Theater Critic Picks
These are the 9 must-see shows in Dallas-Fort Worth theater for August
Cinderella opens Lyric Stage's 30th season.
It's some of the best scheduling ever to have Frozen playing in Texas during August. Like, we just really needed that, you know?
But there's more than just ice princesses this month! There are regular princesses, princes, dukes, Mormons, vampires, and a dude named Josh, all onstage in air-conditioned theaters and ready to entertain you.
In order of start date, here are nine local shows to watch this month:
Crowns of Power: Henry IV
Junior Players, August 1-6
Set in a kingdom plagued with rebellion, treachery, and shifting alliances in the period following the deposition of King Richard II, the two parts of Henry IV focus especially on the development of Prince Hal (later Henry V) from wastrel to ruler rather than on the title character. Produced in collaboration with Shakespeare Dallas.
The Book of Mormon
Broadway Dallas, August 1-6
This nine-time Tony Award-winning Best Musical is an outrageous comedy that follows the misadventures of a mismatched pair of missionaries, sent halfway across the world to spread the Good Word.
As You Like It
Fair Assembly, August 3-13
“All the world’s a stage,” and when at court, Celia and Rosalind know their parts. But when the two young cousins are unexpectedly thrust into exile in the Forest of Arden, the disguises they adopt allow the women to write roles of their own. Far from the death sentence intended by the usurping Duke Frederick, banishment into the Forest of Arden becomes an opportunity for rebirth — a place for the exiled to discover themselves, find (and test) true love, and ultimately seek redemption us adventure for all those daring enough to venture into the forest.
Let the Right One In
Outcry Theatre, August 4-13
Oskar is a bullied, lonely teenage boy living with his mother on a housing estate at the edge of town when a spate of sinister killings rock the neighborhood. Eli is the young girl who has just moved in next door. She doesn’t go to school and never leaves the flat by day. Sensing in each other a kindred spirit, the two become devoted friends. What Oskar doesn’t know is that Eli has been a teenager for a very long time.
The Homecoming
Auriga Productions, August 4-26
One of Pinter’s earliest plays is a comedy of menace, concerning a family of four men living all together but who are all alone. When the eldest son returns home after six years with a wife whom no one else has met, the family must come to grips with the hidden truths that have infected their relationships for decades.
Frozen
Broadway at the Bass, August 10-20
Frozen features the songs you know and love from the original Oscar-winning film, plus an expanded score with a dozen new numbers by the film’s songwriters, Oscar winner Kristen Anderson-Lopez and EGOT winner Robert Lopez. An unforgettable theatrical experience filled with sensational special effects, stunning sets and costumes, and powerhouse performances, Frozen is everything you want in a musical.
One Year in Egypt
Bishop Arts Theatre Center, August 10-27
This world premiere details the journey of writer and Oak Cliff native Camika Spencer during her first time abroad as a middle school ESL teacher in Al Giza, Egypt, the same year she turned 50.
Cinderella
Lyric Stage, August 24-27
Lyric Stage opens its 30th season with the 2013 adaptation of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella that had a successful run on Broadway, one of the last remains R & H titles that Lyric has yet to produce. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s enchanting adaptation of the timeless fairytale brings new spirit to the story of a young woman forced into servitude who dreams of – and achieves – a better life. The musical features some of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s most beloved songs, including “In My Own Little Corner,” “Impossible,” and “Ten Minutes Ago.”
The Other Josh Cohen
Circle Theatre, August 24-September 16
Josh Cohen just can’t get a break. He’s single, broke, and to top it all off, his apartment’s been robbed of everything but a Neil Diamond CD. Soon though, his luck takes a turn when a mysterious envelope arrives that changes his life forever. Thus begins the hilarious and quirky romantic comedy about a good guy caught in a lifelong battle with bad luck, making its regional premiere at Circle Theatre.
