Theater Critic Picks

These are the 10 can't-miss shows in Dallas-Fort Worth theater for December

Some theaters have decked the halls and are offering holiday fare, while others are just as happy to present shows with year-round appeal. No matter which you're drawn to, there's plenty of choice.

Here are the 10 shows to see in order by start date:

Miss Saigon
Performing Arts Fort Worth, December 3-8
The acclaimed new production of the legendary musical from the creators of Les Misérables is an epic love story of a young Vietnamese woman and an American G.I. The production features stunning spectacle, a sensational cast of 42, and a soaring score that includes Broadway hits like "Last Night of the World," "The Movie in My Mind," and "The Heat is On in Saigon."

A Dean Martin Christmas
Casa Mañana, December 4-21
Enjoy with a cup of hot chocolate, spiked or not, and celebrate the stories and songs of the "King of Cool," including "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!," "Baby It's Cold Outside," and "Marshmallow World."

Cirque Holidays
WaterTowerTheatre, December 5-22
In partnership with Lone Star Circus, WTT is celebrating the diversity of holidays from around the world through a magical collaboration of theater and circus. Featuring international stars alongside Dallas' amazing and entertaining circus talent, the show will treat audiences of all ages to incredible acts ranging from hula hoops to death-defying trapeze stunts, all tied together with a charismatic host and hilarious clowns.

Black Nativity
Bishop Arts Theatre Center, December 5-22
For 16 years, Langston Hughes' story of the birth of Christ has transformed the Bishop Arts Theatre stage into a gathering that unites artists and audiences of different ages, backgrounds, and beliefs through the heart-stirring power of song, story, and dance.

Nuncrackers a-MEN!
Uptown Players, December 6-15
Dan Goggin's Christmas musical stars the nuns you love, this time played by men, plus Father Virgil and four of Mount Saint Helen's most talented students. This show is filled with wacky Nunsense humor as the sisters tape their first TV special in the Cable Access Studio built by Reverend Mother in the convent basement.

Have Yourself a Broadway Little Christmas
Mainstage Irving-Las Colinas, December 12-14
This revue brings together your favorite holiday songs made famous through Broadway shows and movie musicals. Be swept away by hits from Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Mame, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Songs for A New World, Holiday Inn, Broadway's Elf, and many more. The evening will conclude with a holiday sing-along as well as auction and raffle opportunities.

A Christmas Carol: The Radio Show
The Classics Theatre Project, December 12-21
It was just announced that TCTP favorite B.J. Cleveland will be doing a one-person version of the classic Dickens tale, written by David Alberts. Expect lots of crazy voices and a tireless performance from one of DFW's most tireless performers.

Gold, Frankincense, and Credit Card Debt: A ~~Christmas Holiday~~ December Sketch Comedy Show
Theatre Three, December 13-28
Co-presented by Bootstraps Comedy Theatre and directed by celebrated playwright Matt Lyle, this show has Dallas-Fort Worth's funniest comedians roasting Santa’s chestnuts until they're a delicious golden brown. Topics under the microscope for this show include holiday parties, Thanksgiving, marketing speak, White Elephants gone very wrong with sexy results, Crossfit, the power of holiday music over a person's sanity, snow in Texas, and the sick, unforgivable, cute lies we tell our children.

Dreams of Icarus
Outcry Theatre, December 20-29
Directed by Becca Johnson-Spinos and starring Logan Beutel and Dylan Weand, this play is a devised work created by the actors and director based on the classic Greek myth of Icarus and Daedalus.

The Color of Death
Pegasus Theatre, December 29-January 19
The only three-act Living Black & White Hunsacker adventure, this original from Kurt Kleinmann serves up act two in Techno-Color. Harry Hunsacker, would-be actor turned would-be detective, and his paid-by-the-hour-assistant and friend Nigel Grouse are enlisted by the Army in 1944 to join forces with Lt. Foster and go undercover to infiltrate a top-secret Nazi research lab in Bavaria.

WaterTower Theatre joins with Lone Star Circus for Cirque Holidays.

WaterTower Theatre presents Cirque Holidays

Photo courtesy of Lone Star Circus

WaterTower Theatre joins with Lone Star Circus for Cirque Holidays.

openings music theater

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