Theater Critic Picks

Dallas theaters light up November with fresh plays and holiday hits

Corbin Drew Ross and Nolan White in 'The Outsiders' North American tour.

Photo by Matthew Murphy

We're well into November, and for Dallas theater buffs, that means three don't-miss shows that all end this week. From there, it's a segue to the beginning of holiday season with Christmas-themed productions starting to surface in the last half of the month.

Here are 10 shows appearing in Dallas-Fort Worth theaters in November, listed in order of start date:

Libro de Los Sueños Olvidados
Ochre House Theater, through November 13
Written and directed by artistic director Matthew Posey, and in collaboration with the 2025 Dallas Flamenco Festival, this fantasy Flamenco play is about two homely sisters who steal an enchanted book of spells called The Book of Forgotten Dreams to cast a spell that will make them glamorous movie stars. Instead, they conjure a fantasy world of magical creatures, witches, and the Moon King and Queen, who own The Book of Forgotten Dreams.

Job
Teatro Dallas, through November 16
This psychological thriller zooms in on two careerists of different generations, genders, and political paradigms to examine what it means to be a citizen of the internet and our obligation to help the people who need it most.

The Outsiders
Broadway Dallas, through November 16
Winner of the 2024 Tony Award for Best Musical, The Outsiders is adapted from S.E. Hinton's seminal novel and Francis Ford Coppola's iconic film. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1967, Ponyboy Curtis, his best friend Johnny Cade, and their Greaser family of ‘outsiders’ battle with their affluent rivals, the Socs. Look out for Dallas' own 2023 HSMTA winner, Corbin Drew Ross, who plays Ponyboy's brother, Sodapop.

The Voices of Donny Hathaway
Jubilee Theatre, through November 30
This powerful play, written by Robert King Jr., brings to life the music, struggles, and brilliance of an artist whose voice defined a generation. Through a rich tapestry of Hathaway’s most beloved songs, the story explores the beauty of his genius alongside the challenges he faced, painting an intimate portrait of a man whose art continues to inspire.

Action
Undermain Theatre, through December 7
Four friends seek solace in each other's company by sharing a house over the Christmas holidays after a catastrophic event has thrown the world into chaos. This is considered to be among Sam Shepard’s most important works, and has been compared to the work of Samuel Beckett.

& Juliet
Broadway at the Bass, November 12-16
& Juliet flips the script on the greatest love story ever told and asks: What would happen next if Juliet didn’t end it all over Romeo? Her new story bursts to life through a playlist of pop anthems as iconic as her name, including “Since U Been Gone‚” “Roar,” “Baby One More Time,” “Larger Than Life‚” “That’s The Way It Is,“ and “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” Look out for Dallas' own multi-year HSMTA winner — and 2025 national winner — Fabiola Caraballo Quijada as Juliet.

Goblin Market
Theatre Three, November 13-December 7
What lived under your bed when you were a kid? This original musical probes into the sexually charged fantasies of two sisters who relive their childhood experiences in an imaginary world peopled by seductive goblins. The production is in the Theatre Too space.

A Christmas Story: The Musical
Broadway at the Center, November 21-23
From Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the songwriting team behind Dear Evan Hansen and The Greatest Showman, A Christmas Story: The Musical brings the classic 1983 movie to hilarious life onstage.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Casa Mañana, November 22-December 23
Rudolph, Hermey the Elf, Yukon Cornelius, and the Abominable Snow Monster go on an unforgettable adventure that's filled with holiday hits like “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” “The Island of Misfit Toys,” “The Most Wonderful Day of the Year,” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

A Christmas Carol
Dallas Theater Center, November 28-December 27
Blake Hackler is this year's Ebenezer Scrooge in Kevin Moriarty's adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic tale. Follow Ebenezer Scrooge’s unforgettable journey from miserliness to generosity as he encounters the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future — all in 90 minutes.

plays musicals national tour

All Eyes on Them

Dallas alt hip-hop group wins prestigious Tiny Desk Contest by NPR

Cure for Paranoia/Facebook

As winners of the Tiny Desk Contest, Cure for Paranoia will record their own Tiny Desk concert and go on tour.

Few live recording studios or musical web series have the cultural sway of NPR's Tiny Desk, and a Dallas band is poised to make an impactful debut: Cure For Paranoia, an alternative hip-hop project by rapper Cameron McCloud and producers Tomahawk Jonez and Jay Analo, has won the high-stakes annual Tiny Desk Contest for 2026.

They'll record their official Tiny Desk show "soon," the announcement by NPR says.

Winning the concert also means Cure for Paranoia is going on tour. The only Texas stop will be at Emo's Austin on June 24.

Tiny Desk is known for platforming both niche and majorly successful artists — NPR posted a new Foo Fighters set on YouTube on May 13 — for stripped-down sets that are literally played behind former All Things Considered director Bob Boilen's old desk. (Fun fact for Texans: Tiny Desk was created because folk artist Laura Gibson was disappointed with the sound at her South by Southwest show in Austin in 2008, and she wanted a redo.)

Most artists who appear on Tiny Desk more than 15 years later are already well-known, at least in their specific circles. But the Tiny Desk Contest, which launched in 2015, helps a growing group of newer, unsigned artists get their foot in the door. Contestants record one video of them performing a single song behind a desk, and a jury of radio staff and musicians chooses their favorite.

In their audition video, Cure for Paranoia gathered 11 musicians around a truly tiny desk and in front of downtown Dallas' iconic gigantic eyeball sculpture. They played the song "No Brainer," a frenetic track that starts with clever boasts and becomes a criticism of racism in the United States.

McCloud, a pre-school teacher, is known independently of Cure for Paranoia for rapping to his social media following about politics and current events. Some of those lyrics made it into "No Brainer." He says he started the group because he found that music was more helpful than medication for coping with bipolar depression and paranoid schizophrenia.

Alex Marrero, host of the Austin-based KUTX show Horizontes, was one of the judges this year. He was impressed with the visuals in Cure for Paranoia's audition.

“When this popped up, I immediately felt something different," he wrote in a blurb for the announcement. "It just jumped out. The visuals were super cool and creative, BUT I could still totally envision them bringing the heat behind the Desk.”

Madison McFerrin, jazz vocalist and daughter of the famous singer Bobby McFerrin, was one of the musical judges.

"Cure For Paranoia’s energy is infectious, fresh and distinctly theirs — exactly what you want in a Contest winner!" she wrote.

McCloud's post on Instagram announcing the group's win has only been up for three hours at the time of this article's publication, and it already has more than 8,000 likes. The YouTube audition has garnered 74,000 views.

music music video npr radio live music concerts

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All Eyes on Them

Dallas alt hip-hop group wins prestigious Tiny Desk Contest by NPR