Political drama has long been shaped by what we can call the conversion narrative. In a play like One Third of a Nation, one of the Living Newspaper extravaganzas mounted with New Deal funding by the Federal Theatre Project, an everyman Joe you just gotta root for tries to live…
Because women are particularly beguiling when viewed from behind, the camera loves to follow them: Anyone who’s watched James Stewart’s lovesick detective trailing Kim Novak, a platinum dream poured into a pale gray flannel hourglass, understands the voyeurism at the heart of Vertigo. With Spectre — the 24th James Bond…
The Muppets doesn’t work, exactly, but I’m still watching. As a relative outsider to the 60-year Muppets franchise, I’ve long suspected that early imprinting is the key to loving Jim Henson’s gaudy, unblinking rags. I’ve never felt a particular need to watch pieces of felt tell Borscht Belt–style jokes, and…
They don’t build musicals like Grand Hotel anymore. They don’t build lodging like Berlin’s Grand Hotel anymore either. Even in 1928, when the musical is set, the “guests” are aware that an era of opulence is fading. Characters check in for their last fabulous fling, one more waltz under the…
“Did you come here together,” a woman in a white lab coat asks, pointing between myself and Caroline North, who happens to be the Observer’s copy editor, an arts reporter and my friend. Yes, we answer. “Does she like you more than you like her?” she asks me. I don’t…
Oscar-nominated, acclaimed cult filmmaker Whit Stillman is still coming to the Texas Theatre in celebration for the 25th anniversary of his first feature, Metropolitan. Metropolitan wasn’t the immediate success that I — and perhaps you, too — might’ve assumed. It premiered at Sundance, garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay, and…
It’s Dallas. It’s Sunday. The Cowboys play at three o’clock. Every Dallasite knows that you need to plan around that. You go to the early service at church, youth soccer games are scheduled in the morning and no sensible Opera company would plan a matinee for that day. But thats…
Across the country, opera audiences are thinning. The old guard is getting older and youthful cans aren’t plunking down in the chairs. So while there’s something inherently bratty about saying “I would prefer this free thing over this other one,” just follow me here. Dallas Opera has been busy funding,…
The Halloween festivities are over, and Sunday was just not enough time to recover from all that drinking that you’re doing. You’ll probably need the next couple of days to rest up, drink fluids, and repair all the damage you’ve caused to your personal property and relationships during your evening…
If you frequent Kidd Springs Park in North Oak Cliff you may have missed the Japanese sculptures that date back until at least the 18th century. There are people who walk, jog, and ride their bikes past this artwork everyday and never give it any thought, probably mistaking antiquities for…
Halloween is fast approaching, which means that those of us who majored in procrastination in college are probably seriously freaking out. Even if you’re planning a low-key celebration with friends for this spooky holiday, you’re still going to need a costume. It’s easy enough to strap on some animal ears…
And just like that, the populist citywide art event pulls out from Dallas. A letter that went out to ArtPrize Dallas stakeholders cites reasons for canceling the event including lack of resources and disappointing resistance to an event, which was perceived by cynics “as threatening to the status quo.” This…
“I’ll be frank with you, I really don’t have anything,” said Erykah Badu as she walked barefoot onto the stage in the Naomi Bruton Theater downtown Thursday night for the first of three performances of her new one-woman show, Live Nudity. She was only slightly exaggerating. Badu had a few…
Some parents call it the “Halloween Candy Fairy.” Some call her the “Switch Witch.” By any name, the concept this thieving mythical bag of turds represents is total Tootsie Roll bullshit. The concept is simple: Kids go Trick-or-Treating, they bring home a ton of candy, they go to sleep and Switch…
Thursday, Oct. 29 Kyle Abraham: Abraham in Motion Kyle Abraham’s work is inclusive, any way you look at it. It’s inclusive of different art forms: dance (obviously, as he’s a choreographer), music, and visual art; it blends performers of different ethnicities; it mixes classical elements with contemporary; it weaves social…
Stand-up comedians may be alone on a stage in a physical sense but spiritually speaking, they are never by themselves. They are constantly swarmed by the spirits of the comedians who inspired. The memories and inspirations of comedians who pushed them to walk on to a stage will always be…
This weekend’s two-day get-together in Studio City, Calif., of dozens of SMU theater grads from the 1970s and ’80s might turn out to be the greatest cast ever assembled of accomplished middle-aged American character actors from stage, screen and television. The guest list, according to reunion planner Judi Dickerson (MFA,…
Lenny Abrahamson’s shattering drama Room borrows its fictional plot from the tabloids and strips it of sensationalism. Seven years ago, a man (Sean Bridgers) snatched 17-year-old Joy (Brie Larson) and stashed her in his backyard shed. Two years later, she bore their son. The door stayed locked. Now 5, Jack…
In an ongoing series for the arts blog, artist Randy Guthmiller attempts to visually connect exhibitions from elsewhere with art being made in Dallas. Most days, you can find Guthmiller either in the studio working on his art, which manifests in sculptural relief Shapes, or working in the Nasher gallery…
Halloween is upon us. Whether this is a celebratory statement or a dreaded one, you can’t avoid this date in your calendar. If you’re the friend making the plans, let us assist you. We’ve compiled 10 of the more interesting parties and events this weekend. Elsewhere on the blog we…
Once a year, usually in the fall, the Dead White Zombies emerge from the mind of Thomas Riccio. An immersive theater troupe run by experimental theatermaker Riccio, the Zombies have taken over everything from a former crack house to ramshackle warehouses. Last year, the group took over a former Ice…
The most effective scene in James Vanderbilt’s brisk, outraged Truth is one that will be familiar to anyone who has ever sat in a room where editors and reporters are breaking down an investigative story. The reporters — here, 60 Minutes researchers played by Dennis Quaid, Elisabeth Moss and Topher…
