Curtain Up

Top reasons to see a Broadway show in Dallas this holiday season

There's no need to go to New York when Broadway Dallas is bringing big-name musicals directly to you.

Two major national tours are headed to Big D this holiday season, giving theater fans the chance to experience onstage favorites right here at the Music Hall at Fair Park.

MJ, the multi-Tony Award-winning new musical about Michael Jackson, arrives November 21 and runs through December 3.

The unparalleled artistry of the greatest entertainer of all time is explored in this musical that centers around the creation of Jackson's "Dangerous" world tour in 1992. Many believe this period was an artistic peak for Jackson, who played 69 shows across 3 continents.

MJ includes more than 25 Michael Jackson songs and is directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon and written by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage.

Wheeldon won the 2022 Tony Award for Best Choreography, and MJ creative team members Rich + Tone Talauega worked with Jackson as back-up dancers on the "HIStory" world tour and on other projects.

Photo by Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade

"One Day More" from Les Misérables.

Soon after MJ moonwalks out of Dallas, the world's most popular musical returns. Les Misérables is here December 20-31, with a brilliant new staging from Cameron Mackintosh for this Tony Award-winning musical phenomenon.

Set against the backdrop of 19th century France, Les Misérables tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption — a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit.

Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s magnificent score of Les Misérables includes the songs “I Dreamed a Dream,” “On My Own,” “Bring Him Home,” “One Day More,” “Master of the House” and many more.

Seen by over 130 million people worldwide in 53 countries and 22 languages, Les Misérables is undisputedly one of the world’s most popular musicals.

But if you think you've seen Les Misérables before, here are some facts to make you reconsider what you know:

The show uses approximately 1,200 costumes and they take up one entire tractor trailer. There are eight wedding ball gowns on stage for less than five minutes, and each dress requires 15 yards of fabric and 50 hours to construct.
Over 88 wigs travel with Les Misérables, and about 40 wigs are used in the show every night.
There are 14 musicians in the pit who play 23 instruments throughout the show.
The production is an audio/visual spectacle. There are 76 moving lights, four separate theatrical fog systems to produce the atmospheric effects, 16 scenic pieces or props that automate on and off stage, and scenic towers that take up an entire tractor trailer and build in two hours with a crew of 16 using four lifting service hoists.
The show takes approximately 21 hours to load in and approximately eight hours to load out, with 11 total trucks moving the production from city to city.
Two-time Broadway Dallas High School Musical Theatre Award winner Haley Dortch (representing Guyer High School in 2019 and 2020) makes her national tour debut as Fantine in this production.

Whether you're looking for an event that the whole family can enjoy together or are simply excited to experience the magic of Broadway here in Dallas, you'll want to buy your tickets now.

theater video promoted

Encore x 2

Uptown Players surprises Dallas with 2 new shows for summer 2026

Photo by Mike Morgan

BJ Cleveland first starred in 'Application Pending' in 2015.

Those who thought Uptown Players' 2025-26 season was set in stone just got a pleasant surprise: two more shows have been added for summer 2026.

The first is another collaboration with Bruce Wood Dance Dallas; the theater and contemporary dance companies first paired up in August 2025 for the dance cabaret Imagine. Now, they are presenting Together June 20-21, 2026, at the Kalita Humphreys Theater.

Created in celebration of Gay Pride, Together traces the LGBTQ+ community’s journey from solitude to solidarity. Songs like Celine Dion’s “All By Myself” and Pat Benatar’s “We Belong” will join other stirring power ballads and electrifying anthems, sung by returning Uptown Players vocalists Peter DiCesare, Seth Paden, Lee Walter, Brett Warner, and Kylie Stewart. Musical arrangements are by Adam C. Wright and direction by Clayton Younkin.

The cabaret will once again feature choreography by Bruce Wood's artistic director, Joy Bollinger, and steps from the company's deceased namesake, alongside new creations developed and performed by members of Bruce Wood Dance Dallas, including Weaver Rhodes, Elliott Trahan, Cole Vernon, and Megan Storey.

The second bonus production is a remounting of the solo show Application Pending, written by Greg Edwards and Andy Sandberg and starring B.J. Cleveland.

Cleveland first tackled this fast-paced comedy for Uptown Players in 2021 as a streaming production (remember the pandemic lockdowns?). The show is a hilarious look at the cutthroat world of kindergarten admissions at a prestigious Manhattan prep school.

“Audiences loved the streaming version, but there’s just nothing like seeing it live,” says Uptown Players co-founder and producer Jeff Rane. “The humor, the timing, the energy in the room — it’s pure magic. Watching BJ inhabit more than 40 characters onstage right before your eyes is a theatrical experience you simply can’t get through a screen."

Application Pending will run August 20-30, 2026, at Theatre 2 inside Theatre Three, located at 2688 Laclede #120 in Dallas.

Tickets for Together range from $30-$75, while tickets for Application Pending are $45. Both can be purchased at uptownplayers.org or by calling the Uptown Players Box Office at 214-219‑2718.

application pending bj cleveland bruce wood dance dance gay pride celebration joy bollinger kalita humphreys theater theater theatre three uptown players