It’s called Les Misérables, so don’t expect comedy. You don’t look to Victor Hugo’s depiction of the 1832 Paris uprisings for belly laughs. What there is in Les Miz, now at the Winspear Opera House on a 25th anniversary tour, is singing. Great, powerful, perfectly on-pitch caterwauling. The kind of…
This Kwaanza-fest event is decidedly more low-key than the annual John Wiley Price event at Fair Park, but that’s probably a good thing. It’s much better to celebrate family, community and culture without bumping into FBI agents at every turn. And so this quaint, but meaningful, little event in the…
We’re spoiled and we know it. One of our most recent generations is dubbed the Entitled Generation. We note when our grievances are so-called First World problems. Maybe, then, we can learn a lesson from Pollyanna. The Garland Civic Theatre’s Children On Stage production of Pollyanna tells the story of…
This year, instead of trying to recreate your own version of the movie New Year’s Eve — though you could probably do a better job than Hollywood — and suffer the torment of critics laughing at you, why not partake in something that will have everyone laughing with you? Ad-Libs…
Want to do something totally different this New Year’s Eve? For starters, don’t drink too much, cry and then throw up on your own shoes. Mix it up this year. Puke on someone else’s shoes. Or skip the heaves altogether and head to Keith & Margo’s 21st Annual Murder Mystery…
Maybe you’ve given toys to Toys for Tots. Perhaps you spent some time camped out near City Hall on behalf of the downtrodden 99 percent. You’re a good, socially conscientious soul — so don’t stop now. Get behind a cause that’s dear to us and greet 2012 at DFW NORML’s…
Everyone knows there are two understood requirements for New Year’s Eve plans. The first: It has to involve laughter and fun. The second: There has to be a convenient seating option because the new shoes you wear (ladies or gents) are not going to be comfortable 20 minutes into the…
If your kids request one million Popsicle sticks and a few thousand feet of PVC pipe, don’t freak out. They’re just addicted to the Disney Channel’s latest series, or “kid crack” as it’s commonly known on the streets. The kids, and their geeky parents, are all hooked on Phineas and…
You probably didn’t chase a squirrel around the house or have to explain to the police exactly how cousin Eddie concocted the crazy notion to kidnap your boss on Christmas Eve, but you don’t have to be part of a Griswold family Christmas to feel the stress of the holidays…
Circuses have changed a lot over the years. Freak shows are illegal in many states, and animal trainers are far more rare nowadays. Even as these circus icons wane, however, clowns and acrobats are in their prime. The Lone Star Circus Arts Center presents Cirque Banquisté, an international showcase of…
The rivalry between the Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings isn’t quite as tense or meaningful as it was when the sweaters with the grand names of Yzerman, Belfour, Federov and Hatcher were skating around the rink, battling for Western Conference supremacy in the late 1990s and into the new…
The highlight of Your Dallas Mavericks’ long-anticipated opening day came well before tip-off, as Mark Cuban’s defending champs decorated the inside of the American Airlines Center with the championship banner. What happened after that erased all the pent-up goodwill: The Miami Heat, humiliated but a few months ago, humbled the…
If you’re not up on your mid-20th century French philosophy, you could read Roland Barthes’ dense semiotics essay “Rhetoric of the Image” to better understand the nature of image-based thought in communication or you could instead visit Gary Bishop’s exhibition Language … Images and Text at Kirk Hopper Fine Art…
Working primarily in red conté that provides her sketches with a distinct earthen hue reminiscent of sepia photographs, Anne C. Weary brings Californian topography back home in her collection, Where the Pacific Meets the Cliffs at Torrey Pines, on exhibition at Valley House Gallery through January 7. Typically spending six…
In his backyard studio, behind a house packed to the rafters with books, photos, sculpture and paintings, Dallas actor-writer James Crump, 65, has re-created the world of early 20th century Western artist Charlie Russell. Crump has built a 30-foot-long wooden stage, which serves as the floor of Russell’s own studio…
Last year, we did some things we’re not so proud of. The year before last too, and the year before that and … well, enough of that. This being 2012, quite possibly the last year before some cataclysmic change such as the planet’s polarity reversing or a Newt Gingrich presidency,…
After the rise and fall of “John and Kate plus Eight” and the on-going popularity of “Nineteen Kids and Counting,” it shouldn’t come as any surprise that a new multiples-themed reality show is slated to kick-off tonight. This one, though, takes place right here in the Lone Star State. It’s…
What a year it was at the movies! Just reflect for a second all the places we’ve traveled together on our cinematic voyages of 2011 in that theatrical transport known as film. Alternate worlds and realities. All over the map of our own. Forward to the future. Back in time…
It’s the biggest movie weekend of the year! Let’s check out the season’s offerings at the movie theater… Director David Fincher returns to his bloody roots a la Se7en and takes his own albeit unique stab at The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the first in the late Stieg Larsson’s…
The West Village was hopping last night beneath the glow of an enormous menorah. It was a Hanukkah celebration put on by the Intown Chabad. It was already packed by 7:00pm, with guests picking up their menorah, dreidel, and candle filled goodie bags. Everyone gathered around the heaters, drinking hot…
People keep telling me that Christmas is a religious holiday, but judging by the sheer number of commandments broken in the following seasonal pop hits, I’m starting to suspect that Jim Schutze’s assessment of the Park Cities’ celebrating “Baptist Vegas Saturnalia” extends far outside of north Dallas. These lyrics read…
We’re two days away from Christmas, which means many of us will be doing requisite family duties this weekend, but skip out a little early on your commitments tonight to see a classic holiday film that reminds us what the season’s really about – stayin’ alive. See George Bailey take…
