Kyle Christopher West News

Jewish Community Center of Dallas' Performing Arts Space (JPAS) will hold auditions for two casts of the musical Wizard of Oz Young Performers Edition (Tams-Witmark) on Sunday, Jan. 13 and Monday, Jan. 14, 2019. This treasured family musical proves there's truly no place like home.

Broadway World sits down with Dallas Summer Musicals (DSM) President Kenneth T. Novice to discuss the importance of arts education, making musical theatre accessible to all and the upcoming 2018 DSM Gala, An Evening with the Best of Broadway.

John Steinbeck's American literature classic, Of Mice and Men has been brought to life in a dramatic stage play opening soon at The Firehouse Theatre. Set in California during the Great Depression, the story follows two migrant workers George, a sharp but uneducated, short-tempered man, and Lennie, a large but simple-minded man. Together they hope to one day acquire their own piece of land. But when Lennie stirs up trouble on the job, George must choose between protecting his friend or staying the course towards his version of the American dream.

THE RED PASHMINA is an intriguing story of a psychiatrist and two of his patients that takes us on an unforgettable journey. As the patients undergo regression therapy, we see their memories come alive on stage and experience different eras in India's picturesque past - from a quaint fishing village to an opulent palace, merchant caravans in the desert to a typical imperial officer's club, a dark, dank dungeon to a magnificent ancient temple! Complete with live music, dance and drama, The Red Pashmina tells the story of serendipity through the ages... or is it destiny?

One sure sign of a troubled musical is the inability to recall a single tune from the twenty listed in the show's program immediately following the performance. But that's not all that needs adjusting in Pegasus Theatre's ambitious new work, THE CUBAN AND THE REDHEAD, onstage at the Charles W. Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts through September 30th.

Known across the globe as 'the ultimate-feel good show,' THE CHOIR OF MAN offers up 90 minutes of indisputable joy. It's a party. It's a concert. It's a pint-filled good time set in a real working pub that combines hair-raising harmonies, high-energy dance, and live percussion with foot-stomping choreography. The multi-talented cast of nine handsome blokes sings everything - pub tunes, folk, Broadway, classic rock - all to roof-raising heights. It's the best singing, dancing, stomping, pub crawl of a show you'll ever attend!

The recent revival of HELLO DOLLY may have just left the Great White Way and, sure, there's a fresh tour starring Broadway legend (and Fort Worth native) Betty Buckley just around the corner…but the production currently on stage in Fort Worth is worth putting on your Sunday clothes for with a dazzling production featuring a terrific cast of characters. But this Dolly's visit is fleeting - the show concludes it two-weekend-only run at Casa Manana on Sunday, September 16th.

The Firehouse Theatre is proud to announce auditions for WHITE CHRISTMAS, the Broadway musical based on the classic holiday film. WHITE CHRISTMAS is directed and choreographed by Kyle Christopher West and musically directed by John Norine Jr. Elizabeth Cantrell serves as stage manager with Lorens Portalatin as assistant director, Wendy Rene'e Searcy as scenic designer and Cassondra Plybon-Harbin as lighting designer. Guest choreographer Mandy Modic (of the 42nd STREET national tour) will stage the show's tap dances.

Darien Crago & Oren Korenblum star in this 'Ballin' the Jack' music video, inspired by Judy Garland & Gene Kelly from For Me and My Gal. Crago and Korenblum are dancers and choreographers from O.K. Dance Company.

The Luckenbooth Theatre Collective's newly launched Academy is proud to present auditions for its inaugural production Peter Pan! In this adaptation of J. M. Barrie's story about the boy who never grew up, three children receive a visit from Peter Pan who takes them to Neverland.

This September, The Firehouse Theatre will present Elton John and Time Rice's AIDA, directed by Artistic Director, Derek Whitener. The heart wrenching pop-rock musical about an imprisoned Nubian princess will open on September 7th in the old Farmers Branch Firehouse, with performances running through September 23rd. Tickets range from $13-$25.

With back to school season upon us, students young and old are eagerly anticipating their first day of classes. But, for two handfuls of miniature musicians, the major assignment this school year is rocking around the country in the first national tour of SCHOOL OF ROCK, now onstage at the Music Hall at Fair Park, which concludes Dallas Summer Musicals 2017-2018 Broadway series. And even when the star teacher fails to make the grade, the kiddos pull together to ace the group project.

After two years of celebrating and promoting the vocal talents of Dallas and Fort Worth, Alexandre's Bar's BROADWAY ON A TUESDAY will host an epic celebration featuring a full band and the largest line up of singers to date. Creator Kimberly Billings Oliver, who serves as the weekly organizer and emcee, will host the anniversary event on Tuesday, August 21st at 7pm.

THE YELLOW BOAT is a play about life. It's a play about imagination. It's a play about living with AIDS. The multiple award-winning play by David Saar will be brought to life by Resolute Theatre Project at Amy's Studio of Performing Arts this September and, although it brings to the state some mature themes, THE YELLOW BOAT is the perfect play for theatergoers from ages 10 to 110.

People are shaped by past experiences. Entrancing first encounters with attractive strangers on trains leave a smile on our faces, a memory waiting to tell all. Troubling matters over sexual consent (or lack-there-of) leave a scar sometimes too deep to cover, a wound we desperately try to wrap in as many layers as we can find. 

BRING BACK BIRDIE, THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE GOES PUBLIC, and both ANNIE II and ANNIE WARBUCKS all famously failed at recreating the success of the musicals for which they produced sequels. And now, riding on the coat tails of mega-musical THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, LOVE NEVER DIES is touring the world, eying a hopeful Broadway run. But, is this sequel what theatre Phans are asking for? I think the jury is still out.

Life isn't always rainbows, sequins, and platform shoes unless of course, you've taken a seat at one of Uptown Players' frequent musical spectacles. And, although this season's PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT could use a pinch of polishing, the over-the-top extravaganza promises a gay old time.

Mandy Modic spent 2015-2016 traveling the country in her tap shoes as Gladys in Mark Bramble and Randy Skinner's 42ND STREET. The gig that followed was the same show, but a highly publicized reenvisioned production at Drury Lane Theatre in Illinois (where she played Lorraine), which has reportedly been eyeing a Broadway transfer. She's performed professionally with The Marriot Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, The Paramount Theatre, Theatre at the Center, The Wick Theatre, Mill Mountain Theatre, and Little Theatre on the Square and internationally at the Edinburgh Fringe, not to mention a co-starring role on NBC's short-lived The Playboy Club.

Who knew, in 1988, when John Waters debuted his film HAIRSPRAY about life in 1962 Baltimore, that his themes of equal rights acceptance would feel just as urgent in the political and social climate 30 long years later? Fortunately, the hit Broadway musical based on the film, has been belted and blasted at audiences loud and clear since it hit the stage in 2003. Now onstage at Winspear Opera House, Dallas Theatre Center's spirited production reminds us not only of how far we come, but how far we've got left to go.

The Stolen Shakespeare Guild presents THE WEDDING SINGER with Music by Matthew Sklar, Book by Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy, and Lyrics by Chad Beguelin. The production runs July 13th - July 29th 2018 at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center in the Sander's Theater, 1300 Gendy St. Fort Worth, TX 76107. Tickets cost $16.00 - $22.00. A pre-show wedding reception with early seating, snacks and wine is available one hour before show time and tickets for the pre-show are an additional $10.00. The Pre-show tickets go off sale 24 hours before show time. Details and tickets are available at www.stolenshakespeareguild.org or call Theater Mania at 1-866-8111-4111. The production is directed by SSG artistic associate Nathan Autrey.