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    Summer arts planner

    Standing ovation for the 11 can't-miss arts events of summer 2023 in Dallas-Fort Worth

    Stephanie Allmon Merry
    May 31, 2023 | 1:48 pm

    Arts calendars usually have more blank spaces throughout the summer. Musicians play festivals in far-flung places (or take much-needed vacations), museums focus on family-friendly camps and programs to entertain kiddos, and most performing arts organizations gear up for their season debuts in the fall. But this summer, one of the most highly anticipated art events of the year kicks off mid-July. Also, a local museum hops on the biggest concert tour of the year; the best teenage pianists on the planet compete note-for-note; and pop-up concerts and dance festivals remind us that great performances can be staged anywhere.

    Here are the 11 can't-miss arts events of summer 2023 in Dallas-Fort Worth. (Find even more arts events, including touring musicals and gallery offerings, in the calendar on our site).

    Visual Arts
    Note: Several DFW museums currently are showing big exhibitions that will remain open into the summer. Find out more about a few of them here.

    Meow Wolf: The Real Unreal
    Opening July 14 at Grapevine Mills

    The buzziest art event of the summer is Meow Wolf, an immersive experience that's been a sensation since it opened in Santa Fe. The first Texas edition (or "portal," as they call it), dubbed "The Real Unreal," promises to take guests on a journey through a Technicolor wonderland that blends more than 30 rooms' worth of storytelling, technology, and immersive art - much of it created by local artists. (Read more about what to expect in this story.) In addition to the exhibition, The Real Unreal will also include a cafe featuring 15 food purveyors, retail store, and venue for live events. Meow Wolf will be open at 10 am daily beginning July 14. (Hours may vary.) Tickets are now available for pre-purchase starting at $50 for general admission ($45 for children). Pre-booking a time slot for entry is required.

    "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour Collection"
    June 3-September 24 at Arlington Museum of Art
    Fresh off her sold-out three-night "Eras Tour" stand at AT&T Stadium this spring, the nearby Arlington Museum of Art dedicates an entire summer exhibition to Taylor Swift. In collaboration with the HELP Center for LGBT Health & Wellness, "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour Collection" will feature items from Swift’s private collection. Visitors will be able to experience her journey as an artist and view outfits, photographs, and concert videos from the “eras” of her life and career. Highlights of the collection are eight iconic costumes from four of Swift’s albums. Tickets run $5-$20.

    In conjunction with this exhibition, the museum also will present "Girl in a Country Song: Women of Country Music," featuring intimate portraits of such female country music legends as Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Faith Hill, Tanya Tucker, LeAnn Rimes, and others. They'll also open "Hometown Harmonies," which includes personal memorabilia from three women whose musical careers began on the stages of Arlington: Mickey Guyton, Kirstin Maldonado, and Maren Morris.

    Classical Music

    Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition
    June 8-17 at SMU's Caruth Auditorium and the Meyerson Symphony Center
    The Cliburn will present the third Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival, featuring 24 of the best 13- to 17-year-old pianists on the planet. Through four rounds of competition, including a final round with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the elite young artists will showcase their virtuosity and musicality. Preliminary, Quarterfinal, and Semifinal Round performances (solo recitals) will take place at Caruth Auditorium. The Final Round concert moves to the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, where three finalists will play a full concerto with the DSO, conducted by Valentina Peleggi. Admission is free-$25 for preliminary rounds; $38-$98 for final round. The entire event will be webcast here.

    Outdoor symphonic concerts (ongoing)
    Summer symphonic concerts lighten up a bit, with more pop-style fare in fun outdoor settings. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents a series of Parks Concerts, which are family-friendly, free, and staged at parks across the city. Remaining performances are June 1 at Exall Park; June 6 at Campbell Green Park; June 8 at Kidd Springs Park; and June 13 at Paul Quinn College. The DSO's popular Concert Truck is also zipping around town, presenting free pop-up concerts in more than 30 locations through June 11. The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra's annual Concerts in the Garden series at Fort Worth Botanic Garden runs on weekends through June 11, and each performance ends with a new sparkly extra, a drone show.

    Ballet BC
      
    Photo by Michael Slobodian

    TITAS/Dance Unbound presents Ballet BC at the Winspear.

    Mimir Chamber Music Festival
    July 5-14
     at TCU and Kimbell Art Museum
    While the big chamber music presenters prep for their fall seasons, summer chamber music cravings are fulfilled by this renowned festival, now in its 26th year. Acclaimed professional musicians are joined by emerging artists for a series of concerts that span more than a week. Among the big names joining the roster this year are Japanese pianist Rieko Aizawa, two-time Grammy nominated violinist Jesse Mills, and the rare billing of both Canadian pianist Lucille Chung and her husband, DFW fan-favorite pianist Alessio Bax. More information is here, and tickets will go on sale in June.

    Dance

    Titas/Unbound presents Ballet BC
    June 9 at Winspear Opera House
    Bold, innovative and uniquely great, Ballet British Columbia is an internationally acclaimed Canadian contemporary dance company. It is rare to find a company where just everything works; vision, dancers, repertory, say press materials. The program includes Crystal Pite’s The Statement, as well as Garden by Medhi Walerski and Bedroom Folk by Sharon Eyal & Gai Behar. Tickets are $12-$135.

    Ballet Concerto: Summer Dance Concert
    June 22-25 at The Shops at Clearfork
    Now, remarkably, in its 41st year, the annual summer showcase isn't slowing down. Three ballets are planned for each night of performances. Spanish dance king Luis Montero will return to restage his Andalusian Suite, which was world premiered at Ballet Concerto’s 1997 Summer Dance Concert. The programs will also Irish Suite with choreography by Dennis Spaight (restaged by Associate Artistic Director Webster Dean) and Dream On with choreography by Elise Lavallee. Performances begin at 8:30 pm and are free to attend on the lawn, or $75 and up for reserved table seating. Make a night of it by pre-ordering food from nearby Rise or B&B Butchers and pick it up at the event tent on the lawn. More information here.

    Modern Dance Festival at The Modern
    July 22-23, 29-30 at The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
    Presented by Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth in collaboration with the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the 17th edition of the festival will celebrate the exhibition Robert Motherwell: Pure Painting and CD/FW’s “Thirty-Something” anniversary. A series of live performances of dance and music will be inspired by the exhibition and dedicated to the memory of Jerry Bywaters Cochran, who founded the modern dance program at TCU and was a pioneer for modern dance in North Texas. Performances take place at 2 pm in the Grand Lobby and are free to watch.

    Theater

    Next to Normal
    June 1-July 2 at Theatre Three
    The Goodman family is just a “normal” family: Dad's an architect, mom packs lunches and makes birthday cakes, and their daughter and son are bright, wise-cracking teens. Under the surface, their family is anything but. Next to Normal is an emotionally charged Tony-Award winning musical that explores a family’s raw and emotional journey with a mother struggling with chronic bipolar disorder as they navigate a world of therapists and medication. Tickets are $37-$40.

    Miss Saigon with Lou Diamond Phillips
    June 3-11 at Casa Manana
    A tragedy of passion and beauty, Miss Saigon is one of the most stunning theatrical spectacles of all time. The musical takes audiences on emotional journey. In the turmoil of the Vietnam War, Chris, an American soldier, and Kim, a Vietnamese girl, fall in love and marry but are distressingly separated when Saigon falls. As years pass, Chris remarries and attempts to move on with his life. Kim, however, gives birth to Chris’ son and waits faithfully for Chris’ return. When circumstances bring Chris back to Vietnam, he learns the truth. (This show is suitable for mature audiences.) Legendary actor Lou Diamond Phillips returns to Texas to star as The Engineer. Tickets start at $59.

    Uptown Players presents Chicken & Biscuits
    July 28-Aug 13 at Kalita Humphreys Theater
    Written by Douglas Lyons, Chicken & Biscuits follows rivaling sisters, Baneatta and Beverly, as they try to bury their father without killing each other. This proves difficult, when Beverly shows up to the chapel with all her “blessings” on display. Baneatta’s husband tries to mediate the family drama while preparing Bernard’s eulogy. Baneatta’s son intentionally brings his neurotic white Jewish boyfriend along, knowing Baneatta disapproves. All while Beverly’s nosy daughter keeps asking questions no one wants to answer. But when a family secret reveals itself at the altar, the two sisters are faced with a truth that could either heal, or break them. The show recently had a run on Broadway and now closes Uptown Players' season. Tickets are $35-$60.

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    Season Announcement

    Dallas Theater Center finds rhythm and rhyme in 2025-26 season

    Lindsey Wilson
    Apr 2, 2025 | 5:31 pm
    Ragtime at City Center Encores
    Photo by Joan Marcus
    "Ragtime" was recently staged in New York by City Center Encores.

    The 2025-26 season for Dallas Theater Center is a mix of classic and new, large and small, and it even raises the curtain on more collaborations with the Tony Award-winning regional theater.

    This season includes the launch of a three-year partnership between Dallas Theater Center and Stage West Theatre in Fort Worth, as well as a multi-year partnership with SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts and the Sexton Institute for Musical Theatre. An ongoing collaboration continues with TheatreSquared in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and DTC will newly partner with Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra on a concert to be performed at Bass Performance Hall featuring FWSO, conducted by Robert Spano, and actors from DTC’s Brierley Resident Acting Company, directed by DTC's executive director Kevin Moriarty.

    “Collaboration is at the heart of DTC’s mission,” Moriarty says. “It’s wonderful to join with TheaterSquared to support Jonathan Norton’s brilliant playwriting and introduce his work to a national audience. Further, by partnering with Stage West Theatre, SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts and the Sexton Institute for Musical Theatre, and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, we are able to expand opportunities for artists, introduce new audience members to the arts, and enrich our artistry. I’m grateful to be surrounded by so many talented, visionary artists and arts leaders here in North Texas and honored to be partnering with them this season.”

    “In curating Dallas Theater Center’s 2025-26 season, I chose to follow my mission as a playwright, which is to break down barriers through the shared joy of great storytelling,” says interim artistic director Jonathan Norton. “And the five shows in our upcoming season will do just that."

    First up is the classic slapstick farce Noises Off by Michael Frayn, directed by Ashley H. White.

    This play-within-a-play plunges you into the chaotic world of Nothing’s On, a fictional touring production tormented by backstage romances and onstage blunders. From flubbed lines to slamming doors, witness the hilarious unraveling of a troupe of eccentric actors. It runs October 3-26, 2025, at the Kalita Humphreys Theater.

    Next is the Pulitzer Prize-winning Fat Ham by James Ijames, a co-production with Stage West that's directed by vickie washington.

    In this Dallas premiere of the hit Broadway comedy, Juicy’s got a lot on his plate — his mom just married his uncle. All he wants is to make his own way as a queer Black man in a Southern family. But here’s the rub: his father’s ghost just turned up at a backyard barbecue demanding vengeance. In this delicious and sizzling reinvention of Shakespeare’s masterpiece, a young man vows to break the cycles of violence in service of his own liberation and joy. It runs January 30-February 8, 2026, at the Kalita Humphreys Theater

    The regional premiere of Donnetta Lavinia Grays' Where We Stand, another co-pro with Stage West, follows.

    Directed by Akin Babatunde, Broadway actor and Dallas legend Liz Mikel plays a lone storyteller who weaves a world through music and magic — part fable, part call-and-response. Your town stands at a crossroads. A neighbor — desperate and out of options — has struck a dangerous bargain. Now, their fate lies in your hands. In this interactive play presented as a town hall gathering, the audience must choose: mercy or justice? The future of the town — and the fate of a soul — hang in the balance. This isn’t a game. It’s your choice. It runs February 27-March 22, 2026, at Bryant Hall on the Kalita Humphreys Theater campus.

    The grand, sweeping musical Ragtime will be produced in partnership with SMU and AT&T Performing Arts Center, with direction and choreography by Sexton Institute for Musical Theatre director Joel Ferrell.

    Based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow, with music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and book by Terrence McNally, the musical tells the intertwined stories of three families from different walks of life, all chasing the American Dream in 1902 New York. It runs March 27-April 19, 2026, at the Wyly Theatre.

    The world premiere of Jonathan Norton's Malcolm X and Redd Foxx Washing Dishes at Jimmy’s Chicken Shack in Harlem closes out the regular season.

    A commission by and co-production with TheatreSquared, which previously supported the development of Norton’s I AM DELIVERED’T, the play will be directed by Dexter J. Singleton. In the sweltering summer of 1943, two young men — Little & Foxy — forge an unlikely bond over leftover fried chicken and dirty dishwasher. But as the world outside erupts in chaos, their friendship is tested by betrayal, ambition, and the call of history. Inspired by a true story. It runs May 8-June 7, 2026, at the Wyly's Studio Theater.

    "There is nothing like the rejuvenating sensation of rollicking laughter spreading through packed houses at Noises Off and Fat Ham," says Norton. "Where We Stand will inspire rich conversations about forgiveness and redemption. Ragtime will send audiences home lifted by the stirring music and feeling ever more hopeful in these changing times. And Malcolm X and Redd Foxx Washing Dishes At Jimmy’s Chicken Shack in Harlem will leave you empowered with the knowledge that true friendship can change the world. I can’t wait for October, when I get to welcome audiences at the start of our new season. We will throw open our doors and become Dallas’ town hall — a place for the community to gather for conversation, celebration, and ultimately, connection.”

    There are also two add-on productions, beginning with the company's annual presentation of A Christmas Carol.

    Based on the novel by Charles Dickens, adapted by Kevin Moriarty, and directed by Alex Organ, with musical direction by Cody Dry, and choreography by Joel Ferrell, DTC's production takes audiences on a magical Christmas Eve adventure with Ebenezer Scrooge, as three otherworldly spirits whisk him away on a breathtaking journey of hope and redemption. From the nostalgic warmth of Christmases past to the stark truths of the present and the ominous shadows of the future, Scrooge's journey is a spectacle of wonder. It runs November 28-December 28, 2025, at the Wyly Theatre.

    Under the direction of Robert Spano and Kevin Moriarty, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and Dallas Theater Center collaborate to bring musical drama and theatrical intrigue center stage in the FWSO's newest "Theater of a Concert" concept: Shakespeare at the Symphony.

    Featuring Mendelssohn's Selections from A Midsummer Night's Dream and Prokofiev's Selections from Romeo and Juliet, interspersed with scenes from Shakespeare, the multi-discipline production brings The Bard to life. It runs February 27-March 1, 2026, at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth.

    DTC’s Diane and Hal Brierley Resident Acting Company members will be featured throughout the 2025-26 season. Company members include Christina Austin Lopez, Tiana Kaye Blair, Blake Hackler, Bob Hess, Liz Mikel, Alex Organ, Molly Searcy, Tiffany Solano, Sally Nysteun Vahle, Esteban Vilchez, and Zachary J. Willis.

    “The talent and collaborative spirit of my colleagues in the Brierley Resident Acting Company constantly inspires me,” Norton says. “And later this spring I look forward to announcing a new company member who will further enrich our artistry.”

    Subscriptions are available now and can be purchased at DallasTheaterCenter.org and by phone at 214-522-8499. Single tickets are not yet available.

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