Last weekend for plays, musicals, and Out of the Loop Festival (Mar. 13-15)

by Shawn Parikh

It's a big weekend of theater closings, including the reputable Out of the Loop Festival, so try and squeeze in as many shows as you can in the next few days:

• 2009 Out of the Loop Fringe Festival, presented by WaterTower Theatre. A 10-day celebration of theatre, dance, music and art, the Out of the Loop Fringe Festival features performances by arts organizations from the local area and region. The Festival will run March 5 – 15, 2009. Performances will be held at the Addison Theatre Centre, which contains three performance venues: the Festival Main Stage (seating approximately 200), the Studio Theatre (seating approximately 70), and the Stone Cottage (seating approximately 50). National, regional and Dallas-based artists in theatre, dance, music, comedy, puppetry, and poetry will be presented side by side throughout the Festival. Single tickets can be purchased online or by calling 972-450-6232. Click here for a complete festival schedule.
• The Pajama Game, presented by Dallas Summer Musicals. Bright and riotously funny, this fast-paced, frisky tale is theatre at its very best with this sparkling, all-new production of the Tony Award winning, Broadway smash hit – The Pajama Game. The feisty employee representative has found her match in the pajama shop superintendent and when the two get together, they wind up discussing a whole lot more than job actions! The high-energy score by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross brims with popular hits and musical theatre standards such as “Hey There,” “Steam Heat” and the hilarious “Hernando’s Hideaway” that will keep you humming all the way home. Tickets ($15-85) can be purchased online or by calling 214-631-2787.
• 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.
• High School Musical, presented by Casa Manana. Disney’s smash hit movie musical is coming live on stage to the Bass Performance Hall. Watch Troy (captain of the basketball team) and Gabriella (transfer student and science whiz) as they surf the tricky tides of cliques and peer pressure to follow their dreams of scoring the lead roles in their high school musical. It’s a high-energy look at high school life and the interaction between jocks, brainiacs, thespians, nerds and skater dudes as they learn to accept each other, despite their differences. Featuring all the songs from the movie plus two all-new numbers, Disney's High School Musical is more fun than a high school pep rally! Purchase tickets ($30-75) online.
• Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, presented by Collin Theatre Center. Follows young Huck in pre-Civil War America. Huck is torn between the choices of living a wild, responsibility-free life with his abusive drunken father versus holding to the strict expectations of the townsfolk who have taken him in. The young Huck also has to deal with his confusion about what is right or wrong in the world. Huck stages his own death so he can seek adventures elsewhere, and he and runaway slave Jim board a raft down the Mississippi. There, they find much conflict and great joy as they encounter a slew of unique characters and situations. They also learn a lot about friendship and themselves. The story of their journey downstream is an American classic. Show is perfect for the entire family. Purchase tickets ($10-15) online or by calling 972-881-5809.
• Don’t Dress For Dinner, presented by Theatre Three. Infidelities and frustrated couplings are a long French literary specialty. Moliere, Marivaux, and Feydeau abound with witty repartee as men scramble after women, and women delight in the pursuit. In this recent Paris (and London) hit, a very modern French husband is planning to host a dinner in his wife’s absence. The dinner is a prelude to a liaison with his mistress, a plan the husband has divulged to his best friend. But, surprise! Can you guess who the best friend has as his mistress? And who is this beguiling female chef sent to concoct the perfect seductive meal? Purchase tickets ($20-40) online or by calling 214-871-3300.
• Orinoco!, presented by Teatro Dallas. This show is a revealing surreal comedy about Mimi and Fifí, two showgirls with aspirations of being great cabaret stars. The play takes place on a ship drifting along Venezuela’s Orinoco River on its way to an oil field. The girls have been hired to “perform” upon reaching their destination and think that this time they will make their dreams come true. In the cabin of this ship, a man rests while recuperating after throwing the crew of the ship into the river. But why? Purchase tickets ($15-18) online or by calling 214-689-6492.
• If By Chance. Donnie F. Wilson’s world premiere directly inspired by society’s preoccupation with Barack Obama’s ethnicity. Wilson wanted to present a work that would reveal a subtle truth about the cognitive frames that shape our thinking about the subject. Motivated by a local teenage actor who had bouts of legal troubles before discovering acting, Wilson wrote this piece specifically for the young man. The combination of his inspiration and motivation resulted in “IF BY CHANCE”, a moving drama about a biracial college student who strives to be judged by the content of his character and not the color of his skin. Purchase tickets ($15-20) online.
• Schoolhouse Rock Live! Jr., all-youth production presented by Theatre Arlington. This fast-moving, fun musical based on the Emmy award-winning educational cartoon series brings school lessons to life in a hip, entertaining treat that shows everyone that learning can be as much fun as you choose to make it! "Unpack Your Adjectives" and hop on at "Conjunction Junction" for this rollicking treat for kids of all ages! Purchase tickets ($10) online or by calling 817-275-7661.
• 100 Lunches, A Gourmet Comedy, presented by Lakeside Community Theatre. Successful mystery playwright Chuck Reynolds has had his plays lauded by all critics except Charity Starr. When she shows up at his home and has the unmitigated gall to ask his expert help in writing a play of her own, Chuck fiendishly insists that their teacher/pupil sessions be held over lunch with Charity footing the bill at the most expensive restaurants in New York City. Lunatic waiters provide a uniquely hilarious touch to these meetings. Love blossoms despite the scheming of Chuck's amorous neighbor. Charity's play opens on Broadway and she finds out what it's like to be a target for all her critical confreres. Nonstop fun, romance, and explosive hilarity make this an ideal show for the entire family. For reservations ($10-12), call or 214-616-4289.
• Cheating Cheaters, presented by Azle Arts Association’s Popcorn Players. What do you get when you cross two middle-aged sisters that scam for a living, a cat burglar who is not all that he appears to be and a lowly policeman with suspicious intentions? Throw in the surprise of a "loving" niece coming to live in the house and you have a rousing comedy of who is actually cheating who. Purchase tickets ($5-10) online or by calling 817-238-PLAY.