This month’s productions at theaters around Dallas offer lots of things you don’t often see onstage: Puppets. A black-and-white movie brought to life. The singing voice of Jasmine and Mulan. Shakespeare in Spanish. More puppets. The lineup is anything but boring!
Here are 11 top shows appearing in Dallas theaters in September, listed in order of start date:
Opera Box
Ochre House Theater, September 3-20
A poor Southern family, caught up in the addiction of the opioid crisis and the collapse of their American Dream, journeys through a Tibetan bardo seeking clues to understand their lives. The production, written in verse, will employ live music, shadow play techniques, projections, puppetry, and a wickedly hilarious cast.
Fort Worth Fringe Festival
Theatre Network of Texas, Inc., September 5-7
Thirteen acts span theater, poetry, and dance at the ninth annual festival, held this year at Stolen Shakespeare Guild.
Heartbreak House
Hip Pocket Theatre, September 5-28
First mounted 105 years ago, George Bernard Shaw’s funny, sexy, prescient, timely Heartbreak House – A Fantasia In the Russian Manner on English Themes skewers a society that’s deeply distracted by a range of self-interests. Societal beauties are focused on being beautiful, oligarchs are in government as unelected leaders, old men are with too-young women, and bombs are falling with no one paying attention.
The Wiz
Broadway Dallas, September 9-21
This all-new production of the groundbreaking, Tony Award-winning musical returns “home” to stages in an all-new pre-Broadway tour, the first one in 40 years. The groundbreaking twist on The Wizard of Oz changed the face of Broadway, from its iconic score packed with soul, gospel, rock, and finger-snapping ’70s funk to its stirring tale of Dorothy’s journey to find her place in a contemporary world.
MacMurder!
Pegasus Theatre, September 12-21
This is the world premiere production of an original comedy-murder mystery that captures the look and feel of an old Hollywood movie from the 1930s and ’40s. It stars Harry Hunsacker (an inept but endearing private detective), Nigel Grouse (Harry’s paid-by-the-hour assistant), and Lt. Foster of the real police (a regular guy who is constantly driven crazy by Harry’s hare-brained ideas). The production is part of AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Elevator Project
El Rey del Pollo
Echo Theatre, September 12-27
The Esteemed Reymundo Lear is retiring from running his fried chicken empire and plans to pass on his three restaurants to daughters, Gisela, Raquel, and Cordelia … until Cordelia falls out of favor. You’ll have to wait for the rest of the delicious story to be told by the foolish narrator, Jeff. El Rey del Pollo puts a family-friendly spin on King Lear, using Elizabethan verse, Spanglish, and today’s vernacular to make an hour-long Shakespearean telenovela for the stage.
Lea Salonga: Stage, Screen & Everything In Between
AT&T Performing Arts Center, September 14
Musical theater royalty and official Disney legend Lea Salonga will sing stage and screen classics from her best-known roles in Miss Saigon, Les Misérables, Aladdin, and Mulan; new-found favorites from the critically acclaimed West End hit Old Friends; and more from her celebrated career and beyond.
The Taming of the Shrew
Shakespeare Dallas, September 17-October 19
In the beloved romantic comedy that has inspired so many other works, Lucentio loves Bianca but is unable to court her until her older sister, Katherina, marries. Hilarity ensues as the eccentric Petruccio marries the reluctant Katherina and uses a number of tactics to charm her. This production of the Shakespearian classic is set in the Wild West.
The Niceties
Theatre Three, September 18-October 12
A young Black student of history. A middle-aged white professor of history. What begins as a polite clash in perspective explodes into an urgent debate about race and power. This production is performed in the basement Theatre Too space.
Life of Pi
Broadway at the Bass, September 23-28
After a shipwreck in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a 16-year-old boy named Pi survives on a lifeboat with four companions: a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan, and a Royal Bengal tiger. Told with jaw-dropping visuals, world-class puppetry, and exquisite stagecraft, Life of Pi is a breathtaking journey.
I Got the Last Laugh!
Jubilee Theatre, September 26-October 19
Step into the world of Jackie “Moms” Mabley, a trailblazing comedian, fearless truth-teller, and one of the most influential voices in American entertainment. Through humor, heart, and unapologetic wit, the production celebrates her groundbreaking career, her resilience in the face of adversity, and the laughter that made her a legend.