AMON! The Ultimate Texan, which one critic called a hit “as big as Texas,” celebrates the man who owned the Star-Telegram, WBAP radio and NBC5.

The award-winning play about Amon “Mr. Fort Worth” Carter has now celebrated its 51st performance. As we embark on a statewide #AmonOnTour check here for details. Tell your friends!

“Hooray for Fort Worth and Weeessst Texas!”

Winner of Outstanding New Work by a Local Playwright - 2020

Our play was featured in The Dallas Morning News, Arlington Today, WBAP, KSKY, KRLD, NBC5, Society Life, Fort Worth Business Press, TheaterJones.com, Fort Worth Weekly, Fort Worth magazine, Dallas Observer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and The Columnist.

NEW! Fort Worth magazine: Play about Fort Worth icon Amon Carter to make Dallas County Debut

TheaterJones Review: “Big as Texas, At Artisan Center Theater, journalist Dave Lieber’s play about Amon Carter does justice to legendary Texan” by Jan Farrington

TheaterJones: Q&A Dave Lieber: “A chat with the longtime journalist who has written his first play about Amon G. Carter, premiering at the Artisan Center Theater in Hurst” by Jan Farrington

AMON! The Ultimate Texan opens for three shows in mid July at Grapevine’s historic Palace Theatre.

By Dave Lieber

Five years after my play’s world premiere, followed by almost 60 performances in theaters across Texas, it finally hit me.

It’s not my script for AMON! The Ultimate Texan that brought in thousands of patrons who’ve seen it, some more than once. To a greater extent, it is certainly Kelvin Dilk’s acting and Connie Sanchez’ directing that turned my words on a page into an award-winning hit.

What’s another reason? As the playwright, I suggest that the negativity that Fort Worth historically and hysterically felt and, in some quarters still feels for Dallas is the root cause of our theatrical success.

Much to my surprise, the DFW rivalry turns out to be funny.

The biggest laughs in this play of a hundred-plus laughs come at Dallas’ expense. The meaner the comment, the louder the laughter.

No wonder this play has never been performed in Dallas. Amon Carter hated Dallas.

I could have called the play 817 Versus 214. Problem with that is there were no area codes in Amon’s time.

Announcing three shows at Grapevine’s Palace Theatre. Details at AmonPlay.com.

Saturday, July 13: 3:30 pm and 7 pm.

Sunday, July 14: 3:30 pm.

The shows’ sponsor is Randy White Real Estate Services.

In this true-to-life comedy play, watch the life of Amon G. Carter unfold as one of the most powerful Texans who ever lived. He owned the Star-Telegram, WBAP-AM and Channel 5.

Yet he used his power for the good of Texas – but to the detriment of what he called Little D.

How to demonstrate the seriousness of this rivalry? I recently came across the transcript of a 2023 history panel called “The Myths of the DFW Rivalry.” No myths here. If it’s something nasty Fort Worth’s Amon Carter said or did, it probably happened.

The panel included several Dallasites but only one representative from Cowtown -- historian and native Fort Worthian Richard Selcer. When his turn came to speak, he came charging out of the gate.

According to the transcript in Legacies, A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas, Selcer began his Fort Worth defense by saying:

“I’m here representing Fort Worth in this nest of Dallasites. I just want to go on record that I did not say ‘nest of vipers.’ But it’s the same difference. In Fort Worth, we like to say the difference between niceness and arrogance is the Trinity River….

“Another Fort Worth saying is, ‘Flush twice. It’s a long way to Dallas.’ But the rivalry goes back to the beginning. If you go back to the pioneer time before the Civil War when settlers were coming west, when they got to Dallas, people warned them, ‘Don’t go west to Fort Worth. The Indians will kill you.’ The railroad got as far as Dallas in 1873 and then died, and it wasn’t until three years later in 1876 that Fort Worth got the railroad….”

The Fort Worth historian ended his comments with this: “I’d like to point out in a slightly more morbid fashion that Fort Worth gave John and Jackie Kennedy a big welcome in 1963. [Transcript notes ‘Audience groans.’] We welcomed them, were kind to them, and then we sent them off to Dallas. I’ll end by saying that Fort Worth has hospitality and western history while Dallas has that stupid TV show and an assassination.”

Harsh? Incredibly so. But the rivalry is such a big part of AMON! The Ultimate Texan, it should have its own dressing room.

Learn more about the rivalry here.

Announcing three shows at Grapevine’s Palace Theatre. Details at AmonPlay.com. Tickets are on sale now.

Saturday, July 13: 3:30 pm and 7 pm.

Sunday, July 14: 3:30 pm.

Bobbie Wygant of NBC5: “Extraordinary performance. Extremely moving.”

Fort Worth Weekly: “Yes, there’s a play about Amon Carter, and you should go see it.”

Dallas Observer: “Dilks took audience members on an animated, funny and sometimes emotional ride through time.”

Fort Worth Business Press: “A hit play. A damned entertaining love letter to Fort Worth.”

Kelvin Dilks, a retired teacher and seven-year member of the Birdville school board, returns as Amon. Dilks originated the role and has starred in every one of the 52 shows.

“The more he does it, the more he becomes Amon Carter,” said playwright and Dallas Morning News Watchdog columnist Dave Lieber, who wrote the play. “It’s uncanny.”

“Amon G. Carter, naked ladies and TCU Library's 'buried treasure.”

At a fundraiser for TCU Library's Special Collections, Dave Lieber, the playwright behind the hit play AMON! The Ultimate Texan addressed a high-powered audience, hoping to honor the hard-working librarians who helped him write the play and the companion book.

These librarians maintain the vast Amon Carter collection, and Lieber had spent months poring over its 444 boxes of materials to research his work...

DAVE LIEBER has worked as a Texas newspaper columnist for 29 years – first at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and now at The Dallas Morning News where he writes the twice-weekly investigative “Watchdog” column. The author of nine books, Dave is also a certified professional speaker, one of only a thousand in the world. He specializes in teaching strategic storytelling to businesses, groups and individuals.

AMON! The Ultimate Texan is his first play.

His second play is PEROT! American Patriot. (PerotBook.com).

Meet Connie Sanchez, the director who brought AMON! to the stage.

Director Connie Sanchez combines her love of teaching and directing to bring Amon “Mr. Fort Worth” Carter back to life.

When Amon G. Carter Sr. visited Ireland, he was hailed as “the mighty Carter, son of the Lone Star State.” Quite fitting.

Texas is what it is today – a leader in industry, especially aviation – in part because of the work Carter did in the first half of the 20th century. A one-man economic development department for Fort Worth and vast West Texas, Carter is credited with luring a trillion dollars’ worth of businesses to his beloved state.

Flashy, excessive, impulsive and powerful, the pretend-cowboy manipulated presidents with gifts and hobnobbed with celebrities. At every turn, he fought arch-rival Dallas.

In this book, a companion to the new theatrical production of the same name, Amon Carter tells how he built one of the great media empires of the land – and what he did with it. The book also presents 100 classic photographs from the era that bring Amon’s words to life.