Stage Whispers
PERFORMING ARTS NEWS AND NOTES

Here's an announcement from Stage West:

Stage West will be accepting art portfolio submissions for its 33rd Season Gallery. 

Selected artists’ work will be displayed between October 2011 and September 2012. One to three artists will be featured per show in the Stage West 33rd season, or a total of six to eighteen artists. 

We are looking for paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, quilts, 3-D wall-friendly art, etc.  All work should be framed and/or finished and presented in a professional manner. 

Potential artists should submit 3-5 images, including sizes and mediums, to dana@stagewest.org with “33rd Season Art” in the subject line. Deadline for submission is September 15, no exceptions.

Denton Community Theatre is introducing a new one-act play festival in early summer, 2012, and is calling for plays.

Here's more info:

Denton Community Theatre is pleased to announce the call for scripts for a new one-act playwriting competition focusing on Imagination and the Human Condition. The winning plays will receive cash prizes and a staged reading at the Method and Madness Playwriting Festival at the DCT Point Bank Black Box Theatre May 28-June 2, 2012, in conjunction with Mental Health Month. All submissions should run under 70 minutes and should focus on imagination, the human condition, and/or mental health issues. Awards range from $2,000 for first place to $200 for fifth place. Submission deadline is Jan. 14, 2012. Entry forms and specific guidelines are available on the "Events and Show" page of the DCT website.

For more information, please call 940-382-7014 or email thedctteam@campustheatre.com.

The Fort Worth Symphony named a new president and CEO, Amy Adkins, earlier this year. As of Aug. 1, she officially took over.

Here's the official release from FWSO:

The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra Association is pleased to announce that as of today, the start of the 2011-2012 fiscal year, Amy Adkins succeeds Ann Koonsman as president and CEO of the organization. 

Adkins has devoted the past 16 years of her career to arts administration and fundraising. Since 2002, she has served as Vice President of Development of the FWSO, during which time she has achieved aggressive fundraising goals approaching a total of $50 million in contributions. 

“The Board of Directors is thrilled to announce Amy’s appointment as president and CEO,” Mrs. Sid R. Bass said in January, when the appointment was announced. “Her longtime dedication to the orchestra, her love of music, and her ability to form relationships with key supporters makes her the perfect fit. Amy’s knowledge of orchestral management combined with her superb fundraising talents will ensure that the orchestra has a bright future.” 

“I am deeply honored to become the next president of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra,” Adkins said. “I have every reason to be optimistic about the orchestra’s ongoing and rising success. We have a devoted Board of Directors; a dedicated, passionate staff; exceptionally talented musicians; and an inspiring and dynamic music director. Ann Koonsman leaves behind an incredible legacy, and I look forward to taking the orchestra to the next phase in its rich history.” 

Music Director Miguel Harth-Bedoya said, “Amy has done an outstanding job for the orchestra as Vice President of Development, and I am looking forward to working with her in this new capacity.” 

As Vice President of Development, Adkins accomplished record-breaking fundraising results, including an unprecedented 42 percent increase in both corporate sponsorships and foundation giving. She oversaw winning campaigns such as the drive to fund the orchestra’s 2008 Carnegie Hall tour and managed its first $1 million gala in 2006, honoring Van Cliburn. Under her exemplary leadership and tenacious fundraising, the FWSO greeted more than a dozen new sizable corporate sponsorships from companies including Alcon, Bank of Texas, Frank Kent Cadillac, Teletouch-Hawk Electronics, JPMorgan Chase, North Texas Audi Dealers and XTO Energy, while forging deeper relationships with longtime supporters. 

Adkins was responsible for creating innovative and successful fundraising initiatives such as Painted Violins, “Maestro for a Day” and ¡Vivace!, the orchestra’s young patrons group that now boasts more than 150 members. She established a robust donor stewardship plan with numerous recognition programs and events such as the annual Maestro’s Luncheon and the Centurion Society. Adkins also has plans in place to launch BRAVO, a musician sponsorship program, in the coming months. 

Music education is a passion for Adkins. Twelve years of piano study led to her first career teaching music in Duncanville, Texas, followed by three years as Education Coordinator at the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in the mid-’90s. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in education with a specialization in music from Texas Tech University. Prior fundraising experience included work for Kennedy Center Imagination Celebration Fort Worth and Business Volunteers for the Arts. 

Adkins’ husband of 19 years, Alton Adkins, has performed as Co-Associate Principal Horn with the FWSO since 1993. Aside from her love of music, Ms. Adkins enjoys exercise, travel, and spending time with her two sons, Jacob, 14 and Benjamin, 10

A few weeks ago, local theater critic Alexandra Bonifield, who runs the blog Critical Rant and also contributes to TheaterJones and our partner Arts+Culture, broke her ankle while performing her day job of dog walking.

She goes in for surgery today, July 25. And because she, like a lot of other artists, has no insurance (and can't perform her primary source of income, dogwalking), she's asking for your help.

If you can contribute to her medical fund, there are several ways:

1. Her Lotsa Helping Hands Account here (you'll have to create a login)

2. Cash donation online: Go to the Quick Pay page on your bank website and click on the "send money" function. It will ask for her e-mail address or cell phone number. They are: alexandrabonifield@sbcglobal.net / 469-487-6789. Enter whichever one you choose and follow instructions to select funding amount and the account you wish to send from.

3. Donation via check: Make it out to: Alexandra Bonifield and send it c/o Cindee Dobbs at 5538 Merrimac Ave., Dallas, Texas, 75206.

You can find out more at her blog, http://criticalrant.com/

Uptown Players' first Dallas Pride Performing Arts Festival is coming up in Sept., to coincide with the month that Dallas celebrates gay pride with the big Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade on Sept. 18 (everyone else does it in June, which is National Gay Pride Month).

The lineup for Uptown's festival has just been announced, and features a range of musicals, plays, cabarets, staged readings and other events to celebrate GLBT themes in theater. This includes a world premiere play by local director, designer and playwright Bruce R. Coleman.

The event runs Sept. 9-17 at the Kalita Humphreys Theater, with performances on the main stage and upstairs in Frank's Place.

Here's the lowdown from the news release, followed by a calendar of events:

The festival will feature the world premiere of a new musical, Crazy Just Like Me, by Drew Gasparini (music and lyrics) and Louis Sacco (book, along with Gasparini). In Crazy Just Like Me, Simon, Mike, and Lauren, are dealing with life, love, change, and discovery and learn that sometimes, you don't get to pick who you love. Sometimes it picks you, and when it does it brings out the crazy in all of us.

Also on the main stage at the Kalita Humphreys Theater is the heartwarming urban fairy tale, Beautiful Thing by Jonathan Harvey. At turns tough and tender, the play combines fantasy and reality to truly capture what it is to be sixteen, in the first flush of love and full of optimism. This production will support Youth First Texas, whose mission is to provide a safe space for LGBTQ youth and their allied friends to strengthen opportunities for life skills, leadership development, peer support and educational advancement.

For just one night only, From Chopin to Show-tunes shines the spotlight on Uptown's marvelous Maestros Kevin Gunter and Adam C. Wright in a program from pop to classical to Broadway's best.

Presented in Franks Place upstairs at the Kalita Humphreys Theater, will be a series of plays and staged readings and the return of an Uptown favorite for just 3 performances.

The Last Sunday in June, by Jonathan Tolins, takes a look at a seemingly ideal gay couple and their extended family on a fateful Gay Pride Day. The show is often hilarious and at times very moving.

The New Century is another new creation by the always hysterical Paul Rudnick. The NY Post says "The evening contains so many gut-busting one-liners that those with heart conditions are warned.” The cast includes Uptown favorites, Paul J. Williams and Marisa Diotalevi.

Asher, TX '82 is a new one-act play by local playwright, Bruce R. Coleman. In this world premiere, four teens from a small Texas town, confronted by a violent act of bullying, must choose to stay as they are or change forever.

Presented in an evening with Asher TX '82, are two short plays by Austin playwright, Allen Baker. Originally presented at the Austin Pride Festival, Click discovers two gay guys online on a Saturday night trying to hook up, each for a somewhat different reason. Jason sees easy sex as a way to avoid intimacy. Michael sees it as a way to get to intimacy more quickly. In A Midsummer Night's Conversation, a gay couple must face a critical moment just four months into their relationship. It's a time for honesty, intimacy and total self-exposure. And one of the two is an actor...a very good actor.

Back by popular demand is The Facts of Life: The Lost Episode written by Jamie Morris. Join Mrs. G. and the girls for the revival of Uptown’s 2008 smash hit. Paul J. Williams, Chad Peterson, Kevin Moore, Chris Robinson, and Darius Anthony Robinson return for just three performances.

Also being presented as part of the Festival are two staged readings. The first staged reading is a ground breaking play, Last Summer at Bluefish Cove, by Jane Chambers. This piece is a world-renowned milestone in lesbian theater history as it was the first mainstream quality literary piece of its kind. The second staged reading is a workshop of a new musical by Jeff Kinman, Adam C. Wright, and John de los Santos, entitled A Taste Of Beauty. Be the first to get “a taste of beauty” and get a chance to provide some feedback on a new musical to these local playwrights.

Closing out the festival will be a performance by music and comedy legends Amy Armstrong and Freddy Allen. Best known for their performances on RSVP cruises, Amy and Freddy have graced the stages coast-to-coast and in over 20 countries with their one-of-a-kind wit and musical prowess.

Tickets for all shows are $10-$20. Festival passes allow you to see every production, for just $50. Festival Pass holders can guarantee their seat to see Amy and Freddy for an additional $20. Performances will take place at the Kalita Humphreys Theater building, 3636 Turtle Creek Blvd at Blackburn. Beginning Monday, July 18, tickets and festival passes can be purchased online at www.uptownplayers.org or by phone at 214-219-2718.

Here's the complete schedule: 

Kalita Humphreys Theater 

Crazy Just Like Me: Sept. 9, 11, 14, 16 @ 7:30pm 

Beautiful Thing: Sept. 10, 15 @ 7:30pm, Sept. 17 @ 2pm

From Chopin to Show Tunes: Sept. 13 @ 7:30pm

Amy Armstrong and Freddy Allen: Sept. 17 @ 830pm

Frank's Place (upstairs at the Kalita Humphreys Theater)

The Facts Of Life: The Lost Episode: Sept. 9 @ 8pm, Sept. 10 @ 930pm, Sept. 14 @ 8pm

The New Century: Sept. 10 @ 3pm, Sept. 11 @ 5:30pm, Sept. 17 @ 4pm

A Taste of Beauty Stage Reading: Sept. 10 @ 6pm,   Sept. 11 @ 8pm

Asher TX '82: Sept. 11 @ 2pm, Sept. 17 @ 6pm

Click/A Midsummer Nights Conversation: Sept. 11 @ 2pm, Sept. 17 @ 6pm

Last Summer at Bluefish Cove Reading: Sept. 12 @ 7:30pm, Sept. 16 @ 8pm

The Last Sunday in June: Sept. 13 @ 8pm, Sept. 15 @ 8pm

The Dallas Opera announced that it is canceling one of its mainstage productions for the upcoming season. Janacek’s Katya Kabanova. This production was set to pair with Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. Dallas Opera General Director and CEO Keith Cerny made the decision based on financial concerns, and it seems to not just affect this year.

"Good governance requires us to reduce the number of main-stage productions and performances presented over the next several years, in order to bring the company’s financials back into balance. We are determined to accomplish our financial goals while upholding artistic standards worthy of one of the great, new opera destinations in the world. In time, we expect to grow the Dallas Opera back to five first-rate productions—and beyond," Cerny said in a press statement.

Janacek’s opera was the best choice for one to cut. It was probably the opera on the schedule with the least chance to drawn in non-subscription ticket buyers.

The season will open as scheduled on Friday, Oct. 21 with Lucia di Lammermoor. Subsequent performances will run through Nov. 6. Mid-February brings what the Dallas opera is calling an "opera in concert" production of Richard Wagner’s Tristan & Isolde. Yet, they still say that the production will feature video projections by designer Elaine J. McCarthy, whose work greatly impressed in the world premiere of Moby-Dick in 2010. How this will work, and exactly what is intended, is yet to be seen.

In February, their plans for a new chamber opera series at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre will go on as planned with three performances of a contemporary masterpiece, The Lighthouse, by British composer Peter Maxwell Davies.

April brings the usual pair of operas running in repertory. Giuseppe Verdi’s once-controversial La traviata, will run with Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Fortunately, the recent expansions of the Dallas Opera’s education and community outreach programs (now serving 30,000 children annually) will proceed as originally planned.

Single tickets for the 2011-2012 Season have not yet gone on sale; however, affected subscribers (FLEX and Full Season) will be given full refunds for the performances impacted by TDO’s ("The Dallas Opera’s") decision. An email containing detailed options will be sent to current Dallas Opera patrons by the end of the day.

The Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre has been touted as a space with myriad possibilities, many of which the Dallas Theater Center hasn't even tapped into yet. But its production of The Wiz will make you say, "Toto, I don't think we're in a conventional musical theater production any more."

The concept that everyone's going to be talking about is the audience pods, in which 180 theatergoers will be rolled around throughout the production, beginning with the tornado scene and following Dorothy and her friends on the journey to Oz. The pods won't return to their "home" slot until Dorothy returns home, so depending on which pod you're in will affect how you view the show. They're not all moved at once, or even in the same direction. 

There are 12 of these pods, each seating 15 people (three rows of five seats), on swiveling casters. A crew of 12 (eight hired specifically for this production) will move the pods throughout the show. Don't worry, it's slow. So you won't need to be buckled in, and there are no signs with disclaimers about people with heart conditions, pregnant women or needing to be "this tall" to ride this ride.

Ticketbuyers are asked if they'd like seats that move when they make reservations.

Next week, look for an interview with Kevin Moriarty on TheaterJones, and Mark Lowry will also have a feature about this unique idea in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. But for now, here's some video shot in rehearsal this week of the pods being moved. You can also view a DTC-produced video about the pods here.

The show officially opens on Friday, July 15, but performances begin July 8 with a pay-what-you-can preview. The tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, and the seating is limited, so get there early and line up.

Also, there's an "Ease on Down the Road" block party at the AT&T Performing Arts Center from 5 to 8 p.m. tonight. Even if you're not seeing the show—which is a collaboration with the Dallas Black Dance Theatre—come for family activities, food and a performance from disco-loving band Le Freak.

As we reported a few weeks ago, Grapevine's Ohlook Performing Arts Center's production of Bert V. Royal's Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead advanced to the National Community Theater Festival, which just wapped up in Rochester, N.Y.

The awards were presented Saturday night, and Ohlook cleaned up. Out of 12 productions from all over the country (and one from Belgium), the Grapevine group won Best Show, Best Sound Design, Best Featured Actor (Matt Purvis), Best Supporting Actor (Lloyd Harvey), Best Ensemble and Best Director (Jill Blalock Lord).

The other productions were: The Bear, Arlekin Studio of Newton, Mass.; Hauptmann, SHAPE of Mons, Belgium; The Gin Game, Broken Arrow Community Playhouse or Broken Arrow, Okla.; Sunday in the Park with George, Manatee Players of Bradenton, Fla.; Second Samuel, Wetumpka Depot Players of Wetumpka, Ala.; Check, Please, Chino Community Theatre of Chino, Calif.; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Spokane Civic Theatre of Spokane, Wash.; Wiley and the Hairy Man, County Seat Theatre Company of Cloquet, Minn.; The Zoo Story, Chapel Street Players of Newark, Del.; Parallel Lives, Evergreen Players of Evergreen, Colo.; and Urinetown: The Musical, CenterStage at Midland Center for the Arts of Midland, Mich.

Congrats to the guys at Ohlook.

New York playwright Kristoffer Diaz, who won a slew of kudos for his play The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (it was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2010 and won an Obie Award, among others) has been commissioned for two new works by the Dallas Theater Center and the Public Theater in New York.

Diaz, recent winner of the New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award for the aforementioned play, a satire of professional wrestling, will have a one-year fellowship at the Public and create work to be co-produced by that theater and DTC. The two groups have done several collaborations since Kevin Moriarty took charge here, including a co-production of The Good Negro and the forthcoming 2012 produciton of John Michael LaChiusa's musical Giant.

Local audiences got a taste of Diaz when Fort Worth's FireStarter Productions included one of his works in Tapas, an evening of short plays at Circle Theatre in 2009. That company's artistic director, Jaime Casteñeda, a Texas Christian University grad, has since relocated to New York. He directed Diaz's Welcome to Arroyos at San Diego's Old Globe in 2010.

From the DTC news release:

“Kris Diaz creates highly theatrical, deeply insightful and extraordinarily entertaining work.  His ideas speak directly to contemporary audiences,” says Dallas Theater Center Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty. “These things make Diaz a perfect fit for Dallas Theater Center.  We are excited to work with The Public to debut two new works from this talented playwright and to engage Dallas audiences in new, unexpected ways.”

“I've always written plays with the hope somewhere in the back of my mind that someday they'd find a home at The Public,” said Playwright Kristoffer Diaz. “The fact that I'll now join in that great Public tradition while specifically honoring the legacy of the Papp family is, not to put too fine a point on it, mind-blowing. Add in the incredible forward-thinking approach and architecture of Dallas Theater Center, and I could not ask for a more inspiring and humble playground in which to create.”

The Diaz plays are part of DTC’s initiative to commission new plays written for and produced by Dallas Theater Center.  Other commissions include work from 2010 Meadows Prize winner Will Power; Kim Rosenstock, whose play Tigers Be Still will be produced as part of DTC’s 2011-12 Season; and Aaron Loeb.  The commissions will give local audiences the opportunity to see new work by four playwrights who are major contributors to the national theater scene.

Today is your last chance to sign up for a free discussion about the Dallas theater scene, presented by D Magazine. Moderated by the Dallas Arts District’s Veletta Lill, the panel includes Southern Methodist University professor and director, Stan Wojewodski; along with four local critics: Elaine Liner of the Dallas Observer (and TheaterJones co-founder); Lance Lusk of D Magaine's FrontRow, Jerome Weeks of KERA and Art&Seek; and yours truly, co-founder of TheaterJones and former staffer (and current freelancer) at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The discussion is 6-7:30 p.m. Monday, June 20, at the offices of D Magazine, 750 N. St. Paul St., Suite 2100, in downtown Dallas. To RSVP, email rsvp5@dmagazine.com or call 214-540-0144.

Lysistrata Jones, the Douglas Carter Beane/Lewis Flinn musical that began as Give It Up! at the Dallas Theater Center, has opened off-Broadway, and the New York Times calls it "effervescent, tasty and surprisingly filling."

The musical, a modern day version of Aristophanes' Lysistrata set in the world of college cheerleaders and basketball players, has been reworked a bit since it opened here in early 2010. The show mostly drew the same sort of "it's goofy but super-fun" raves here. (Although not by everyone.)

The show is now being performed in an actual gymnasium by the Transport Group, and Dallas' Liz Mikel, who played the madame/mystic Heterai here, reprises that role in New York.

Here's what the Times' Ben Brantley says about her:

Played by the commanding Ms. Mikel as a cross between Mae West and Aretha Franklin, Heterai is equally fluent in the musical languages of Motown and rap and (when need be) incantatory chanting, which after all was used by ancient Greeks in amphitheaters long before there were American cheerleaders in stadiums.

Here are links to some of the New York reviews, most of which are positive, so far (except for Talkin' Broadway):

• New York Times
• Variety
• Hollywood Reporter
• The Faster Times
• Talkin' Broadway
• The Village Voice

We'll keep adding them as they come in.

David Chambless Worters has resigned as President and CEO of the Van Cliburn Foundation, after only beginning that post on Sept. 1, 2010. He is leaving the post for the usual "personal reasons." Unfortunately, this is just another in a series of high-profile resignations of recently appointed leaders of major arts organizations in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Worters came to the Cliburn from a stint as President & CEO of the North Carolina Symphony in Raleigh, North Carolina, a job he took in 1999.

He just finished overseeing the amateur version of the Cliburn piano competition, which brought 70 pianists from all over the world. An interior CEO will be named while a search for a permanent CEO is once again undertaken.

On the resignation, he told the Star-Telegram: "I've found that I don't have sufficient passion for this," he said. "The Cliburn deserves someone who does."

We had an interview with him after he assumed the job, here.

Addison's WaterTower Theatre, Denton's Sundown Collaborative Theatre and Fort Worth's Lisa Dalton aren't the only locals/groups taking work to New York this summer.

Grapevine's Ohlook Performing Arts Center's production of Bert V. Royal's Dog Sees God has advanced to the National Community Theater Festival, happening June 20-26 in Rochester, N.Y.

The play, the title of which is a palindrome, is Royal's imagining of what the Peanuts characters would have been like a few years later, in high school. The subtitle is "Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead." It's not pretty.

The journey to the National Festival began in January when the production won the Quad II Level of Texas. The production then moved on to the Texas Festival, and last month had the honor of winning the Region VI Festival. In addition to winning the Region VI Festival, the production was honored with Festival Adjudicator Awards for Best Ensemble, Best Director, Audience Acclaim and three cast members voted into the All-Star Cast.

The Dog Sees God company includes Evan Spreen as CB, Lacey Jane Smith as CB’s Sister, Matt Purvis as Van, Michael McCray as Matt, Lloyd Harvey as Beethoven, Kristin Payne as Tricia, Taylor Wallis as Marcy, Heather Biddle as Van’s Sister, Emma Lord as the lighting operator, and Jill Blalock Lord is the director.

Jill Blalock Lord, Director of Ohlook and the show said in a news release "We are so thrilled to be advancing to Nationals. We are just a small theatre in Grapevine, TX, and to have our show and cast represent the Southern Region of our country is a great honor.”

Of course, it can't happen without some funds, and Ohlook has a money-raising campaign going here.

Michael Jenkins, the president and managing director and only the third main guy in Dallas Summer Musicals' 71 years, has received an award from the Broadway League. He was honored with the award for Outstanding Achievement in Presenter Managementr (Samuel J. L’Hommedieu) on May 10.

Here's more from the DSM news release:

Under his leadership, Dallas Summer Musicals (DSM) has produced or invested in 123 Broadway productions, and presented 438 national tours.  Jenkins is a leader in his community, founding programs that bring Broadway and the arts to special needs and at-risk youth in the Dallas area.

Executive Director of The Broadway League Charlotte St. Martin presented the award to Jenkins  for demonstrating excellence in management.   Honorees of the Broadway League Awards, honoring excellence and achievement for Touring Broadway, were greeted by George Hamilton at the opening session of the Spring Road Conference. 

The Broadway League is the national trade association for the Broadway industry.  Members include theatre owners and operators, producers, presenters and general managers in New York and more than 250 other North American cities, as well as suppliers of goods and services to the theatre industry.  Each year, League members bring Broadway to more than 30 million people in New York and on tour across the U. S. and Canada.

The Dallas arts scene has been plagued with a string of resignations lately. With so many positions coming open all at once, and the dearth of arts management talent nationwide, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra was still able to find David Hyslop, a veteran arts administrator, to take the helm as interim President. Hyslop has agreed to start his duties on May 25 so that the leadership void at the top of the organization can be quickly filled.

Hyslop is a 43-year orchestra industry veteran who has held the CEO position with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Saint Louis Symphony and the Oregon Symphony. Further, he has served as interim President before; with the West Virginia and Tulsa Symphony Orchestras. Since 2004, Hyslop has consulted arts organizations to assist with strategic planning, fundraising, and endowment and capital campaigns. All of these areas are those that recently have been identified as critical to the future of the Dallas Symphony. An added benefit is that he is also a trained musician, who received his B.S. in Music Education from Ithaca College.

"On behalf of the Dallas Symphony, we are pleased with David’s appointment. He brings a wealth of valuable experience in the orchestra industry, and we look forward to his guidance and availing ourselves of his proven leadership,” said Ronald J. Gafford, Board Chair of the DSO.

Putting an explanation point on all of this, Blaine Nelson, Board Chair Elect of the DSO said, “I am most excited about David’s success in fundraising and strategic planning."

Hyslop said much the same thing. “It is my hope that my long career as CEO of three major American orchestras and my work in the arts and fundraising consulting field over the last seven years will be of value to the DSA as it moves forward during this critical moment in its history.”

Hyslop will remain interim until a permanent President is appointed. The committee that found Hysolp will now be expanded to launch an international search for a permanent president for the Dallas Symphony. Cece Smith, who chaired the interim President search committee, will continue to lead this new effort.

AT&T Performing Arts Center has found a new President and CEO, replacing Mark Nerenhausen, who resigned last summer.

The new man is Mark J. Weinstein, who has experience with Washington National Opera, Pittsburgh Opera and New York City Opera.

Here's the news release from ATTPAC:

DALLAS (May 17, 2011) – The AT&T Performing Arts Center announced today that veteran arts executive Mark J. Weinstein has been appointed its new President and Chief Executive Officer. Weinstein has nearly three decades of experience leading some of the country’s premier performing arts organizations, including Washington National Opera, resident company of the Kennedy Center; the Pittsburgh Opera, a constituent of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust; and New York City Opera, in residence at Lincoln Center. Weinstein begins his new role at the AT&T PAC on June 1, 2011.

“Performing arts centers are complex organizations that require a unique skill set of its leadership,” said Roger Nanney, chair of the AT&T Performing Arts Center Board of Directors. “Mark not only has a proven track record of successfully managing arts organizations with budgets comparable to that of the AT&T Performing Arts Center, but he also has a deep understanding and passion for the performing arts, which has been reflected in the programs he launched during his storied tenure. In Mark, we have found a CEO with the perfect balance of leadership, management, fundraising, and producing experience.”

Most recently, Weinstein served for two years as Executive Director of the Washington National Opera, alongside Artistic Director Placido Domingo. During his tenure, Weinstein launched “Opera in the Outfield,” a series of live simulcasts at National Stadium of the Opera’s opening night performances. By partnering with Target and Rolex, Weinstein ensured the programs would be free and open to the public, drawing more than 15,000 people, many of whom had never before experienced opera. He also led the Opera from years of budget deficits to two straight years of operating in the black, raising $20 million each year. To ensure the company’s future economic stability, he laid the groundwork for the eventual merger of its administrative functions with the Kennedy Center.

During his ten years of leading the Pittsburgh Opera (1997-2008), Weinstein launched a major initiative called “Bold New Voice” to improve the company’s artistic quality and importance to the community. This program led to the transformation of the company, bringing fresh productions with younger directors and innovative and modern sets to Pittsburgh for the first time. In order to fund new productions, he often collaborated with other opera companies around the nation to share costs.  Weinstein also refocused the company’s commitment to education, erased the company’s accumulated debt and grew its endowment. He led the merger of four separate arts entities in the city, forming the first Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, of which he served as Founding Chairman. Weinstein also spearheaded the creation of the first National Performing Arts Convention, combining the national conventions of more than a dozen arts groups, which held its first meeting in Pittsburgh in 2004.

Prior to Pittsburgh, Weinstein spent thirteen years (1983-1996) with New York City Opera, serving as Executive Director for the last three. In his first year with the company he worked with Beverly Sills, then general director, to introduce supertitle translations for the first time in  opera production in the United States. Over the course of his tenure, he also worked on a number of world premieres, including Casanova's Homecoming by Dominick Argento (with the Minnesota Opera) in 1984; the first staged production of Anthony Davis’s X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X in 1986;  Jay Riese's Rasputin in 1988; Hugo Weisgall's Esther in 1993; Ezra Laderman's Marilyn in 1993; the revised version of Lukas Foss's Griffelkin in 1993; and Harvey Milk by Stewart Wallace and Michael Korie in 1995 (with the Houston Grand Opera); as well as many American premieres.

Weinstein served as City Opera’s representative on the Lincoln Center Governing Council, which was comprised of one representative from each of Lincoln Center’s constituent companies. The Governing Council overcame historic institutional rivalries and collaborated on a number of issues, including Live from Lincoln Center broadcasts and other media, joint insurance programs, labor issues, energy, security, and programming issues.

“I’m thrilled at the opportunity to join the team of the AT&T Performing Arts Center, which already has a strong civic presence, state of the art venues, and excellent programs presented by both the Center and its resident companies,” said Mark Weinstein. “My wife and I are excited to become a part of the Dallas community, and I look forward to working with the staff and board of the Center. Together, we can fulfill the vision for the Center, making it a public gathering place with exciting, accessible and affordable programs.”

The Board of the AT&T PAC selected Mark Weinstein as its CEO after an extensive national search under the leadership of Board member Ken Schnitzer and with the services of Korn/Ferry. The Center’s interim CEO, Doug Curtis, will return to his previous position of Senior Vice President and General Manager, where he oversees all aspects of the Center’s operations.

About Mark Weinstein

Mark Weinstein has nearly 30 years of experience leading performing arts institutions. Most recently, he was the Executive Director of the Washington National Opera, where he developed a new strategic plan with a renewed focus on National Opera’s mission and balanced the budget each year. From 1997 through 2008, Weinstein served as General Director of the Pittsburgh Opera, where he was responsible for all artistic and financial aspects of the company, growing the company from a regional opera company to one of national importance. Weinstein worked as Vice President of Operations for the National Artists Management Company, a Broadway theatrical producing company from 1996 to 1997. While at NAMCO, he helped produce the Broadway revival of Chicago, among other shows. From 1983 through 1996, Weinstein worked in a variety of roles with New York City Opera, including Executive Director. In that capacity, he led a financial recovery of City Opera, maintained balanced budgets, and reversed years of labor strife. It was also at that time that he met and married Susanne Marsee, then the leading mezzo soprano at City Opera.

Weinstein received a BA from Carleton College and an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. He and his wife have a son who is a student at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Mark Weinstein’s achievements have been recognized through multiple awards, including the “Cultural Leadership Award” granted by the Pittsburgh Cultural Center and the “Best Partner Award” by the Pittsburgh Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.

At least two performances at this summer's New York Fringe Festival, running Aug. 12-26, will be from North Texas artists.

Cody Lucas of Denton's Sundown Collaborative Theatre has had his play Happily Ever After accepted, and the Sundown crew will travel there to perform it. Here's the play's description:

Jack wakes up to find that he is the sole audience member for a surreal traveling circus featuring the Brothers Grimm as the sadistic ringleaders. There, he witnesses heartbreaking circus acts performed by famous fairy tale characters as he struggles to find a way to escape. Happily Ever After, a new play by Cody Lucas, uses movement, music, and mime to revisit and re-imagine these childhood characters. 

Also, Fort Worth actress and teacher Lisa Dalton will take her one-woman play The Darling, which Victor S. Tkachenko translated from an Anton Chekhov short story, to the Fringe. If you want a taste of it before she travels to Manhattan, she'll perform it July 28-30 at Pantagleize Theatre in Fort Worth.

Dalton teaches the Michael Chekhov tecnhique of acting, and has a workshop and lecture May 20-21 at Pantagleize. You can find out more by emailing Dalton.

Anbody else from here headed to NYC Fringe? Let us know by emailing marklowry@theaterjones.com.

War Horse, the acclaimed and Tony-nominated play that uses life-size horse puppets, is launching a national tour in Feburary, and one of the stops includes Dallas. The show will come to the AT&T Performing Arts Center's Winspear Opera House in the 2012-2013 season, as part of the Lexus Broadway Series.

A quote from the ATTPAC press release:

"We are thrilled to be able present War Horse on its first national tour,” said Doug Curtis, interim CEO of the AT&T Performing Arts Center. “This show has generated more excitement and discussion than any I can recall in a long time. War Horse represents the kind of artistic productions we are committed to bringing to our audiences both now and in the future."

Tickets for ATTPAC's 2011-12 season have just gone on sale, so don't expect to hear much more about War Horse and ticket sales until early 2012. In the mean time, here's a video to keep you sated.

Dallas Summer Musicals is jumping into the high school musical awards arena, as was announced at a press conference Monday morning. The Dallas Summer Musicals High School Musical Theatre Awards launches in the 2011-'12 school season, and is open to private and public high schools in Collin, Dallas, Denton, Kaufman, Ellis and Rockwall Counties.

It's not open to Tarrant County schools, because that would compete with Casa Manana's Betty Lynn Buckley Awards, the 11th event of which is coming up on May 26. However, it might throw a wrench into the new Schmidt and Jones Awards done by Irving's Lyric Stage, which has it first awards this Friday, May 13. In both of those, the winner of Best Actor and Best Actress are eligible to compete in the National High School Musical Theater Awards, the Jimmy Nederlander Awards, in New York, as will the winners in DSM's program.

The Buckleys and S&J's offer scholarship money to winners, and the DSM program will too, and the big advantage it has is size and money—they'll offer at least $1,000 to the winner of each award. 

For the first year, they're accepting the first 30 schools that fill out an entry form (there are about 80 schools in the eligible areas). The Buckleys usually has close to 20 schools, and the S&Js have eight participants for its first year. The Schmidt and Jones awards are open to Tarrant, Dallas, Denton and Collin Counties.

For DSM, there will be a judging panel of between 30 and 40 judges, each of whom will commit to seeing at least three shows. The top eight schools will present a production number from their school. The will be held at the Music Hall in Fair Park in April, 2012.

Dallas Summer Musicals has been researching this and looking into other similar programs, such as Houston's Tommy Tune Awards, for about four years, DSM President and Managing Director Michael Jenkins said Monday.

The awards are aimed at highlighting arts programs in high school schooks, which are always the first programs to be cut in funding crises. It's also a shrewd move for DSM, getting their name brand in front of a potential new audience.

A documentary film about these types of awards, called Most Valuable Players, was made in 2010, about a program in Pennsylvania called The Freddy Awards. TheaterJones conducted an interview with the director when it screened at the Dallas International Film Festival a month ago. The film is coming to Oprah's OWN, and to DVD.

The first such awards, BTW, were the Gene Kelly Awards, presented by Pittsburgh CLO, where former Casa Mañana executive director Van Kaplan is now head honcho. Those began in 1991.

Valerie Galloway-Chapa, education director at Lyric Stage, who is putting together the Schmidt and Jones program (and was instrumental in the development of the Buckleys at Casa), gave us this quote about the potential competition:

"The Dallas area has been without a consistent program honoring high musical theatre for years. While Tarrant county schools with musical theatre programs have thrived for quite some time as a result of the Betty Lynn Buckley Awards, Dallas area schools have suffered, until two years ago when Lyric Stage approached me to develop a program to honor students in this area," she says. "As long as the student artists are being honored and driven to strive for excellence, I don't care who jumps on the awards show bandwagon."

Catching up on theater-going this week, I made it out to Undermain Theatre's nuanced production of August Strindberg's Easter Wednesday night.

At first, it seemed like a typical night there. Artistic director and the show's director Katherine Owens was warm and inviting, as usual. At each of the two intermissions, she was chatting with folks in the audience on the left side of the seating area (I was on the far right), and there seemed to be more commotion than you'd think for a quiet play on a Wednesday night. 

I had noticed the two guys hovering behind the seating areas at the intermissions, and then sitting on the back rows, but didn't pay much attention to them as they played with their handheld devices and kept looking over everyone walking by them. Maybe Undermain had hired menacing-looking dudes to scowl at anyone caught texting during the show?

Turns out, they were security. As in, Secret Service. Their reason for being there: In the audience to my left, on my row, was former First Lady Laura Bush, in a black pant suit and sandals. The theater was being quiet about it, for obvious reasons.

Since the Bushes moved to Dallas a few years ago, Mrs. Bush has been spotted all over town, at trendy eateries and such. And she has been to arts events here, I just didn't expect to see her at one of our underground theaters (literally, it's under Main Street in Deep Ellum), albeit one of our most prominent alternative spaces, and for a show written in the 19th century by one of the forefathers of modern drama.

Color me impressed.

"Undermain was pleased to welcome former First Lady Laura Bush to Wednesday's production of Strindberg's Easter," Owens wrote me in an email. "Mrs. Bush came with two friends who had been to the Undermain on a number of occasions. She indicated that the reviews had drawn her interest and that this had lead them to attend. She was very gracious, and we hope to see her and her friends again soon."

See, somebody out there is reading reviews.

Pssst, Mrs. Bush: Can you talk to Governor Rick Perry about the Texas Commission on the Arts issue?