Theater Critic Picks
These are the 6 can't-miss shows in Dallas-Fort Worth theater for November
Are you ready for holiday shows? Good, because they're happening, along with some world premieres and a little show called Hamilton — perhaps you've heard of it?
In order of start date, here are six local shows to watch this month:
The Supreme Leader
Dallas Theater Center, through November 21
This world premiere, written by Don X. Nguyen, is set in a boarding school in Switzerland, where Kim Jong-Un learns he’s next in line following his older brother’s career-ending trip to Tokyo Disneyland. But he must prove himself. Under the watchful eye of his minder, he sets his paintbrush aside to spy on his pretty American friend Sophie. Will “Oony” get the girl? Will he make his father proud? Set in the snow-globe world of stinky cheese and mountain climbing, this coming-of-age comedy imagines Kim Jong-Un’s final throes of youth before his fateful return to North Korea.
Cats
Broadway at the Bass, through November 21
There's no better way to introduce your family to the wonders of live theater than with the magic, the mystery, the memory of Cats. What began as a musical about cats after Andrew Lloyd Webber picked up a book of poems in an airport bookshop has become one of the longest-running shows in Broadway's history.
Hamilton
Dallas Summer Musicals, through December 5
The musical juggernaut returns to the Music Hall at Fair Park. Featuring a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B, and Broadway, Lin-Manuel Miranda has taken the story of American founding father Alexander Hamilton and created a revolutionary moment in theater — a musical that has had a profound impact on culture, politics, and education.
Sweetpea
Second Thought Theatre, through December 11
As the closing production of the 2021 season, Sweetpea will serve as STT'ss first in-person production in 18 months. After separating, a couple reconnects and decide to move back in together, introducing their pet birds to each other in the process. As the human relationship unravels, an avian romance burgeons. At once light and dark, familiar and strange, and shaded with juxtapositions between the ego and the id, Sweetpea is Janielle Kastner’s unsettling reflection on the concept of intimacy and the "absurdity" of sharing space.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Casa Mañana, November 20-December 23
The holiday classic soars off the screen in this musical adaptation. Filled with holiday hits like “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” “The Island of Misfit Toys,” “The Most Wonderful Day of the Year,” and everyone’s favorite, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” the family-friendly musical features favorite characters including Santa and Mrs. Claus, Hermey the Elf, Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster, Clarice, Yukon Cornelius and, of course, Rudolph.
A Christmas Carol
Dallas Theater Center, November 24-December 26
'Tis the season to be jolly when Dallas' favorite holiday tradition returns to the Wyly Theatre. Three spirits have come to visit the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, and to take him on a fantastic journey through Christmases past, present, and future that annually delights audiences across North Texas. But will it be enough to save Scrooge's soul?
