Theater Critic Picks

Dallas-Fort Worth theater critics applaud 2019-20's resilient shining stars

Critics are famous for not agreeing with each other, but there's one thing the Dallas-Fort Worth Critics Forum unanimously decided (via Zoom): This was one very strange year.

So far in 2020, COVID-19 has devastated the arts. However, it also provided theater companies the opportunity to get really, really creative in how they present productions. Since the Critics Forum's season runs from September 1-August 31, that means we had about six months of "normal" theatergoing before the coronavirus hit.

With that in mind, the list that follows takes into account the strange times we're all living in. Some productions were able to be recorded and broadcast, one was conceived as a drive-in experience, and several were presented traditionally back when we could all gather safely in the same room (remember what that was like?).

Not everyone's picks made it through the voting process, which needed either more than 50 percent of the votes or a unanimous decision if only two or three critics had seen the production. Look for personal favorites not included here to pop up in critics' end-of-year lists (though some also appear on my most memorable moments of 2019 list).

Without further ado, here are the awards:

Outstanding director

Jeffrey Colangelo and Kwame David Lilly, Everything Will Be Fine, Prism Movement Theater
Marianne Galloway, The Lifespan of a Fact, Stage West
Sorany Gutiérrez, Villa, Teatro Dallas
Tina Parker, a love offering, Kitchen Dog Theater
Susan Sargeant, Two by Beckett: Footfalls and Not I, WingSpan Theatre Company
Illana Stein, Hans & Sophie, Amphibian Stage
Kara-Lynn Vaeni, The Children, Stage West and Noises Off, Theatre Three
James Vasquez, In the Heights, Dallas Theater Center
Ashley H. White, Lizzie, Imprint Theatreworks

Outstanding performance by an actor

Bill Bolender, Mrs. Haggardly, Ochre House Theatre
Michael Federico, Noises Off, Theatre Three and Romeo and Juliet, Fair Assembly
McClendon “Mickey” Giles, Mlima’s Tale, Second Thought Theatre
Bob Hess, The Children, Stage West and I Am My Own Wife, WaterTower Theatre
Sean Hudock, Hans & Sophie, Amphibian Stage
Nick Leos, The Bippy Bobby Boo Show, Danielle Georgiou Dance Group in partnership with Theatre Three
Justin Locklear, The Bippy Bobby Boo Show, Danielle Georgiou Dance Group in partnership with Theatre Three
Tadeo Martinez, Noises Off, Theatre Three
Zander Pryor, Andi Boi, Dallas Children’s Theater
Christopher Llewyn Ramirez, In the Heights, Dallas Theater Center

Outstanding performance by an actress

Devin Berg, Lizzie, Imprint Theatreworks
Rhonda Boutté, a love offering, Kitchen Dog Theater
Rebekah Brockman, Hans & Sophie, Amphibian Stage
Stephanie Cleghorn Jasso, Queen of Basel, Kitchen Dog Theater and Madame Bovary, Undermain Theatre
Jennifer Kuenzer, Footfalls, WingSpan Theatre Company
Kelsey Milbourn, Ada and the Engine, Stage West; Everything Will Be Fine, Prism Movement Company; and The Thanksgiving Play, Undermain Theatre
Susan Sargeant, Not I, WingSpan Theatre Company
Jaquai Wade Pearson, Romeo and Juliet, Fair Assembly
Catherine Whiteman, Dot, Soul Rep Theatre Company

Outstanding performance by an ensemble cast

Everything Will Be Fine, Prism Movement Theater
In the Heights, Dallas Theater Center
Lizzie, Imprint Theatreworks
Mrs. Haggardly, Ochre House Theatre
Noises Off, Theatre Three
Playwrights in the Newsroom, AT&T Performing Arts Center Elevator Project
The Children, Stage West
Villa, Teatro Dallas

Outstanding design or creative contribution

Sara Bollinger, Devan Bell, Rachel Francis, Gilbert Glenn, Bree Hill, and Rebecca Lowrey, music performance, Lizzie, Imprint Theatreworks
Nick Brethauer, set design, Villa, Teatro Dallas, and set design, Two by Beckett, WingSpan Theatre Company
Design team, Hans & Sophie, Amphibian Stage
Design team, Red Chariot, Undermain Theatre
Tara Houston, set design, Swimming While Drowning, Cara Mía Theatre Company
Rebecca Lowrey, music direction, Lizzie, Imprint Theatreworks
Nigel Newton, original music and music performance, Mlima’s Tale, Second Thought Theatre
Jeffrey Schmidt, set design, Noises Off, Theatre Three
Will Turbyne, set design, The Children, Stage West
Jessie Wallace, costume design, Lizzie, Imprint Theatreworks
Mason York, sound design, Mlima’s Tale, Second Thought Theatre

Outstanding new play or musical

Alabaster, Audrey Cefaly, Kitchen Dog Theater (National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere)
Andi Boi, Bruce R. Coleman, Dallas Children’s Theater (co-produced with Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and in partnership with First Unitarian Church of Dallas)
Everything Will Be Fine, Zoe Kerr, Prism Movement Theater
Hans & Sophie, Deborah Yarchun, Sean Hudock, and Illana Stein, Amphibian Stage
a love offering, Jonathan Norton, Kitchen Dog Theater
Mrs. Haggardly, Matthew Posey, Ochre House Theater

Outstanding touring production

The Band’s Visit, AT&T Performing Arts Center and Dallas Summer Musicals
Come from Away, Dallas Summer Musicals
Once on This Island, AT&T Performing Arts Center

Special citations

To Amphibian Stage and artistic director Kathleen Culebro for their years-long commitment to the well-being of North Texas veterans and their families through the nationally recognized DE-CRUIT program founded by actor-veteran Stephan Wolfert. Using acting, stage work, and other tools from the theater arts, DE-CRUIT group classes (and now online sessions) "treat trauma through Shakespeare and science" — and give veterans the life skills and self-awareness they need to begin the work of recovery, and to reconnect with the community around them.

To Amy Stevenson for founding and hosting Mama’s Party, a live music staple in DFW since 2006. The cabaret has regularly showcased up-and-coming talent, established professionals, tour casts, and local favorites, occasionally with a fundraising component, and even transitioned to online during the pandemic.

The primitive paintings of animals in Kitchen Dog Theater’s Alabaster lining the set helped create an authentic atmosphere for this play about a reclusive amateur folk artist whose work is made on shards of wood caused by a tornado that devastated her family. The paintings were a group project of the cast, crew, and friends.

For many theatergoers, Prism Movement Theater’s drive-in show Everything Will Be Fine was our first live performance after the pandemic began. With a deeply present nonverbal narrative and beautiful choreography, the out-of-the-box play (performed at two venues in Dallas, and currently in Fort Worth) filled our hearts with the hope and magic that only live performance can bring.

To Jeffrey Schmidt, artistic director of Theatre Three, for filming the play The Immigrant with a technique no other theater company has used during the pandemic: The actors were filmed separately in front of a green screen at the theater, using social distancing and masks when other cast and crew members were in the space, and for creating the scenic illustrations and fusing it together for a seamless digital performance.

To Isa Zhanbolot, Brandon Coleman, and the teams from Grob Technologies, Inc., and Dev-Team, Inc. that created the 3-D animation and augmented reality app used at the end of Bruce R. Coleman’s play Andi Boi at Dallas Children’s Theater, allowing the audience to play along with a fictional game played by the teenagers in the story.

Participating critics

Lindsey Wilson, CultureMap and Arts & Culture Texas
Cristee Cook, Dallas Art Beat
Janice L. Franklin, TheaterJones
Jan Farrington, TheaterJones
Martha Heimberg, Dallas Weekly and TheaterJones
Arnold Wayne Jones, Dallas Voice
Mark Lowry, TheaterJones
Manny Mendoza, Dallas Morning News
Jill Sweeney, TheaterJones

Dallas-Fort Worth Theater Critics Forum is an organization of professional, paid critics that recognizes outstanding theatrical contributions in North Texas. Members see 40 or more productions per season (Sept. 1-Aug. 31) and are not practicing theater artists.

Devin Berg starred as the titular Lizzie in Imprint Theatreworks' spectular production.

Devin Berg in Lizzie at Imprint Theatreworks

Photo by Jason Anderson

Devin Berg starred as the titular Lizzie in Imprint Theatreworks' spectular production.

theater music dance awards

Drama kings

Dallas theater lures new leaders away from Hollywood and Broadway

Photo courtesy of Lyric Stage

Malcolm Goodwin is an actor, director, and producer familiar for roles in Reacher, iZombie, and The Fall of the House of Usher.

Dallas theater company Lyric Stage has looked to Hollywood and Broadway for new leadership, hiring film and television actor and director Malcolm Goodwin and Broadway veteran Victor Hawks as the theater company's new co-artistic directors.

The appointments mark a new chapter for the company, which was founded in 1993 by Steven Jones, executive director Catherine Carpenter Cox says in a November 2 announcement.

Goodwin and Hawks are the co-founders of Team Vision Entertainment, a production company developing and producing film, television, and theater projects.

Their longstanding creative partnership will now extend to Lyric Stage, where they will work alongside Cox to develop programming, support new works, and strengthen the organization's connections to the broader entertainment industry, a press release says.

Goodwin is an actor, director, and producer best known for roles in Amazon Prime Video's Reacher and The CW's iZombie. Other credits include The Fall of the House of Usher, American Gangster, and Spike Lee's Miracle at St. Anna.

His new role at Lyric Stage brings him back to the art form that first inspired his career.

"Theater is where I first learned how to tell stories and where I discovered that I loved every part of the creative process, not just performing," Goodwin says in the release. "I was building theaters, working with lighting and sound, and learning how everything comes together to create something special for an audience. Being able to return to that world and help create opportunities for other artists is incredibly meaningful to me."

Hawks brings an extensive Broadway background to his new position, having appeared in the original Broadway company of Urinetown the Musical, the 2006 Broadway revival of Les Misérables, South Pacific at Lincoln Center, and The Producers national tour.

Victor Hawks, Lyric Stage Victor Hawks.Photo courtesy of Lyric Stage

"Musical theater changed the direction of my life," Hawks says in a statement. "I know firsthand what happens when someone gives a young performer an opportunity to learn, grow and be part of something bigger than themselves. That's what makes this next chapter so exciting. Lyric Stage already has an incredible history, and we want to build on that by creating great theater and opening doors for artists who are just beginning their journeys."

Over the past three decades, Lyric Stage has earned a reputation for its professional productions, world premieres, and restoration of classic Broadway works, with a big focus on musicals.

For Cox, the appointments are about bringing together artists who understand the importance of theater while offering the experience and relationships to help the organization grow.

"Steven Jones built something truly special with Lyric Stage, and we have a responsibility to honor what he created while continuing to move the organization forward," Cox says. "Malcolm and Victor have built remarkable careers in entertainment, but what I love most is that theatre is where both of their journeys began. They understand what the stage can mean to an artist, and they share my passion for creating opportunities for the next generation."

Cox also recently moved into a new role as director, making her directorial debut with Lyric Stage's production of the musical Godspell, which finished its run on October 25.

Upcoming Lyric Stage productions include A Very Lyric Christmas, A Chorus Line, Newsies, and Once.

Future planned endeavors for the company include Lyric Stage Academy, an educational program designed to introduce young people to the performing arts, as well as Children's Theatre, Summer Stock, professional training opportunities, a New Works Lab, and master classes.

lyric stage performing-arts theater

Theater Critic Picks

Dallas-Fort Worth theater critics applaud 2019-20's resilient shining stars

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Drama kings

Dallas theater lures new leaders away from Hollywood and Broadway