Bishop Arts Celebrates Color, Culture, & Creativity With 2019/2020 Season
By: Julie Musbach Jul. 23, 2019
Oak Cliff's award-winning multicultural and multidiscipline center for the arts, Bishop Arts Theatre Center (BATC), announces the 2019/2020 theatre series season. Under the direction of Founder and Executive Artistic Director Teresa Coleman Wash, the 26th season celebrates color, culture, and creativity embodying the diverse community of voices that are found in North Texas.
The theatre season will feature five productions including three musicals, two regional premieres, and one world premiere. The season will open with the Andrew Lippa musical, The Wild Party, adapted from the Joseph Moncure March book of the same name that was banned in Boston when it was first published. The perennial holiday favorite Black Nativity will return to the Bishop Arts Theatre stage for the 16th year continuing the Christmas tradition founded by Langston Hughes when he premiered his nativity story in 1961. The season will continue into 2020 with the regional premiere of Loving and Loving by Beto O'Bryne and developed with Meropi Peponides, a play inspired by the true story of Richard and Mildred Loving and their landmark supreme court case. Back for a fifth installment, Down for #TheCount Women's Theatre Festival will celebrate The Women Who Compose for Broadway in this regional premiere of a musical history by University of North Texas professor Marjorie Hayes. The season will conclude with the world premiere of Curse of the Puerto Ricans by Rosa Fernandez, a family comedy on the dynamics of loving and living in a Puerto Rican home.
2019/2020 Theatre Series Season
THE WILD PARTY; THE MUSICAL
Book, Music, & Lyrics by Andrew Lippa
October 10 - 27
Decadence and excess are the life of the party in this jazzy, 1920's musical juggernaut. Based on Joseph Moncure March's 1928 steamy love triangle of the same name, this darkly brilliant show features one of the most exciting, pulse-racing scores ever written. It's the party to end all parties with a slew of colorful guests living on the edge in prohibition-era Manhattan. A hardboiled Jazz Age tragedy full of love, jealousy, and violence.
BLACK NATIVITY; THE MUSICAL
December 5 - 22
For 16 years, Langston Hughes' Joyous story of the birth of Christ has transformed the Bishop Arts Theatre stage into a gathering that unites artists and audiences of different ages, backgrounds, and beliefs through the heart-stirring power of song, story, and dance. With an inspirational score, Black Nativity is an Oak Cliff tradition that shares the unforgettable story of the Nativity through compelling gospel music and the beautiful poetry of Langston Hughes.
LOVING AND LOVING
By Beto O'Byrne
Developed with Meropi Peponides
February 13 - March 1
REGIONAL PREMIERE
Inspired by the true love story between Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple from Virginia, who were arrested in 1958 for being married, this play examines the landmark Supreme Court Case, Loving v. Virginia. Beginning in the present day and flashing back to the 1950s and '60s, this historical story is told from a 21st Century perspective and puts a human face on this famous court case and the ongoing legacy in a multiracial America.
THE WOMEN WHO COMPOSE FOR BROADWAY
Book by Marjorie Hayes
March 19 - April 5
REGIONAL PREMIERE
Back for a fifth year, Down For #TheCount honors The Women Who Compose for Broadway, an evening of musical entertainment featuring the music of Nell Benjamin, Nancy Ford, Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers, Brenda Russell, Lucy Simon, Kay Swift, Jeanine Tesori, and more. Over the course of the last century little recognition has been given to the women who compose Broadway scores and the barriers they have faced. Created by director, actor, and University of North Texas Professor, Marjorie Hayes, the show shines a light on these ground-breaking women who have made their mark on the Broadway stage. With a bit of historical context, the show celebrates the depth, breadth, and wit of their heart-stopping music.
CURSE OF THE PUERTO RICANS
by Rosa Fernandez
April 30 - May 17
WORLD PREMIERE
Julia Rodriguez has sacrificed everything for her family comprised of her alcoholic father, her miserable mother, her absentee older sister, and her lively little sister. When "the one that got away" re-enters her life and asks her to run away with him to California, she begins to question if she's made a mistake. Dealing with themes of familial obligation and identity within the Hispanic community, Curse of the Puerto Ricans follows one family's dysfunctional Christmas celebration.
All performances are presented at the Bishop Art Theatre Center located at 215 South Tyler, TX 75208. Show times vary per production, please visit www.bishopartstheatre.org to verify dates and times. General Admissions fees are $18 to $30. Discount tickets are available for groups of 15 or more and may be purchased by calling (214) 948-0716.
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