If it weren’t for the fine quartet of older actresses in Contemporary Theatre of Dallas’ current production of Ivan Menchell’s The Cemetery Club, this sentimental sitcom of a play could easily be mistaken for Steel Magnolias: Golden Girls Edition. It’s yet another gentle walk through love, death and the bonds…
Writing about A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, the 2006 debut film by director Dito Montiel, I likened it to the sort of crude but fascinating object one might find in an exhibition of naif art. Adapted by Montiel—a former hardcore punk musician—from his autobiographical novel about his teenage delinquency…
The Soloist opens with newspapers thudding onto lawns, a quaint sight that makes the movie practically a period piece, even though the events that inspired it took place within the last four years. An old-fashioned tale for a newfangled world, the movie turns on a series of columns begun in…
Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have transformed some of the saggiest, most clichéd genres with smarts, non-screechy politics, superb acting and visual beauty. Though, on paper, its premise could have easily elicited groans, Half Nelson—their 2006 feature debut (that Fleck directed and the two co-wrote) about a white middle-class Brooklyn…
Personally, the idea of watching some metal bands is about as scary as it gets for me. Not the good ones–AC/DC, Sabbath, Motorhead, Metallica, etc.–but the really dumb ones, like Gwar or Slipknot. Honestly, I’d much rather sit at home and watch a marathon of Two and a Half Men…
The Hebrew calendar is a tricky thing. Historically speaking, the State of Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948, but chances are you won’t find people waving flags and shooting off fireworks next month. No, Israel Independence Day, or Yom Ha’atzmaut as it’s known, is actually celebrated on the…
Yes, Frost/Nixon was a hit film about the famous interview between David Frost and shamed president Richard Nixon. And before Frost/Nixon was a hit film, it was a hit stage play about the same. But I think it’s time for Frost/Nixon to join the ranks of the Dirty Sanchez and…
As an art student, you just want your work to be seen. And sure, it’s great if the student at the next easel or podium really digs your style, but it would be a bit more validation if someone out of your class schedule appreciated those creative efforts. And so,…
The sun is beaming down on you, and out of the corner of your eye you see your teammate setting up the ball–you jump up into the air and come crashing down with a hard spike on the volleyball. It sails over the net and hits the ground on the…
Remember how Deep Ellum is dead? You wouldn’t have known it a few weeks ago during the Deep Ellum Arts Festival. Streets were blocked off, pedestrian traffic was heavy, and it almost looked like the days before it became a cliche to decry the death of the district. And it’s…
These aren’t your mama’s arts and crafts! No siree, Bob. These accessories, trinkets and works of art are funky, baby. The Funky Finds Spring Fling will showcase the work of more than 100 indie artisans, most of them local. We’re talking rock ‘n’ roll baby clothes, handbags, screen-printed T’s, buttons,…
What would you pay to see Troy Aikman do a little dance on the catwalk? Say about $150 per ticket or $1,250 per table? Pull out your checkbook, buddy, because The 21st Annual Beyond the Rainbow Luncheon will feature young cancer patients working it on the runway with local celebrities…
As the Cirque Imagination performers stretch their bodies into unbelievable contortions–and as your mind strains to fathom the seemingly impossible–your dollar can also stretch toward charitable goodwill. Ahavat Yisrael, or love a fellow Jew. For the non-Jewish: love thy neighbor. When purchasing your ticket for Cirque Imagination’s Montage, which runs…
Uptown Players’ regional premiere of the 2006 Broadway hit, The History Boys, passed the critics’ test after its opening weekend. A cast of young men and a few veterans–Bradley Campbell, Wendy Welch, Rick Espaillat and David Plunkett–explore many angles of academia. Eight high school seniors at a British boys’ school…
Let’s face it: Somewhere along the way, American TV news outlets decided to emphasize entertainment values over news values–especially the cable networks. They milk the drama out of missing white girls, endlessly repeat video clips of a squirrel on water-skis and attach “-gate” to every scandal, no matter how trivial…
You know how, even if you have been to a venue before, looking at those damn seating charts and trying to pick what seat you want is fairly useless, unless you can get front-row center. And if you’re picking season tickets for something, the decision can be downright nail-biting. The…
As much as I’m tired of everyone saying, “In this economy, we here at [insert business name] wanna give you folks a deal!” I’m totally behind one event that, yep, in this economy, is quite a deal. Why? Because it’s free. And because it provides, in a fun and casual…
There is one play I’ve seen in my lifetime that has stuck with me more than any other. I talk about this performance almost every time I discuss theater with someone, because I retched and gagged my way through a scene in the play and had to leave the theater…
With the advent of Google Maps, aerial photography lost its novelty. What a surprise, then, to see the work of David Maisel. Maisel’s body of work takes aerial photos out of the realm of pure functionality, creating a sort of documentary surrealism. Tweaking contrast and color, he creates landscapes at…
There’s something magical about the age of 13. Hair grows in awkward new places, you receive constant bullying from pizza-faced peers, and your parents become an unbearable presence. This last thing never goes away completely, but it’s strongest the five years before you’re stuck in a dorm without mom and…
Robert Mapplethorpe was the flashpoint. As a young artist, he brought homoerotic photography into the world of high art, exposing an edgy underworld of gay sex and drugs that reigned in the New York City of the ’70s and ’80s. But Mapplethorpe may not have reached such heights were it…
You might have seen modern blues icon Robert Cray open for Eric Clapton once or twice. You might even own a copy of his 1986 hit record, Strong Persuader. Perhaps you even play one of his signature-model Fender Stratocasters. But did you know he started out in a band called…
