WELCOME HOME: A number of actors who earned their stripes on North Texas stages are returning to the area for plum roles. Kimberly Whalen, who recently earned her first off-Broadway role, starred in Lyric Stage‘s much-lauded My Fair Lady, which closed over the weekend. Meanwhile, former Dallas Theater Center company member Randy Moore is back to play Falstaff in the company’s current Henry IV. And Max Hartman, who now lives in California, answered the call from Kitchen Dog to take part in Betrayal. Dallasnews.com spoke with each of them recently to find out why these roles were worth heading back to town.

IN THE BEGINNING: Ever wonder how a major museum exhibition comes together? Andrea Karnes could tell you plenty about that. She’s served both as a registrar and curator at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and has been with the museum for 20 years. In the current issue of Texas Monthly, she spoke about her job, including details about the museum’s “war room,” where exhibitions are laid out before they’re hung.

A SOUR START: Pantagleize Theatre Company finally has a home after years of playing in borrowed theaters. But the group’s first show in the new space, All His Songs Were Sad, isn’t much of  a housewarming party. The show celebrates the career of Irish songwriter Sean McCarthy, but the local critics don’t seem to dig it. “The problems begin with the script,” Punch Shaw writes on dfw.com. “You may find it unbelievable that the author of the piece, Mattie Lennon, was a Dublin bus driver — until you see the show. Clunky, stilted dialogue and an awkward structure (the second act is almost twice as long as the first act, for example) are among the text’s many sins.” Consider theaterjones.com nonplussed as well. “Whatever redeeming qualities Lennon’s script might have had are lost in the acting,” Kris Noteboom writes. Hopefully things turnaround for the next show.