Once upon a time, a bunch of writers got together to hold a luncheon roast for famed critic Alexander Woollcott. They had such a good time that the group–composed of Dorothy Parker, Robert Sherwood, Robert Benchley, George Kaufman, Edna Ferber and Marc Connelly–kept meeting for lunch for the next 10…
Porgy is a crippled black man living on Catfish Row in South Carolina, and Bess is the woman he loves, no matter what. If you’ve never seen George Gershwin’s folk opera Porgy and Bess, stop what you’re doing. Stop right now and go get a ticket because with songs like…
Divorce is tricky to navigate in any corner of the world, but (let’s face it) divorce in the South is something that even the bravest, most foolhardy person quails before facing. There are all kinds of things to contend with–guns, hard liquor, prying neighbors–but a real Southerner can handle it…
Standing with my hands over my head in the airport while security frisked me, I couldn’t help thinking it was a bad time for my relatives to start joking about how they were oh-so-obviously terrorists. But I love traveling, so I closed my eyes and thought of the soon departing…
I have always loved that book The Secret Garden. It’s very British, and while the little girl, Mary, may have been a brat, at least she didn’t take any lip from anybody. But I digress–this has nothing to do with the All Texas Garden Show, except for the whole “garden”…
The composer Donizetti probably died of syphilis, but before he went stark raving mad, dying in an insane asylum, he wrote a whole bunch of operas, including Don Pasquale. In this opera, young Ernesto is in love with the penniless Norina, but his cranky, rich uncle won’t let him marry…
I admit I have a certain fondness for those Broadway tunes, and I love a good soft-shoe shuffle, which is why I’m an easy sell for a night of song and dance complete with a little gender swapping at Uptown’s Broadway Our Way. The show has been selling out annually…
So what’s worse than living in Oklahoma? Living in Oklahoma with a family like the Westons, the center of Tracy Letts’ Tony award-winning play August: Osage County. The play opens with Weston patriarch Beverly (who sums up his 30-year marriage at the play’s opening saying, “My wife takes pills and…
I tend to spend New Year’s Eve–Champagne glass in hand–ensconced on the couch, growing increasingly paranoid as Rod Serling introduces weird tales on The Twilight Zone. But I might reconsider my plans this year and head on over to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra to ring in 2010 in an equally…
When the boy next door had a cowboys and Indians-themed birthday party, I stood outside the door to his house in my fringed jean skirt and red cowboy boots, vivid pictures of the Old American West in my head. Sure, the party decor was just a cake and streamers, but…
One time when a bunch of ragtag children got together, they decided to march off to the Crusades. They marched onto a ship while singing, and from there things didn’t go so well–most of them were sold into slavery. But I’m pretty sure that’s not how things are going to…
There are plenty of jokes to make about the Philip Johnson Glass House. You can go for the obvious with some joke about not throwing stones (because the house is made of glass, get it?) or act more refined by throwing out a Howard Roark reference (“Ayn Rand would love…
Every year as Christmas rolls around, I amuse myself by taking out dog-sized Santa hats and reindeer antlers. Then I chase my two dogs around the house, put the hat and antlers on them, and laugh really hard. This year I’m upping the stakes–they’re going to see Santa, and I’ll…
It’s hard to believe, but South Pacific was the Rent of its day, chock full of social commentary and catchy songs. Even if you’re not up to thinking about the complications of love, war and racism, it’s still worth the price of a ticket to go hear songs like “I’m…
Every Thanksgiving, when I have to push away that fourth piece of pumpkin pie, I make plans to do better next year by stretching out my stomach and doing some running beforehand, so I can get that pie the next time around. OK, so maybe that’s not the best plan,…
Hank Hill, propane salesman and main character of King of the Hill, always seemed flummoxed by his encounters with the Texas artist crowd. Turns out they were equally disquieted by him, and now we’ve got the chance to see an art show with the results. Well, not exactly, but the…
I took a tap-dance class in college, and every morning after class I would whirl around my dorm room, slapping the steel tips of my shoes against the brown linoleum. When the hall called a wing meeting about the “noise problem,” they didn’t mention the people who blared Britney Spears…
Every year a shiver of anticipation ran through my elementary school as teachers got mysterious packages and a certain classroom at the end of the hall was closed off, the window in the door covered with red construction paper. This had nothing to do with Santa or Halloween candy, but…
Dr. Saul Friedlander, a survivor of the Holocaust, grew up in France and survived the German occupation hiding in a Catholic boarding school. His parents weren’t so lucky; they were caught trying to escape to Switzerland and gassed at Auschwitz. After the war, he finished his education and became a…
My little sister was obsessed with Stuart Little when she herself was, you know, little. We watched the movie and the sequels over and over at the movie theater. She even had a copy of E.B. White’s book about the second son in the Little family who “was no bigger…
Once my She-Ra doll got so thoroughly eaten by my T-Rex that she got jammed in his purples plastic stomach with just her tan plastic legs poking from his mouth; he was a messy eater. Needless to say I was one of those kids who loved dinosaurs. I was terrified…
“Moon River” was never a chart hit, but it’s been Andy Williams’ signature song ever since he sang the Breakfast at Tiffany’s theme song at the 1964 Oscars. Now you’ll have the chance to hear all about that and other experiences as Williams comes to Dallas to plug his book…
