Theater Critic Picks

The 12 must-see shows in Dallas-Fort Worth theater for March

Back to the Future: The Musical flies into Fair Park.

Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

Big names abound in March, and we don't just mean performers (but hello and welcome, Sutton Foster and Kelli O'Hara!).

We mean big names like Penelope, of The Odyssey fame. Blache du Bois from A Streetcar Named Desire. Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage. A score by Sara Bareilles. Les Miserables, Jekyll & Hyde, Back to the Future. Those kinds of big names.

In order of start date, here are 12 local shows to watch this month:

Ain't Misbehavin'
Circle Theatre, March 6-22
Circle’s newly renovated lobby‭ (‬coined‭ ‬“The Velvet Lounge”‭) ‬serves as the backdrop for a fully immersive experience as audiences ‬travel back in time to 1929‭ ‬with a lively production of‭ ‬Ain’t Misbehavin’‭, ‬a vibrant revue celebrating the music of Fats Waller and the exuberance of the Harlem Renaissance‭.

Penelope
Stage West, March 13-30
Done being a footnote in her husband Odysseus’ epic, Penelope is now sharing her side of the story. With genre-bending songs, mythic storytelling, and backed by a band doubling as her Greek chorus, Penelope transforms the tale you thought you knew into a solo cabaret act like no other. Grab a drink as she weaves an intimately explosive musical love letter to all those who wait, and hope that the wait’s end is just over the horizon.

Les Misérables
Broadway at the Bass, March 18-23
Set against the backdrop of 19th century France, this production of the Tony Award-winning musical phenomenon tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption — a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit. The epic and uplifting story has become one of the most celebrated musicals in theatrical history.

Back to the Future: The Musical
Broadway Dallas, March 18-30
The beloved cinematic classic is now a Broadway musical. When Marty McFly finds himself transported back to 1955 in a time machine built by the eccentric scientist Doc Brown, he accidentally changes the course of history. Now he’s in a race against time to fix the present, escape the past, and send himself… back to the future.

Darkfield: Séance, Flight, and Coma
AT&TPAC & Realscape Productions, March 21-May 4
Darkfield offers audiences a unique, immersive theatrical experience that blurs the line between reality and imagination. There are three experiences: Séance, Flight, and Coma, each staged within a custom-built shipping container. The pitch-black environments utilize 360-degree binaural sound and innovative sensory effects to create immersive worlds that challenge perceptions and evoke deep emotional responses.

Clue
Broadway at the Bass, March 25-30
Murder and blackmail are on the menu when six mysterious guests assemble at Boddy Manor for a night they’ll never forget. Was it Mrs. Peacock in the study with the knife? Or was it Colonel Mustard in the library with the wrench? Based on the cult 1985 Paramount movie and inspired by the classic Hasbro board game, Clue is the ultimate whodunit.

A Streetcar Named Desire
WaterTower Theater, March 26-April 6
After losing her Mississippi home to creditors, Blanche du Bois relocates to the New Orleans home of her younger sister and brother-in-law, Stella and Stanley Kowalski. Undermined by romantic illusions, Blanche is unable to cope with life's harsh realities. Though she finds a glimmer of hope while connecting with Stanley's gentlemanly friend, Mitch, Blanche cannot face the truth of her own troubled past and ultimately descends into madness.

Broadway Our Way
Uptown Players, March 27-30
This annual fundraiser returns with an all-new production that showcases the versatility and artistry of Uptown Players' ensemble. With a fresh and contemporary twist, they breathe new life into classic show tunes, infusing them with their own unique interpretations, vocal styles, and personal flair.

Intimate Apparel
Theatre Three, March 27-April 20
Step into early 20th-century New York City with this drama by Lynn Nottage, one of the greatest living playwrights and a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner. The story explores the journey of ambition and personal growth as Esther, an African-American seamstress, navigates a complex web of relationships and romantic correspondence with a distant admirer.

Jekyll & Hyde
Lyric Stage, March 28-April 19
Based on the classic story by Robert Louis Stevenson, Jekyll & Hyde features a score of pop-rock hits from Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse. It's an evocative tale of two men — one, a doctor, passionate and romantic; the other, a terrifying madman — and two women — one, beautiful and trusting; the other, beautiful and trusting only herself — with both women in love with the same man and both unaware of his dark secret.

A Night of Broadway
Dallas Symphony Orchestra, March 28-30
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra will pay homage to icons on the stage and screen with a concert featuring Broadway singers Kelli O'Hara and Sutton Foster performing favorite Broadway songs. The concert will be conducted by Steven Reineke.

Waitress
Dallas Theater Center, March 29-April 20
Jenna, a waitress and expert pie maker, is stuck in a small town and a loveless marriage. Faced with an unexpected pregnancy, Jenna fears she may have to abandon the dream of opening her own pie shop … until a baking contest in a nearby county and the town’s handsome new doctor offer her a tempting recipe for happiness. Featuring music and lyrics by Grammy Award winner Sara Bareilles, Waitress is an uplifting and inspiring musical celebrating friendship, motherhood, and the magic of a well-made pie.

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Lawsuit news

Artist sues FIFA for $25 million over painted-over Dallas whale mural

Facebook/Wyland

Artist Wyland's Whaling Wall mural being painted over for a FIFA World Cup-related mural in Dallas.

The artist who painted a giant mural on a building in downtown Dallas of life-sized swimming whales has filed a $25 million lawsuit against soccer's international governing body and others, saying they illegally painted over his work to promote the city's upcoming World Cup matches.

The artist Wyland says he hand-painted the sprawling mural that covered roughly 17,000 square feet (1,580 square meters) across two of the building's walls.

The mural stood for nearly three decades before workers began painting over it last month, causing an uproar among residents who admired the mural's grand scale and message of ocean conservation.

The area’s World Cup organizing committee said in a statement that, in place of Wyland's mural, new artwork is planned "that captures this current historical moment and reflects the energy, unity, and global spirit surrounding the World Cup 2026.” It said a portion of Wyland's mural would be preserved.

Wyland filed suit Monday, June 1 in U.S District Court in Dallas saying that World Cup organizers, along with the building's owner and management company, painted over his mural without his consent or even notifying him. He says their actions violated a 1990 federal law passed to protect visual artists from destruction of publicly displayed works.

Wyland is seeking at least $25 million in damages. His lawsuit says world soccer's governing body, FIFA, and other defendants “hastily and irrevocably destroyed a civic landmark” to promote the World Cup.

“Though FIFA claims they were working to develop art for the host city, in truth, they defaced an historic fixture of the host city,” the artist's lawsuit says.

A FIFA spokesperson said Tuesday the federation “has no involvement in this whatsoever” and referred a reporter to the tournament's local organizing committee.

A spokesperson for the North Texas FWC Organizing Committee declined to comment. The committee isn't named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

A spokesperson for Slate Asset Management, which manages the building where the mural was painted over, said in a statement that local World Cup organizers asked Slate in March to donate the mural space for “a new public art installation.”

“Slate is not being compensated in any way for the use of the wall space and was told by the local groups that Mr. Wyland had been notified,” the management company's spokesperson said in an email.

Dallas is hosting more World Cup matches than any of the other sites in the event co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, with nine matches set to be played at AT&T Stadium in suburban Arlington, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

Wyland's Dallas mural, titled “Whaling Wall 82,” was finished in 1999 and is among more than 100 similar murals known as Whaling Walls the artist painted around the world to promote the conservation of ocean life.

An online petition protesting the mural's destruction and calling for protecting of public artwork in Dallas has received more than 2,600 signatures.

Wyland's lawsuit alleges violations of the Visual Artists Rights Act, a 1990 federal law that protects artwork of “recognized stature” even if someone else owns the physical artwork.

A judge cited that law in 2018 when he ordered a property owner to pay a group of New York graffiti artists $6.7 million for whitewashing dozens of their spray-painted murals on buildings that once housed a factory in Queens. The ruling was upheld on appeal.

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