Douglas Carter Beane and Lewis Flinn's HOOD & More Will Premiere at Dallas Theatre Center in 2016-17

Dallas Theater Center Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty announced today the theater's 2016-2017 season including two world-premiere musicals titled Bella: An American Tall Tale by Kirsten Childs, the co-lyricist of FLY; and the world-premiere musical Hood, a fresh take on Robin Hood by Douglas Carter Beane and Lewis Flinn. Also included in the 2016-2017 season are two of The New York Times Best Theater picks of 2015, Constellations and The Christians; the classic historical drama, Inherit The Wind; a reimagined Greek tragedy, Electra; the holiday classic, A Christmas Carol; and an exciting new work with a title to be announced. DTC's 2016-2017 season includes productions in the Potter Rose Performance Hall and the Studio Theatre at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre in the AT&T Performing Arts Center and the Kalita Humphreys Theater on Turtle Creek.

"Our 2016-2017 season continues DTC's commitment to producing new work that will launch in Dallas and then continue on to further life across the country; unique, fresh productions of classic plays that use theatrical space in surprising ways; premieres of award-winning plays that speak meaningfully to our lives; and programming designed to engage our diverse community in ongoing conversations about ourselves and the world in which we live," said Moriarty. "I am so looking forward to welcoming writers Kirsten Childs, Douglas Carter Beane and Lewis Flinn back to Dallas to create new works, and I am eager to continue DTC's exploration of Greek tragedies. It's going to be quite a year at DTC!"

The full season will be presented as follows: in the Studio Theatre at the Wyly Theatre, Constellations (Aug. 24 - Oct. 9); in the Potter Rose Performance Hall at the Wyly Theatre, Bella: An American Tall Tale (Sept. 22 - Oct. 23); in the Potter Rose Performance Hall, A Christmas Carol (Nov. 23 - Dec. 28); in the Studio Theatre, an exciting, edgy new work to be announced (Dec. 7 - Jan. 22); at the Kalita Humphreys Theater, The Christians (Jan. 26 - Feb. 19); in AT&T Performing Arts Center's Annette Strauss Artist Square, Electra (April 4 - May 28); at the Kalita Humphreys Theater, Inherit the Wind (May 16-June 18); and in the Potter Rose Performance Hall, Hood (June 29 - Aug. 6).

From the co-lyricist of FLY, comes the world-premiere musical Bella: An American Tall Tale with book, lyrics, and music by Kirsten Childs. Directed by Robert O'Hara and set in the Old West with an unforgettable, soulful score, this musical comedy tells the tale of Isabella "Bella" Patterson, a young black woman in late 19th-century America. When Bella boards a train west to meet her Buffalo soldier sweetheart, she encounters the most colorful and lively characters ever to roam the Western plains. Bullets and fists will fly, heads and hearts will break, but - blessed with a big heart, and a voluptuous figure - Bella will breeze on through it all. Bella: An American Tall Tale is produced in association with New York's Playwrights Horizons.

"I believe that telling an outrageous lie is sometimes the only way people can hear the truth. No, I'm not a corrupt politician, just a tall-tale-teller," explained Childs. "That's why, after discovering a part of the

10:00 a.m. (CST), Tuesday, February 16

American West that never made it into my school history books, I was inspired to write a larger-than-life musical about colored folks who settled the Western frontier-cowboys and soldiers and mail-order brides and settler--and the wide-eyed itty bitty colored gal who had an effect on them all. I hope you enjoy Bella's true story as much as I enjoyed making it up."

Inspired by the timeless tales of Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest, Hood is a world-premiere musical comedy rich with romance, jokes, songs, sword fights, dancing-and even an archery contest! Brought to you by the dynamic creative team of Douglas Carter Beane and Lewis Flinn from DTC's critically- acclaimed 2010 production of Give It Up! (Broadway's Lysistrata Jones), Hood will make you laugh, stir your soul, and steal your heart.

"Lewis and I are just thrilled to be coming back to our home away from home," said Beane. "We had such a great time working on Give it Up! and just fell in love with the staff, the theater, but most of all the generosity and kindness of the audiences. For Hood, we wanted to do a show where we take a legend, a tale that everyone thought they knew but perhaps didn't, and tell an old story with great resonance for today. We wanted to tell it using every piece of theater craft that we could employ. The first place we thought to debut this work was our Dallas home and we couldn't be more thrilled."

When a theoretical physicist and a beekeeper meet, their spellbinding, romantic journey breaks the boundaries of the space-time continuum in DTC's production of Constellations. Selected by The New York Times as one of the 10 Best Plays of 2015, Constellations will have the audience swimming in a sea of infinite possibilities. Written by Nick Payne, you won't need to be an expert in string theory to fall in love with this wildly entertaining, gripping drama that confronts the difference between choice and destiny.

Meet Pastor Paul and his growing mega-church in The Christians. In 20 short years, it had grown from a small, mom-and-pop operation into a full-blown mega-church with thousands of members, a coffee shop and a parking lot so big you could get lost in it. But today, Pastor Paul has a new message for his devoted flock-one that will turn the entire congregation on its head. Written by Lucas Hnath, you'll recognize the hymns, the live choir and the preacher at the pulpit. But you've never heard a sermon quite like this before. For believers and non-believers alike, The New York Times calls The Christians a "terrific play about the mystery of faith, and how religion can tear people apart just as it can bring them together."

Adapted and directed by Moriarty, Electra begins with Electra's father having been murdered by her mother, and Electra just can't let it go. With the return of her brother Orestes, the siblings seek justice... or is it vengeance? Lust, murder, and fury explode in this tale of familial betrayal. Building on DTC's breathtaking approaches to Greek tragedies (Oedipus el Rey, Medea), expect the unexpected in this one-of-a-kind production that will take the audience on a journey through the grounds of AT&T Performing Arts Center's Annette Strauss Artist Square. Observe intimate scenes between characters while hearing commentary about the play's meaning through individual earbuds that will be provided for each audience member, creating an experience that is simultaneously public and private.

When a public school teacher is arrested for teaching Darwin's theories of evolution to his sophomore students, two powerhouse lawyers face off in a court of law in Inherit the Wind. The nation watches as science and faith collide, bringing a small southern town to its knees. Written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee, Inherit the Wind is inspired by the infamous Scopes Monkey Trial. Directed by Moriarty, DTC's innovative, contemporary production of this classic American drama is as timely today as it was at the 1954 Dallas world premiere produced by Margo Jones.

The holiday extra (and favorite) A Christmas Carol returns to the Wyly Theatre. Everybody's favorite humbug, Ebenezer Scrooge, is back and he's as cranky as ever. With magical ghosts flying above, scary ghosts bursting out of the floor and snow falling from the sky, this critically-acclaimed adaptation by Moriarty will be interpreted with a few new surprises by director and Brierley Resident Acting Company member Steven Michael Walters.

Full-season subscriptions go on sale February 16, 2016. Subscriptions can be purchased online at DallasTheaterCenter.org or by calling the AT&T Performing Arts Center Box Office at (214) 880-0202. Single tickets to A Christmas Carol will be available later in the season, after a subscriber-only, early access pre-sale.

For those who want to take their theater-going experience to the next level, DTC's membership program, Friends@DTC, offers patrons a variety of exclusive benefits, including premium seats, a VIP intermission lounge, special invitations, complimentary drinks, free parking and much more. Visit DallasTheaterCenter.org/Friends or email Friends@DallasTheaterCenter.org for more information.

DTC will continue the Come Early, sponsored by Wells Fargo, and the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Stay Late programs in 2016-2017. Come Early is a free, 30-minute informative talk designed to enhance a patron's play-going experience. Given one hour before every performance, a member of the cast or artistic staff will share details about the play's origins and context, as well as share insight into the creative process behind the production. Stay Late is a free, brief, post-show conversation with a member of the cast about the show. Patrons will engage with the artists, learn about the production and be able to share their insights about the play in a lively discussion.

ABOUT DALLAS THEATER CENTER:

One of the leading regional theaters in the country, Dallas Theater Center (DTC) performs to an audience of more than 100,000 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. DTC is one of only two theaters in Texas that is a member of the League of Resident Theatres, the largest and most prestigious non-profit professional theater association in the country. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty and Managing Director Jeffrey Woodward, 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 the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award-winning Project Discovery, SummerStage and partnerships with Southern Methodist University's Meadows School of the Arts, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and South Oak Cliff High School; and community collaboration efforts with the Sixth Floor Museum, the City of Dallas, North Texas Food Bank, the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Public Library, Dallas Holocaust Museum, Dallas Opera, Dallas Black Dance Theater, and leading the DFW Foote Festival. 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, adapted by Adrian Hall, in 1986, and recent premieres of Clarkston by Samuel D. Hunter; Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical by Robert Horn, Brandy Clark, and Shane McAnally; FLY by Rajiv Joseph, Bill Sherman and Kirsten Childs; Fly by Night by Kim Rosenstock, Michael Mitnick and Will Connolly; 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: Texas Instruments; American Airlines; HP; JPMorgan Chase & Co.; City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs; and Lexus.