TCU Horned Frogs Invade Dallas Theater Center in THE SUPREME LEADER

Dallas Theater Center's (DTC) newest production, The Supreme Leader, celebrates its Texas Christian University (TCU) cast with a special night! The show stars TCU alumni Oscar Seung and Garrett Weir, with fellow graduate Ashlie Whitworth as an understudy. To celebrate, DTC hosted a TCU night on November 19 at the Kalita Humphreys Theater.

TCU theater students may attend the performance for free. General TCU students, faculty and alumni can attend the show with a discounted ticket price of $15. After the production, all audience members are invited to stay as Seung, Weir and Whitworth hold a special talkback. It's expected to last about an hour.

Oscar Seung portrays Kim Jong-Un. Seung was born in Switzerland, but raised in Arlington, Texas. He studied opera at TCU before graduating in 2009. He created, produced and starred in American Dynasty. The short film has won prizes at four domestic film festivals, including Best Actor nomination at the Ouchy Film Festival in Lausanne, Switzerland. Seung can also be seen in We Can Be Heroes on Netflix, and The Turkey Bowl on Hulu. In addition, he has done extensive voiceover work including Attack on Titan (Varis), Borderlands 3 (Nettle), Yuri on Ice! (Seung-Gil Lee), and One Piece (Daruma).

"To this day, graduating from the TCU School of Music is still the most intense and hardest thing I've ever done in my life. Every script I receive, I analyze it the same way I'd analyze a score. I'm forever grateful for their exacting standards and the unshakable discipline they instilled in me as an artist," Oscar Seung, The Supreme Leader.

Garrett Weir plays Roger Fullbright, the son of an American diplomat. He graduated in May of 2021 from TCU, where he got his BFA in Theater with an Acting emphasis. With Theater TCU, he performed in 42nd Street, Pericles, Children of Eden, Batboy and A Streetcar Named Desire. Regionally, Garrett made his professional debut this summer in Okoboji Summer Theater's 63rd season, where he was in Grease, Clue: On Stage!, Ken Ludwig's The Gods of Comedy, and Urinetown. Born and raised in San Diego, Weir has also been featured as leading roles in independent and student films.

"My time with Theatre TCU is something that I'll always be thankful for. I've never been someone to shy away from challenges, and I appreciate that the faculty urged us to push the boundaries of our artistry. Everyone in the program equally cared about you as both a performer and an individual; it is truly a special place, and I'm excited for their continued growth," Garrett Weir, The Supreme Leader.

Ashlie Whitworth also received a BFA in Theater with an Acting emphasis in 2020. She has also performed with the Uptown Players (Fun Home), Trinity Shakespeare Festival (Romeo and Juliet), Shakespeare Dallas (Shakespeare in Love), and Casa Manana. Whitworth also acted in several student films. She now lives in New York City where she is pursuing her career as an actress!

"TCU prides itself on providing our students all of the tools they will need to be successful in the arts, from focused one-on-one instruction to numerous performance opportunities both on and off campus. We also ensure that our students learn how to think critically about the art they perform, allowing them to continue growing as they pursue their artistic passions," Sean Atkinson, Ph.D., Director of the TCU School of Music.

The Supreme Leader is set in a boarding school in Switzerland. Kim Jong-Un learns he's next in line as the Supreme Leader after his older brother's career-ending trip to Tokyo Disneyland. But he must prove himself. Under the watchful eye of his minder, he sets his paintbrush aside to spy on his pretty American friend Sophie. Will "Oony" get the girl? Will he make his father proud? Set in the snow globe world of stinky cheese and mountain climbing, this coming-of-age comedy imagines Kim Jong-Un's final throes of youth before his fateful return to North Korea.

Dallas Theater Center will offer social distance seating during their live performances of The Supreme Leader. Guests are welcome to select the option of being placed in the social distance section during the checkout process when purchasing tickets online. Performances will also forgo intermission to allow additional comfortability for guests. To view DTC's COVID-19 Guest Policy, please visit www.dallastheatercenter.org/covid-19-guest-policy.

The Supreme Leader runs through November 21 at the Kalita Humphreys Theater. Discounted tickets are available online using the code TCUTSL, by calling the Box Office at (214) 526-8210, or at the door. Student or faculty IDs are necessary to claim tickets. To get more information or to buy tickets, visit www.dallastheatercenter.org/show/the-supreme-leader

ABOUT Dallas Theater Center:

One of the leading regional theaters in the country and the 2017 Regional Theatre Tony Award® Recipient, Dallas Theater Center (DTC) performs to an audience of more than 100,000 North Texas residents annually. Founded in 1959, DTC is now a resident company of the AT&T Performing Arts Center and presents its Mainstage season at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, designed by REX/OMA, Joshua Prince-Ramus and Rem Koolhaas and at its original home, the Kalita Humphreys Theater, the only freestanding theater designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright. Dallas Theater Center is one of only two theaters in Texas that is a member of the League of Resident Theatres, the largest and most prestigious non-profit professional theater association in the country. Under the leadership of Enloe/Rose Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty and Managing Director Jeffrey Woodward, Dallas Theater Center produces a year-round subscription series of classics, musicals, and new plays and an annual production of A Christmas Carol; extensive education programs, including the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award-winning Project Discovery, a partnership with Southern Methodist University's Meadows School of the Arts; and many community collaborations. In 2017, in collaboration with Ignite/Arts Dallas at SMU Meadows School of the Arts and the AT&T Performing Arts Center, DTC launched Public Works Dallas, a groundbreaking community engagement and participatory theater project designed to deliberately blur the line between professional artists and community members, culminating in an annual production featuring more than 200 Dallas citizens performing a large scale theatrical production. Throughout its history, Dallas Theater Center has produced many new works, including The Texas Trilogy by Preston Jones in 1978; Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men, adapted by Adrian Hall, in 1986; and recent premieres of Miller, Mississippi by Boo Killebrew; Stagger Lee by Will Power; Hood: The Robin Hood Musical Adventure by Douglas Carter Beane and Lewis Flinn; Bella: An American Tall Tale by Kirsten Childs; Penny Candy by Jonathan Norton; Clarkston by Samuel D. Hunter and Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical by Robert Horn, Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally. Dallas Theater Center gratefully acknowledges the support of our season sponsors: Texas Instruments and Texas Instruments Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, American Airlines, City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture, Lexus, TACA, and Texas Commission on the Arts.

Commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: At Dallas Theater Center, all are welcome. We want to be the best place to work and see theater, and to be a positive and transformational force in Dallas and beyond. We stand-up for equity, diversity, and inclusion across our company and community. As a leading national theater, we recognize that building an equitable, diverse, and inclusive environment is central to our relevance and sustainability in the community we serve and love.

 

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