DALLAS THEATER CENTER

announces 2014-2015 season

Dallas Theater Center Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty announced today the theater’s 2014-2015 season, which will take place at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre at the AT&T Performing Arts Center and the Kalita Humphreys Theater on Turtle Creek. DTC’s 2014-2015 season will expand from its current seven productions to nine total productions next season. In addition to popular musicals, comedies and dramas, DTC is producing two world premieres and launching a new multi-year classical theater initiative.

“Our 2014-2015 season will make use of DTC’s two incredible theatrical homes, both designed by award-winning architects – the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre at the AT&T Performing Arts Center and our historic home, the Kalita Humphreys Theater. These spaces will be filled with our most expansive season yet,” says Moriarty. “Audiences will see nationally recognized actors, such as 2014 Academy Award®-nominee June Squibb, on stage alongside DTC’s own Brierley Resident Acting Company, and our artistic collaborations will range from DTC Playwright-in-Residence and SMU Meadows Prize recipient Will Power to the masterful choreographer, Bruce Wood. It is truly a season designed to awe and inspire.”

DTC’s seven-play subscription series includes an immersive production of the gender-bending rock and roll classic, The Rocky Horror Show; Driving Miss Daisy, featuring master actress June Squibb; Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen’s classic romantic novel brought to life on stage; the world premiere musical Stagger Lee, written by DTC Playwright-in-Residence Will Power and Justin Ellington; Colossal, a new play by Andrew Hinderaker that will see the Wyly Theatre transformed into a football field; The Book Club Play, a regional premiere of a romantic comedy about books and the people who love them; and Moliere’s sparkling comedy The School for Wives, which launches DTC’s multi-year Classical Theater initiative.

As the second production in its Classical Theater initiative, DTC will also offer a limited engagement run of Euripides’ classic Greek tragedy, Medea, in rep with The School for Wives. Plus, the Holiday Extra A Christmas Carol is back after last-year’s sold-out run at the Wyly.

The full season will be presented as follows: in the Potter Rose Performance Hall at the Wyly Theatre The Rocky Horror Show (Sept. 11 – Oct. 19); at the Kalita Humphreys Theater Driving Miss Daisy (Oct. 16 – Nov. 16); at the Wyly A Christmas Carol (Nov. 25 – Dec. 27); at the Kalita The Book Club Play (Jan. 1 – Feb. 1); at the Wyly Stagger Lee (Jan. 21 – Feb. 15); at the Kalita The School for Wives (Feb. 20 – March 29) in rotating repertory with Medea (Feb. 19 – March 29) in Down Center Stage at the Kalita; at the Wyly Colossal (April 2 – May 3); and at the Kalita Sense and Sensibility (April 23 – May 24).

The Rocky Horror Show, with book, music and lyrics by Richard O’Brien, kicks off DTC’s 2014-2015 season in cult-classic style, directed and choreographed by Joel Ferrell (director of DTC’s Cabaret). This outrageous rock musical, complete with transvestites, mad scientists and monsters, premiered on Broadway more than 40 years ago and now Dallas audiences can see it live on stage at the Wyly Theatre. Grab your popcorn and get ready to do the Time Warp!

Recent Academy Award®-nominee June Squibb returns to the DTC stage for the first time since her critically-acclaimed role in Dividing the Estate in Driving Miss Daisy, directed by Joel Ferrell. This Pulitzer Prize®-winning play by Alfred Uhry follows the relationship of an elderly Southern Jewish woman and her African-American chauffer from one of suspicion and mistrust to friendship and respect.

Jane Austen’s romantic Sense and Sensibility brings the Dashwood sisters to the Kalita in a play about the delicate dance between love and heartbreak. Adapted by Jon Jory and directed by Sarah Rasmussen, the production will appeal to Austen aficionados of all ages.

Dallas audiences will be the first to see the world premiere musical Stagger Lee, by DTC’s Playwright-in-Residence Will Power and Justin Ellington, directed by Patricia McGregor, with music supervision by Daryl Waters. It reboots the legendary tales of Stagger Lee, Frankie and Johnny, and Long Lost John with an original score that celebrates the history of African-American music throughout the 20th century. Stagger Lee was developed in collaboration with The Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas as a part of Will Power’s Meadows Prize residency.

Colossal will put audiences on the fifty yard line in the Wyly in this new play by University of Texas graduate Andrew Hinderaker, directed by Kevin Moriarty. Colossal, an intimate and epic story about the nation’s most popular sport, will feature a bold and never-before-seen new configuration in the Wyly Theatre’s Potter Rose Performance Hall, a drum line and full-contact choreography by Bruce Wood. Colossal is being produced as a rolling world premiere by Olney Theatre Center (Maryland), Mixed Blood Theatre (Minneapolis), Dallas Theater Center (Texas) and Southern Rep (Louisiana) as part of the National New Play Network’s Continued Life Program.

Next season, DTC launches a Classical Theater initiative, featuring masterpieces of theatrical literature from around the world, with The School for Wives. Molière’s hilarious 18th century play is directed by Kevin Moriarty. Filled with scheming and young love, it tells the story of Arnolphe and his attempt to woo a much younger perfect bride and keep her admirer out of the picture. The School for Wives is performed in rotating rep with Medea, also directed by Moriarty and featuring DTC Company Member Sally Nystuen Vahle in the title role. Euripides’ tale of betrayal and vengeance, written in the 5th century BCE, will take audiences into the Kaltia’s Down Center Stage basement performance space for the first time in more than 30 years.

In The Book Club Play by Karen Zacarías, directed by Meredith McDonough, Ana has the perfect life with an adoring husband and regular meetings with her book club. But add to the mix a documentary film crew, a problem-causing new member and a few provocative titles, and Ana’s perfect-life-scenario gets thrown for a loop. The Book Club Play is about life, love, literature and the crazy things we do when we’re being filmed.

After last year’s sold-out run, the Holiday Extra A Christmas Carol returns to the Wyly Theatre. Chamblee Ferguson plays everybody’s favorite humbug, Ebenezer Scrooge, in this brand new adaptation by Kevin Moriarty, directed by Lee Trull and choreographed by Jeremy Dumont. A Christmas Carol is a magical story filled with holiday cheer, magical ghosts and lots of snow!

Full season subscriptions are on sale now for as little as $126. Subscriptions can be purchased online at DallasTheaterCenter.org or by calling the AT&T Performing Arts Center Box Office at (214) 880-0202. Single tickets to A Christmas Carol and Medea will be available later in the season, after a subscriber-only early access pre-sale.

For those who want to take their theater-going experience to the next level, DTC’s program, Friends@DTC, offers patrons a variety of exclusive benefits, including premium seats, a VIP intermission lounge, special invitations, complimentary drinks, free parking and much more. Visit DallasTheaterCenter.org/Friends or email Friends@DallasTheaterCenter.org for more information.

DTC will continue the Come Early, sponsored by Wells Fargo, and the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Stay Late programs in 2014-2015. Come early is a free 30-minute informative talk designed to enhance a patron’s play-going experience. Given one hour before every performance, a member of the cast or artistic staff will share details about the play’s origins and context, as well as share insight into the creative process behind the production. Stay Late is a free, brief, post-show conversation with a member of the cast about the show. Patrons will engage with the artists, learn about the production and be able to share their insights about the play in a lively discussion.