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 news

Dallas' Theatre Three asks public for urgent help to keep lights on

Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 Off Broadway.

Photo by Chad Batka

"Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812" ran Off Broadway.

A longtime Dallas theater company is asking for urgent help. Theatre Three (T3) has made a plea to the community for $200,000 in donations to stay in business.

In a Facebook post on May 13, they say, "Without immediate and substantial help from our community, we will be forced to close our doors."

They say they've suffered several years' worth of financial hardships, including effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and more recently, cuts in arts funding.

The post says, in part:

"For 64 years, Theatre Three has been a cornerstone of Dallas’ creative spirit — bringing bold, innovative productions to life and showcasing the extraordinary talent of our local artists, designers, and creatives. We have been an intimate stage for everyone. But now, we face the greatest challenge in our history.

"After mourning the loss of our beloved Jac Alder, and then, under the leadership of the incredible Jeffrey Schmidt, surviving the immense toll of the COVID-19 pandemic, we find ourselves once again at a significant crossroads. The ongoing erosion of support for the arts has dealt a devastating blow to our funding ...

Our goal is $200,000. This is not the news we want to share, but it is news that we believe you all would want to know."

The post is signed by board members Jessica Turner Waugh, Suzanne Burkhead, Rosa Medina-Cristobal, Scott T. Williams, Robert McCollum, Harrison Herndon, David G. Luther, Mia Glogau, and Jon Collins.

Donations, they say, will help support local artists, staff and creatives to produce their next show, Xanadu; counter the rising costs of rent, insurance, and production; and allow them to retain staff.

"We know times are tough. But we also know what this theater and its people mean to our city and to the generations who have found meaning, joy, and belonging within its walls," they say. "And that is why we are making this urgent plea. Help us preserve this Dallas institution."

They end the post with a link to their donation page: https://www.theatre3dallas.com/support/.

T3's black-box theater Theatre Too's final show of the season is The Mystery of Irma Vep, a fast-paced and campy parody that is on stage now through May 18.

Theatre Three will close out its current season with Xanadu, a high-energy, roller-skating extravaganza that brings the 1980 cult film to life. Douglas Carter Beane is behind the hilarious book, and music and lyrics are by John Farrar and Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) founding member Jeff Lynne. It is set to run June 5-July 6, 2025.

In addition to a full season of mainstage productions, Theatre Three offers additional programs for the community throughout the year.

Monday Night Playwright features unique and affordable opportunities for local writers to showcase their works. Fight Night provides the community and artists alike with movement and other physical skills through monthly stage combat classes.

The Norma Young Advanced Acting Lab, a collaboration with Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, is in its fifth year. Students have access to masterclasses hosted by industry professionals and exclusive insight on the professional production process at Theatre Three, then the course concludes with a professionally produced showcase.

Theatre Three is located at 2688 Laclede St. in the Quadrangle in Uptown Dallas. For more information in productions and programs, visit their website.

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Lindsey Wilson contributed to this story.

closings theatre three fundraisers theater