Arts Booster

Elevator Project helps small Dallas arts groups move on up to Wyly Theatre

Performance space is always at a premium for smaller arts groups in Dallas-Fort Worth, and the AT&T Performing Arts Center is about to make life a little easier for some of them with a new program called the Elevator Project.

The Elevator Project gives six groups — African American Repertory Theater, Cara Mia Theatre Co., Dallas Actor's Lab, DGDG: The Danielle Georgiou Dance Group, Second Thought Theatre and Upstart Productions — the chance to stage one show each at the Wyly Theatre over the next year.

The name of the project is a double entendre. Not only does it give the groups a chance to put on a production at a higher profile venue, but those productions take place in the performance spaces on the Wyly's sixth and ninth floors.

ATTPAC also announced that both the Complete Works of Shakespeare and Oral Fixation are moving their monthly programs to the Wyly starting this season. Both have proved so popular that they outgrew their previous venue, Hamon Hall inside Winspear Opera House.

The inaugural event of the Elevator Project is Upstart Productions' Year of the Rooster, the story of a perpetually put-upon man who uses a pet rooster to help him exact revenge on those who wronged him. Year of the Rooster runs August 22-September 6.

Rooster is followed by DGDG's Nice in November, a yet-to-be-titled production from Dallas Actor's Lab in February 2015, Second Thought Theatre's Bull in February/March 2015, Cara Mia Theatre Co.'s Lydia in April 2015, and AART's Radio Golf in May/June 2015.

Single general admission tickets for each show, priced at $20, go on sale on August 1 through TicketDFW.com. You can also purchase a six-show sampler package for $100, giving you all six productions for the price of five. Package subscribers can purchase discount parking.

Upstart Productions, which put on The Aliens at Magnolia Lounge in 2013, is one of six groups elevated to a higher-profile venue as part of ATTPAC's Elevator Project.

The Aliens at Upstart Productions in Dallas

Photo courtesy of Upstart Productions

Upstart Productions, which put on The Aliens at Magnolia Lounge in 2013, is one of six groups elevated to a higher-profile venue as part of ATTPAC's Elevator Project.

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Museum News

National Medal of Honor Museum offers preview at downtown Dallas event

AT&T

The AT&T Discovery District hosted a mobile museum pop-up.

A high-profile museum opening in 2025 offered a preview in downtown Dallas: It's The National Medal of Honor Museum, slated to open in Arlington, at Nolan Ryan Expressway and AT&T Way in the Stadium district in spring 2025.

To give folks a preview of coming attractions, the institution dispatched a mobile museum to make a visit to the AT&T Discovery District on November 20, during lunchtime when foot traffic is brisk.

Imagine the sense of wonder and amazement that downtown Dallas denizens must have felt upon the sight of a double decker bus, parked in the District, equipped with video and historical information about the Medal of Honor award, stories of the recipients, and a rendering of how the museum in Arlington will look.

The National Medal of Honor MuseumCourtesy rendering

The goal of The National Medal of Honor Museum is to inspire Americans by honoring and preserving the history of the highest military decoration awarded for valor in combat.

They hope it will serve as a national landmark, illustrating the historical thread of sacrifice and patriotism that runs through all U.S. military service members, past and present.

Beyond its state-of-the-art, interactive experiences, a critical part of the Museum’s mission will be to use the stories of Medal of Honor recipients to inspire their fellow Americans.

It will incorporate the AT&T Virtual Recipient Theater, an augmented reality experience where visitors can interact with with Medal of Honor recipients. The space will be equipped with cutting-edge conversational AI technology complete with voice recognition to allow museum goers to have a conversation in a 3D format with medal of honor recipients living and past.

It will also have AT&T Branded Wi-Fi throughput the museum.

Interior of the mobile Medal of Honor Museum.AT&T