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    Creep Show

    Dallas’ WaterTower Theatre attempts the near impossible with creepy world premiere

    Lindsey Wilson
    Oct 7, 2015 | 1:00 pm
    Jonathan Bragg and Daniel Rowan in Creep at WaterTower Theatre
    Jonathan Bragg and Daniel Rowan in Creep.
    Photo by Karen Almond

    It's hard to make a scary musical. What's meant to be chilling can sometimes come off as laughably overdone (think some iterations of Jekyll & Hyde), and creating that tension is often all for naught when a character opens his or her mouth to sing about their feelings.

     

     Creep, the Jack the Ripper-inspired musical receiving its world premiere at WaterTower Theatre, manages to be spine-tingly and entertaining — some of the time.

     

    The story, plotted by Dallasite Donald Fowler (who also penned the score), is at times a dark and brooding journey into the gutters of Victorian London. The depraved poor, trussed up like extras from The Rocky Horror Show, slither and slink through alleys and sewers, alternately trying to make a criminal living while staying one step ahead of a murderous killer's knife.

     

    Floating above the grime is Mary (Sarah Elizabeth Smith), a girlish young woman who we learn used to be part of the city's lower class until her overbearing mother (Christia Mantzke) propelled them into society through mysterious means. An early flashback establishing the mother as a prostitute and Young Mary (Abby Chapman) as the victim of a horrid crime is murky at best and serves as the first of many moments in the show that almost, but not quite, make sense in the twisting tale that Fowler has concocted.

     

    It's admirable that despite the holes and half-unraveled threads in the story director Kate Galvin has helped the characters emerge as richly drawn. Daniel Rowan is mesmerizing as Christian, Mary's wan piano teacher who operates under the patronage of Dr. Jackson Crowne (Jonathan Bragg). The two men have a history it seems, but even after several fervent and driving power ballads it's mostly unclear what has them so tortured. They're really passionate about ... something?

     

    Not helpful in deciphering the plot is the stage's configuration, which buries the right side of the audience in an avalanche of sound from the hidden orchestra and cuts off sight lines for the left half. Jeff Schmidt's functional set is enhanced mostly by Jason Foster's lighting, which blots the actors like a bruise.

     

    Derek Whitener and Victor Newman Brockwell must have bought every corset, cotton-candy wig, and pair of fishnet stockings in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for their steampunk-lite costumes, which transform the ensemble into a scuttling, menacing horde, as shiny and sleek as beetles.

     

    The big story with Creep is that Fowler is not a trained musician, yet he composed the ambitious score with help from music director Kevin Gunter, orchestrator Dan Kazemi, and copyist Adam C. Wright.

     

    The music is haunting and surprisingly melodic, with many standout tunes that run the gamut from the aching "Mothers and Daughters" to the bawdy tavern jig "Old Habits," sung with jolly chaos by Patty Breckenridge as a whore whose madness is becoming harder to ignore.

     

    So where's Jack the Ripper in all this? He or she is there, lurking in the shadows, leaving bodies in the fog. To reveal who's brandishing the bloody knife in Fowler's retelling would spoil the genuinely startling ending, and sometimes it's more fun to just get lost in the atmosphere.

     

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    Theater Critic Picks

    From Wilde to 'The Wiz': 8 unmissable July shows in North Texas

    Lindsey Wilson
    Jul 2, 2025 | 10:18 am
    Second Thought Theatre presents Your Wife’s Dead Body
    Photo courtesy of Second Thought Theatre
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    Your instinct during the summer might be to hide out in an air-conditioned theater, and there are plenty of options to do exactly this month. But we would be remiss if we didn't remind you about a North Texas tradition: Shakespeare under the stars. Pack a picnic, bring a blanket, and watch The Bard (and this year Oscar Wilde) at Samuell-Grand Amphitheater with Shakespeare Dallas. Both shows opened in June, but continue through most of July.

    Here are eight shows local shows, listed in order of start date:

    The Importance of Being Earnest
    Shakespeare Dallas, through July 18 extended to July 26
    This witty romantic comedy by Oscar Wilde, first performed in 1895, tells the story of two men who assume the identities of a fictional man named Ernest. This leads them to each fall in love and encounter an assortment of comical problems along the way.

    Othello
    Shakespeare Dallas, through July 20
    In this Shakespearean tragedy, Othello is at the peak of his powers: not only Venice's greatest general but also husband to the noble and beautiful Desdemona. But he does not know that in passing over his servant Iago for promotion, he has created a deadly but brilliant enemy. This production is set in an alternate-history version of the 1990s in which the Venetian empire is the predominant political, military, and economic power.

    King Kirby
    American Chronicle Theatre Co., July 4-12
    This is the story of Jack "King of Comics" Kirby. The play follows him from the tough Jewish ghetto of Hell’s Kitchen in New York, to the harrowing battlefields of Normandy during WWII, to tense Senate hearings in the 1950s. Watch as he creates some of the most iconic heroes in pop culture: Captain America, Thor, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Iron Man, the New Gods, and countless others.

    Your Wife’s Dead Body
    Second Thought Theatre, July 9-26
    Written by Second Though Theatre artistic associate Jenny Ledel in her playwriting premiere, the play takes place in the near future, as Jane takes advantage of a new AI technology that would extend her lifespan ... even if she's not around to see it for herself.

    The Wiz
    Broadway at the Bass, July 15-20
    This all-new production of the groundbreaking, Tony Award-winning musical returns “home” in an all-new pre-Broadway tour, the first one in 40 years. The groundbreaking twist on The Wizard of Oz changed the face of Broadway, from its iconic score packed with soul, gospel, rock, and finger-snapping '70s funk to its stirring tale of Dorothy’s journey to find her place in a contemporary world.

    Noises Off
    Mainstage Irving-Las Colinas, July 18-August 2
    This play-within-a-play captures a touring theater troupe’s production of Nothing On in three stages: dress rehearsal, the opening performance, and a performance towards the end of a debilitating run. Playwright Michael Frayn gives a window into the inner workings of theatre behind-the-scenes, progressing from flubbed lines and missed cues in the dress rehearsal to mounting friction between cast members in the final performance.

    Everybody's Talking About Jamie
    Uptown Players, July 18-August 3
    Inspired by true events, this musical tells the inspiring story of Jamie New, a 16-year-old boy from Sheffield who dreams of becoming a drag queen. His loving mom showers him with endless support but it's not all rainbows for Jamie as his deadbeat dad and some ignorant school kids attempt to rain on his sensational aspirations.

    Shucked
    Broadway at the Bass, July 29-August 3
    This Tony Award-winning musical comedy features a book by Tony Award winner Robert Horn, a score by the Grammy Award-winning songwriting team of Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, and direction by Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien. The corn-fed, corn-bred American musical is sure to satisfy an appetite for great musical theater.

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