In tune with the times

Dallas Symphony takes shows on the road with 16-foot mobile concert truck

If audiences can't go to Dallas Symphony Orchestra concerts this holiday season, the orchestra will haul the concerts to them. A mobile venue called The Concert Truck will take up residency with the DSO, rolling out small pop-up shows around the city through mid-December.

The concerts will be a collaboration among DSO musicians, members of other arts organizations (including Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing Arts, Dallas Theater Center, and Dallas Black Dance Theatre), and concert pianists Susan Zhang and Nick Luby.

Zhang and Luby founded The Concert Truck in 2016 as a mobile concert stage that could take classical chamber music directly to communities. According to their website, they converted a 16-foot box truck into a fully functioning concert hall on wheels, complete with lights, sound system, and piano. The truck won Most Original Idea in Social Enterprise in the 2018 Johns Hopkins University Business Plan Competition.

The founders take the truck all over the the country, performing alone and with other musicians at a range of venues, according to a release. This fall, they've partnered with The Kennedy Center’s Washington National Opera, University of South Carolina, and more.

Zhang and Luby will perform in all of the upcoming Dallas shows.

“Our musicians have been wonderful to volunteer to play chamber music around the city. Since May they have done more than 80 appearances in many different locations,” says Kim Noltemy, Ross Perot President & CEO of the Dallas Symphony, in a release. “As the weather has gotten cooler, we looked for a way to continue this music-making, and we found The Concert Truck."

Dallas-area concerts will be held outdoors in both traditional and nontraditional venues, including Neiman Marcus Garden at NorthPark Center, The Sound at Cypress Water, and UT Southwestern Medical. Audiences and performers will be able to maintain a safe distance while enjoying live performances, the DSO assures.

Each concert will last 45 to 60 minutes and will be free to attend.

"This will be an incredible method for the DSO to perform outside the Meyerson in a very professional manner," Noltemy says. "We are delighted to be able to share the stage, literally, with our colleague arts groups in Dallas and take the show on the road to our audiences around the city. We are so thankful to Susan and Nick for the vision and idea to create this innovative mobile stage.”

Here's the current Concert Truck pop-up concert schedule, with more details and locations to come, they say. Pianists Zhang and Luby will perform at all events. (Other artists and locations are subject to change.)

Keep up with the truck’s location at mydso.com.

Saturday, November 21: The Potter’s House Church
Members of the DSO

Sunday, November 22 at 2 pm: The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
Members of the DSO

Monday, November 23 at 6:30 pm: Medical City Dallas Hospital
Members of the DSO

Wednesday, December 2 at 5:30 pm: The Ronald McDonald House
Members of the DSO

Thursday, December 3-Friday, December 4 at 6 pm: Neiman Marcus Garden at NorthPark Center
Members of the DSO

Saturday, December 5 at 3 pm: The Sound at Cypress Water
Susan Zhang and Nick Luby, piano

Sunday, December 6 at 4 pm: Neiman Marcus Garden at NorthPark Center
Members of the DSO

Tuesday, December 8 at 3:30 pm: Booker T. Washington HSPVA
BTW Students

Wednesday, December 9 at 12 pm: UT Southwestern Medical – Clements Hospital
Members of the DSO

Wednesday, December 9 at 5:30 pm: Klyde Warren Park
Members of Dallas Theater Center's Diane and Hal Brierley Resident Acting Company with Members of the DSO

Thursday, December 10 at 6 pm: HALL Arts Hotel – Urban Garden
Members of the DSO

Friday, December 11 at 3:30 pm: Booker T. Washington HSPVA
BTW Students

Friday, December 11 at 6 pm: Klyde Warren Park
Members of the DSO

Saturday, December 12 at 12:30 pm – Location TBC
Members of Dallas Theater Center's Diane and Hal Brierley Resident Acting Company with Members of the DSO

Sunday, December 13 at 12 pm: The Nasher Sculpture Center
Members of the DSO

Sunday, December 13 at 3:30 pm: Meyerson Symphony Center
Dallas Black Dance Theatre's DBDT: Encore! with Members of the DSO

Monday, December 14 at 10:30 am: Greiner Middle School
Members of the DSO

Tuesday, December 15 at 9 am: Eduardo Mata Elementary School
Members of the DSO

Wednesday, December 16 at 3 pm: The Landon at Lake Highlands
Members of the DSO

Thursday, December 17 at 2 pm: Methodist Hospital Dallas
Members of the DSO

Thursday, December 17 at 7 pm: St. Paul United Methodist (with caroling)
Singers from St. Paul Choir with Members of the DSO

Friday, December 18: Trinity Basin Prep School, Ledbetter Campus
Members of the DSO

Friday, December 18 at 6 pm: Klyde Warren Park
Members of the DSO

The Concert Truck is a 16-foot box truck converted into a fully functioning mobile concert hall.

Photo courtesy of Dallas Symphony Orchestra

The Concert Truck is a 16-foot box truck converted into a fully functioning mobile concert hall.

concerts symphony music

Theater Critic Picks

Here are the 12 must-see shows in Dallas-Fort Worth theater for November

Undermain Theatre presents Exit the King

Photo by Paul Semrad

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Grocery and department stores might want us to believe it's already the holidays, but at least local theater companies are (mostly) holding off until around Thanksgiving.

November starts with absurdism, moves along to a movie-turned-Broadway musical, and even throws a creepy thriller in the mix before it's time for Grinches, Scrooges, and Charlie Brown's sad Christmas tree.

In order of start date, here are 12 local shows to watch this month:

Exit the King
Undermain Theatre, through November 24
Eugène Ionesco’s absurdist comedy is set in the crumbling throne room of the palace in an unnamed country, where King Berenger the First has only the duration of the play to live. Once, it seemed he ruled over an immense empire and commanded great armies; now his kingdom has shrunk to the confines of his garden wall. Refusing to accept his end, he is attended by his present and former Queens, who must help him face the final inevitable truth of life.

Patti & Theo
Ochre House Theatre, November 2-23
The dark comedy with music that's written and directed by artistic director Matthew Posey returns. Patti and Theo are struggling artists in Brooklyn, New York. They are big boozers, and time will tell if the Drinking Religion outlives them. Song, music, and shadow play highlight this story of two lovers who hold each other passionately at arm’s length.

Mrs. Doubtfire
Broadway at the Bass, November 5-10
Everyone’s favorite Scottish nanny comes to Fort Worth in the musical based on the beloved film, which tells the hysterical and heartfelt story of an out-of-work actor who will do anything for his kids.

The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe
WaterTower Theatre, November 6-17
Jane Wagner’s ever-timely one-woman show examines American society, art, and human connectivity, and explores the feminist movement. As one actor transforms into a series of other archetypal characters, they become the play’s guiding conscience for the audience. Under the guidance of the narrator, a role originated by Lily Tomlin, the audience is treated to a mischievously clever observer of the society around her.

A Tuna Christmas
Casa Mañana, November 9-17
It's 24 hours before Christmas and all comic hell is about to break loose. Tuna’s delightfully eccentric characters attempt to cope with seasonal traumas, like a disaster-prone production of A Christmas Carol and a yard-decorating contest that’s being sabotaged by a mysterious Christmas phantom.

Sleuth
Theatre Three, November 14-December 15
A cunning mystery writer, Andrew Wyke, invites his wife's lover, Milo Tindle, to his secluded English manor, setting off a deadly game of manipulation and deceit. As the tension rises, surprising twists keep the audience guessing the dramatic end. Presented in the Theatre Too space.

Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical
Performing Arts Fort Worth, November 19-24
Max the Dog narrates as the mean and scheming Grinch, whose heart is "two sizes too small," decides to steal Christmas away from the holiday-loving Whos.

A Charlie Brown Christmas
Dallas Children's Theater, November 23-December 22
Discover the meaning of Christmas — or experience the nostalgia of childhood — while sharing laughs with the Peanuts Gang along the way. As a live combo fills hearts with music, merriment, and warmth, the story based on the Charles Schulz classic special is here just in time for the holidays.

Forever Plaid: Plaid Tidings
Lyric Stage, November 29-December 22
The holiday classic by Stewart Ross opens Lyric Stage's 31st season. At first, Francis, Jinx, Smudge, and Sparky aren't sure why they've returned to Earth for another posthumous performance, but a phone call from the heavenly Rosemary Clooney lets them know that they're needed to put a little harmony into a discordant world.

The Play That Goes Wrong
Stage West, November 29-December 22
At opening night of The Murder at Haversham Manor, things are quickly going from bad to horrible. With an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can’t play dead, and actors who trip over everything (including their lines), the whole evening is a disastrous smash.

A Christmas Carol
Dallas Theater Center, November 29-December 28
Three spirits have come to visit the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge and take him on a fantastic journey through Christmases past, present, and future. Brimming with joyful songs, magical spirits, and holiday cheer, this holiday classic embodies a story of joy, redemption, and the spirit of Christmas.

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812
Theatre Three, November 29-December 29
The vibrant musical spectacle set in 19th-century Russia, and based on a 70-page segment of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, lets romance and intrigue unfold amid glittering ballrooms and tumultuous relationships. Its score features a unique blend of electro-pop and Russian folk-inspired music.

musicals opening plays theater