Arts & Culture

The only true way to spend a night honoring the dark days of Prohibition is by drinking however many beers, glasses of wine or cocktails that you wish because, dammit, you can. However, the evening doesn’t just have to be a brain-cell battle zone. You can actually learn something if…

I’ll say it: Strolling through Concentrations 56: Stephen Lapthisophon — coffee, seasonal fruit, root vegetables, and “Selected Poems,” at the Dallas Museum of Art feels a little…sexy. Dangerous, even. Like you’ve entered the well-appointed bachelor pad of a worldly older man. There’s a rhythm in these works, some scuffed and…

Texas Theatre has hit a stride, narrowing its program schedule to blend new releases with repertory films for see-’em-now-or-miss-’em-forever weekend runs. Plus, there’s always a dance party. But even three years ago when Aviation Cinemas first took the keys, they had a master plan. They would show all of that…

Few cultures knew how to mess up a family as efficiently as the Greeks. The story of Oedipus is the granddaddy of all messed-up families, but it’s actually only the first part of the story. Aeschylus continued it with two more parts, the last of which is Seven Against Thebes,…

Give yourself an early Christmas present and celebrate the holidays with a bevy of burlesque babes for a worthy cause. Texas’ biggest burlesque show, Viva Dallas Burlesque, is bringing back its annual Christmas showcase Festivus Follies for its fourth annual offering, just in time for the holidays. Starting at 8…

Pack up the poop bags and head to the Pet Expo in Fair Park from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and HOLY SHIT WHY WOULD YOU MAKE IT SO CLOSE TO CHRISTMAS??? I HAVE TO GO SHOPPING, PUNCH A GRANNY AND LOOT HER CART. All right, everyone just calm…

Some of art history’s richest points of creativity came from fringe artists uniting. The Fluxists? Those kids were dope. How about the artwork that showed at the Salon des Refusés? Those were the pieces that changed history. And what about that gallery at 500 Exposition Ave. in Dallas? A member-run…

Bob Newhart has been making people laugh since the ’60s. The Bob Newhart Show premiered in 1961. Think about that for a moment, and compare it to the longest amount of time you’ve spent doing any activity. Is there any job or hobby you can imagine doing for more than…

The McKinney Avenue Contemporary (3120 McKinney Ave.) is a local treasure. Operating on free admission, this nonprofit space brings all forms of contemporary art into its showrooms. That gives Dallas folks the opportunity to explore and experience this frequently shifting category, without all the pretension that so often clings to…

Residents of Dallas, you might need to rethink your Sunday brunch plans because it’s MetroPCS Dallas Marathon weekend. This 26.2-mile course wraps around the neighborhoods of West Dallas Loop, Highland Park, White Rock Lake and Junius Heights, so either give in and succumb to the perimeter trapping, or break through…

Why are we all excited about the premiere of Downton Abbey? Anyone who has followed the series at all knows that what’s in store can’t be much better than, say, a zombie apocalypse: Horrible things are going to happen and good people will be lost. But I suppose the good…

As a society, we long for things that are fresh and shiny. We don’t have much use for the things we’ve already seen or experienced. Out with the old, in with the new — unless, of course, we’re talking about a tradition. When the month of December hits, it’s like…

History is full of jerks, of varying degrees. One of America’s grandest, John Wilkes Booth, was an actor who went Method expressing his disdain for President Lincoln. Unless you comb literature’s backstock, you might not know a whole lot about the guy aside from his perky haircut and propensity for…

You know songs from Porgy and Bess already, even if you aren’t aware of it. And if you aren’t aware of it, then you should be. The opera is more than 80 years old now and the opening song, “Summertime,” is as recognizable as “Habanera” from Carmen. “It Ain’t Necessarily…

The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, The Uptown Players’ latest production, is basically the story of gay Christmas. Fabulous takes us back to the start of it with the story of Adam and Steve and Jane and Mabel. We then “follow their lives through time as they move from Creation…

So there’s Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Walt, Fred, Chaz and Rodrigue, plus some other dude, right? Uh, being old stinks. We all need a crash course in childhood if we want to keep the magic alive, especially around the holidays. So maybe this is the year that you — the lone…

Toys for Tots isn’t just a great charity that provides gifts to needy kids at Christmas. They’re also damn good at getting you into awesome events like Trucks for Tots all for the price of a toy. Now they’re using laughter to seduce you into doing good. The Dallas Comedy…

Christmas music: You can love it or hate it, binge on it or complain about it, but even the grumpiest Grinch can’t resist indulging in it a little. If you’re one of those bizarrely merry humans who just can’t get enough melodic cheer and wants to cram every last jingle…

Got money to burn and a massive backlog of Elder Skelter episodes to get through? Uber understands. Tomorrow, December 5, the car service pairs up with Home Depot to sling trees to Dallas’ most lethargic. That means you can have a fir delivered for $135 with just a tap on…

Throwing the words “S.C.A.B.” and “dinner” together takes some serious balls. They aren’t excellent bedfellows, in the traditional sense. But this Sunday you’ll opt to feign from free association to take part in an old fashioned progressive supper, hosted by some of Dallas’ most interesting emerging art studios. The S.C.A.B…