I am no sucker for musicals; for the most part, they embarrass me. I am a complete moron for rock and roll, though, and maybe, just maybe, if a musical is really and truly a product of the heart and soul of rock and roll, it might even snare a…
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 a librarian and an American, I’m a big fan of unwavering defenders of freedom and opponents of censorship, and Barney Rosset is one of the big ones. Rosset, as owner of Grove Press and publisher and editor-in-chief of the Evergreen Review, fought against the Establishment to assure that artists…
Tall in the Saddle: Cowgirls, Ranch Women and Rodeo Gals collects black and white photographs by Ann Meredith that span 17 years and provide an intimate glimpse into the lives of women in the West. Countering stereotypes, the images prove that women contribute as much to the rodeo circuit and…
In the age of Bridezillas and themed baby showers, those of us who are more comfortable at the modest end of celebration might scoff at the excess that seems so new. The truth is, people have been laying it on thick for ages. Sunday through June 14, the Kimbell Art…
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth offers something for the kids on Hump Day. Their free gallery program, Wonderful Wednesdays, is designed for families as an informal introduction to the collection and special exhibitions. Held once a month, Wonderful Wednesdays offers a focused tour along with a gallery project…
Lily Tomlin has done just about everything. She broke ground in comedy several times over; proved her dramatic moxie in several great films–including numerous forays with the late, great Robert Altman–and her essential role in the TV phenomenon that was West Wing; won two Tony Awards, four Emmys and a…
I went to a high school that was very into dance. Dance concerts seemed to happen every other day, and girls with excellent posture and purposeful strides abounded. It was part of my education, to be sure, and I graduated knowing plenty about the world of dance. The name Alvin…
With a dynamic voice and singing-style reminiscent of no one (save possibly Tina Turner), Blues and R&B artist Bettye LaVette has been recording and performing for over 45 years (with but one Top Ten from her debut single). Although the music industry’s inability to define her has prevented her from…
When I was a kid, my parents read T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats to me and the poems were favorites of our whole family. We even had a kitten named Jennyanydots. Then, in the early ’80s, Andrew Lloyd Webber destroyed my childhood by composing a cheesy musical…
It has been almost 40 years since Richie Havens was the opening act at Woodstock. His improvisational version of “Motherless Child,” punctuated by an added verse in which Havens repeats the word “freedom” in an intense frenzy became one of the anthems of Woodstock, and of the civil rights and…
Support local art big time this month by checking out 500X Gallery’s juried annual, EXPO 2009. Texas’ oldest artist-run space, 500X Gallery, established in 1978, provides exhibition spaces to up-and-coming artists in Dallas. Located in a historic tire factory and air-conditioning warehouse with more than 3,000 square feet of exhibition…
A star at the hall’s opening gala in 1998, Texas-born Carol Burnett returns once again to Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth on Monday for a night of “laughter and reflection.” The treasured comedienne will share her stories and insights, spurred on by audience questions. “I love the spontaneity of…
The Public Trust has a great show on right now, which runs through January 17. For those not in the know, The Public Trust is a gallery that rose from the ashes of the celebrated Art Prostitute Gallery. Run by Brian Gibb, co-founder of Art Prostitute magazine, the gallery caters…
Are you not sure what Kwanzaa is all about, but want to know more? Or have you been celebrating Kwanzaa since day one? Either way, you will be both welcomed and accommodated at the Kwanzaa Gwaride (parade) on Friday, the first day of Kwanzaa, co-sponsored by The Act of Change…
I am sure very few people need to be told what Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is about. Ebenezer Scrooge’s story has been told so many times in so many ways, with Scrooge being played by everyone from Bill Murray to Scrooge McDuck and adaptations numbering in the hundreds over…
According to the legend, after Pheidippides ran approximately 26 miles from Marathon to Athens to announce the defeat of the Persians, he collapsed and died. If the first guy that did something dies as a direct result, you wouldn’t think that activity would become a universally prized ambition. You would…
Ricky Skaggs, a prolific legend in his own time who worked his way through and up the ranks of country music and bluegrass and (not unlike Johnny Cash with June Carter) married into an established family of harmony makers, will be in Fort Worth–family in tow–to celebrate Christmas in song…
Beginning on Friday, the Dallas Opera presents Die Fledermaus (The Bat), Johann Strauss’ much-loved operetta. Commonly cited as a good introduction to opera, Die Fledermaus tells the story of Baron Gabriel von Eisenstein, his wife Rosalinde, their maid Adele and layer upon layer of deception. Add in a ball, revenge,…
London-based artist Dan Perfect’s paintings are collages of sorts. Not of their media, but their aura. Ambiguous forms and referential icons are scattered across his canvases, and the result is not disjointed or trivial, but rich and striking. With imagery that echoes Miro and Picasso as much as it does…
The first film between supreme collaborators Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, 1973’s Mean Streets followed on The Godfather’s heels as part of the new, glorious age of gangster films. Harvey Keitel is Charlie, a small-time guy who operates in New York’s Little Italy, collecting protection money. Between his secret…
If you’re someone who enjoys a good laugh picked out for you by television viewers then go see the finalists from the sixth and most recent season of NBC’s Last Comic Standing perform live at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth. If you haven’t seen it, Last Comic Standing is…
