Dallas Theater Center and the Lexus Broadway Series at the Winspear have announced their 2012-'13 seasons. Big doin's at two big venues for plays and musicals. Get ready for new takes on Peter Pan and Dracula, a puppet horse, some wrasslin' and dancin' and singin'. And Shakespeare. Always Shakespeare.
DTC's 54th season, opening August 29, will include three world premieres, two new musicals, the final play in its four-year Shakespeare cycle and several plays making North Texas debuts. "Collaboration" is the watchword, says DTC artistic director Kevin Moriarty. Here's what's coming:
The Second City Does Dallas (August 29-October 6) brings the legendary Chicago troupe to the Wyly Theatre, which will be made over into a nightclub setting with the glass windows exposed, providing a view of downtown Dallas. Two members of DTC's Brierley acting company also will be part of the cast. The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (October 19-November 25 at the Wyly). The theater turns into a wrestling ring for this Kristoffer Diaz play about the world of televised professional wrestling, with its inherent fictions exposed. This play was a 2010 Pulitzer finalist. A Christmas Carol (November 20-December 23 at Kalita). They keep saying it's the final year for this musical version of the Dickens classic. This time they mean it. The show will be revamped and moved to the Wyly in 2013. King Lear (January 18-February 17 at the Wyly). A co-production of Shakespeare's epic tragedy with Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island. The cast will be half DTC company actors and half Trinity Rep's, with the show running at that theater before opening here. Moriarty directs. Red (February 8-March 10 at Kalita). The Tony-winning two-man play by John Logan about artist Mark Rothko received raves in its Broadway run in 2010. DTC company member Joel Ferrell directs. The Dracula Cycle (March 15-April 18 at the Wyly). Playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (who saved SpiderMan: Turn Off the Dark) is working on what Moriarty describes as a three-hour, three-act epic take on the Bram Stoker vampire classic. Fly By Night (April 26-May 26 at Kalita). Writer Kim Rosenstock, whose play Tigers Be Still is onstage upstairs at the Wyly through May 13, teams with composers Michael Mitnick and Will Connolly for a new rock musical set against the 1965 NYC blackout. Fly (July 2-August 18 at the Wyly). Playwright Rajiv Joseph and composer Bill Sherman are creating a new musical version of Peter Pan set in modern day after the death of Michael (one of the kid characters in the original story). Back-to-back shows with "Fly" in the titles. Not confusing at all.
Fly across the plaza from the Wyly to the Winspear Opera House and the Lexus Broadway Series has bumped the number of shows to seven for its 2012-'13 season. There are some familiar retreads among the titles, but a couple of exciting new offerings, too. Here's their lineup:
Chicago (August 14-25). Paintin' the town once again is the old Kander and Ebb musical comedy about Roxie Hart and her friends in and out of the Big House in Prohibition-era Chicago. TV actor John O'Hurley (aka Seinfeld's Mr. Peterman) plays lawyer Billy Flynn in this touring production. War Horse (September 12-23). The Tony-winning play from London's National Theatre uses life-size puppet horses in a story of a boy whose beloved steed, Joey, is conscripted into battle in World War I. Jekyll & Hyde (December 4-16). Idol finalist-turned-Broadway-star Constantine Maroulis tops the bill in this revival of the Frank Wildhorn musical. Maroulis was last here in Rock of Ages and starred in the recent pre-Broadway tryout of Toxic Avenger at Houston's Alley Theater. Cirque Dreams: Holidaze (December 18-23). Not part of the Lexus subscription series, this "bonus" show is a Soleil spinoff, more or less. Anything Goes (February 13-24). Rebecca York stars as Reno Sweeney in this tour of the recent Broadway revival of the Cole Porter hit. Fela! (May 7-19). Choreographer Bill T. Jones (Spring Awakening) is the creative juice behind this African-themed musical based on the life of Nigerian composer Fela Anikulapo Kuti, pioneer of Afrobeat pop. Traces (June 11-23). Couldn't tell much about this one from the clips played at the Lexus announcement gathering. Looks like a hybrid of Stomp and Movin' Out. Think hunks in blue jeans jumping through things to loud music.
For season subscriptions to Dallas Theater Center, call 214-252-3927. For season tickets to the Lexus Broadway Series, call 214-880-0202.
