Tickets went on sale last Friday for a live concert version of the Oscar-winning film Whiplash, set for Saturday, December 19, at Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie. Doors open at 6 p.m. with the performance starting at 7:30 p.m., and the show pairs a full screening of the 2014 movie with an 18-piece jazz big band and a traveling drum soloist playing the score live to picture.
The Grand Prairie stop is part of a tour distributed through AXS, according to CultureMap Dallas, with ticket details available directly through AXS. The production is billed as a live concert experience built around the original film, following an ambitious young drummer named Andrew as he studies at an elite conservatory under Terence Fletcher, a ruthless instructor who pushes him to the brink in pursuit of greatness, per the same listing. Whiplash was written and directed by Damien Chazelle and starred Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons.
Behind the tour is Hurwitz Concerts, LLC, a company composer Justin Hurwitz established in 2022 to stage live big-band and orchestral performances of film scores around the world, according to a listing from Metropolitan Presents. Hurwitz, an Academy Award-winning composer who studied music composition at Harvard, wrote the scores for every one of Damien Chazelle's feature films, including Whiplash, La La Land, First Man, and Babylon, and he personally conducts the touring performance.
A Legal Fight Cleared the Way for the Tour
The ability to stage these live-to-picture concerts traces back to a business dispute. Hurwitz sued talent agency WME in 2022 over claims tied to La La Land concert rights, ultimately reaching a settlement in 2024 that secured him full live-concert rights in all his subsequent film contracts, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. That settlement effectively turned film-score concerts into an independent enterprise for Hurwitz, allowing Hurwitz Concerts to also produce touring shows built around La La Land and Babylon.
Performing Whiplash live poses a different challenge than a typical orchestral film screening. Because the film's editing relies on rapid, unpredictable cuts rather than a steady tempo, the drummer and 18-piece band must start and stop in sync with on-screen chaos in real time, the Los Angeles Times reported. The touring production's guest drummer, Greyson Nekrutman, has also toured this year as a featured soloist with the veteran metal band Sepultura on its global farewell run.
Grand Prairie's Long-Term Venue Partner Hosts the Show
Texas Trust CU Theatre, located at 1001 Texas Trust Wy in Grand Prairie, is an indoor venue with a seating capacity of 6,350 that is owned by the City of Grand Prairie and operated by AEG Presents. The arrangement has staying power: in January 2025, AEG Presents and the city announced an extension of their operational partnership through 2033, continuing a relationship that has run since the theater opened in 2002.
Whiplash itself began as a modest independent production, with Chazelle drawing on his own high school competitive jazz band experience to write and direct the film. He shot the feature in Los Angeles over just 19 days on a $3.3 million budget, according to Screen Daily, after first making an 18-minute short film in 2013 to secure financing. That small-scale origin led to major recognition: at the 87th Academy Awards in February 2015, Whiplash won three Oscars out of five nominations, including Best Supporting Actor for J.K. Simmons, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound Mixing.
As with any live event, organizers note the December 19 date is subject to change due to weather or other concerns. Whether the tour adds further Texas dates beyond the Grand Prairie stop remains an open question.
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