Dallas Summer Musicals, presented by Comerica Bank, will present seven spectacular straight-from-Broadway shows and three subscribers’ special shows at the Music Hall at Fair Park. Dallas Summer Musicals (DSM) is celebrating their 68th season of entertaining North Texas audiences with the finest in live theatre entertainment.
April 15-27, 2008: THE WEDDING SINGER kicks off the Dallas Summer Musicals’ 2008 season at the Music Hall at Fair Park. The Tony® nominated Broadway musical comedy called by Newsday “One Big Party! A good-natured, high-energy musical,” is based on the 1998 hit film starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. It’s the 1980s, with junk bonds, MTV, leg warmers and Duran Duran, but Robbie Hart lives in his grandmother’s basement in New Jersey and sings in a wedding band. Dreams of being a singer/songwriter are gone, replaced by a desire to find the right girl and settle down. When his fiancée leaves him at the altar, he becomes a wedding planner’s worst nightmare, taking out his bitterness on stage.
April 29-May 11, 2008: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND is the tale of a 15-year-old girl growing up in America’s Deep South in the 1950s who discovers a mysterious man hiding out in a barn. When she asks who he is, the first words he utters are “Jesus Christ.” She and the town’s other children vow to protect the stranger from the world that waits outside - the townspeople who are determined to catch a fugitive hiding it their midst. The musical’s multi-award-winning songs and powerful staging combine epic storytelling with intimate emotion as the innocence of children collides with the cynical adults’ world.
May 13-25, 2008: RING OF FIRE—the unforgettable music and story of Johnny Cash. In many ways Johnny Cash wrote and sang about the lives we all lead, regardless of where we lead them. If, watching RING OF FIRE, you feel yourself being drawn back to your roots, it isn’t accidental — even if you’ve forgotten what those roots are. From the heart of the songs of Johnny Cash comes a unique musical show about love and faith, struggle and success, rowdiness and redemption, home and family. RING OF FIRE features 38 of the music legend’s songs such as “Country Boy,” “A Thing Called Love,” “Five Feet High and Rising,” “Daddy Sang Bass,” “Ring of Fire,” “I Walk the Line,” “I’ve Been Everywhere,” “The Man in Black,” and his final hit, “Hurt.” By the end of the show you will feel that you have spent the evening in the presence of an extraordinary and real man.
May 27-June 1, 2008: CATS returns to the Music Hall at Fair Park as a subscribers’ special. Based on ‘Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats’ and other poems by T.S. Eliot, the musical takes place in a junkyard where the local cats are auditioning to be chosen by their leader, Old Deuteronomy, to journey to the Heavyside Lair to be reborn. In the end, the former glamour cat, Grizabella - turned disheveled outcast, is chosen by Deuteronomy to receive the prized additional life.
June 3-15, 2008: THE DROWSY CHAPERONE won the most 2006 Tony® Awards of any musical on Broadway. It all begins when a die-hard musical fan plays his favorite cast album, a 1928 smash hit called “The Drowsy Chaperone,” and the show magically bursts to life. We are instantly immersed in the glamorous, hilarious tale of a celebrity bride and her uproarious wedding day, complete with thrills and surprises that take both the cast (literally) and the audience (metaphorically) soaring into the rafters.
June 17-22, 2008: STOMP, the International Sensation returns to the Music Hall at Fair Park as a subscribers’ special. The scenes in STOMP are staged with a meticulous rhythm - quick, consistent and with just enough variety to keep your concentration from wandering. Drummers work within the framework of rudimentary narratives and superficially distinct characters portrayed by a splendidly athletic ensemble. Performers make music by tapping a matchbox or twisting a creaking folding chair. STOMP! convinces its audience that the background music of our everyday lives is worth listening to.
June 24-29, 2008: HAIRSPRAY returns to the Music Hall at Fair Park as a subscribers’ special. Welcome to the ‘60s! It’s 1962 – the ‘50s are out and change is in the air. Baltimore’s Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, has only one passion – to dance. She wins a spot on the local TV dance program, “The Corny Collins Show” and, overnight, is transformed from outsider to irrepressible teen celebrity. But can a trendsetter in dance and fashion vanquish the program’s reigning princess, win the heart of hearthrob Link Larkin, and integrate a television show without denting her ‘do? Only in HAIRSPRAY, based upon the New Line Cinema film written and directed by John Waters.
July 2-13, 2008: DISNEY’S HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, with a plot described as a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, it’s the story of two high school students from rival cliques: Troy Bolton, captain of the basketball team, and Gabriella Montez, a shy transfer student who excels in math and science. Together, they try out for the lead parts in their high school musical, and, as a result, divide the school. Despite other students’ attempts to thwart their dreams, Troy and Gabriella resist peer pressure and rivalry, inspiring others along the way not to “stick with the status quo.”
July 23-August 16, 2008: JERSEY BOYS, presented by Dallas Summer Musicals at the Music Hall at Fair Park, is the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons: Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi. This is the story of how a group of blue-collar boys from the wrong side of the tracks became one of the biggest American pop music sensations of all time. They wrote their own songs, invented their own sounds and sold 175 million records worldwide - all before they were thirty.
Directed by two-time Tony® Award-winner Des McAnuff, JERSEY BOYS won four 2006 Tony® Awards including Best Musical and continues to break box office records at the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway since opening in November 2005. JERSEY BOYS is written by Academy® Award-winner Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, with music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe and choreography by Sergio Trujillo.
September 30-October 19, 2008: THE COLOR PURPLE, presented by Dallas Summer Musicals at the Music Hall at Fair Park, will be the 2008 State Fair Musical. Nominated for 11 Tony® Awards including Best Musical, it is based on the classic Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker and the film by Steven Spielberg. The unforgettable and inspiring story of a woman named Celie who finds the strength to triumph over adversity and discover her unique voice in the world, THE COLOR PURPLE has a joyous Grammy® nominated score featuring gospel, jazz, pop and the blues.
Season sponsors for Dallas Summer Musicals, presented by Comerica Bank, are The Dallas Morning News, WFAA TV Channel 8, and American Airlines. Now celebrating its 68th season, Dallas Summer Musicals, Inc. (DSM) is the largest producer of live theatrical entertainment in the Southwest, the second oldest summer theater organization in the United States, and the sixth largest non-profit theater company. DSM has been entertaining North Texas audiences with the finest in live, musical theatre entertainment since 1941. In addition to presenting national Broadway tours, DSM also produces shows on Broadway, presents and tours local productions, and is involved in developing new works. Dallas Summer Musicals’ affiliates include DSM Management Group, Inc. (DSMMGI), which manages the Music Hall at Fair Park and the historic Majestic Theatre.
As a non-profit organization, DSM relies on a variety of funding sources to bring the Best of Broadway to Dallas at affordable ticket prices, as well as to preserve the beautiful historic theatres, educate young audiences and create important community programs. DSM’s Seats for Kids program provides a meaningful arts education experience to thousands of low income, at-risk and special needs children. DSM and the Dallas Police Department partner together to provide positive incentives for youth that are at risk for gang membership through the Stage Right program. In addition, The DSM School of Musical Theatre offers professional theatre arts training and scholarships to talented students in need. Ticket sales alone do not sustain these endeavors. Only support from committed businesses, foundations and individuals make these programs possible. For more information about Dallas Summer Musicals, presented by Comerica, visit their website or call (214) 421-5678.
Season tickets are on sale now at The Box Office, 542 Preston Royal Shopping Center, priced from $104 to $513 for the DSM 7-show season. Single tickets for the subscribers’ specials range from $11-$80. Renewals and new orders may be faxed to 214-691-7386 for credit card charges; for telephone orders, call 214-217-1536. For more information about the DSM season, or to purchase tickets online, visit www.dallassummermusicals.org. There is a handling fee for orders placed by phone or internet. For groups of 20 or more please call 214-426-GROUP.
For media information about any of the individual shows or the Dallas Summer Musicals, and for videotape, photos, or reviewer’s passes, please call Jo Ann Holt at 214-421-5678, ext. 177, or email joannholt@charter.net.
