You could, one supposes, redo Star Wars without lightsabers, Spider-Man without shooting webs or Peter Pan without wire rigs. But why? That’s the question that arises with Pegasus Theatre’s staged reading of A Degree of Death!, one in a series of 16 comedy-mystery spoofs by playwright Kurt Kleinman. For nearly…
On Thursday, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and 23-year-old piano phenom Anna Fedorova perform Rachmaninoff’s gorgeous and seductive “Second Piano Concerto.” Fedorova was born in Kiev, Ukraine, and gave her first public recital at age 6. Since then she has been wowing audiences in the world’s greatest concert halls with passionate,…
Just a few days before he performs the same program at Lincoln Center in New York, pianist Alessio Bax gives a recital at SMU’s Caruth Auditorium that features Beethoven’s always impressive “Hammerklavier” Sonata. Bax’s recitals are always stunning. He plays with ease and virtuosity in addition to a compelling sound…
Try saying this: orthotics, carbo loading and rock ’n’ roll. Hmm. Nope. Doesn’t have the same ring as sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll, does it? Can’t really picture Keith Richards doing split laps or Jerry Lee Lewis running from anything, except maybe the law. But this is now, when…
The Fort Worth Symphony has a reputation for innovative programming and presenting newer, unfamiliar music alongside more traditional fare. This weekend’s concerts in particular include some fascinating sounds, including music by Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe (“Earth Cry”) that features the music of a didgeridoo, a 1,500-year-old wind instrument invented by…
The Fort Worth Symphony has a reputation for innovative programming and presenting newer, unfamiliar music alongside more traditional fare. This weekend’s concerts in particular include some fascinating sounds, including music by Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe (“Earth Cry”) that features the music of a didgeridoo, a 1,500-year-old wind instrument invented by…
Theater programs at high schools are filled with uninspiring monologues from Shakespeare, unsexy productions of Grease and scenes from The Crucible. Out in Plano, Fun House Theatre & Film serves as a counterpoint, skipping the usual riffraff and heading straight for the controversy. Playwright Neil LaBute with 15- and 16-year-olds?…
Kenneth Goldsmith was the poet laureate at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. What does that mean? I imagine him wandering through halls, writing poems about Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night. If anyone deserved the title, it’s Goldsmith. He’s the founding editor of an online archive UbuWeb, a…
Usually we use this space to recommend specific performances or events that sound awesome. With this particular event, we can’t promise you the movie will be good because the Alamo Drafthouse won’t tell us what they’re showing. We asked. Apparently the whole point of the AFGA Secret Screening is that…
Hollywood’s awards season is over, and instead of being stuck watching an already self-obsessed industry lavish honors upon itself, we can finally get back to the business of watching that industry’s products. This is the perfect time of year to find a few cinematic gems ahead of the bloated summer…
If you’re a hopeless people-watcher or your ears perk when you overhear bizarre or intimate thoughts, you’ll be interested in The Ties that Bind, the latest from Dallas Museum of Art’s Arts & Letters Live series, with authors Claire Messud and Meg Wolitzer. Wolitzer’s list of successful novels testifies to…
If you’ve never heard of American composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold, you’re probably not alone. The early 20th century composer made a name for himself writing film scores, but he also composed some gorgeous dramatic music for the stage, including one very creepy opera. Die tote Stadt, opening at The Dallas…
The world’s favorite red head has been spending the last few weeks prepping for his upcoming visit to Dallas. Beginning March 31, he’ll be filming his show live at the Majestic Theatre. In a continuation of the Conan pandemonium (pandeConian?), today he announced his guests for his week downtown. If…
For a lot of people the art world can seem inaccessible. It’s a playground for the artists and a salesroom for the well-heeled. Across the city, institutions are attempting to overcome this insularity with free museum admission and fun parties. But when art is sold at fancy fundraisers or auctions,…
Late night talk show host Conan O’Brien is already in town running around and doing God-knows-what to our beloved city probably while wearing a ridiculous, oversized cowboy hat. That’s not a crack about his giant head. That’s just what we assume they hand out to out-of-towners as soon as they…
If you’ve ever attended a classical concert, you’ve probably experienced that awkward, hesitant half-clapping that sometimes occurs at the end of a symphonic movement: The music stops, the hall falls silent and, whether out of nervous habit or honest enthusiasm, a few audience members start to clap. But like a…
Spring has been flirting with us all winter, but it finally feels like it’s here to stay. OK, yesterday it might not have, but today it’s sunny. And let’s focus on today, shall we? Stepping outside into the sunny 75-degree weather is enough to put a spring in the step…
Bach’s music performed at borderline speed metal pacing with disco beats, check. Tap dancers doing things that would put you into immediate cardiac arrest, check. Side story about Mozart in a comedic love triangle, check. This is The Bach and Wing–Live Classical Music Tap Dance Extravaganza, the latest tweaked and…
Last week, I met with Kevin Ruben Jacobs, the 25-year-old whiz kid behind Oliver Francis Gallery to chat with him about the local art scene. I asked him what he’s trying to accomplish with his gallery. He shook his head at the word “accomplish,” saying it wasn’t about specific goals…
You’ve probably already seen this on the Internet this morning. Because, Monday. Trust me, we’re as sick of “Let it Go” as you are. Last week I made it through about five seconds of the good looking parents annoying the shit out of their daughter before CTR-ALT-Delete. During the Oscars,…
“Wanna see some shapes?” It’s the first thing Randy Guthmiller ever said to me. We were at The Power Station for a gallery opening, I had walked out to the terrace, looking for a friendly face who might be my next target for cigarette bumming. He was wearing a snug…
In what can only be described as organized pandaemonium, hundreds of bananas (including myself) took over Elm St. in Deep Ellum last Friday for the 4th annual Banana Bar Crawl. Web comic crazies from Cyanide & Happiness, Rob DenBleyker and Dave McElfatrick, led the yellow bunch as we made our…
