Stage Whispers
PERFORMING ARTS NEWS AND NOTES

Dallas — For today's giveaway, we have several pairs of tickets to the next screening in the National Theatre of London's NT Live series at the Angelika Film Centers in Dallas and Plano. It's James Graham's new play This House.

Here's a description:

It’s 1974 and the corridors of Westminster ring with the sound of infighting and backbiting as Britain’s political parties battle to change the future of the nation, whatever it takes. In this hung parliament, the ruling party holds on by a thread. Votes are won and lost by one, fist fights erupt in the bars, and ill MPs are hauled in to cast their votes. It’s a time when a staggering number of politicians die, and age-old traditions and allegiances are thrown aside in the struggle for power.

James Graham’s biting, energetic and critically-acclaimed new play strips politics down to the practical realities of those behind the scenes who roll up their sleeves, and on occasion bend the rules, to manoeuvre a diverse and conflicting chorus of MPs within the Mother of all Parliaments.

These are for the showings at the Angelika Film Centers in Dallas and Plano, presented in conjunction with By Experience HD.

The showings are 7 p.m. May 30 and 2 p.m. June 1 at the Angelika Film Center Dallas; and 2 p.m. June 2 and 7 p.m. June 4 at the Angelika Film Center Plano.

To win a pair, email tickets@theaterjones.com with THIS HOUSE GRAHAM in the subject line. Include your name and number. Also, include which location and day you'd like to attend. We have five pairs of tickets to each of the Angelika locations.

Your four choices of time, date and location are:

• 7 p.m. Thursday, May 30 at Angelika Film Center Dallas
• 2 p.m. Saturday, June 1 at Angelika Film Center Dallas
• 2 p.m. Sunday, June 2 at Angelika Film Center Plano
• 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 4 at Angelika Film Center Plano

Tickets are normally $20.

You have until 11:30 p.m. Thursday, May 23 to submit an email. We'll notify the winners Friday morning.

TheaterJones staffers and contributors, and their family members, are ineligible to play.

◊ Other giveaways coming up on TheaterJones include:

• Deepak Chopra at the AT&T Performing Arts Center's Winspear Opera House on May 29
• Cesar Milan, "The Dog Whisperer," at the AT&T Performing Arts Center's Winspear Opera House on May 30
• Passes to the Festival of Independent Theatres at the Bath House Cultural Center, which begins on May 31
• Ira Glass of NPR's This American Life at the AT&T Performing Arts Center's Winspear Opera House on June 1
  
• Betty Buckley's The Vixens of Broadway concert at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, June 13 and 15
• and more!

Here's a video trailer for This House:

Dallas — UPDATE May 16, 2013: The winner of this giveaway has been selected. Check your email if you played.

For today's giveaway, we have a pair of tickets to opening night of the Tony-winning musical In the Heights, which has its first locally produced staging by Artes de la Rosa at the Rose Marine Theater in Fort Worth. The show opens Friday, May 17 and runs through June 9. These tickets are for Friday, May 17 at 7:30 p.m.

Here's a description:

IN THE HEIGHTS tells the universal story of a vibrant community in New York's Washington Heights neighborhood – a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. It's a community on the brink of change, full of hopes, dreams and pressures, where the biggest struggles can be deciding which traditions you take with you, and which ones you leave behind. IN THE HEIGHTS is the winner of the 2008 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Score, Choreography and Orchestrations.

To be entered in a drawing to win a pair of tickets, email tickets@theaterjones.com and put ROSA HEIGHTS in the subject line. Include your name, address, number and best email contact.

You have until 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 15 to submit an email. We'll notify the winners Thursday morning.

TheaterJones staffers and contributors, and their family members, are ineligible to play.

◊ Other giveaways coming up on TheaterJones include:

• Passes to the Festival of Independent Theatres at the Bath House Cultural Center, which begins on May 31
• The National Theatre Live screening of James Graham's play This House at the Angelika Film Centers in Dallas and Plano, May 30-June 4
• and more!

Then there were 28—and now there are 30 again.

Two of the 30 young competitors selected for the 14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition have withdrawn from the field for personal reasons, said the Van Cliburn Foundation today.

The slots opened up when South Korean pianist Hyung-Min Suh, 22, and American pianist YouYou Zhang, 29—who is studying at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth chose not to compete this year.

Their places were filled quickly by two 24-year-olds, South Korean pianist Yekwon Sunwoo, and Russia’s Nikita Abrosimov. Sunwoo was the first alternate for the competition, first to be called if anyone had to drop out.

Sunwoo, a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia who is currently at Juilliard, began studying piano at age 8. He was both the youngest competitor and the first-prize winner of the inaugural Florida International Piano Competition in 2008, and made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2009.

Abrosimov, who is pursuing a master's degree at the Royal College of Music in London, has also studied both at Bowling Green State University and the University of Indiana. He won the World Piano Competition in Cincinnati in 2011, and will have his Lincoln Center debut at Alice Tully Hall on May 17—just days before he is due to “report” for the Van Cliburn competition.

◊ You can see the original annoucement of the competitors here. Also, look for a special section on the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition starting this week on TheaterJones; we'll have features, notes and reviews of every performance.

Fort Worth — Betty Buckley, Fort Worth's Tony-winning Broadway star who recently returned from a London revival of Jerry Herman's musical Dear World, has a lot going on lately, and but still has time for her hometown. She'll make several local appearances in June at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth before heading back to New York for a new off-Broadway play.

She will bring her hit concert The Vixens of Broadway to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth on June 13 and 15 (7:30 p.m. each night). This show is a followup to her acclaimed Ah, Men! The Boys of Broadway, which she has performed in New York and around the country, and at the Modern in April 2012. In Vixens, she sings songs by the bad girls of Broadway shows. The numbers include "When You're Good to Mama" (Chicago), "I Cain't Say No" (Oklahoma!) and "The Miller's Son" (A Little Night Music).

Buckley, who was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2012, will also conduct her popular Song Interpretation and Monologue Workshop in Fort Worth this summer, beginning June 5 at the Modern. To find out more about that, visit www.bettybuckley.com.

This is all before she heads to New York again, where she'll be starring in the world premiere of the Horton Foote play The Old Friends at the Signature Theatre off-Broadway. She will appear with Hallie Foote and Lois Smith; it begins previews Aug. 20 and opens Sept. 12. You can get tickets here.

Meanwhile, tickets for The Vixens of Broadway are $45, and available by calling 1-866-499-2787 or online.

Dallas — UPDATE MAY 6, 2013: These tickets have been given out. Please check your email if you played.

For today's giveaway, we have several pairs of tickets to opening night of the musical Fela!, about afrobeat star Fela Kuti, and featuring Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child. It opens Tuesday, May 7 and runs through May 19. These tickets are for 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 7.

Here's a description:

A joyous Broadway spectacle that has thrilled audiences on three continents, this Tony Award winner, directed and choreographed by the renowned Bill T. Jones, explores the extravagant world of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti. Fela! sold out its run at London’s prestigious National Theatre, where The Guardian’s Michael Billington exclaimed, “It breaks down conventional barriers between stage and auditorium and joins passion and politics. The dancing is ecstatic, the music lifts the spirits, and the stage is alive with movement."

To be entered in a drawing to win a pair of tickets, email tickets@theaterjones.com and put FELA KUTI in the subject line. Include your name, address, number and best email contact.

You have until 11:30 p.m. Sunday, May 5 to submit an email. We'll notify the winners Monday morning.

TheaterJones staffers and contributors, and their family members, are ineligible to play.

◊ Here's a video preview:

◊ Other giveaways coming up on TheaterJones include:

• The National Theatre Live screening of James Graham's play This House at the Angelika Film Centers in Dallas and Plano, May 30-June 4
• and more!

The new music director for The Dallas Opera was announced today. Emmanuel Villaume replaces Graeme Jenkins, who conducted his final performance as TDO's music director on Sunday with The Aspern Papers.

Villaume, a Frenchman, is only the third music director in the organization's 56-year history. Villaume's position is officially called the Mrs. Eugene McDermott Music Director in Honor of Graeme Jenkins.

Villaume will conduct the first opera in TDO's 2013-14 season, Carmen, in October. After that season, he will conduct a minimum of two productions per season, the Dallas Opera's General Director and CEO Keith Cerny told journalists at a press conference Tuesday morning. Villaume also gave some hints as to future productions he would conduct at TDO, which would include Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro and a rarely performed work by a Russian composer.

The French-born Villaume has worked at many of the world's most important opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Teatro la fenice in Venice, Santa Fe Opera and Madrid's Teatro Real. He has also conducted at Charleston, S.C.'s Spoleto Festival USA, as well as the Danish National Orchestra, St. Petersburg Symphony, Sweden's Royal Philharmonic and other orchestras.

Look for more commentary and an interview the Villaume, by our classical music critic Gregory Isaacs, coming soon on TheaterJones.com.

The world is a colder place today: Maria Tallchief has died at the age of 88 at her home in Chicago. She was a dance legend, and one of the few given the title of Primadonna Assoluta. However, the most important part of her story is that she was not only one of the first American ballerinas to achieve international stardom, but she was of Native American decent. She came from the Osage Nation, a Native-American Siouan-speaking tribe that originated in the Ohio River valley in present-day Kentucky.

Tallchief quickly rose to prominence in the 1940s and was a prima ballerina through the early 1960s, dazzling the entire world. She retired in 1965, when she started teaching the next generation of dancers.

"My mother was a ballet legend, who was proud of her Osage heritage," her daughter said to the Chicago Tribune. "Her dynamic presence lit up the room. I will miss her passion, commitment to her art and devotion to her family. She raised the bar high and strove for excellence in everything she did."

Tallchief began her career at the age of 17 and early in her career danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte. However, she was best known for the roles she created after 1947 in many of Balanchine's ballets, such as "Orpheus" in 1948, and "Scotch Symphony" in 1952. She was the Sugar Plum Fairy in his original production of The Nutcracker in 1954. Their partnership was more than artistic: she was Balanchine's wife for some years.

Reached by phone, von Heidecke had this to say. "She was a great inspiration to the whole world. As an artist, she reached the highest level of technical abilities, but she was able to transcend dancing and become the character she was portraying. Ballets went through a period of trying to achieve the supernatural, appearing to float and be other worldly. Giselle and La Sylphide are examples. She achieved this with no apparent effort, but she would actually break it down onto the mechanical and physical requirements for us so we could learn."

When Tallchief retired from the stage, she moved to Chicago to take over the directorship of the Chicago Lyric Opera Ballet from 1973 to 1979. In 1981, she founded the Chicago City Ballet and served as its artistic director until 1987. From 1990 until her death she was artistic advisor to Kenneth Von Heidecke's Chicago Festival Ballet. Heidecke has been to Dallas frequently to choreograph for the Dallas Opera, most recently for the spectacular production of Aida earlier this season.

Maria Tallchief died in Chicago on April 11, 2013

She was survived by her sister, daughter and two grandchildren.

She is mourned by the world.

Could Dallas become a great comedy city like, say, Chicago? The thing that makes Chicago a great place for improvisational comedy isn’t only The Second City. It's independent comedy theaters like pH Productions, iO (ImprovOlympic), Annoyance Theatre, Chemically Imbalanced Comedy, The Atheneum, and The Playground. Stand up clubs and theaters are open to improv and there is an absolute plethora of independent improv and sketch groups. The Chicago Improv Festival showcases all this talent and is hosted by many of these locations.

For Dallas to move toward that level of comedy per capita we need multiple improv storefronts. So it's a very good sign indeed that Alternative Comedy Theater seeks to open a storefront space sometime toward the end of summer. Their fundraising campaign, with a goal of $10,000, ends on April 23.

"Everyone needs to laugh. Everyone needs to play. Improv comedy helps people do both. By contributing to our campaign you’d help a lot of people get the opportunity to get up and make people laugh." So says John Rawley, co-founder and artistic director of ACT along with Liz Robinson and Travis Medina.

"The money that we raise," explains Rawley, "will help buy tables and chairs, materials to build a stage, get a license to sell beer and wine, improve our lighting and sound system, and buy all the things you forget about when you move. Toilet paper costs money!"

ACT has been together since March 2008, so a permanent theater "is something we’ve been planning for a while," says Rawley. The closure last December of a main performance space, the Dyer Street Bar, kicked the project in motion. Plans are to stay north of Mockingbird, but "we're not ruling anything out," says Rawley.

Rawley envisions a black box theater, rather than a nightclub, to host ACT acts The Victims, The Band Wreckers and Rigamarole, who now perform in various places about the metro area. But Rawley asserts that "we will have performers not affiliated with the ACT come to our space and perform," citing the benefits that accrue when comedians with different approaches and training mix and bounce off each other.

"In this transition year, the Big Sexy Weekend of Improv is scaled back so we can focus our attention on moving," says Rawley. The festival returns to its original home, Pocket Sandwich Theatre, cramming a half-dozen acts into the 11:15 pm slots on Friday and Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, with workshops that Saturday. The Monologue Jam hosted by Brad McIntyre will be one of the offerings.

An improv theater with an open door would be a good first step toward softening the sense of encampment that pervades the comedy scene. It can accelerate the growth of area improv ensembles, exposing groups like Fourth Wall and FTP Comedy to new audiences and influences. Expanding the Big Sexy to include the full range of area improv acts would be another huge boon. If it takes the cooperation over completion ethos of the local theaters to heart, there’s no reason North Texas can’t support an improve scene to rival Chicago's. 

Dallas — UPDATE April 8, 2013: These tickets have been given out. Check your email if you played.

For today's giveaway, we have several pairs of tickets to The Grapes of Wrath, Frank Galati's Tony-winning adaptation of the John Steinbeck novel, performed by WaterTower Thaetre in Addison. The show is currently in previews, opens Monday, April 8 and runs through April 28. We have tickets for any performance NEXT weekend, April 10-14. 

Here's a description:

Having survived the drought of the 1930s Dust Bowl only to see their home repossessed by the bank, the Joad family embarks on a harrowing trek from Oklahoma to California, intending to begin anew as migrant farm workers.  Their arrival in this “promised land,” however, brings its own test of the human spirit.  Frank Galati’s groundbreaking adaptation of Steinbeck’s epic novel won two Tony Awards on Broadway.  A plea for social justice and compassion, The Grapes of Wrath provides the perfect canvas for a vast ensemble cast and is an all too timely examination of a nation in search of itself.

To win a pair, email tickets@theaterjones.com with GRAPES OF WRATH in the subject line. Include your name, address, number and best email contact. Also, include which performance you'd like to attend. Your choices are:

7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 10

7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 11

8 p.m. Friday, April 12

8 p.m. Saturday, April 13

2 p.m. Sunday, April 14

You have until 11:30 p.m. Sunday, April 7 to submit an email. We'll notify the winners Monday morning.

TheaterJones staffers and contributors, and their family members, are ineligible to play.

◊ Other giveaways coming up on TheaterJones include:

• The Turtle Creek Chorale's evening of the music of Kander and Ebb, featuring local actresses Amy Stevenson and Linda Leonard, among others, April 18 at Dallas City Performance Hall
• The Metropolitan Opera's production of Handel's Giulio Cesare in the Live at the Met HD series at the AMC Palace 9 in Fort Worth, April 27
• The national tour of Fela! with Michelle Williams (Destiny's Child) at the AT&T Performing Arts Center's Winspear Opera House, May 7-19
• The National Theatre Live screening of James Graham's play This House at the Angelika Film Centers in Dallas and Plano, May 30-June 4
• Also, be sure and join TheaterJones for a tailgating party under a tent in the parking lot of Cowboys Stadium, on Saturday, April 13, at the Dallas Opera's live simulcast of Turandot. We'll have lots of ticket giveaways there, too.

Dallas — UPDATE April 5, 2013: The tickets below have been given out. Check your email if you played.

For today's giveaway, we have several pairs of tickets to Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Wit, presented by Theatre Arlington. It's directed by Emily Scott Banks and stars Krista Scott as Vivian Bearing. We have tickets for this weekend and next weekend, for the following performances: 8 p.m. Friday, April 5; 2 pm. Sunday, April 7; and 8 p.m. Saturday, April 13.

You can read our review here.

Here's a description:

The play chronicles the last hours of an acclaimed English literature professor as she re-assesses her life in the context of terminal illness, ultimately coming to grips with the fact that, much like the medical practitioners treating her, hers has been a life spent valuing "wit" (knowledge and discovery) over humanity. The story is at once heartbreaking and wryly humorous, and one that the New York Times described as the depiction of "a lonely and harrowing decline of a patient...and an indictment of an unmannerly way of treating sick people, of a health care system so voraciously research-based that many of its most talented practitioners are encouraged to be all head and no heart."

To win a pair, email tickets@theaterjones.com with WIT JOHN DONNE in the subject line. Include your name, address, number and best email contact. Also, include which performance you'd like to attend: April 5, 7 or 13.

You have until 11:30 p.m. Thursday, April 4 to submit an email. We'll notify the winners Friday morning.

TheaterJones staffers and contributors, and their family members, are ineligible to play.

◊ Other giveaways coming up on TheaterJones include:

• The Grapes of Wrath at WaterTower Theatre in Addison, running April 5-28
• The Turtle Creek Chorale's evening of the music of Kander and Ebb, featuring local actresses Amy Stevenson and Linda Leonard, among others, April 18 at Dallas City Performance Hall
• The Metropolitan Opera's production of Handel's Giulio Cesare in the Live at the Met HD series at the AMC Palace 9 in Fort Worth, April 27
• The national tour of Fela! with Michelle Williams (Destiny's Child) at the AT&T Performing Arts Center's Winspear Opera House, May 7-19
• The National Theatre Live screening of James Graham's play This House at the Angelika Film Centers in Dallas and Plano, May 30-June 4
• and more!

Dallas — For today's giveaway, we have several pairs of tickets to The Futility of Hope, the new play by Mark-Brian Sonna, presented by MBS Productions at the Stone Cottage on the campus of the Addison Theatre Center. The production runs through April 20, and we have tickets for this weekend, Thursday, Friday or Saturday night, April 4, 5 or 6. All performances are at 8 p.m.

Here's a description:

Hope is a 16 year old who is placed in her biological father's when her mother passes away. The problem is her father is gay and she was raised by her mother to be a very conservative and intolerant of homosexuality. Her father is non-religious and very accustomed to his carefree lifestyle and finds himself burdened with a teen he had no say in raising. Will the two ever be able to adapt or has too much time elapsed for them to be able to change? World Premiere.

To win a pair, email tickets@theaterjones.com with FUTILITY OF HOPE in the subject line. Include your name and number. Also, include which performance you'd like to attend, Thursday, Friday or Saturday.

You have until 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 3 to submit an email. We'll notify the winners Thursday morning.

TheaterJones staffers and contributors, and their family members, are ineligible to play.

◊ Other giveaways coming up on TheaterJones include:

• The Grapes of Wrath at WaterTower Theatre in Addison, running April 5-28
• The Metropolitan Opera's production of Handel's Giulio Cesare in the Live at the Met HD series at the AMC Palace 9 in Fort Worth, April 27
• The national tour of Fela! with Michelle Williams (Destiny's Child) at the AT&T Performing Arts Center's Winspear Opera House, May 7-19
• The National Theatre Live screening of James Graham's play This House at the Angelika Film Centers in Dallas and Plano, May 30-June 4
• and more!

Dallas — UPDATE: April 3, 2013: These tickets have been given out. Check your email if you played.

For today's giveaway, we have several pairs of tickets to the next screening in the National Theatre of London's NT Live series at the Angelika Film Centers in Dallas and Plano. It's Alan Bennett's new play People, starring Frances de la Tour.

Here's a description:

Award-winning writer Alan Bennett is reunited with director Nicholas Hytner and Olivier Award-winning actress Frances de la Tour, with whom he worked on The History Boys and The Habit of Art. People spoil things; there are so many of them and the last thing one wants is them traipsing through one’s house. But with the park a jungle and a bath on the billiard table, what is one to do? Dorothy (Frances de la Tour) wonders if an attic sale could be a solution.

Alan Bennett is one of Britain’s most celebrated playwrights, and the much anticipated People is the sixth of his plays to have its premiere at the National Theatre. Following its original run at the National Theatre, The History Boys transferred to Broadway, winning the Tony Award for Best Play in 2006, and toured internationally before being turned into a film, again directed by Nicholas Hytner and with a cast including Frances de la Tour.  Bennett and Hytner also collaborated on the award-winning play and film The Madness of King George and their last stage production, The Habit of Art, was broadcast as part of National Theatre Live in 2010.

These are for the showings at the Angelika Film Centers in Dallas and Plano, presented in conjunction with By Experience HD.

The showings are 7 p.m. April 4 and 2 p.m. April 6 at the Angelika Film Center Dallas; and 2 p.m. April 7 and 7 p.m. April 9 at the Angelika Film Center Plano.

To win a pair, email tickets@theaterjones.com with PEOPLE DE LA TOUR in the subject line. Include your name and number. Also, include which location and day you'd like to attend. We have five pairs of tickets to each of the Angelika locations.

Your four choices of time, date and location are:

• 7 p.m. Thursday, April 4 at Angelika Film Center Dallas
• 2 p.m. Saturday, April 6 at Angelika Film Center Dallas
• 2 p.m. Sunday, April 7 at Angelika Film Center Plano
• 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 9 at Angelika Film Center Plano

Tickets are normally $20.

You have until 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 2 to submit an email. We'll notify the winners Wednesday morning.

TheaterJones staffers and contributors, and their family members, are ineligible to play.

◊ Other giveaways coming up on TheaterJones include:

• Mark-Brian Sonna's play The Futility of Hope at MBS Productions at the Stone Cottage in Addison, for this weekend's performances
• The Grapes of Wrath at WaterTower Theatre in Addison, running April 5-28
• The Metropolitan Opera's production of Handel's Giulio Cesare in the Live at the Met HD series at the AMC Palace 9 in Fort Worth, April 27
• The national tour of Fela! with Michelle Williams (Destiny's Child) at the AT&T Performing Arts Center's Winspear Opera House, May 7-19
• The National Theatre Live screening of James Graham's play This House at the Angelika Film Centers in Dallas and Plano, May 30-June 4
• and more!

Here's a video trailer for People:

Lee Trull has already worn several hats at Dallas Theater Center, including casting director and a member of the Brierley Resident Acting Company. He's phasing out of those—his current turn as Speed in The Odd Couple is his final onstage role as a member of the acting company (he'll likely still perform, there, though)—and into the DTC's newly created position of Director of New Play Development, effective April 29.

If you've been keeping up with DTC since Kevin Moriarty arrived, you know this warrants a full-time person in the job, as the organization is increasingly becoming involved with new works, as every major regional theater should do. Musicals have been the driving force behind new works, but with the new resident playwright program (Will Power is the first, and next year another writer will be added so they'll always have two playwrights-in-residence, each on a three-year cycle), the focus on plays is increasingly important.

Trull will also be helping with dramaturgy and the promotion means he'll be part of the theater's senior staff.

Here's more from the DTC news release:

DALLAS (April 1, 2013) – Dallas Theater Center Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty announced today that DTC Associate Artist and Brierley Resident Acting Company member Lee Trull has been promoted to Director of New Play Development. In his new position, Trull will produce readings, workshops and productions of new plays and musicals, manage new play submissions, serve as a member of the theater’s senior staff, engage in education and outreach efforts, and participate as a member of the theater’s artistic staff. Trull began working for Dallas Theater Center and joined the Resident Acting Company in 2008.

"From my early work reading stage directions for Fresh Ink/Forward Motion, to my first union acting job in A Christmas Carol, to my years serving as casting director, literary associate and resident acting company member, DTC has been a central part of my development as an artist,” said Trull. “I am humbled and enthused to begin the next leg of my journey with DTC and look forward to the challenges and adventures that lie ahead."

In addition to developing and producing new works for DTC, Trull will serve as associate director to Moriarty on DTC’s brand new production of the holiday classic, A Christmas Carol, premiering at the Wyly Theatre in 2013 and he will direct the production in 2014. He will also provide dramaturgical information for DTC’s productions.

“Lee has been a valuable member of our acting company, contributing signature performances in roles ranging from his comic turns in Arsenic and Old Lace and The Tempest to his dramatic performances in Cabaret and King Lear, among others,” said Moriarty. “Though I will miss collaborating with him as an actor on stage, I am immensely happy for him and proud of him as he makes the transition to artistic leadership and explores new opportunities as a producer, dramaturg, and member of DTC's senior staff. I am certain that Lee will be a meaningful contributor to our artistic team at DTC and that he will have a bright future in the American theater for many years to come.”

Dallas — For today's giveaway, we have several pairs of tickets to the Spring Performance by the Ballet Ensemble of Texas, at Carpenter Performance Hall in the Irving Arts Center, 7:30 p.m. Friday or Saturday, March 29 and 30.

Here's a description of the program:

Ballet Ensemble of Texas presents Walpurgis Nacht by George Balanchine, An American Portrait by Gordon Pierce Schmidt, the new ballet Plaza del Fuego by Margo Sappington and No Pressure by Tammie Reinsch.

You can also read our Q&A with Margo Sappington here.

To be eligible to win, email tickets@theaterjones.com and put PLAZA DEL FUEGO in the subject line. Put your name, address, phone number and best email contact in the body, and indicate if you'd rather go on Friday or Saturday night.

You have until 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 27 to enter. We'll notify the winners Thursday morning.

TheaterJones staffers and contributors, and their family members, are ineligible to play.

◊ Other giveaways coming up on TheaterJones include:

• The National Theatre Live screening of Alan Bennett's play People at the Angelika Film Centers in Dallas and Plano, April 3-9
• The Grapes of Wrath at WaterTower Theatre in Addison, running April 5-28
• The Metropolitan Opera's production of Handel's Giulio Cesare in the Live at the Met HD series at the AMC Palace 9 in Fort Worth, April 27
• The national tour of Fela! with Michelle Williams (Destiny's Child) at the AT&T Performing Arts Center's Winspear Opera House, May 7-19
• The National Theatre Live screening of James Graham's play This House at the Angelika Film Centers in Dallas and Plano, April 3-9
• and more!

Dallas — UPDATE MARCH 27, 2013: These tickets have been given out. Check your email if you played.

For today's giveaway, we have several pairs of tickets to Kate Fodor's comedy RX at Kitchen Dog Theater, which opens Friday, March 29 and runs through April 27 at the McKinney Avenue Contemporary. If you win, you'll receive a voucher good for any performance in the run, subject to availability.

Here's a description of KDT's production:

Phil is a researcher entrusted with the first major trial of Thriveon, Schmidt Pharma's experimental treatment for workplace depression. Meena is a study subject who is depressed by her workplace. Can Thriveon cure Meena? Can Meena cure Phil? A comedy about big love, big dreams and Big Pharma. Christopher Carlos directs.

To be eligible to win, email tickets@theaterjones.com and put FODOR PHARM in the subject line. Put your name, address, phone number and best email contact in the body.

You have until 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 26 to enter. We'll notify the winners Wednesday morning get your ticket voucher in the mail asap. (You probably won't be able to see a performance on opening weekend, but there'll still be four weeks left.)

TheaterJones staffers and contributors, and their family members, are ineligible to play.

◊ Other giveaways coming up on TheaterJones include:

• The Ballet Ensemble of Texas Spring Performance, for March 29 and 30 at Irving Arts Center
• The National Theatre Live screening of Alan Bennett's play People at the Angelika Film Centers in Dallas and Plano, April 3-9
• The Grapes of Wrath at WaterTower Theatre in Addison, running April 5-28
• The Metropolitan Opera's production of Handel's Giulio Cesare in the Live at the Met HD series at the AMC Palace 9 in Fort Worth, April 27
• The national tour of Fela! with Michelle Williams (Destiny's Child) at the AT&T Performing Arts Center's Winspear Opera House, May 7-19
• The National Theatre Live screening of James Graham's play This House at the Angelika Film Centers in Dallas and Plano, April 3-9
• and more!

Dallas — UPDATE March 22: The tickets below have been given out. Check your email if you played.

For today's giveaway, we have several pairs of tickets to see Fort Worth's Ballet Frontier of Texas perform a show called "An Evening of Ballet and Pinocchio." These tickets are for the performance at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 24 at the Scott Theatre at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center.

Here's more about the show:

The performance includes two original works by Chung-Lin Tseng: Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 and Pinocchio. Guest Artists from Texas Ballet Theater along with Ballet Frontier's principal dancers Marina Goshko and Andrey Prikhodko will be featured with the dancers from Ballet Frontier.

To be entered to win the tickets, email tickets@theaterjones.com and put PINOCCHIO in the subject line. Put your name, address, phone number and best email contact in the body of email.

You have until 11:30 p.m. Thursday, March 21 to enter. We'll notify the winners Friday morning.

◊ Other ticket giveaways coming up on TheaterJones include:

• Kate Fodor's play RX at Kitchen Dog Theater, running March 29-April 27
• The National Theatre Live screening of Alan Bennett's play People at the Angelika Film Centers in Dallas and Plano, April 3-9
• The Grapes of Wrath at WaterTower Theatre in Addison, running April 5-28
• The Metropolitan Opera's production of Handel's Giulio Cesare in the Live at the Met HD series at the AMC Palace 9 in Fort Worth, April 27
• The national tour of Fela! with Michelle Williams (Destiny's Child) at the AT&T Performing Arts Center's Winspear Opera House, May 7-19
• The National Theatre Live screening of James Graham's play This House at the Angelika Film Centers in Dallas and Plano, April 3-9
• and more!

Dallas — UPDATE March 21, 2013: The tickets below have been given out. Check your email if you played.

For today's giveaway, we have a family four-pack of tickets to see the "kiddie rock" Laurie Berkner Band, presented by the AT&T Performing Arts Center at Strauss Square, on the west side of the Winspear Opera House, at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 23.

Here's more about the performance (there's a video below, too):

Progressive “kindie rock” superstar Laurie Berkner never expected to emerge as a children’s recording idol. As a rock musician in the early 1990s, Laurie struggled to write original music for Red Onion, her rock band, but, somehow, writing for kids came easily. From her first album Whaddaya Think Of That? in 1997 to Rocketship Run in 2008, Laurie has created music that’s less saccharine and never dumbed down. Her ability to create songs that parents love as much as kids has created an entire children’s music genre. In addition to Laurie on guitar and vocals, the band features Susie Lampert on keyboards, Adam Bernstein on bass, and Bob Golden on drums and percussion. In June 2010, Laurie released The Best Of The Laurie Berkner Band, her first- ever compilation of songs, which received a N.A.P.P.A. Silver Honors Award.

To be entered to win the tickets, email tickets@theaterjones.com and put LAURIE BERKNER BAND in the subject line. Put your name, address, phone number and best email contact in the body of email.

You have until 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 20 to enter. We'll notify the winner Thursday morning.

◊ Other ticket giveaways coming up on TheaterJones include:

• Ballet Frontier of Texas' An Evening of Ballet and Pinocchio at the Scott Theatre in Fort Worth, March 24
• Kate Fodor's play RX at Kitchen Dog Theater, running March 29-April 27
• The National Theatre Live screening of Alan Bennett's play People at the Angelika Film Centers in Dallas and Plano, April 3-9
• The Grapes of Wrath at WaterTower Theatre in Addison, running April 5-28
• The Metropolitan Opera's production of Handel's Giulio Cesare in the Live at the Met HD series at the AMC Palace 9 in Fort Worth, April 27
• The national tour of Fela! with Michelle Williams (Destiny's Child) at the AT&T Performing Arts Center's Winspear Opera House, May 7-19
• The National Theatre Live screening of James Graham's play This House at the Angelika Film Centers in Dallas and Plano, April 3-9
• and more!

◊ Here's a video of Laurie Berkner Band:

Nearly two years after the last CEO of the Van Cliburn Foundation, David Worters, resigned, the organization has named his replacement. He is Jacques Marquis, who has been working in this position as an interim director since September, 2012.

Marquis was the former executive and artistic director of Jeunesses Musicales Canada in Montreal.

It was a smart choice to have someone firmly in this position, considering the upcoming 14th Van Cliburn International Competition and the extra attention it should receive following the recent death of the organization's namesake.

Here's more from the news release about it the new CEO:

FORT WORTH, Texas, March 20, 2013-Carla Kemp Thompson, chairman of the Van Cliburn Foundation Board of Directors, announced today that Jacques Marquis has been named president and CEO for the Cliburn, effective immediately.

Mr. Marquis joined the Cliburn in early September 2012 as interim executive director. With two decades of experience and an extensive network of national and international contacts, he has eagerly tackled the challenge of integrating a remarkable 50-year Cliburn history with the board's strategic vision. As president and CEO, Mr. Marquis is committed to empowering the Cliburn's professional team, and to inspiring thousands of volunteers and supporters, and millions of fans of piano music toward the goal of advancing the Cliburn's position as the champion of classical music worldwide.

"Jacques Marquis has been truly effective as interim executive director during a period of leadership transition," said Mrs. Thompson. "He brings valuable skills sets and experience to the Cliburn, and his energy and enthusiasm have already invigorated the organization. Jacques' knowledge of music and artistry, combined with his years of competition management and his core belief in the tenets that Van Cliburn held dearly, make him ideal to lead the organization as its new president and CEO. We look forward to Jacques and his family becoming a vital part of Fort Worth."

Mr. Marquis said, "It is an honor and a privilege to work for this prestigious organization, particularly at this pivotal time with the exceptional journey ahead. We prepare for the Fourteenth Cliburn Competition this May with a renewed commitment to Van Cliburn's vision of artistic excellence and his dedication to sharing music with the largest audience possible. I am thankful to Carla Thompson and the Cliburn board for their bold long-term vision and for their support. My family and I are grateful to the people of Fort Worth for welcoming us so warmly, and we look forward to being a part of this engaging community."

Jacques Marquis brings to the Cliburn outstanding expertise and a wealth of international piano competition experience, informed by his formal education and 20 years of working in the industry. A bilingual executive with degrees in business administration and music, he is recognized as a dynamic and visionary leader, highly skilled in team management, fundraising, operations, and finance. 

As executive and artistic director of Jeunesses Musicales Canada (JMC) from 2002 to 2012, Mr. Marquis contributed to answering their dual mandate: promoting classical music, especially among youth, and supporting the career development of the country's finest young artists, both at home and abroad. By the end of his tenure, JMC was producing 800 concerts and 700 workshops annually.

In 2002, he was instrumental in helping establish the Montreal International Musical Competition and functioned as its executive and artistic director. In that role, he was responsible for 11 editions of the competition-five voice, three piano, and three violin.

Working for the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal from 1994 to 2002 (current artistic director Yannick Nézet-Séguin), he first served as artistic administrator before rising to chief operating officer in the late 1990s. 

Mr. Marquis has served extensively on boards in his native Canada and internationally, among them Jeunesses Musicales International, the World Federation of International Music Competitions, and the Université du Québec à Montréal.

A graduate of the Université de Montréal with a Bachelor's degree in music (piano), Mr. Marquis earned a second degree in business administration, specializing in management, from the Université du Québec à Montréal.

Fort Worth's Stage West is opening a second stage, called the Stage West Studio Theatre, in the space next to its main stage on Vickery Boulevard. The space also houses the organization's offices and rehearsal hall. The studio theater will have a three-sided thrust stage with seating for 61 for more intimate programming.

This harkens back to Stage West's Adventure Series in the former home on Berry Street. The new studio series kicks off with Jerry Russell starring in the one-man show Clarence Darrow, which he has played several times before. It runs April 7-24, and shows will run on dark nights for the Main Stage, so Sunday-Wednesday nights.

Russell hinted at this change in his year-end essay for TheaterJones in December, here. Shows beyond Clarence Darrow have not been announced yet.

Here's more from the Stage West news release:

Stage West is delighted to announce the opening of a second performance space.  The new Stage West Studio Theatre is located within the space which houses the group's offices and rehearsal hall, at 823 W. Vickery Blvd., and is a three-sided thrust stage, with seating for 61 patrons. The additional performance space will allow Stage West to offer its audiences productions which might not fit into its regular season, and could also be of use in its educational programs. 

The first production to be presented in the new Studio Theatre will be David Rintels' Clarence Darrow, starring Stage West founder Jerry Russell.  This witty and relevant one-man show, based on Clarence Darrow for the Defense by Irving Stone, provides an enthralling look into the life of a man who was committed to fighting for the rights of the underdog (most famously, of course, in the Scopes "Monkey" trial, and the trial of Leopold and Loeb).  It was very popular when Stage West first presented it during the 80s in the intimate space of The Public House, and Russell revived the piece for a limited engagement at TCC South Campus in 2002. Stage West patrons have been asking to see it again, and it seemed like a natural fit for the new Studio space. 

Playwright David Rintels was born in 1939 in Boston, and has worked primarly in television. He began his career in the early 1960s, writing episodes for the critically acclaimed CBS courtroom drama series The Defenders. He subsequently wrote episodes for Slattery's People (1964-65), a CBS political drama, and became head writer for the ABC science fiction series The Invaders (1967-68); later he moved into producing made-for-television movies and miniseries. His work has been honored with two Emmy awards for outstanding writing (Clarence Darrow, 1973, and  Fear On Trial, 1975).  His other awards include a Peabody Award in 1970, the Gavel Award from the American Bar Association in 1971, and Writers Guild of America Awards in 1971 and 1975. 

Clarence Darrow will play Sunday-Wednesday nights, April 7-24, at 7:15.  Tickets are $25 ($20 for season subscribers and seniors 65+, and $15 for students).

Los Angeles actors Tom Troupe and Carole Cook will star in a reading of The Gin Game, Dallas playwright D.L. Coburn's play that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1978. The reading is presented by the Dallas Theater Center Guild as part of the Preston and Mary Sue Jones Readings series, and the playwright will be in attendance.

The reading is 7 p.m. Monday, March 25 at the Kalita Humphreys Theater, 3636 Turtle Creek Blvd., Dallas. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and light food and drink is available for a donation.

Afterward, there'll be a discussion led by DTC Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty to discuss how Tom Troupe's one-man-show at DTC in 1971 helped inspire Coburn's success with The Gin Game. Later, Tom played Weller on Broadway in 1997, filling in for Charles Durning. Coburn never saw Troupe play Weller, so this will be the first time.

The director of the reading will be Scott Hammar, who was the stage manager for DTC's 1982 production of The Gin Game.

Tickets are $10 and available at the door with cash or check, or online at dtcguild.org.