Season Announcement

Dallas-Fort Worth theater eagerly takes back the stage for 2021-22 season

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown in London

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown closes out the season.

Photo courtesy of The Evening Standard

Following its 2021 streaming-only season, MainStage Irving-Las Colinas has announced that its 2021-2022 season will take place live and in person at the Dupree Theatre of the Irving Arts Center.

"Thanks to the generosity of our patrons, donors, and the Irving Arts Board, we were able to produce streamed shows that were positively received," says MainStage board of directors president Clayton Cunningham. "I speak for our entire organization when I say that we are ready to be back in the Dupree for a fully produced season of in-person performances in 2021-2022. The pandemic taught us lots of things, but most notably that there’s just nothing like live theater!"

The season opens in November 5-20, 2021, with A Day in Hollywood, A Night in the Ukraine, a unique musical in which the first half of the show celebrates classic film by way of six musical ushers in a movie theater. The second half of the production pays homage to the hijinks and hilarity of the Marx Brothers. Michael Serrecchia is slated to direct.

Just in time for the holiday season, MainStage’s annual fundraiser tradition Have Yourself a Broadway Little Christmas returns for the fourth year for one weekend only, December 1-3, 2021. This year’s cabaret-style show will be co-hosted by DFW theater favorites Amy Stevenson and Craig Boleman, and concludes with a holiday sing-along as well as auction and raffle opportunities.

Running January 21-February 5, 2022 is the winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Anna in the Tropics. Written by Nilo Cruz, this wistful and affecting work is set in 1929 in a Floridian Cuban American cigar factory. It’s a place where cigars are still rolled by hand and "lectors" are employed to read newspapers, poetry, and novels to the workers. Dennis Yslas directs.

For a bit of swashbuckling fun, Ken Ludwig’s Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood is a brightly colored, lighthearted take on the legendary tale of a hero of the people. It runs March 11-26, 2022 and will be directed by Andi Allen.

Matthew Barber’s play Enchanted April takes audiences on a journey under the Mediterranean sun, where four women clash, bond, and bloom. Adapted from the novel by Elizabeth Von Arnim and directed by Rose Anne Holman, it runs May 6-21, 2022.

The season concludes July 15-30, 2022, with the musical Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. With music and lyrics by David Yazbek and based on the film by Pedro Almodoìvar, the story follows a group of women in late 20th-century Madrid whose relationships with men lead to a tumultuous 48 hours of love, confusion, and passion. B.J. Cleveland directs.

The nonprofit MainStage will also be partnering with other organizations and producing additional shows at its downtown Irving space, MainStage 222.

Season tickets and flex passes range from $85-$110 and are available for purchase now at www.irvingartscenter.com or by calling 972-252-2787. Season ticket buyers may add tickets to Have Yourself a Broadway Little Christmas for only $25. Single tickets to all performances on the 2021-2022 season will go on sale at the Irving Arts Center box office on October 1.

theater

Season Announcement

Kitchen Dog Theater unleashes immersive 2025 season in new Dallas space

Kitchen Dog Theater presents Safe at Home

Photo by Jordan Fraker

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Seven years after announcing it had purchased a building in the Design District, Kitchen Dog Theater is finally ready to move into its new home.

The third and final production of its 2025 season — the theater company's 34th — will take place all around the new "Doghouse." The other two productions will follow the immersive format at non-traditional performance spaces that was established last season.

With three fully produced events that each run the gambit from captivating and gutsy to heartfelt and hilarious, the monthly New Works Festival Staged Readings Series returns, as does the 23rd annual PUP Fest, nurturing high school talent from all over DFW.

First up is the area premiere of Will Eno's Wakey, Wakey, directed by KDT's artistic director Tina Parker and starring KDT co-artistic director Christopher Carlos.

"Is it now? I thought I had more time." These first words in Will Eno's play are spoken by Guy, a man who knows, like all of us on some level, that he is about to die. The play questions why we are here and the journeys that everyone takes to eventually get to the same place. Performances will take place at Expo Park, 840 Exposition Avenue, and run February 7-23, 2025.

Production No. 2 is full of mystery: The title and performance location will be announced soon and run in March/April 2025.

The Happiness Gymby Ken Weitzman closes out the season in August 2025 (exact dates TBA).

This regional premiere is a joyous, experiential event based on the science of well-being. Participants take part in a curated theatrical experience meant to boost their sense of happiness, joy, and feelings of connection. This one-of-a-kind project will be the soft opening to Kitchen Dog’s new theater and will take place all over the entire facility, giving patrons unparalleled access to KDT’s new home.

From March to July 2025, the 26th annual 2025 New Works Festival will showcase four-to-five staged readings of the newest and most exciting local and regional playwrights working in contemporary theater today. Each reading will feature some of DFW's most accomplished actors and directors and will take place at different venues across DFW.

For its 23rd annual event, PUP Fest will feature six staged readings of jury-selected plays written by DFW high school students, featuring student actors directed by area professional directors. PUP Fest is the culminating event of Dallas Playwriting Arts Collective (D-PAC), a partnership with Dallas ISD and Junior Players. Performance location is TBA, but the event will happen June 7, 2025.

For more information, visit kitchendogtheater.org or call 214-953-1055.

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