This Week's Hot Headlines

Love Field's new nonstop flights and diner's demise top 5 most popular stories this week

Editor’s note: Another week has come and gone, and there’s a lot we all probably missed. But we’re looking out for you, kid. Here are the most popular stories from this past week:

1. New Dallas discount home store does more than help with your remodel. On February 21, the newest Habitat for Humanity ReStore resale outlet in Dallas-Fort Worth opens in Lake Highlands at the southeast corner of Skillman Street and Abrams Road in the space formerly occupied by Big Lots, which closed last year. It’s the 11th such store in the area, offering new and gently used furniture, building supplies and home decor.

2. Experimental diner bails out of West Village for offer that couldn’t be refused. Quirky West Village spot Pop Diner has lost its pop. It has pulled the plug. It has shut the doors. It’s closed. According to owner Nik Gjonaj, the concept has been sold to an unnamed “Atlanta-based holdings corporation” who will expand it at some point, possibly in another city.

3. Virgin launches service from Dallas Love Field to Austin with crazy cheap fares. Getting to Austin just got much easier: Virgin America is adding five daily flights from Dallas Love Field to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport beginning April 28. To celebrate the new service, the airline was offering $39 one-way fares until February 19. Yep, you missed them.

4. Southwest Airlines launches new nonstop service from Dallas with quick fare sale. Southwest recently added new nonstop flight options from Dallas Love Field to 10 cities: Charleston; Columbus; Indianapolis; Memphis; Milwaukee; Panama City Beach; Portland, Oregon; Sacramento, San Jose; and Seattle/Tacoma. Daily service starts April 8 for all but Charleston. Yep, you likely missed that fare sale too, which ended February 15.

5. 40 Dallas debs enter society in style at 29th annual Presentation Ball. Forty debutantes, dressed in glowing white gowns, dipped their way into society recently at the 29th annual Dallas Symphony Orchestra League Presentation Ball at the Meyerson Symphony Center. This special night is the culmination of an entire year’s worth of events.

Virgin is launching nonstop service from Dallas Love Field to Austin on April 28.

Courtesy photo

Virgin is launching nonstop service from Dallas Love Field to Austin on April 28.

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New Theater

Premieres lead the way in Dallas Theater Center's 2026-27 season

Aigner Mizzelle and Okieriete Onaodowan in the off-Broadway production of The Monsters

Photo courtesy of Manhattan Theatre Club

The Monsters, which started off-Broadway, will make its regional premiere as part of Dallas Theater Center's 2026-27 season.

The 2026-2027 season for Dallas Theater Center will feature six productions, including three world premieres, a regional premiere, a returning favorite, and a to-be-determined sixth production.

The inaugural season of incoming Enloe/Rose Artistic Director, Jaime Castañeda, will be marked by a renewed commitment to new work at Dallas Theater Center.

That starts with with the world premieres of three new shows:

The Cold War thriller Reykjavik86 by Gabe McKinley, which brings the 1986 nuclear summit between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev to life on stage. It will be the initial production of the season, running September 11-27, 2026 at Wyly Theatre.
The dark comedy musical Kill Local, with a book by Mat Smart and music and lyrics by Liza Anne, is about Sheila and her sister, Abigail, who work together for their mother’s small family business, which just so happens to be assassins. It features killer songs about blood ties, revenge, and how hard it is to get unstuck. It will run March 26-April 11, 2027 in the Wyly Studio Theatre
The Making of a Saint by KJ Sanchez is theatrical exploration of faith and family in which KJ, a documentary writer/performer, sets out to understand the story of Sister Blandina, whom KJ's brother is helping to canonize. It will be the final scheduled show of the season, running May 14-June 6, 2027 in the Wyly Studio Theatre.

Joining them will be the regional premiere of The Monsters by Ngozi Anyanwu, about a scrappy young fighter named Lil who is ready to enter the ring. She reconnects with her brother Big, an accomplished fighter in the local MMA scene and tries to earn his respect.

The production, which just finished a critically acclaimed Off-Broadway run on March 22, runs October 9-November 1, 2026 in the Wyly Studio Theatre.

A yet-to-be-named fifth production, which will be announced on June 1, will run February 5-21, 2027 in the Kalita Humphreys Theater.

All of those productions will be part of the season subscriptions. Dallas Theater Center's annual holiday production of A Christmas Carol, running November 27-December 27, 2026 at Wyly Theatre, can be added on.

“New work is the engine of the American Theater, and Dallas Theater Center will be a laboratory for artists who have something urgent and honest to express today,” said Enloe/Rose Artistic Director Jaime Castañeda in a statement. "These plays are about the now, and they are events for the stage that are in direct conversation with the audience."

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

Subscriptions for the 2026-27 season are available now, and can be purchased online at DallasTheaterCenter.org or by calling the DTC Box Office at 214-522-8499.

theater performing-arts