Stage Whispers
PERFORMING ARTS NEWS AND NOTES

Dallas — UPDATE MAY 18, 2012: The giveaway below is over and the winners have been contacted. Check your email if you played.

For today's giveaway, we have one pair of tickets to see Tony-winning Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth at the AT&T Performing Arts Center's Winspear Opera House, 8 p.m. Thursday, May 24.

In a rare concert appearance, Chenoweth will perform songs from her latest album Some Lessons Learned, as well as an array of her most memorable songs and Broadway show tunes, including music from Wicked and Promises, Promises. Chenoweth has been a guest star on Glee, and was a lead in the recently canceled ABC show GCB.

To win, email tickets@theaterjones.com, and put CHENOWETH in the subject line. In the body of email, put your name, address, phone number and best email contact.

You have until 11:30 p.m. Thursday, May 17 to submit an email. We'll notify the winner Friday morning.

◊ Other giveaways coming up include: Dick Van Dyke and the Vantastix at AT&T Performing Arts Center; Ruth at Kitchen Dog Theater; Paula Poundstone at Lakewood Theater; Mamma Mia! at Dallas Summer Musicals; Boeing-Boeing at WaterTower Theatre; Idina Menzel at Music Hall at Fair Park; Jersey Boys at AT&T Performing Arts Center; the National Theatre Live's encore screening of Frankenstein (directed by Danny Boyle) at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and the Angelika Film Centers in Dallas; Wilson Phillips at AT&T Performing Arts Center; Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Dallas Theater Center; and more.

Also, be sure and visit our booth at the CityArts Festival on Memorial Day weekend, May 25-27, in Fair Park. We'll have tons of giveaways all weekend, including tickets to Andrea Bocelli at American Airlines Center; Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, with the score performed by Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra at Bass Hall as the movie plays above the stage; plus tickets to Dallas Theater Center, Dallas Summer Musicals, AT&T Performing Arts Center, Jubilee Theatre, Kitchen Dog Theater, and more.

Dallas — And here's management news from Theatre Three, which has promoted Cory Norman from assistant producer to managing director. He'll take on the new job immediately.

Theatre Three's Producer-Director Jac Alder hired Cory Norman almost five years ago to act as the theatre's Assistant Producer. He has now named Mr. Norman Managing Director. This restructuring of roles at Theatre Three organizes Theatre Three as most other regional, professional non-profit theatres across America organize their leadership roles and assign top responsibilities. Mr. Norman has been groomed for this new position by Alder since his obtaining a graduate degree from Texas Tech in Arts Management. 

Mr. Norman's duties as Managing Director will include heading accounting and customer service departments, the development and marketing departments, and the human resource department. Norman will head Theatre Three's annual negotiations with Actors Equity Association. Mr. Norman will also assume major responsibilities in Theatre Three's support of a healthy Arts ecology through co-operative ventures with other non-profit Arts organizations, educational institutions, and Arts advocacy groups. 

Additionally, Mr. Norman will continuously confer with and support founding director Jac Alder in the artistic and production activities that remain directly under Alder's leadership. Both Alder and Norman will, as co-equals, report and liaison with the work of the theatre's Board of Directors. Both will continue to participate in all strategic planning by the theatre's board. 

In a press release statement, Alder (who has helmed the theatre since co-founding it with his late wife Norma Young in 1961) declared: "The artists and administrators of Theatre Three have enthusiastically embraced Cory's leadership with special appreciation for his energy, skills, creativity, good judgment and sensitivity to the theatre's core values. I believe he is an asset not only to Theatre Three but to all the Arts in Dallas and I'm personally joyous that he advances in these responsibilities." 

About Theatre Three:

Theatre Three was founded in 1961 by Norma Young, Jac Alder, Esther Ragland, and Robert Dracup with a clear mission: Theatre Three seeks to illuminate the human experience with exemplary, intimate theatrical productions while nurturing authors, regional artists and audiences.

Dallas — Here's news that just came over from the Dallas Theater Center, announcing two new acting company members: Kieran Connolly and Tiffany Hobbs. Both come from Southern Methodist University's Meadows School of the Arts, him being a professor and her a recent graduate from the MFA acting program.

He was recently seen in Next Fall at DTC, and she was in DTC's Cabaret and A Christmas Carol.

Hobbs will be the next SMU student/graduate to join the company on a two-year contract. She replaces outgoing SMU grad Abbey Siegworth.

Two other actors have left the company, too: Cedric Neal (currently on Broadway in the Tony-nominated The Gerswhins' Porgy and Bess) and Matthew Gray.

Here's the complete news release from DTC:

DALLAS (May 17, 2012) – Dallas Theater Center Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty is pleased to announce two new members of DTC's Diane and Hal Brierley Resident Acting Company – Kieran (Michael) Connolly and Tiffany Hobbs. 

"Michael and Tiffany are talented actors whose work has graced the DTC stage in several of our signature productions during the past few years," says Moriarty.  "Together they will be strong additions to our Resident Acting Company, bringing their breadth of experience and talent to our stage. Their appointments also serve as a sign of our continued desire for the acting company to change and develop over time, thus remaining an active creative source of new ideas, energy and experiences for the artists and our audience."  

Both Connolly and Hobbs have strong ties to SMU Meadows School of the Arts, where DTC has an ongoing collaborative relationship.  As associate professor and former head of the acting program, Connolly has been one of Hobbs' teachers for the past three years, during which time she was a student in the MFA acting program.  "Their appointments are a testament to the depth of the faculty and student talent at SMU and a sign of the thriving partnership between DTC and SMU," says Moriarty.  

Connolly appeared in DTC's recent production of Next Fall and last season's Dividing the Estate.  "Michael brings to the company an impressive depth and range of theatrical experience, great passion for the power of theater to impact lives, immense classical skills and over 30 years of teaching experience at the university level," says Moriarty. 

"When Kevin offered me a place in the Brierley Resident Acting Company, I felt surprised, challenged and invigorated: surprised that he and DTC would consider me; challenged because I know the high caliber of the actors who already comprise the company and the directors who guide their work; and invigorated because working with DTC will take me to so many new places," says Connolly.  "All I can do now is work as hard as I am able with my new, gifted colleagues to continue advancing the work we do." 

He is joined by former student Tiffany Hobbs, who graduated from SMU's MFA acting program this month.  She has appeared on DTC's stage in Cabaret and A Christmas Carol, both in the 2010-2011 season.  Hobbs is joining the Acting Company for a 2-year appointment and will fill the position Abbey Siegworth is vacating.  "Tiffany's wide-ranging talents include her ability to move easily from the classics to comedy and drama, her captivating charisma on stage and her strong musical theater skills," says Moriarty.

"I could not be happier to be offered such a wonderful opportunity with DTC," says Hobbs.  "After spending the last three years in intensive acting training at SMU, I am looking forward to applying the valuable knowledge, skills and confidence my education has afforded me in a professional atmosphere and developing beyond what I have already achieved." 

José Bowen, dean of the Meadows School of the Arts, believes in the importance of community collaboration and is excited for the opportunities DTC's Brierley Resident Acting Company provides. 

"We are thrilled to be continuing and strengthening our partnership with the Dallas Theater Center," says Bowen.  "Kevin Moriarty really understands the multiple benefits of this kind of collaboration. Together we are working to make Dallas a city of great opportunities for artists to live and work." 

In addition to Siegworth, who was the first to fill the 2-year residency for an SMU MFA graduate, Cedric Neal and Matthew Gray are also leaving the company.  Neal is currently in New York continuing his work on Broadway in Porgy and Bess and Gray has accepted a creative position with a global marketing and communications agency.  Connolly and Hobbs' appointments will bring the company to nine members.  DTC is in the early stages of a national search for a tenth company member, who will contribute to DTC's new efforts to explore the work of Latino playwrights and increase outreach efforts in the Latino community. 

Moriarty formed DTC's Brierley Resident Acting Company in 2009 to develop and nurture professional actors within the community, expand DTC's artistic profile, and create ongoing collaborative relationships. "Great acting is at the center of all great theater," Moriarty says. "The members of the Brierley Acting Company are vital to our artistic success and our relationship to the community." Company members are Hassan El-Amin, Kieran (Michael) Connolly, Chamblee Ferguson, Tiffany Hobbs, Liz Mikel, Lee Trull, Sally Nystuen-Vahle, Christina Vela and Steven Michael Walters.

Dallas — The Dallas Opera continues to astound. One of its composer conversations, this time with British composer Joby Talbot, turned into a surprise announcement of a new commission on an opera based on the fatal 1996 Mount Everest expedition. Even in hard economic times, The Dallas Opera continues to be concerned with the future of opera and with bringing new works to the stage. 

On Tuesday evening, The Dallas Opera held a conversation with a composer, one of their services to the community. This time, it was with a composer who has never written an opera. This seemed odd at the time, but was a broad hint at the announcement to come. 

After 30 minutes of discussion (including a video) about Talbot's previous works, for everything from a rock band to a ballet, TDO Artistic Director Jonathan Pell made the announcement.

As the news release reads: "The Dallas Opera is tremendously proud to announce the commissioning of a new original one-act opera by renowned British composer Joby Talbot and the critically acclaimed American librettist Gene Scheer (Moby-Dick, Cold Mountain) in their first joint project. Everest is expected to command center stage in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center in February of 2015." 

This is not the first commission since Keith Cerny took over the management of The Dallas Opera. Composer Jake Heggie and librettist Terrence McNally are at work on Great Scott, a new comedy that will open the Dallas Opera's 2015-2016 Season. Talbot's opera will become the fifth world premiere work commissioned by the Dallas Opera since 2000. (Joining Moby-Dick, Thérèse Raquin, Great Scott and the song cycle A Question of Light). 

The 1996 expedition to climb Mount Everest has passed into the common knowledge through a series of books. The stories of the few survivors of the harrowing experience will be the text of the opera. Librettist Gene Scheer said that he was already interviewing the survivors so that he could get a first-hand, non-sensationalized report of what actually happened. "When you are standing on the top of the world, and realize that you will never be able to get down, what thoughts go through your head," Scheer queried at the conference. 

Unthinkable. But surely the stuff of opera; which can express emotions and thoughts as well as words. 

This commission represents Joby Talbot's first foray into opera, after establishing himself as a composer of ballet and screen scores. However, this "first time" commissioning of operas is not unique to the Dallas Opera. Gene Scheer is currently writing an opera with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon, who has written for the voice. Perhaps this new blood, from other compositional endeavors, will breathe some new life into the opera. 

The Dallas Opera is counting on it. 

"I've been intrigued by the idea of Joby Talbot composing for the opera stage since experiencing his brilliant work on [the ballet] Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," Dallas Opera General Director and CEO Keith Cerny said in the news release. "I was fortunate enough to attend the premiere, which made a strong impression on me. It was clear that Joby's score supported the ballet magnificently as it progressed through a wide range of scenes, characters, and stage effects. I found myself taking a serious interest in his body of work and quickly realized that this was a composer 'without borders'; who had proven successes in film, ballet, choral writing, chamber music, orchestral writing, and many other genres—so, why not opera?"

Fort Worth — UPDATE MAY 16, 2012: The giveaway below is over and the winners have been contacted. Check your email if you played.

For today's giveaway, we have a pair of tickets to see Broke-ology, a 2009 play by Nathan Louis Jackson, having its area premiere at Jubilee Theatre in Fort Worth. Tre Garrett directs. Currently in previews, the show opens Friday, May 18 and runs through June 10. These tickets are good for any performance, subject to availability.

Here's a description:

The King family is used to being broke, but when their father is diagnosed with a serious illness, sons Ennis and Malcolm must clearly decide where their loyalties lie. This powerful new play by a brilliant young writer brings new perspectives on the struggles of the next generation. 

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

You have until 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 15 to enter. We'll notify the winner Wednesday morning and put a ticket voucher in the mail to you.

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

◊ Other giveaways coming up include: Kristin Chenoweth at AT&T Performing Arts Center; Dick Van Dyke and the Vantastix at AT&T Performing Arts Center; Ruth at Kitchen Dog Theater; Paula Poundstone at Lakewood Theater; Mamma Mia! at Dallas Summer Musicals; Boeing-Boeing at WaterTower Theatre; Idina Menzel at Music Hall at Fair Park; Jersey Boys at AT&T Performing Arts Center; the National Theatre Live's encore screening of Frankenstein (directed by Danny Boyle) at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and the Angelika Film Centers in Dallas; Wilson Phillips at AT&T Performing Arts Center; Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Dallas Theater Center; and more.

Also, be sure and visit our booth at the CityArts Festival on Memorial Day weekend, May 25-May 27, in Fair Park. We'll have tons of giveaways all weekend, including tickets to Andrea Bocelli at American Airlines Center; Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, with the score performed by Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra at Bass Hall as the movie plays above the stage; plus tickets to Dallas Theater Center, Dallas Summer Musicals, AT&T Performing Arts Center, and more.

Fort Worth — UPDATE MAY 15, 2012: The giveaway below is over and the winners have been contacted. Check your email if you played.

For today's giveaway, we have a pair of tickets to see Betty Buckley perform her acclaimed show "Ah, Men! The Boys of Broadway" at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, as it returns for two shows this week, on Tuesday and Wednesday (May 15 and 16). These tickets are for the Tuesday night show, at 7:30 p.m.

Buckley, a Tony-winner for Cats, performs show tunes originally written for men, from musicals like The Pajama Game, South Pacific, My Fair Lady, Sweeney Todd and West Side Story.

Here's our interview with Buckley about the show, which also links to our review from when she performed in April.

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

You have until 5 p.m. Monday, May 14, to enter. We'll notify the winner Monday evening.

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

◊ Other giveaways coming up include: Kristin Chenoweth at AT&T Performing Arts Center; Broke-ology at Jubilee Theatre; Dick Van Dyke and the Vantastix at AT&T Performing Arts Center; Ruth at Kitchen Dog Theater; Paula Poundstone at Lakewood Theater; Idina Menzel at Music Hall at Fair Park; Wilson Phillips at AT&T Performing Arts Center; and more.

Dallas — UPDATE MAY 14, 2012: The giveaway below is over and the winners have been contacted. Check your email if you played.

For today's giveaway, we have several pairs of tickets to the tour of Memphis, the Tony-winning Broadway musical making its area debut in a tour presented by Dallas Summer Musicals. It runs March 15-27, and these tickets are for opening night, 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 15.

Here's a description of the show:

From the underground dance clubs of 1950s Memphis, Tennessee, comes a hot new Broadway musical that bursts off the stage with explosive dancing, irresistible songs, and a thrilling tale of fame and forbidden love. Inspired by actual events, Memphis is about a white radio DJ who wants to change the world and a black club singer who is ready for her big break. Come along on their incredible journey to the ends of the airwaves, filled with laughter, soaring emotion and roof-raising rock 'n' roll. Winner of four 2010 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Oh, and an added bonus to North Texans: Beloved local actress Julie Johnson plays Mama in this national tour.

To win, email tickets@theaterjones.com, and put MEMPHIS in the subject line. In the body of email, put your name, address, phone number and best email contact.

You have until 7 p.m. Sunday, May 13 to submit an email. We'll notify the winners Monday morning.

◊ Other giveaways coming up include: Ah Men! The Boys of Broadway at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth; Kristin Chenoweth at AT&T Performing Arts Center; Broke-ology at Jubilee Theatre; Ruth at Kitchen Dog Theater; Paula Poundstone at Lakewood Theater; Idina Menzel at Music Hall at Fair Park; and more.

Fort Worth — UPDATE MAY 11, 2012: The giveaway below is over and the winners have been contacted. Check your email if you played.

For today's giveaway, we have two pairs of tickets to opening night of Maria de Buenos Aires: A Tango Operita, presented by Artes de la Rosa at the Rose Marine Theater in Fort Worth. The show, directed by Adam Adolfo, runs May 11-27. These tickets are good for the show and VIP reception on Friday, May 11.

Here's a description: 

"The passion, the power, the pulse…Maria and her ghost will tell you of the nightly death of tango…" Astor Piazzolla's musical story tells the story of a woman… and the story of the tango. Part musical, part tango, part theatre, part ballet, and part opera, Maria de Buenos Aires caters to all the senses by pairing expressive, live orchestral music, the passionate rhythm of the tango, and the surreal poetry by Horacio Ferrer to creating a melting pot of Latin sensuality straight from the streets of Buenos Aires…Sung in Spanish with English subtitles.

To win, email tickets@theaterjones.com with TANGO OPERITA in the subject line. In the body, include your name, address and phone number.

You have until 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 8 to submit an email. We'll notify the winners Wednesday morning.

◊ Other giveaways coming up include: Memphis the Musical at Dallas Summer Musicals; Kristin Chenoweth at AT&T Performing Arts Center; Ruth at Kitchen Dog Theater; Paula Poundstone at Lakewood Theater; Idina Menzel at Music Hall at Fair Park; and more.

Richardson — The Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts in Richardson will turn 10 with its 2012-'13 season, and to celebrate, they've put together an awesome show to mark the occassion: Broadway stars Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin. They each won a Tony Award in the original Broadway production of Evita, and appeared together on Broadway in a show called "An Evening With Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin" a few months ago.

They're perform that show, which was originally devised for the Eisemann's grand opening, at the Eisemann celebration on Sept. 15, 2012. Tickets go on sale May 18. Stay tuned for more news about the Eisemann's 10th anniversary season, which will be announced soon.

Here's more from the Eisemann news release about the 10th anniversary celebration.

Appearing together again after their Tony Award-winning performances in Evita, Patti LuPone joins Mandy Patinkin onstage for "An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin." These Broadway legends will bring their critically acclaimed theatre concert back to the Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson, Texas for one performance only on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2012 at 8 p.m. to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the facility. 

Tickets go on sale Friday, May 18 online at www.eisemanncenter.com or 972-744-4650.  An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin was created for and debuted at the opening of the Eisemann Center in September 2002 at the urging of Managing Director, Bruce MacPherson.

Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin

About the genesis of "An Evening…", LuPone previously told Playbill.com, "There was a presenter in Richardson, Texas — they were opening a brand-new performing arts center — who called my agent at ICM Artists and said, 'I got Mandy, how about Patti?' and then called Mandy's agent and said, 'I have Patti, how about Mandy?' And he put us together after 25 years. So I got a call from Mandy, who said, 'I don't want to just do, you sing a song and I sing a song, and then we do a duet.' I was doing Noises Off at the time, and I said, 'Mandy I can't partake in the development of this.' He said, 'I'll do it. I want to do it.' I said, 'Great, do it.' And we did it, and then we didn't do it for five years. And then all of a sudden it happened again. I guess the idea of Mandy and me being onstage together again is generating enough excitement that we're getting booked all over the place."

Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin are two of Broadway's most venerated performers, having both won a Tony Award for their performances in Andrew Lloyd Weber's groundbreaking Evita in 1980. Since then they have both starred in film, television, the concert stage and back to Broadway. "An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin" brings them together again at last.  Judith Newmark of the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch described the show:  "An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin exploits the subtle pleasures of performers who share a style (accomplished), a point of view (cosmopolitan) and level of talent (enormous)."  And Charles McNulty of the Los Angeles Times said: "these two music and theatre legends deliver a sparsely elegant master class in the art of conjuring emotional truth in dramatic song." And Lawson Taitte of The Dallas Morning News was equally impressed: "…this show of their own invention gives them plenty of opportunity to dazzle." The show recently played Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre for 63 performances from November 21, 2011 to closing on January 13, 2012. 

The show includes choreography by fellow Broadway veteran and friend, Ann Reinking, who won a Best Choreography Tony Award for the revival of Chicago. Production Design is by David Korins, Lighting Design by Eric Cornwell, Sound Design by Daniel Gerhard and An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin is accompanied on piano by Music Director Paul Ford.

Ticket prices range from $55 to $85 and go on sale Friday, May 18, 2012 online at www.eisemanncenter.com, by phone at 972.744.4650 or in person at the Eisemann Center Ticket Office, 2351 Performance Drive in Richardson, Texas.

Dallas — A year's worth of discussions between representatives of the Dallas Arts District and the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau (DCVB) has resulted in an agreement to use hotel sales tax to promote the Dallas arts and culture scene next year.

The DCVB will be asking the Dallas City Council later this month to consider calling a public hearing on forming a Tourism Public Improvement District, or PID. Thanks to an alternation made during the last session of the Texas Legislature, it is no longer required that the District in a PID be confined within a set geographic area. The "district" in this case would be spread out all over the city, both in terms of how the money is collected, and how it is spent.

There are just over 100 hotels in Dallas with 100 or more rooms. If the Tourism PID is approved, then the large hotels would tack on an extra 2 percent in sales tax on guests' bills. The estimated $10 million generated from this tax next fiscal year would go towards drawing people to Dallas to hold conventions and/or vacation.

The goal of the PID for the DCVB would be to place Dallas back in the Top Five Destinations in the U.S., a spot it has not enjoyed for about 25 years.

According to the presentation made during today's Dallas Economic Development Committee meeting, the bulk of the money generated for the Tourism PID would be spent on advertising regionally, a la "What Happens in Vegas" and "Louisiana – Pick Your Passion."

Roughly $1 million would go towards entertaining groups of convention planners.

"We bring them into the city, we show them what we have to offer as a destination," says Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau President Phillip Jones. "We wine them and dine them and convince them to book their meetings in the city."

The agreement hashed out between Jones and Executive Director of the Dallas Arts Veletta Forsythe Lill stipulates that a portion of the $3 million earmarked for advertising be spent on promoting cultural tourism. In addition, if the Tourism PID is approved, the agreement calls for:

• The DCVB to hire a cultural tourism manager within 60 days;
• Representatives from the cultural tourism community will be asked to participated in developing the messaging included in the of the advertising campaign; and
• DCVB will consider using a sub-agency that specializes in cultural tourism.

"The arts community is pleased to see the Tourism Public Improvement District move forward," says Lill. "A part of the DCVB's marketing effort includes the establishment of a cultural tourism program that spotlights our diverse arts and cultural scene. We feel that is a strong part of the true identity of Dallas and we are eager to tell our stories."

According to Jones and the city's Director of Economic Development Karl Zavitkovsky, almost 70 percent of the hotels are on board with the idea, a solid majority and more than the state-required 60 percent. The additional 2 percent in sales tax, which would bring the total tax big on the large hotels to 15 percent, is in some ways not an increase, but rather a return to what has been standard in Dallas for around two decades. A 2 percent tax was added to all hotel bills in order to pay off the bonds for the American Airlines Center. Money from this tax came in faster than originally anticipated and the AAC was paid off early in September 2011.

On May 23, the Dallas City Council will decide whether or not to call a June 13 public hearing on the Tourism PID. 

We'll keep you posted.

Dallas — UPDATE MAY 11, 2012: The giveaway below is over and the winners have been contacted. Check your email if you played.

For today's giveaway, we have several pairs of tickets to the regional premiere of Yasmina Reza's Tony Award-winning play God of Carnage, presented by Dallas Theater Center at the Kalita Humphreys Theater. The show begins previews May 11, opens May 18 and runs through June 17. The play is directed by new DTC Associate Artistic Director Joel Ferrell, and features four of the Diane and Hal Brierley Acting Company members: Christina Vela, Sally Vahle, Hassan El-Amin and Matthew Gray.

If you win, you'll receive a voucher good for any performance of the run (subject to availability), except opening night.

Here's a description of the show:

Two 11-year-old boys have had a run-in on the playground, and some very bad behavior ensues... by their parents. When two supposedly civilized, supposedly adult middle-class couples meet to discuss their sons' little dust-up, they raise smugness, pettiness, and meanness to heady new heights of hilarity, you’ll have endless fun repeating their deliciously snarky remarks.

The play was a success on Broadway, running for more than a year, and there was a recent film version called Carnage with Jodie Foster, Christoph Waltz, Kate Winslet and John C. Reilly (pictured above).

To win, email tickets@theaterjones.com, and put GOD OF CARNAGE in the subject line. In the body of email, put your name, address, phone number and best email contact.

You have until 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 8 to submit an email. We'll notify the winners Wednesday morning get a ticket voucher in the mail to you asap.

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

◊ Other giveaways coming up include: Maria de Buenos Aires: A Tango Operita at Artes de la Rosa in Fort Worth; Memphis the Musical at Dallas Summer Musicals; Kristin Chenoweth at AT&T Performing Arts Center; Ruth at Kitchen Dog Theater; Paula Poundstone at Lakewood Theater; Idina Menzel at Music Hall at Fair Park; and more.

Fort Worth — Sheilah Walker has been named Music Supervisor at Fort Worth's Casa Mañana. Walker, a native of North Texas, has been the music director of several Broadway, touring and regional musicals for years, including the tours of Ragtime and The Color Purple.

Here's more from the Casa news release.

Casa Mañana Hires Sheilah Walker as Music Supervisor

(Fort Worth, TX)…Casa Mañana's President and Executive Producer Wally Jones is pleased to announce that theatre veteran and area native Sheilah Walker has joined the Casa Mañana staff as the Music Supervisor.

Walker has been conducting for over 25 years and she has performed with Broadway shows, national tours and regional productions. Walker's credits include the Tony Award-winning Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof and the national tours of Ragtime, The Color Purple, South Pacific and Hello, Dolly!. She was recently the Conductor for the American Repertory Theatre workshop of The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess with Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis.

In her new position Walker will be the Music Supervisor for Casa Mañana's Broadway and Children's Theatre productions as well as teach several classes at Casa Mañana's Performing Arts Conservatory.

"Casa Mañana is thrilled to welcome Sheilah Walker to our team," says Jones. "She is a highly coveted Broadway Music Supervisor and we are so honored that she chose Casa Mañana as a place she wanted to work"

Casa Mañana is one of the largest performing arts organizations in Tarrant County. Since 1936 it has provided high-quality theatre to North Texas. Today, the great tradition of professional theatre continues at Casa Mañana. Casa Mañana's Broadway and Children's Theatre productions are seen by nearly 200,000 people annually and over 60,000 school children attend its Children's Theatre productions each year. Since Casa Mañana is also dedicated to the community and education, the company has several outreach programs and a nationally-recognized children's theatre conservatory. Casa Mañana is truly unique in its ability to bring together the top musical theatre talents in the country for the audiences of North Texas to enjoy.

As a performing arts organization, Casa Mañana strives to create, nurture and advance live professional theatre unparalleled in artistic excellence for the enrichment and education of its diverse community and its future generations of artists and patrons.

Joel Ferrell, who has been an artistic associate at the Dallas Theater Center for a few years, has been promoted to Associate Artistic Director, it was announced last week. Ferrell was Artistic Director of Casa Mañana in Fort Worth in the late '90s, and has been a freelance director and choreographer here and around the country for years. Last year, at DTC he directed the critically acclaimed productions of Dividing the Estate and Cabaret. He has also directed the annual production of A Christmas Carol for several years. Coming up, he'll have the one-two punch of God of Carnage and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which are the final two shows of DTC's 2011-'12 season, respectively.

Here's more from DTC's news release:

Dallas Theater Center Announces Joel Ferrell as Associate Artistic Director

DALLAS (May 2, 2012) – Dallas Theater Center Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty announced today that DTC Associate Artist Joel Ferrell has been promoted to Associate Artistic Director.  In his new position, Ferrell will continue to direct and choreograph plays and musicals at DTC, while also expanding his role as the lead producer of DTC's mainstage productions.  Ferrell will work closely with guest directors and designers to oversee productions from the initial creative process, including design and casting, through the productions' rehearsals and performances.  Ferrell began working for DTC on a freelance basis in the late 1990s and joined the artistic staff on a full time basis in 2009.

"I believe people search for an artistic home, a place where one's strengths and an organization's needs meet," says Ferrell.  "I have found that at DTC. I have been afforded great opportunities with DTC for many years now, but with Kevin's arrival, it became clear the organization was moving in artistic directions that compel and inspire me. I am grateful to be part of DTC and excited to take on the responsibilities of my new title."

Ferrell is again directing back-to-back productions for DTC this season.  The first, God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, is currently in rehearsals and will open to audiences with previews on Friday, May 11.  Following the opening of God of Carnage at the Kalita Humphreys Theater, Ferrell will shift back to the Wyly Theatre to direct and choreograph Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, DTC's family-friendly summer musical. 

"Joel Ferrell's contribution to Dallas Theater Center has been invaluable for many years, dating back to his initial collaborations with my predecessor, Richard Hamburger," says Moriarty.  "During my tenure at DTC, Joel has been a valued collaborator and colleague, with the breadth and depth of his directing work ranging from last year's Dividing the Estate and Cabaret to his upcoming work this season directing the hilarious comedy, God of Carnage, and the joyful family musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor^® Dreamcoat.  I am thrilled to announce Joel's promotion to the role of Associate Artistic Director, and for DTC to continue to provide him with an artistic home."

Tickets for Ferrell's next productions - God of Carnage and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – are available for as little as $15 and can be purchased online at www.DallasTheaterCenter.org or by phone at (214) 880-0202. 

ABOUT DALLAS THEATER CENTER:

One of the leading regional theaters in the country, Dallas Theater Center (DTC) performs to an audience of more than 90,000 North Texas residents annually. Founded in 1959, DTC is now a resident company of the AT&T Performing Arts Center and presents its Mainstage season at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, designed by REX/OMA, Joshua Prince-Ramus and Rem Koolhaas and at its original home, the Kalita Humphreys Theater, the only freestanding theater designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty and Managing Director Heather M. Kitchen, DTC produces a seven-play subscription series of classics, musicals and new plays and an annual production of A Christmas Carol; extensive education programs, including Project Discovery, SummerStage and partnerships with Southern Methodist University's Meadows School of the Arts and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts; and community outreach efforts including leading the DFW Foote Festival and recent collaborations with the Dallas Public Library, Dallas Holocaust Museum, North Texas Food Bank, Dallas Opera, and Dallas Black Dance Theater.  Throughout its history, DTC has produced many new works, including The Texas Trilogy by Preston Jones in 1978, Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men (directed by Adrian Hall) in 1986, and recent premieres of Giant by Michael John LaChiusa and Sybille Pearson, The Trinity River Plays by Regina Taylor, the revised It's a Bird… It's a Plane… It's Superman by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, Give It Up! (now titled Lysistrata Jones and recently on Broadway) by Douglas Carter Beane and Lewis Flinn, Sarah, Plain and Tall by Julia Jordan, Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin and The Good Negro by Tracey Scott Wilson.

Dallas Theater Center gratefully acknowledges the support of our season sponsors: American Airlines, The Dallas Morning News, Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, Lexus, National Endowment for the Arts, TACA, TCA, Texas Instruments and WFAA. 

JOEL FERRELL is the Associate Artistic Director at DTC where his credits include: director of Cabaret, Dividing the Estate, reasons to be pretty and The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later; A Christmas Carol (2005-2009) andCotton Patch Gospel (starring its creator Tom Key); choreographer of It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman; A Midsummer Night's Dream; The Who's Tommy and My Fair Lady. DFW credits include: Proof (Plano Rep); Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Baltimore Waltz (Stage West); Pygmalion (Fort Worth Shakespeare); the premiere of Huck Finn (Classical Acting Company). Mr. Ferrell is the former Artistic Director of Casa Mañana Musicals Inc. in Fort Worth, Texas. He served for two years on the selection committee for the National Alliance of Musical Theatre's New Works Festival in New York City and has worked extensively around the country for Portland Center Stage, Papermill Playhouse, Ford's Theatre and North Shore Music Theatre among others.

Dallas — UPDATE MAY 4, 2012: The giveaway below is over and the winners have been contacted. Check your email if you played.

For today's giveaway, we have several pairs of tickets to the tour of the Tony-winning musical American Idiot at the Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center. The tour runs May 8-20, and these tickets are for opening night, 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 8.

Here's a description of the show, which is based on the Grammy-winning Green Day album of the same name.

Direct from Broadway, the smash-hit musical American Idiot tells the story of three lifelong friends, forced to choose between their dreams and the safety of suburbia. Their quest for true meaning in a post 9/11 world leads them on the most exhilarating theatrical journey of the season. Based on Green Day's Grammy Award-winning multi-platinum album, American Idiot boldly takes the American musical where it's never gone before. The result is an experience Charles Isherwood of The New York Times declares "thrilling, emotionally charged, and as moving as any Broadway musical I’ve seen this year!"

To win, email tickets@theaterjones.com, and put AMERICAN IDIOT in the subject line. In the body of email, put your name, address, phone number and best email contact.

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

◊ Other giveaways coming up include: Kristin Chenoweth at AT&T Performing Arts Center; Memphis the Musical at Dallas Summer Musicals; God of Carnage at Dallas Theater Center; Ruth at Kitchen Dog Theater; Idina Menzel at Music Hall at Fair Park; and more.

Fort Worth — Great news for Fort Worth's Amphibian Stage Productions: The group is purchasing a building at 108 S. Main Street, just a few blocks south of downtown, and has begun a capital campaign led by Kevin Kline.

Yes, that Kevin Kline.

Kline has been on Amphibian's advisory board for years; the connection is Amphibian co-founder and company member Carman Lacivita, who was in the 2007 Broadway revival of Cyrano de Bergerac, in which Kline played the title role.

The group has already raised nearly $900,00, and needs another $232,000. A rendering of the new property, by architect Gregory S. Ibañez (the husband of Amphibian co-founder and artistic director Kathleen Culebro).

Here's more from the 'Phibs news release.

Amphibian Stage Productions Launches Capital Campaign With Chair, Kevin Kline

Amphibian Will Purchase 108 S. Main in Fort Worth, Texas on May 14

(Fort Worth, TX) – Amphibian Stage Productions today announced the official launch of its Capital Campaign, "Metamorphosis," which will assist in the purchase and renovation of a building in Fort Worth's Near Southside neighborhood, with the help of Capital Campaign Chair and Academy Award-winning actor Kevin Kline.

Amphibian is scheduled to close on the property, located at 108 South Main Street, on May 14, 2012. To date, Amphibian has raised $893,932 for the purchase and renovation of the building and needs to raise an additional $231,900 in order to complete the renovation.  Architect and Chairman of the Amphibian Stage Productions Board of Directors, Gregory S. Ibañez, FAIA, is designing and overseeing the renovation of the new Amphibian space.  He is generously donating his services for the project.

In a statement, Kevin Kline, known not only for his award-winning film work, but also for his extensive stage work and commitment to the theatre, said, "To paraphrase a noted playwright, Amphibian now has 'a stage for a kingdom, indeed, a most worthy scaffold to bring forth great objects.' This new home is a platform to expand the artistic excellence that has marked Amphibian's first 13 years. It is the essential ingredient for arts that enrich our community-deep roots that allow generations to think, cry, and laugh at the wonder of live theatre in an intimate setting."

Mr. Kline continued, "I don't know if the Bard's Globe Theatre was a catalyst for urban regeneration in its day, but as a bonus, Amphibian's new home will also help invigorate a neighborhood that is poised to capitalize on its location on the edge of downtown. Please join me in supporting Amphibian Stage Productions and the vital work that they do to nourish the culture of Fort Worth and North Texas."

Amphibian Stage Productions looks forward to opening the renovated space for its performances and offices in the fall of 2012.

About 108 South Main Street: Already slated to be the next vibrant area in Fort Worth – much like Magnolia and West Seventh Street – the South Main Corridor is ideal for housing Amphibian's permanent home, and the company is thrilled to be an important participant in the area's revitalization. The building at 108 South Main Street will include a flexible black box theatre, an open lobby, dressing rooms, a green room, offices, a scene shop, storage space, and free parking for patrons of the theatre. The new space will allow Amphibian to expand its programming to include additional main stage productions and staged readings, as well as workshops and outreach programs. Amphibian's new home will be a cultural destination for artists, audiences, and members of the community to share in the creation of new and timeless works.   To contribute to the Capital Campaign and become a part of Amphibian history, donors may visit www.amphibianproductions.org to make an online contribution or call 817-923-3012 to speak with an Amphibian representative. Donation payments may be made on an installment basis, and naming opportunities are available for interested parties.

About Kevin Kline: Mr. Kline's extensive work in theatre includes his recent turn as the title character in Cyrano de Bergerac on Broadway, as well as Henry IV at Lincoln Center Theater, Mother Courage and Her Children, The Seagull, Henry V, and The Pirates of Penzance at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, and King Lear and Hamlet at The Public Theater in New York.  He has won two Tony Awards for his work in the Broadway musicals On the Twentieth Century and The Pirates of Penzance. A film veteran as well, Mr. Kline won an Academy Award for his supporting role in A Fish Called Wanda. He is also known for such films as The Big Chill, Sophie's Choice, A Midsummer Night's Dream, French Kiss, and Dave.

He attended Indiana University in Bloomington and subsequently studied in the Drama Division at the Juilliard School in New York. About Amphibian Stage ProductionsAmphibian Stage Productions is a non-profit theatre company founded in 2000 by three alumni of TCU's Department of Theatre who strive to produce innovative and engaging works of theatre that challenge the way we see the world around us.  Now in its thirteenth season, Amphibian has produced numerous groundbreaking and challenging plays (some regional premieres, others US or world premieres) that foster a deeper understanding of ourselves as members of the global community. The company is widely recognized for its stylistically and thematically varied scripts. Committed to nurturing young and diverse audiences, Amphibian has developed a strong internship program, a summer acting workshop for teens, and a dynamic outreach project, Tad-Poles, that is steadily increasing the company's visibility and following.

The group travels to schools and community centers, performing and spreading a message of multicultural collaboration and tolerance. Amphibian is generously funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, the Arts Council of Fort Worth and Tarrant County, Ann L. & Carol Green Rhodes Charitable Trust, Amon G. Carter Foundation, Alcon Foundation, the Nell V. Bailey Charitable Trust, Wells Fargo Bank, Berlene T. & Jarrell R. Milburn, Mrs. Betty J. Sanders, The Rug Company, Out of Nowhere Website Design, Bates Container, Pier 1 Imports, and the Devonian Society, a group of Amphibian's devoted donors who are proud to be the force behind nurturing the next generation of artists and audiences.

Dallas — The annual CityArts Festival is Memorial Day weekend, May 25-27 (Friday-Sunday, not Monday) in Fair Park, and this year, TheaterJones is proud to be one of media sponsors.

The festival features more than 100 visual artists booths, chef demonstrations, outdoor films, music performances on several stages, a children's area, art classes, marketplace, art cars and more. You can read more about the happenings here.

At our booth, near the Magnolia Lounge where Margo Jones' pioneering regional theater opened in 1947 (and currently the home of Nouveau 47 Theatre), we'll have prizes and ticket giveaways all weekend.

We're also putting together a roster of performers in the nearby amphitheater, a sunken Greek-style in-the-round theater with a stage that's 20 feet in diameter (see photo). The goal is to showcase the local performing arts, and we're coordinating a schedule of performances in conjunction with Funhouse Theatre and Film. We're looking for performers who could fill short slots throughout Saturday and Sunday, with PG performances in the disciplines that we cover on the site: theater, dance, music and comedy. We will have a sound system and special flooring for dance.

If you're interested in contributing your time and showing off your work/performers to thousands of visitors from throughout the Metroplex, contact Michael Warner at michaelwarner@theaterjones.com, and keep in mind a few guidelines:

• The performance should be brief, in most cases no longer than 20 minutes (there will be the possibility to perform it multiple times). We will consider slightly longer performances.
• Content must be PG and/or family-friendly, as the CityArts festival is a free family event.
• Costumes, sets and props are not necessary (and keep in mind that it is outdoors and it's late May in Texas)
• Please contact us by Thursday, May 10 at noon.

We hope to see you at the CityArts Festival.

Arlington — It's looking like the Dallas Opera could set a record this Saturday with its live simulcast of The Magic Flute at Cowboys Stadium. That would be for the most attendees at an American opera event. The record was set in 2010 in San Francisco for a production of Aida from the War Memorial Opera House, which drew 32,000 attendees.

At last count, the Dallas Opera—which is offering tickets for free through its website at www.dallasopera.org/cowboys—was closing in on that number, with requests coming from across Texas and 26 other states, and elsewhere.

The interest has to be a combination of several things: First, Mozart's masterful singspiel opera will be seen on the world's largest high-definition screen. Next, admission and parking are free. If you've been gouged at the Stadium for football and other events, you know what a luxury free parking is. We're guessing some will show up just to take a look-see at Jerry World. And, well, opera tickets aren't cheap either. So this free thing is win-win.

And if you need more enticement, TheaterJones will be among the organizations doing a tailgating party in Entry A of Parking Lot 1, not far from our friends at WRR/101.1 FM. At our shindig, 5-7 p.m., come by for a pre-game, er, pre-opera hot dog, and enter for a chance to win tickets to local performing arts events, including pianist Emanuel Ax at Cliburn Concerts in Fort Worth (May 1) and a pair of tickets to the Andrea Bocelli concert in November at another local sports arena, American Airlines Center.

We'll also have tix for Dallas Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, Dallas Summer Musicals, Theatre Three, Dallas Theater Center, Uptown Players, Jubilee Theatre, Stage West, Hip Pocket Theatre, Kitchen Dog Theater, AT&T Performing Arts Center (including to American Idiot), Dallas Black Dance Theatre and Paula Poundstone at the Lakewood Theater.

Come by and say hello. We'll also be Tweeting the event (and the opera simulcast) (www.twitter.com/theaterjones) and our staff will be roaming the event with more giveaways.

◊ To get directions to Cowboys Stadium, go here.

◊ Here are our reviews of The Magic Flute and La Traviata.

Dallas — UPDATE APRIL 26, 2012: The giveaway below is over and the winners have been contacted. Check your email if you played.

For today's giveaway, we have two family four packs for opening night of Annie Jr. at Casa Mañana Children's Theatre in Fort Worth.The show is a slightly shorter version of the beloved Charles Strouse musical Annie. This tickets are for 7 p.m. Friday, April 27.

To win, email tickets@theaterjones.com, and put CASA ANNIE in the subject line. In the body of email, put your name, address, phone number and best email contact.

You have until 11 p.m. Wednesday, Aril 25 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 include: Portraits Ballet Festival, second weekend at Texas Ballet Theater; Emanuel Ax at Cliburn Concerts; American Idiot at AT&T Performing Arts Center; Kristin Chenoweth at AT&T Performing Arts Center; Memphis the Musical at Dallas Summer Musicals; Idina Menzel at Music Hall at Fair Park; and more.

Fort Worth — Fort Worth actor David Coffee will be given the Live Theatre League of Tarrant County's Elston Brooks Lifetime Achievement Award on Monday, April 30, in the group's annual awards ceremony.

Coffee is known for many roles around town, including at Casa Mañana, Trinity Shakespeare Festival and in Dallas Theater Center's 2011 production of Cabaret. Here's our 2011 interview with him when he played Edna Turnblad in Casa's production of Hairspray.

The awards are 5:45-7 p.m. in the Fort Worth Community Arts Center's Scott Theatre, and begin with a reception at 5 p.m. Other recipients include educator Connie Whitt Lambert, set designer Bob Lavallee and Dallas-based director René Moreno. The event is free and open to the public.

The Live Theatre League is a collective of the professional and community theaters in Tarrant County.

The major awards and winners include:

• Elston Brooks Lifetime Achievement Award: David Coffee
• Ann L. Rhodes Philanthropic Individual Award: Rosalyn G. Rosenthal
• Philanthropic Organization: Coors Distributing Co. of Fort Worth
• Theatre Arts Advocate: Donald Terrell and Michael Toole
• Theatre Arts Educator of the Year: Connie Whitt Lambert
• Design and Technical Professional Award: Bob Lavallee
• Rudy Eastman Diversity Award: René Moreno
• Bill Garber Young Theatre Artist Award: (Dual winners) Angelina Vyushkova and Parker Fitzgerald

Individual theatre awards go to:

• Amphibian Stage Productions: Christina Jett-Meyer & Peter Kowalski
• Artisan Center Theater: Marty Jacob
• Circle Theatre: Donald & Helen Matheson
• Creative Arts Theatre & School: Anna Millstead
• DVA Productions, Inc.: Jennifer Porter Kennard
• Hip Pocket Theatre: Allen Austin
• Jubilee Theatre: Melvylin Pace
• Kids Who Care: Karen Vermaire-Fox
• ONSTAGE in Bedford: Barbara Speares
• Pantagleize Theatre Company: Patricia Kuehn
• Runway Theatre: Misty Baptiste
• Stage West: Pamela Pierce
• Theatre Arlington: Kim Lawson
• Trinity Shakespeare Festival: Lindsay Cowdin

Dallas — Nouveau 47 Theatre's second annual New Works/New Voices festival kicks off on Thursday, and like last year, it features readings of new scripts, followed by audience talk-backs and panels of writers, critics and other guests.

Last year's inaugural event led to two new full productions by emerging playwrights in Nouveau 47 Theatre's second season, of works by writers introduced to us in the first festival. Both of those playwrights, Jonathan Kravetz and Kevin Kautzman, will be represented in this year's readings, too. You can see more of Kautzman in this series of videos on new plays, hosted by TheaterJones.

New work was championed by Margo Jones, the regional theater pioneer whose Fair Park theater, now called the Magnolia Lounge, is where Nouveau 47 is housed. 

Below is the schedule, which includes five full-length plays, and begins with a night of 10-minute works. The featured playwrights this year are Kautzman and Christina Cigala; and the showcase event is a benefit for the locally born musical On the Eve.

On the Eve features original music by local band Home by Hovercraft, and is written by the group's Seth and Shawn Magill, with Michael Federico. The show tells the "almost entirely true story of Marie Antoinette and the first time-travelling hot air balloon."

On the Eve will have its world premiere in December 2012, and the kick-off party is May 12 at the Magnolia Lounge, featuring live music from Gallery Cat and Home by Hovercraft, plus a Great Big Wig Contest and more. You can learn more about the May 12 happening here.

The New Works/New Voices schedule is:

Thursday, April 26, 8:00 pm: Six short plays followed by kick-off party.

• Mondays at 2:15 by Mike Moroz (dir. by Mark Guerra) Therapy is difficult enough, but what happens when the voices in your head hijack your session? 
• The Divine Visitation of Joel Pickleseimer by Micah McCoy (dir. by Mark Guerra) God goes Old-Testament on a young man who refuses to do anything but get high and watch TV. 
• Mother, mother by Lacy Lalene Lynch (dir. by Diana Gonzalez) A mother shows up on her daughter’s doorstep with an agenda, a secret, and some southern things to say. The question is who is manic and who is mother? 
• Perfect Love by Jonathan Kravetz (dir. by Brian Witkowicz) It's love American style:  like a drive-in, they fall in and out at light speed. 
• You Meet Such Interesting People in the Library by Brad Kramer (dir. by Brian Witkowicz) Two women meet and get to know each other through kidnapping, murder, and a national security emergency in a public library.
• The Last Time Cooper Took Midge Fishing by Vicki Cheatwood (dir. by Diana Gonzalez) A fish-out-of-water story about relationships, the perils of settling, and beer (laced with CIA-grade acid).

Friday, April 27, 8:00 pm: Full Length

• Universal Robots by Mac Rogers (dir. by Donny Covington) The Great War has just ended. Czechoslovakia is a republic with an elected president and a thriving artistic community that includes celebrated playwright Karel Capek. But history cracks wide open when a young woman walks into Karel's life with a strange mannequin in a wheelchair… a mannequin that gets up and moves all by itself. A science fiction thriller, love story, political allegory, redemptive tragedy and fast-paced entertainment, Universal Robots is freely adapted from Czech playwright Karel Capek's seminal 1921 play R.U.R., which introduced the word "robot" to the world. Universal Robots departs significantly from Capek's script, offering a meaty and riveting story of war, love, faith, technology and the power of art to change the world, for both good and ill.

Saturday, April 28, 8:00 pm: Full Length

• If You Start a Fire [Be Prepared to Burn] by Kevin Kautzman (dir. by Michael Federico) An Internet sex comedy for the Recession Generation!  Lucy and Chris are typical American twenty-somethings struggling to survive the Great Recession with their dignity intact.  They hate their jobs like most everybody else, but they need the insurance, and at least they have each other.  Right?  When Chris loses his job, he convinces Lucy they should launch a boutique sex website and sell the idea of her as an all-American girl next door, somehow both pure and hedonistic at the same time. Playwright will be in attendance from Austin.

Thursday, May 3, 8:00 pm: Full Length

• The Hundredth Monkey Effect by Christina Cigala (dir. by Drew Wall) The folks in this show are mad scientists. They've got some songs to sing and stories to tell, and did I mention the most important scientific experiment of all time? If you've got a wild side, or just like getting blazed while watching episodes of Quantum Leap, join the scientific research team of the The 100th Monkey Effect.

Friday, May 4, 8:00 pm: Full Length

• Messages from the Bottle by Jim Kuenzer (dir. by Jonathan Taylor) In the style of David Sedaris or Spalding Gray, Jim embarks on a one man show telling the true tale of one man's journey from the wasteland of alcoholism, through the perils of recovery and on to the dream of one day becoming a nice guy. Written in the always-popular first person, Messages attempts to answer many of life's most pressing questions with even more questions, creating an endless loop of drama, crisis and hilarity. Kuenzer, a Dallas playwright and performer, will be in attendance.

Saturday, May 5, 8:00 pm: Full Length

• Orphan Echoes by Bezachin Jifar (dir. by Christopher Eastland) It's 2012 and Jade is about to leave for work when her husband Amsalu calls to tell her he's stuck in a cave on top of the Half-Dome in Yosemite. When, why and where plays out through pivotal conversations they've had over the phone jumping back and forth in time. Playwright will be in attendance from New York.

Sunday, May 6, 5:00 pm: Full Length

• Freezing Point by Yuliya Tsukerman (dir. by Matt Tomlanovich) In the home of her estranged father, Winnie finds a woman locked in a menagerie of domestic objects and a secret hidden in the ashes of the family dog. The freezing point of tears is where it all collides. Playwright will be in attendance from NY

Sunday, May 6, 7:00 pm: Sketch Comedy

• Performance by The FTP Comedy Troupe and Festival closing party