Dallas theater companies presenting cool summer offerings

by Rick A. Elina of North Dallas Gazette

“…Hate destroys everything but the enemy that is oppressing you.” -- from The Good Negro By Tracey Scott Wilson

Judging by the thermometer, summertime is officially in full swing. In spite of the heat, several area theaters are offering some cool entertainment over the next several months and the choices range from musical to farcical to historical.

Theatre Three Presents: The Big Bang By Boyd Graham & Jed Feuer

It costs a lot of money to produce a musical on the history of the planet from the primal Big Bang to the 21st Century. What spectacle! Bigger than Cats! Two ambitious young composers take over a wealthy doctor’s New York apartment to give the ultimate backer’s audition. Accompanied only by piano, the two authors play all the parts: all of history’s icons from Adam and Eve to The Brady Bunch provoking total astonishment in their potential investors. The wild fun of this off-Broadway hit returns to Theatre Too in a tour-de-force of comic acting and musical merriment. Directed by Terry Dobson and starring Gary Floyd and K. Doug Miller.

Show begins August 18, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. and runs through September 7, 2008 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets and Reservations: Theatre Three’s Box Office at 214-871-3300, option 1 or www.theatre3dallas.com

Circle Theatre Presents: Unnecessary Farce By Paul Slade Smith

Deadly bagpipes, a bumbling mayor, incompetent cops and a series of crooks all converge in a hotel room where a repressed accountant is about to trap an embezzler. To crack the case, the cops must overcome their fear of the dark, guns, enclosed spaces and the opposite sex.

Runs through August 23rd at the Circle Theatre in Ft. Worth. Call (817) 877-3040 or visit CircleTheatre.com.

Dallas Theater Center Presents: Tommy. Music and Lyrics by Pete Townshend, book by Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff. Additional music and lyrics by John Entwistle and Keith Moon.

Since it exploded on the charts almost 40 years ago as the first rock opera ever written, Tommy has been freshly re-interpreted for each generation in concerts, on film, and on stage. Now this classic, cross-generational, pop phenomenon comes to life at DTC in a new, vibrant, once-in-a-lifetime production. The Kalita Humphreys Theater will rock with high-energy singing and dancing, dazzling images, and a live onstage band. Ranked by Rolling Stone as one of the Greatest Rock Albums of all time, Pete Townshend's musical masterpiece tells the story of a deaf, dumb, and blind Pinball Wizard who transcends the cruelty of the world around him and finds enlightenment. Driven by a powerful beat and reverberating with unforgettable characters, this is a Tommy for today. Contains adult language, mature subject matter…and loud rock 'n roll.

Tommy opens August 27 and runs through September 21.

In October, Dallas Theater Center will present The Good Negro by Tracey Scott Wilson.

Alabama. 1962. When an African-American woman is beaten and arrested for taking her young daughter into a whites-only restroom, a trio of burgeoning civil rights leaders decides to make a stand. But first they must convince their community that now is the time to throw off the shackles of being "good negroes" and to rise up against hate and injustice. With the Ku Klux Klan and the FBI working against them, and their own petty jealousies and questionable ethics, their progress is soon hampered. When violence erupts and lives are endangered, the leaders must face their own demons and make the decision of a lifetime — what are they personally willing to risk for a greater cause? Presented in a co-production with New York's renowned Public Theater, this provocative, suspenseful, and intensely human drama will have its world premiere in Dallas and then transfer to one of New York's most esteemed theaters. Contains adult language and mature subject matter.

The Good Negro opens October 15th and runs through November 9th. Contact Dallas Theater Center at (214) 522-8499.