Friday, February 15, 2008

Big weekend of theater openings for the metroplex (Feb. 15-17)

By Shawn Parikh

Valentine's weekend is bringing in a lot of noteworthy theater to town including a regional premiere, play competition, and festival. Make sure to see a few when you get a chance:

Trestle at Pope Lick Creek

1984

Almost, Maine

Barefoot in the Park

• Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, presented by Kitchen Dog Theater. Somewhere in the US. 1936. Two passionate teenagers become locked ina dare to "run the tracks" - a deadly game to outrun the trains that thunder over the trestle bridge at Pope Lick Creek. Dalton Chance and Pace Creagan gamble their dreams and innocence on a race to test the limits of their confinement, and ultimately, their love. KDT Company Member Emeritus Tim Johnson returns to direct Naomi Wallace's beautifully haunting play that The New York Times called "a blend of Ingmar Bergman and Horton Foote, with Thornton Wilder on the side." Purchase tickets ($10-25) online or by calling 214-953-1055.
• 1984, presented by Frisco Community Theatre. The times and the fact that we're producing the stage adaptation of Orwell's classic demand some comment, and we quote Orwell himself. "I do not believe that the kind of society I describe necessarily will arrive, but I believe that something resembling it could arrive. The moral to be drawn from the dangerous nightmare situation is a simple one: Don't let it happen. It depends on you." Orwell depicts with great power the horrors of man's fate in a society where Big Brother is always watching—where everything that is not prohibited is compulsory. Purchase tickets ($10-15) online.
• They’re Playing Our Song, presented by Lyric Stage. America’s greatest writer of comedies teamed with the Tony Award winning composer of A Chorus Line to write this hysterical musical comedy about an Academy Award winning composer and his relationship with a quirky, aspiring young female lyricist. A Broadway hit of the 1978-79 season. Purchase tickets ($15-29) online or by calling 972-252-2787.
• Almost, Maine, presented by WaterTower Theatre. On a Friday night in the middle of winter, residents of the small northern town of Almost, Maine are falling in and out of love at an alarming rate. With its hilarious and heartbreaking stories of love in the time of frostbite, Almost, Maine aims for the heart by way of the funnybone - a perfect romantic comedy for young an old alike. Call the box office at 972-450-6232 for tickets or purchase online.
• Daisy in the Dreamtime, presented by Echo Theatre. The true story of Daisy Bates, an Irish woman who pitched a tent in the Australian outback and lived there with the aborigines for thirty years. The play explores Daisy’s life and the reasons why she abandoned her family and all the comforts of civilization. It examines a culture that is free of the two great obsessions of modern civilization: the pressure of time and the accumulation of goods. It is a story of deep friendship, crushing loss, and tectonic change, told with lightness, humor and humility. For reservations ($1-20), call 214-904-0500 or purchase online.
• bare, presented by Uptown Players. Set in a Catholic boarding school, the show centers on a group of friends during their senior year. Altar boy Peter is in love with his roommate Jason , one of the most popular kids in school. They are carrying on a closeted romance but Peter wants to go public with their affair. Jason isn't so keen on the idea, as he feels that his entire world would crumble if word of the relationship got out. Things get more complicated when Ivy makes a play for Jason. Her rejected suitor Matt discovers the secret that Peter and Jason have been keeping and it's only a matter of time before things start to spin out of control. For tickets ($25-30), call 214-219-2718 or purchase online.
• Barefoot in the Park, presented by Flower Mound Performing Arts Theatre. After a six day honeymoon a spanking new lawyer, who has just won his first case 6 cents in damages, and his young bride, who is as pretty and addled as they come, move into the new, high rent apartment that she has chosen for them. But the difficulty is, in order to enjoy the charming character of this apartment, one has to climb six wheezing flights. And the apartment is absolutely bare of furniture, the paint job came out all wrong, the skylight leaks snow, there isn't room for a double bed, and an outlandish gourmet who lives in a loft on the roof uses it and the window ledge as the only access to his padlocked premises. Purchase tickets ($21-35) by calling 972-724-2147.
• The Vagina Monologues, presented by UTD's Rat Pack for this weekend only. Watch an Awesome Show to help prevent domestic violence, sexual abuse and rape. Band "Lovie" plays 15 minutes before each performance. Tickets are $5-10.
• I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, presented by Music Theatre of Denton. This celebration of the mating game takes on the truths and myths behind that contemporary conundrum known as "the relationship". Act I explores the journey from dating and waiting to love and marriage, while Act II reveals the agonies and triumphs of in-laws and newborns, trips in the family car and pick-up techniques of the geriatric set. This hilarious revue pays tribute to those who have loved and lost, to those who have fallen on their face at the portal of romance, to those who have dared to ask, "Say, what are you doing Saturday night?" Call 940-382-1915 for reservations ($10-18).
• Dearly Beloved, presented by Runway Theatre. In the small town of Fayro, Texas, the Futrelle Sisters – once known as the almost-famous gospel singing trio, The Sermonettes – are in the midst of preparing for an oh-so-elaborate antebellum wedding in the Tabernacle of the Lamb Church. Unfortunately, the bride and groom are missing, and the rumor mill is working overtime. Best-laid plans unravel as hot flashes, even hotter tempers and long-held grudges between the sisters begin to surface. The bride’s mother and feuding aunts have to pull together to find ways to keep unsuspecting guests in their pews while a highway patrolman attempts to track down the couple. As a last resort, and to the delight of the citizenry of Fayro, The Sermonettes reunite and sing again! Call 817-488-4842 for reservations ($10-15).
• Five Course Love, presented by Circle Theatre. This delicious new show mixes heaping portions of music, comedy and romance into a tasty theatrical entree! Three actors portray fifteen characters whose amorous meetings at different restaurants are played out in musical styles that match each cuisine. For reservations ($20-30), call 817-877-3040.
• New Play Competition, presented by TeCo Theatrical Productions. Six Dallas area playwrights will battle it out for a chance to win cash and prizes. Audience members are given ballots to vote for their favorite production at each performance. On closing night, we tally the votes and award the winning playwright with $1,000 cash and two round trip airline tickets. The contenders are Ten At The End, Casting Stones, Come Tomorrow, Where Dogs Come From, Big Girls Need Love Too, and The World's Greatest Gameshow Ever!. Call the TeCo box office at 214-948-0716 for tickets ($10-15).
• The 2008 Condensed Shakespeare Festival, presented by Stolen Shakespeare Guild. Short versions of three Elizabethan comedies presented in one evening: The Merry Wives by William Shakespeare, adapted by Edward Huntingdon and Nathan Autrey, Volpone by Ben Johnson, and Short Attention Span Much Ado About Nothing, adapted by Edward Huntingdon and words by The Bard. Tickets ($10-15) can be purchased online or by calling Theater Mania at 1-866-811-4111.
• Sabrina Fair, presented by Duncanville Community Theatre. Sabrina, daughter of the Larrabee family chauffeur, has returned from Paris, all grown up and well-educated. While hoping to finally pursue her infatuation for the younger Larrabee, she surprisingly discovers true love where she least expects it. For reservations ($9-12), call 972-780-5707.

And previewing this weekend is:

• Crimes of the Heart, presented by Theatre Three. In Hazlehurst, Mississippi the three Magrath sisters face troubles both grave and hilarious but in the end manage to escape the past to seize the future. Show officially opens Monday, February 18. Purchase tickets ($15-30) online or by calling 214-871-3300.

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