Chick flick and timely throwback to the sounds of dancing queens, the film version of Mamma Mia! opened to impressive box-office action, but is it really any surprise? The stage version of Mamma Mia! has been an international hit since its West End debut almost 10 years ago, so it’s…
I like comics. I like gays. But gay comics? Hell yes! Next to black comics, gay ones are the best, because sadly, jokes about hardships and prejudices are hilarious. Besides, with gay peeps, life is pretty much all punch lines with the travails of finding a date, coming out to…
I fell under the spell of bluegrass music long before the Coen brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou? I was 9 and riding with my grandpa through the pinewood forests surrounding Hot Springs, Arkansas. Grandpa was running errands. I was tagging along. He slid a cassette into the tape player,…
How to tell if you’re a dude (in case there’s any doubt): You consider bacon appropriate as an appetizer, entree and dessert dish; you bought a DVD burner just so you could save all the episodes of Shockwave on The History Channel; and, finally, going to see “Warbirds on Parade,”…
Momma always told me not to take candy from strangers, but she never said anything about beans. I don’t recall Jack’s momma, of Jack and the Beanstalk, telling him not to take beans either. Why’d she get so pissed? Plus, he’s not going to eat them; he’s going to stick…
Honestly, we thought “Spectacular Senior Follies” would be a good name for an America’s Funniest Home Videos-style tribute to the antics of the elderly. But Mark Carroll Productions beat us to the punch and used it for an old-timey song-and-dance revue featuring around 150 local senior talents, including notables like…
You know that friend who doesn’t drink or get high anymore, but he’s always telling crazy-ass tales from when he did? I don’t mean mundane stories about passing out on bar stools or pissing in washing machines; I mean stories about stealing telephone poles, setting them ablaze and falling into…
For the 15th year, Fort Worth will play host to Chile Pepper magazine’s Zest Fest. A surefire way to spice up the weekend, the event is a celebration of piquant preparations and fiery fare. Billed as “the ultimate party for bold and flavorful food enthusiasts,” attendees will be serenaded by…
Austin artists Jennifer Chenoweth and Todd Campbell created Shine + Burn through a variation on the exquisite corpse game, passing shapes back and forth until they evolve from tiny models into much larger works. As I can’t find pictures, I can only guess how the project looks. They’re a couple,…
It’s difficult being different in the workplace. Maybe you love Pearl Jam and your colleagues think Pearl Jam blows. Or they laugh at your hybrid while they’re rolling in leased Hummers. Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, though, battle barriers of another sort–those between lesbians and gays and their co-workers. Support…
Imagine you’re in college, walking across campus after a late class, thinking about the party you’ll soon be attending. Suddenly you’re distracted by an outdoor screen showing graphic images from real campus parties, emergency medical calls and police files. You watch details unfold surrounding the real-life death of a student…
What is it with Peter Pan always being played by a girl? Mary Martin, Sandy Duncan, then Cathy Rigby–all flying around the theater on wires like a heavenly marionette act. No wonder Peter doesn’t want to grow up–he’d have to lose the tights and makeup and get a career job…
Some might say the MPAA has it in for Kevin Smith. Seriously, the dude can’t catch a break. His films have been given un-box-office-friendly ratings since the mid-’90s with his latest, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, getting smacked with an NC-17. Luckily, when you’ve got a mad cult following,…
A young boy. A red balloon. Paris. These simple elements taken from Albert Lamorisse’s 1956 Academy Award-winning short film The Red Balloon are woven into a beautiful, modern-day story about art, childhood and family in Hou Hsiao-hsien’s Flight of the Red Balloon. When life begins to overwhelm Suzanne, a busy…
I know what you hear in your head when someone mentions the band Squeeze. You probably picture that awkward and embarrassing scene in Reality Bites where those wacky slackers sing along to “Tempted” on the radio. As if that song wasn’t overplayed to death a million times already. The sad…
It’s hard to imagine a time when a band like Huey Lewis and the News could dominate pop charts and MTV alongside a balding Phil Collins. Man, things sure have changed. And whether you think they’ve changed for the better or worst will determine your interest in seeing the News…
There’s something about mad scientists pushing the boundaries of science that makes for really interesting literature and theater. These stories raise the question: How far can science go? More important, they ask the question: How far should science go? The Island of Dr. Moreau grew out of the debate over…
In its final 10 minutes, Hamlet 2 is little more than chaos, noise and nonsense, and those are 10 perfectly enjoyable minutes. It’s hard to knock any sequence that climaxes with a musical number titled “Rock Me, Sexy Jesus,” done up nice and Grease-y. Problem is, the 80 or so…
If it were produced the way its characters intended, The Big Bang would fill a big stage with 312 actors, 6,000 costumes, 302 “prosthetic devices” and a budget somewhere north of $83 million. But in the riotously funny production back for a second go-round at tiny Theatre Too, what we…
Despite his reputation as that rarest of creatures—a Hollywood intellectual—new evidence suggests that Steve Martin reads…prepare yourself…thrillers and spy novels. Or at least that’s the only conclusion one can draw from the “Story by” credit the comedian receives on Traitor, an uneven yet engrossing terrorist thriller that’s one part Syriana…
Wow. Actor Jack Foltyn brings his Elvis-themed show, Just Jack, to The Cox Building Playhouse, 1517 H Ave. in Plano, and I am pretty sure you don’t want to miss it. Whether it’s because you love Elvis, or because you want to see this off-the-chain narcissist in action. It appears…
The idea of the faculty art exhibition is as old as the idea of art school. After all, perhaps the best way to teach a student about visual art is to show them the myriad possibilities inherent in the form. Really, I wish more of my teachers and professors would…
