25 Years and Counting

DSO kicks off Meyerson's 25th anniversary with music-filled week of mostly free events

The Meyerson Symphony Center, which opened in September 1989, will be celebrated throughout the 2014-2015 Dallas Symphony Orchestra season.

Photo by Andreas Praefcke

The Meyerson Symphony Center, home to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, turns 25 in September. To get the yearlong, silver anniversary party started, the DSO will host a week full of special events at the I.M. Pei-designed building.

Running September 6-13, the mostly free activities include performances by the DSO and other ensembles who perform frequently at the Meyerson, including the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and Dallas Winds.

The J.J. Pearce High School marching band will start things off on Saturday, September 6, by leading a parade down Flora Street into the Meyerson. The band was the first group besides the Dallas Symphony to sign a performance contract at the then-new Meyerson Symphony Center in 1989.

The day will also include family activities; building tours; educational crafts and games; and 20-minute performances by Dallas-area ensembles and dance troupes, including the Avant Chamber Ballet and the Turtle Creek Chorale. Dallas Winds will close out the day with a concert.

Concurrently, the Dallas Symphony Pops season will open with three performances of Let's Dance September 5-7. The concerts, led by principal conductor Jeff Tyzik, will feature tango, waltz and cha-cha dancers strutting their stuff on the Meyerson stage.

During the following week, a different ensemble will present a free concert on four consecutive days. Monday, September 8, will bring the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, followed by the Dallas Symphony on Tuesday, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts on Wednesday, and Dallas Symphony Chorus with the Lay Family Concert Organ on Thursday.

Following the private Meyerson Legends Lunch on Friday, which will celebrate the community leaders and philanthropists who made construction of the Meyerson a reality, the week will end with the 2014 Dallas Symphony Orchestra AT&T Gala featuring renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman.

There will be more anniversary events throughout the DSO's 2014-2015 season, including a repeat of select concerts that were performed during the Meyerson's inaugural season. The concerts on January 8-11, 2015, will honor Eduardo Mata, the DSO’s music director in 1989; Mata died in an airplane crash in January 1995.

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Once More With Feeling

Addison's WaterTower Theatre finds new stage for its summer musicals

Photo by Paris Marie Productions

"Mary Poppins" was the big summer musical of 2024.

Following the announcement last fall that going forward, WaterTower Theatre will occupy less space in the Addison Conference and Theatre Centre, the theater company has found a solution to its venue problem.

It's launching WaterTower Summer Musicals, to be performed at the Dallas College Brookhaven Campus Theatre in Farmers Branch.

An email to newsletter subscribers sent on January 1 — and a Facebook post from WTT on December 31, 2024 — states that the first production will be Andrew Lloyd Webber's School of Rock, set for summer 2025. It will be directed by JC Schuster, music directed by Cody Dry, and choreographed by Alli Betsill.

Both communications include a video that begins with producing artistic director Shane Peterman on the Brookhaven stage, spotlighting the venue's 650 very nice-looking seats.

He and several WTT employees go on to note the success of WTT's last two summer productions, Mary Poppins and the world-premiere Goin' Hollywood, as well as Brookhaven's plentiful free parking and spacious lobby.

"And as for the Addison Theatre Center, don't worry," says Brian Gonzales, director of audience and benefactor development, in the video. "The Addison Theatre Center is still our home, and our partnership with the town of Addison is still as strong as ever. Think of Brookhaven as an extension of the WaterTower family, allowing us to bring the summer musicals to an even bigger stage."

Also found on WTT's website is a job posting for an associate producing artistic director — the same position that Elizabeth Kensek was abruptly terminated from in August 2024.

At the time, WTT explained her layoff this way: "...modifications at the Addison Theatre Centre, directed by the Town’s leadership, have led us to consolidate roles and departments for greater efficiency. This unfortunately resulted in some layoffs and structural shifts."

Applications for the position will be accepted through January 17.

WaterTower Theatre is currently presenting The Play That Goes Wrong, co-produced with Stage West in Fort Worth. The show has recently been extended through January 19, a week past its original closing date.

musicals brookhaven college school of rock video theater