In Dallas, Women Run the Theater Scene

When Margo Jones opened a Dallas theater she wanted to establish a theater community outside of New York. Jones created much of what would become the regional theater model- theater that existed within a city’s own community and reflected its identity without just regurgitating Broadway hits. Jones wanted theater that…

If You Like House of Cards, You Should See All the Way

The first scene of All the Way, now playing at Dallas Theater Center, lasts approximately four minutes. President Kennedy has just been shot; Lyndon B. Johnson is on his way to take over. Dramatic music, lights fade, scene change. This Tony Award-winning political drama moves along at TV speed, written…

Manon Is the Poetically Beautiful Opera You Don’t Know Yet

When the Dallas Opera continued its season Friday night with Manon, the five-act opera by French composer Jules Massenet, the Winspear Opera House was far from full. Perhaps because, although this opera is performed regularly, it doesn’t have the widespread name recognition of earlier offerings this season like Tosca or…

How Dallas Fell in Love with Opera Star Stephen Costello

Before Stephen Costello finished graduate school, he was charming North Texas audiences. Enrolled in Academy of Vocal Arts in his hometown of Philadelphia, the operatic tenor was tapped to fill in for a night as Rodolfo in a Fort Worth opera production of La bohème. “I’d worked with director David…

Questions for Dallas Theater Center’s Romeo & Juliet

What is Shakespeare for a young audience? What should it be? Should it accessorize a high school lit class? Should it be a training tool for emerging actors? Should it be a compelling work of theater?   Does it need to be forever produced to preserve and progress the theatrical…

Are You Down For #TheCount with Bishop Arts Theatre?

DR Hanson is a busy man: he’s an actor, director, and most recently a feminist crusader. Hanson has been hired as a director by Bishop Arts Theatre Co., which is producing a One Act Festival of six plays- all written by female playwrights “I am consistently shocked at how few…

The Most Recognizable Voice in Comedy Comes to Town

Even if you aren’t familiar with the drunken, poetic stories and words of comedian Kyle Kinane, you’ve at least heard his voice.  The Chicago native who has three very funny comedy albums and two Comedy Central specials to his name has also done voices on animated series such as “Aqua…

Ochre House Theater’s Brothers’ Harvest Is a Rowdy Night Out

If you’re looking for a rowdy night out, there’s one more weekend to catch Ochre House Theater’s latest Brothers’ Harvest. Writer and director Matthew Posey’s off the wall comedy digs into the life of a small town girl named Indigo Sue (an irresistible Cassie Bann). It’s a musical romp through…

Kitchen Dog Theater’s I’m Gonna Pray for You So Hard Is a Helluva Good Play

Endless plays have been written about the brittle matriarch; the woman whose vulnerability intertwines with a vitriolic instability. Many, many playwrights it seems struggle with the mother-child relationship, or perhaps more accurately, the mother-son relationship. But as the work of female playwrights reaches more stages, it follows that new dynamics…

Eric Bogosian Did Not Suffer Fools Gladly in Dallas Last Week

Eric Bogosian does not suffer fools gladly. The theater veteran from New York City commands a room like few others. He has a tremendous confidence and loose delivery that only comes with serious chops. Occasionally he glanced stage side at a list of characters unique to each particular performance; he…