" by Danny Calvert

Dream role: Lola in Kinky Boots

Favorite play(s): Sylvia

Favorite musical(s): Dreamgirls and Parade

Favorite actors/actresses: Ben Vereen

Favorite food: Spaghetti

Must-see TV show(s): Awkward and Once Upon a Time

Something most people don't know about you: I was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Place in the world you'd most like to visit: Thailand

Pre-show warm-up: Joking with cast members. Being alone makes me think, which then makes me more nervous.

Favorite part about your current role: That's a tough one. I'm going to go with the fact that I get to play with my part vocally.

Most challenging part about your current role: The music is the most complicated music I've ever encountered, and my vocal part is very challenging.

Most embarrassing onstage mishap: My part in a Broadway Christmas Carol! I had to put on a fat suit to play Mrs. Fezziwig, and one night I put the fat suit on backward. It was hilarious!

Career you'd have if you weren't a performer: Painter

Favorite post-show spot: Home

Favorite thing about Dallas-Forth Worth: The unpredictable weather!

Most memorable theater moment: During The Wiz I was playing the Scarecrow, and one of my lines in the show was "You got any spare change?" After the show was over, a little boy in the audience came up to me and gave me a quarter. It was awesome!

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Uptown Players' production of Songs for a New World plays at Kalita Humphreys Theater from June 21-July 7.

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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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