Courtesy of Dave Lieber
Playwright Dave Lieber penned the play, "AMON!", which dramatizes the life of Amon Carter.
Amon Carter hated Dallas.
The founder and publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, who'd go on to be considered an integral player in the city's growth, Carter was known for his outspoken disdain of Fort Worth's sister to the East — and, according to legend, would go as far as bringing a sack lunch and tank of gasoline whenever he traveled to Dallas so he didn't have to spend money there.
So when playwright and newspaper columnist Dave Lieber penned his biographical drama, "AMON!", he purposefully avoided bringing the production to Dallas as a homage to the Fort Worth Icon.
Well, that changes this month, as "AMON!" prepares for a showing from July 16 – 18 — not quite in Dallas proper, but close enough, at the Coppell Arts Center.
"The joke is we couldn't bring the play to Dallas because Amon would roll over in his grave," Lieber says, "so we're bringing it to Coppell."
Based on the book, Amon: The Texan Who Played Cowboy for America by Jerry Flemmons, the play "AMON!" first premiered in Fort Worth in 2019 and has since played in four other Texas cities. After Dallasites clamored for the play to be brought to their side of the Metroplex, "AMON!" found its way to the Coppell Arts Center — a swanky, $21 million venue that was supposed to open in 2020, but like everything else, faced delays due to COVID-19.
But now, whether Carter himself likes it or not, the play is set for its Dallas County debut. Lieber says audiences can expect to "cry and laugh and cry again" — as well as witness some ad-libbing poking jabs at the city it's playing in: "When the actor who plays Amon, Kelvin Dilks, [says], 'Anybody here from Dallas?' and someone raises their hand, lots of mischief ensues."
Jokes aside, however, Lieber also hopes the play gives Dallas-area audiences insight into the life of the historic Texas figure, adding that there won't be much in "AMON!" that deviates from fact.
"It was important that everything be accurate; the words spoken are as close to the words as possibly they could be," he says. "I really didn't take any poetic license and add, enhance, increase, or fabricate, like I could have done in theater, because theater allows you, but I wanted it to be as real as real could be."
Connie Sanchez is directing the play, with Rick Blair producing. Ticket information is available at amonplay.com.
