Theater Critic Picks

Best of 2018-19 get standing O from Dallas-Fort Worth theater critics

It was a strong season for women in Dallas-Fort Worth theater, not just acting-wise but also directing, music directing, writing, designing, leading, and playing musical instruments.

That made it that much harder for the eight critics of the DFW Critics Forum to narrow down our choices for the best of 2018-19. There was much debating, much lobbying, only a little name-calling (kidding), but eventually we finalized our list.

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.

Without further ado, here are the awards:

Outstanding Direction:

Tim Bond, Sweat, Dallas Theater Center
Kelsey Leigh Ervi, Everything Is Wonderful, WaterTower Theatre
Joel Ferrell, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Circle Theatre
Jonathan Fielding and Brenda Withers, Artist Descending a Staircase, Amphibian Stage Productions
Alex Organ, Incognito, Second Thought Theatre
Mara Richards Bim and Tim Johnson, Crossing the Line, Cry Havoc Theater Company and Kitchen Dog Theater
Christie Vela, What We Were, Second Thought Theatre
Ashley H. White, Ghost Quartet, Imprint Theatreworks

Outstanding New Play or Musical

Crossing the Line, ensemble of Cry Havoc Theater Company
penny candy, Jonathan Norton, Dallas Theater Center
Jo & Louisa, Isabella Russell-Ides, WingSpan Theatre Company
What We Were, Blake Hackler, Second Thought Theatre

Outstanding Performance by an Actor

Chad Cline, Raptured, Theatre Three
Sonny Franks, The Cake, Uptown Players
Blake Hackler, Twelfth Night, Dallas Theater Center; and Drunk Enough to Say I Love You & Here We Go, Second Thought Theatre
David Meglino, In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play), Imprint TheatreWorks; and Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika, Uptown Players
Steven Pounders, Everything Is Wonderful, WaterTower Theatre
Christopher Llewyn Ramirez, Sweat and Twelfth Night, Dallas Theater Center
Drew Wall, Incognito, Second Thought Theatre

Outstanding Performance by an Actress

Betty Buckley, Hello, Dolly!, Dallas Summer Musicals
Sarah Gay, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Circle Theatre
Ana Hagedorn, Steel Magnolias and The Wolves, Dallas Theater Center; and The Armor Plays: Cinched & Strapped, Theatre Three
Lindsay Hayward, Fur, Teatro Dallas
Jennifer Kuenzer, In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play), Imprint Theatreworks
Laura Lites, Disaster!, Uptown Players
Shannon McGrann, The Cake, Uptown Players; Raptured, Theatre Three; Incognito, Second Thought Theatre; A Doll’s House, Part 2, Stage West
Christine Sanders, Artist Descending a Staircase, Amphibian Stage Productions; and Obama-ology, Jubilee Theatre
Lucy Shea, Bright Star, The Firehouse Theatre
Sally Nystuen Vahle, Sweat and Steel Magnolias, Dallas Theater Center

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast

Bright Star, The Firehouse Theatre
Crossing the Line, Cry Havoc Theater Company
Ghost Quartet, Imprint Theatreworks
Incognito, Second Thought Theatre
Men on Boats, Circle Theatre
penny candy, Dallas Theater Center
What We Were, Second Thought Theatre
The Wolves, Dallas Theater Center

Outstanding Touring Production

Aladdin, Dallas Summer Musicals
Hamilton, Dallas Summer Musicals
Hello, Dolly!, Dallas Summer Musicals
The Play That Goes Wrong, AT&T Performing Arts Center
Unveiled, WaterTower Theatre

Outstanding Design or Creative Contribution

Vonda K. Bowling, music direction, The Ballad of Little Jo, WaterTower Theatre
Aimee Hurst Bozarth, pianist and musical associate, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Circle Theatre
Design team, Artist Descending a Staircase, Amphibian Stage Productions
Design team, Everything Is Wonderful, WaterTower Theatre
John M. Flores, sound design, What We Were, Second Thought Theatre
Olivia de Guzman, music, and Justin Locklear, lyrics, Doom McCoy and the Death Nugget, Ochre House Theater
Rusty Jones, scenic design, Babette’s Feast, Amphibian Stage Productions
Justin Locklear, score, Elwood, and puppet design, Doom McCoy and the Death Nugget, Ochre House Theater
Kelly McCain, choreography, Bright Star, The Firehouse Theatre
Adam C. Wright, music direction, Ghost Quartet, Imprint Theatreworks

Special Citations

To Katherine Owens (1957-2019), co-founding artistic director of Undermain Theatre, for groundbreaking work in experimental theater and excellence in producing modern classics, staging 35 world premieres in 35 years, and seeding the ground for the birth of exciting new companies in North Texas over the past three decades.
To Cora Cardona, founder and former artistic director of Teatro Dallas, for introducing North Texas audiences to writers from the Spanish-speaking world, giving emerging theater artists a home, creating the International Theater Festival, and keeping alive the legacy of Teatro Dallas.
To Joanie Schultz for her brief but significant contributions during her tenure as artistic director of WaterTower Theatre (December 2016–December 2018), including championing female directors, playwrights of color, and other inclusive initiatives; encouraging new works; and reinvigorating the DFW theater scene.
To Mara Richards Bim, Tim Johnson, Cry Havoc Theater Company, and Kitchen Dog Theater for creating Crossing the Line, a thorough and compelling look at the immigration controversy devised through extensive research that included a trip to the border to gather facts and opinions from a wide range of sources. Bim and Johnson edited hundreds of pages of interview transcripts into a narrative that delved deeply into the immigration issue.

Participating Critics

Lindsey Wilson, CultureMap
Janice L. Franklin, TheaterJones.com
Jan Farrington, TheaterJones.com
Martha Heimberg, TheaterJones.com and Dallas Weekly
Arnold Wayne Jones, Dallas Voice
Mark Lowry, TheaterJones.com
Manny Mendoza, Dallas Morning News
Jill Sweeney, TheaterJones.com

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.

Circle Theatre's production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street secured awards for director, actress, and creative contribution.

Photo by Tim Long

Circle Theatre's production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street secured awards for director, actress, and creative contribution.

awards theater music bests

history in the making

Taylor Sheridan to be honored with legendary Texas award in 2027

1923 Las Vegas Premiere Screening & After Party Taylor Sheridan

Photo by David Becker/Getty Images for Paramount+

Taylor Sheridan is a 2027 recipient of the History-Making Texan Award.

Trailblazing North Texas producer, director, and screenwriter Taylor Sheridan will add a new award to his shelf in 2027. Sheridan has been named one of two recipients of the History-Making Texan Award, which the Texas State History Museum Foundation (TSHMF) will present in Austin in spring 2027.

Since 2005, the organization has honored "living Texas legends whose contributions to the state and the nation have been truly historic and exceptional in scope and nature." Past galas have recognized prominent Texas figures such as former presidents George H.W. and George W. Bush and former first ladies Barbara and Laura Bush, as well as H-E-B chairman Charles Butt, singer-songwriter and accordionist Leonardo “Flaco” Jimenéz, among others.

Joining Sheridan as the other 2027 honoree is Texas Historical Commission chairman, businessman, and philanthropist John L. Nau, III. The 2027 gala will be held at the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin on March 2, Texas Independence Day.

"Our honorees are national leaders whose accomplishments have elevated Texas’ distinctive place on the national and international stage," said Debbie Raynor, Dinner Chair and TSHMF Trustee, in a relase. "John L. Nau, III and Taylor Sheridan have each, in very different ways, helped tell the Texas story — one through the preservation of our history and treasured places, the other through the power of storytelling that has brought Texas and the American West to audiences around the world."

Quadruple-threat filmmaker Sheridan is most widely recognized for his award-winning neo-Western TV series Yellowstone and its associated spin-offs 1883, 1923, Marshals, and Dutton Ranch. Raynor hailed Sheridan for his success in bringing a "remarkable new dimension to the way the world sees Texas and the American West."

"As a creator, writer, director, and executive producer of some of television’s most successful series, he has captured the imagination of audiences across the globe while bringing the people, landscapes, traditions and enduring spirit of the West into millions of homes," she said. "And he does more than tell the Texas story — he lives it, as a native Texan, accomplished horseman and steward of two legendary Texas ranches."

Nau is the former chairman and CEO of Silver Eagle Beverages, one of the largest Anheuser-Busch distributors in the U.S. Raynor said Nau's "commitment to preservation" extends further than his protection of Texas historic sites "to the stewardship and conservation of the land itself, including his bay area lodge in south Texas and his ranch in west Texas."

"[Nau's] leadership and lifelong dedication to history have earned him national recognition, but perhaps his greatest legacy is his determination to ensure that the stories and places that shaped Texas endure for generations to come," Raynor said.

A release estimates about 450 "business, political, and community leaders" attend the Texas Independence Day Dinner each year, and proceeds will benefit the Bullock Museum's educational programs and special projects.

The 2027 Texas Independence Day Dinner will take place March 2, 2027, at the Bullock Museum in Austin. A VIP reception will start at 6:30 pm, followed by a 7 pm reception, and 7:30 dinner and program.

Taylor Sheridan is gifting his creative archive to Texas State University.

Photo by David Becker/Getty Images for Paramount+

Taylor Sheridan is a 2027 recipient of the History-Making Texan Award.

taylor sheridan galas awards ceremony texas texas historical commission bullock museum yellowstone awards

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