Theater Critic Picks

Here are the 16 must-see shows in Dallas-Fort Worth theater for October

Travel back to the 1980s for "Reunion '85."

Photo courtesy of ATTPAC

Yes, I know, 13 shows would have been better but there's just too much great theater happening right now in DFW (plus, look forward to another theater round-up that's strictly spooky, coming soon).

From big musical tours like Company and Beetlejuice to local shows about wrestling, the Constitution, and the unusual folks you encounter during late-night grocery runs, there's a lot going on.

In order of start date, here are 16 local shows to watch this month:

Home
Jubilee Theatre, through October 27
Set in the rural South during the civil rights era, the play follows Cephus Miles, a young African American man who leaves his hometown in search of adventure and opportunity, only to discover that home is where the heart truly lies.

Company
Broadway at the Bass, October 1-6
It’s Bobbie’s 35th birthday party, and all her friends keep asking, “Why isn’t she married? Why can’t she find the right man, and isn’t it time to settle down and start a family?” As Bobbie searches for answers in this Stephen Sondheim and George Furth musical, she discovers why being single, being married, and being alive in the 21st-century could drive a person crazy.

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity
Circle Theatre, October 3-26
Macedonio Guerra (“Mace”), a Puerto Rican wrestling fanatic (and “jobber” in the ring), finds himself teamed up with Vigneshwar Paduar (“VP”), a Brooklynite of Indian descent. The two have found a unique bond and ambition to fight together, wrestling for fun and for funds. In an electrifying turn of events, they are picked up and cast as “terrorists” in the ring. The crowd revels in this narrative, forcing audience members to pick up the pieces.

Carrie the Musical
Theatre Three, October 3-November 3
Based on the novel by Stephen King and adapted from the cult classic film of the same name, Carrie the Musical features a powerful score and dramatic storytelling in its exploration of vengeance, empowerment, and the supernatural. A co-production with SMU Meadows School of the Arts.

Hazards
ATTPAC Elevator Project, October 11-13
Artists Sans Frontières unveils the harrowing journeys of refugees, asylum-seekers, and individuals forcibly displaced by conflict, violence, and natural disasters through filmic vignettes of compelling choreography, dynamic visual projection, and cinematic music composition.

Tales from Late Night Kroger
Pegasus Theatre, October 11-26
Based on a series of Facebook posts by the late Bruce R. Coleman, this play is about his encounters with a motley bunch of characters when he would shop late at night at the Oak Lawn Kroger.

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella
Casa Mañana, October 11-27
The musical adaptation of the classic fairy tale includes music, an enchanted pumpkin, and a glass slipper or two. When her wicked stepmother forbids it, Cinderella must find a way to attend the ball and meet Prince Charming; luckily, her Fairy Godmother has plenty of spells up her sleeve.

The Amazing, Fabulous, and Spectacular Untruths of Juan Garcia
Amphibian Stage, October 11-November 3
He’s got looks that kill, charm for days, and absolutely no grip on reality. Juan Garcia has returned to his hometown of Oaxaca, armed with grand tales and big dreams of becoming the city’s biggest celebrity. Watch as he weaves a tapestry of tall tales and misadventures, aiming to impress (and possibly confuse) everyone, particularly the lady of his misguided affections. As bills pile up and tired servants reach their limit, the stage is set for a comedy of errors that even Juan can’t lie his way out of.

Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors
Dallas Theater Center, October 11-November 3
This laugh-out-loud, gender-bending romp is what happens when you take Bram Stoker’s legendary story and put it into a blender with Mel Brooks, Monty Python, and The 39 Steps.

Metamorphosis
Hip Pocket Theatre, October 11-November 3
The theater's season ends with a true classic from the mind of Franz Kafka. Break free from your stone-built sarcophagus, crawl amongst the carcasses, and watch restless dreams turn to waking nightmares.

Hang
Second Thought Theatre, October 16-November 2
A crime has been committed. The victim has a choice to make. The criminal is waiting. Hang is a shattering new play about one woman’s unspeakable decision.

What the Constitution Means to Me
Stage West, October 17-November 3
Earnest and polite high-schooler Heidi put herself through college by winning debates about the Constitution. Now an adult, she revisits her teenage self to trace the generational impact America’s founding document has had on her life. Civic duty is on full display as this witty and interactive new play builds to a live debate between Heidi and an actual teen, allowing “we the people” to decide how to move forward.

Patches: A Black Gay Man's Journey to the Moon
Bishop Arts Theatre Center, October 18-27
This captivating theatrical experience seamlessly blends poetry, music, performance, and storytelling to take audiences through a day-long date between two black men, exploring deep and heartfelt conversations about race, identity, sexual orientation, love, and intimacy.

Khan!!! The Musical! A Parody Trek-tacular
MusicalWriters.com, October 24-November 3
In 2366, Data the android presents his musical comedy version of The Wrath of Khan with a cast of virtual actors on the Holodeck. A campy show-within-a-show ensues where the bloodthirsty Khan vows revenge on a washed-up James T. Kirk, and Data, portraying multiple roles, learns a thing or two about life along the way.

Reunion '85
AT&T Performing Arts Center, October 23-27
Welcome to your reunion: Choose a name tag, grab a drink, and let the good times rock ‘n’ roll as you reunite with old "classmates" in a nostalgic celebration filled with comedy, scrunchies, dancing, shoulder pads, and a bodacious live band playing the gnarliest chart-topping hits of the 1980s.

Beetlejuice
Broadway at the Bass, October 29-November 3
Based on Tim Burton’s dearly beloved film, this hilarious musical tells the story of Lydia Deetz, a strange and unusual teenager whose whole life changes when she meets a recently deceased couple and a demon with a thing for stripes.

musicals national tour beetlejuice carrie dracula cinderella star trek theater

Season Announcement

'Come find your people' in Echo Theatre Dallas' 2025 season

Photo by Joan Marcus

A scene from the Off-Broadway production of Catch As Catch Can.

The theme for Echo Theatre's 2025 season is family, with the tagline "Come find your people." Echo, if you need a reminder, is the Dallas-based company that solely produces plays written by women-plus.

"We recognize the limiting nature of the binary use of the word 'woman,'" the company explains on its website. "We use the term 'women-plus' to include an expansive and diverse array of people, including those born female, those who identify as women, and those who are gender non-conforming."

“This season, my thoughts have turned to family in all its forms,” says artistic director Kateri Cale. “Every person experiences generations of family expectations, judgements, competitions, celebrations, and disappointments, over and over again. If we're lucky, we experience the fierce love of family too.”

First up is the regional premiere of Catch as Catch Can by Mia Chung.

Double-cast across gender, generation, and race and set in a blue-collar New England town, the drama follows two families — the Irish-American Phelans and the Italian-American Lavecchias — as the prodigal son returns home for a holiday gathering. Two off-stage characters, who are Korean and Korean-American, impact the families as they face the weight of generational expectations.

“With Catch as Catch Can, I wanted the audience’s experience of what they’re watching to mirror that felt by the characters; the character doubling articulates and enhances the propulsion of the play," says Chung in a release about the play's Off-Broadway debut in 2022. "I believe in performance, I believe in the actor’s capacity to inhabit a character to the extent that an audience may stop seeing that the actor is a man, or is Asian, or is 30 years younger than the role they’re playing. The cognitive dissonance is by design.”

It runs February 3-March 8, 2025, at the Bath House Cultural Center.

Next is OPEN by Crystal Skillman, a queer love story told by an amateur magician, presented during Pride Month.

A woman called the Magician presents myriad tricks for our entertainment, yet her performance seems to be attempting the impossible: to save the life of her partner, Jenny. But is our faith in her illusions enough to rewrite the past? The clock is ticking, the show must go on, and, as impossible as it may seem, this Magician’s act may be our last hope against a world filled with intolerance and hate.

It runs June 6-21, 2025, at the Bath House Cultural Center.

Last is El Rey del Pollo, a world-premiere "nuevo comedy" by Anna Skidis Vargas that the playwright describes as "a Shakespearean telenovela that’s loosely based on King Lear, but it’s a lot shorter and a lot sillier."

Reymundo Lear is about to retire from his fried chicken empire, and he is leaving everything to his three daughters. But things aren’t as easy as they seem. Cordelia gets disinherited, and Gisela and Raquel hike the prices. El Rey del Pollo features a hungry old man, essential oils, a giant chicken suit, and all the family drama you can eat.

It runs September 11-27, 2025, at the Bath House Cultural Center.

The Echo Reads free play readings will continue next year, and are scheduled for the months of March, April, May and September, October, November.

Season tickets are on sale now at echotheatre.org. Single tickets will be available at a later date.

A fun fact about Echo Theatre productions: Up to 10 free tickets are set aside for every performance and given out on a first-come, first-served basis. Patrons must email the box office directly at reservations@echotheatre.org to participate.

echo theatre theater