Last weekend to catch these 12 plays and musicals

by Shawn Parikh

This weekend marks the end of a lot of college theatre shows, as well as some noteworthy professional productions. Try and check a couple out before the weekend ends:

• The Boxer, presented by Bootstraps Comedy Theater. The mean streets. Turn of the Century. It's nearly impossible for a body to feed himself and if you are a herself, forget it. A woman can't make a living and keep her virtue (if you know what we mean). So the heroine becomes a hero (dresses like a man) to put bread in her belly. As chance would have it, she happens upon a big man beating a little man senseless. She intervenes and knocks the big man loopy. Big mistake! The little man is the titular Boxer and the big man was his trainer. Who will train The Boxer and his glass jaw for the "Big Fight" against the Bavarian Beast now that the big man has the brain damage? Hm? Smitten, Velma insists that she's just the wom-er-man for the job. Will The Boxer win the "Big Fight"? Will love bloom in the ring? Tickets ($12-15) are available for purchase online or by calling 214-642-4253.
• ZERO, a one-man show starring Danny O'Connor. ZERO is a shockingly hilarious, gritty exploration via six distinct and diverse characters into the many conflicts and speedbumps a man goes through at the brink of leaving his youth and entering the dreaded adulthood he fears, wants, worries about, and has always hoped for. Purchase tickets ($15) online or by calling 972-941-5600.
• Balm in Gilead, presented by SMU Division of Theatre. Balm in Gilead focuses on the interactions of some 30 social outcasts — junkies, prostitutes, drug dealers, hustlers, transvestites — in an all-night New York coffee shop. For tickets ($7-13), contact the Meadows Ticket Office by calling 214-768-2787.
• I Hate Hamlet, presented by TCC Theatre Northwest. A young actor who has just earned fame and fortune on TV is apprehensive about returning to New York to play Hamlet in the prestigious Shakespeare in Central Park festival. To add to his insecurities, his realtor has rented him an apartment once inhabited by John Barrymore, who many consider to have given one of the greatest performances of Hamlet in the twentieth century. A séance brings the ghost of John Barrymore back to the apartment where he once lived. Barrymore offers guidance to the young actor, who has to decide between the easy money that he could make with a new television series and the confidence to be gained by facing the world’s most difficult acting challenge. The box office can be reached at 817-515-7724 for tickets (free-$6).
• The Sheep Thief, presented by TCC Southeast Drama. A young boy gets caught stealing a sheep and is shaved of all his hair and branded with a mark on his forehead so that everyone will know that he is a thief and not to be trusted. Dumped in the desert, the thief covers his marking with a headscarf and goes to the nearest village where he is taken in by a trusting family in return for his work. However, has be actually changed or is he still the same thief at heart? The box office can be reached at 817-515-3799 for tickets (free-$5).
• The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged, presented by TCC Northeast Playhouse. A parody of the plays written by William Shakespeare with all of them being performed (in shortened form) during the show by only three actors. Typically, the actors use their real names and play themselves rather than certain characters. The fourth wall is nonexistent in the performance with the actors speaking directly to the audience during much of the play, and some scenes involve audience participation. Reserve tickets (free-$5) by calling 817-515-6687.
• Collected Stories, presented by Pantagleize Theatre Company. The play explores the development, and the destruction, of the mother/daughter relationship between Ruth Steiner, a mature English professor, and her young student, Lisa Morrison. Love and literature take the stage in this one. Directed by Sarah Elizondo. For tickets ($11-13), call 817-472-0032 or purchase online.
• PLUR, presented by The Butterfly Connection. Brandon Shelby Brooks is in his mid-twenties. He's a working man. He owns a home with his girlfriend and is on his way to realizing the American dream. Just before his birthday he gets an instant message from his past lover that sends him down nostalgia road into the Rave scene: lights, music, dancing, and ecstasy. For reservations ($15), call 682-560-0776.
• Jay Johnson: The Two and Only, presented by Dallas Summer Musicals. The critically-acclaimed show, which won a 2007 Tony® Award for Best Special Theatrical Event, features Johnson as he brings to life a dozen or more wildly varied characters, including a boa, a chimpanzee, a vulture and a tennis ball in a script he wrote. Michael A. Jenkins, President and Managing Director of Dallas Summer Musicals, also received a Tony® Award for producing the show on Broadway. Purchase tickets ($15-67) online or by calling 214-631-ARTS.
• Sylvia, presented by TCC South Drama. A modern romantic comedy about a marriage and a dog. No reservations (free-$6) needed.
• Little Women: The Musical, presented by TCU Department of Theatre. Follows the saga of the March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy—as they grow up in Civil War America. With a book by Allan Knee, music by Jason Howland and lyrics by Mindi Dickstein, this show is sure to charm young and old alike. For tickets ($5-10), call 817-257-5770.
• The Cricket on The Hearth, presented by Word of Mouth Productions. Based on the classic tale by Charles Dickens, adapted by Marian Jonson. Call 214-544-4630 for tickets ($9-13).