Opening weekend for 12 Valentine-themed productions and more (Feb. 13-15)

by Shawn Parikh

With Valentine's Day this weekend, a lot of companies are opening some very romantic shows to make sure you have a decent way to treat your gal. While others are just opening some regular shows including a new play competition. Either way, make sure to check some out while you have the chacne:

• The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife, presented by Uptown Players. From the author of "Daddy's Dyin'... Who's Got The Will?", "Sordid Lives," and "Southern Baptist Sissies", Del Shores' new play is a tragicomedy about domestic violence. Set in small town trailer-park Texas, "Trailer Trash Housewives" explores the lives of Willadean Winkler, her abusive husband J.D., best-friend LaSonia (pronounced "Lasagna"), and trashy cocktail waitress Rayleen Hobbs. The play is scored around soul-soaring blues songs. A delicate blend of frightened humor and pain, it delves right into the heart of abuse. Explosive one-sided arguments erupt and build, until one disastrous night it all goes too far, and the lives of those in the trailer park are never the same. Purchase tickets ($25-30) online or by calling 214-219-2718.
• See Rock City, presented by Echo Theatre - The Nibroc Trilogy. Picks up a year later and introduces us to May's and Raleigh's mothers. With America’s involvement in the war as a backdrop, May and Raleigh learn about marriage, societal roles and sacrifice. Second part in the regional premiere of The Nibroc Trilogy, an award-winning three-play cycle that follows May and Raleigh from their first meeting in the 1940s, through the second World War and into the Eisenhower era. Click here for a complete trilogy schedule. Festival passes are $40 and single performance tickets are $15. Purchase tickets online.
• 2009 New Play Competition, presented by TeCo Theatrical Productions. The gladiators of theater come together for an unprecedented event of its kind. We've invited the past six New Play Competition winners from the past six years to an all out brawl center stage for a chance to win two roundtrip American Airline tickets and $1,000 cash. Audience members are given ballots to vote for their favorite one-act play as they enter the theater. On closing night, we tally all the votes and award the cash and prizes. Get ready to rumble; there is sure to be a knock out! Call 214-948-0716 for tickets ($15-20) or purchase online.
• Love Letters, presented by Flower Mound Performing Arts Theatre, for this weekend only. Andrew Makepeace Ladd III, played by Grant James and Melissa Gardner played by the delightful Sylvia Luedtke, both born to wealth and position, are childhood friends whose lifelong correspondence begins with birthday party thank-you notes and summer camp postcards. Romantically attached, they continue to exchange letters through their college years and as they marry and raise families, build careers and lives of success and achievement. Purchase tickets ($25-35) online or by calling 972-724-2147.
• Pride and Prejudice, presented by Repertory Company Theatre. Meet the Bennets and their five precocious daughters in this thrilling adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel, one of the most beloved classics of all time. Centering on the tumultuous relationship between headstrong and opinionated Elizabeth Bennet and the proud and arrogant Fitzwilliam Darcy, the story takes us to Regency England, a place where manners and birth mean everything and reputation means as much as gold. Darcy and Elizabeth must unlearn their misconceptions and undo their misunderstandings in order to find true and everlasting love. Special Valentine's show on the 14th. Call 972-690-5029 for tickets ($12-20).
• Pride & Prejudice, presented by Greater Lewisville Community Theatre. Mrs. Bennett is determined to get her daughters married. Jane, Elizabeth and Lydia are likely looking girls in a period when a woman's one possible career is matrimony. To be a wife was success. Anything else was failure. Jane and her Mr. Bingley and Lydia with her Mr. Wickham are quite content with things as they are, but not Elizabeth! She actually refuses to marry Mr. Collins, whom she openly deplores, and Mr. Darcy, whom she secretly adores. The play is the story of the duel between Elizabeth and her pride and Darcy and his prejudice. Each gives in before the evening is over and pride and prejudice meet halfway. Call 972-221-SHOW for reservations ($10-13).
• Feast of Love, presented by Fight Boy Theatre. An exciting grouping of three short plays, in an exploration of love in is varied forms. Featuring The Dreaming of the Bone by W.B. Yeats, along with two original works, Love in Connemara and The Shoe Boy by our Resident Playwrights Catherine Creel and Jordan Scott, Feast of Love presents three short tales from the Emerald Isles. For reservations ($8-10) and more information, visit fightboytheatre.com or contact Joshua Scott Hancock at 817-675-5674.
• The Importance of Being Earnest, presented by Duncanville Community Theatre. Satrizing high society lifestyles and fictitious identities, this well-known comedy also offers a wealth of love and romance. *Opening weekend ONLY will feature bistro seating and light hors de oeuvres; $15 per person, no ticket discounts honored. Second weekend will be regular DCT theatre seating with standard ticket pricing. Call 972-780-5707 for reservations ($10-15).
• From Judy with Love, presented by Granbury Opera House, for this weekend only. Starring TV star Judy Norton (The Waltons), Sam DirRossa, Alex Mitchell and Laurn Darnell. Just in time for St. Valentines Day, From Judy With Love provides you with a special musical evening that gives you the feeling of being in one of the best show rooms in Las Vegas. An intimate show featuring love songs and dialogue that will keep you entertained the entire evening. An excellent time to visit one of Granbury’s fine restaurants and take in this special show before or after dinner.
• Mother Load, for this weekend only. Mother Load’s is an insightful exposé of the cutthroat world of competitive parenting. Modern motherhood, this show tells us, is not for sissies. Moms have always felt the pressure to do right by their children, but the new generation of parents has turned that pressure up to 11. In a world where a toddler's birthday party must be catered, a stroller costs eight hundred dollars, and there’s a new danger in your child’s toy box every week, how can a mother keep from losing her mind? From prenatal yoga to preschool interviews, the heroine of this show struggles to throw off the "Mother Load" of unrealistic expectations, ignore the competitive "sanctimommies" lurking in every playgroup, and somehow find the time to enjoy her kids. Purchase tickets ($33-39) online, by calling 972-744-4650, or in person.
• A Night at the Algonquin, presented by Fig Theatre Company, for this weekend only. A musical revue featuring beloved songs by George Gershwin and Cole Porter. For more information, contact Kimberly (972-233-1898 x226).
• Peter Pan, presented by Plano Community Theatre. Call 972-422-2575 for tickets ($7-9).