What’s that screwy motto for the City of Dallas? “Live Large, Think Big” or did they change it to “Big Things Happen Here?” It seems we’re hellbent on letting the outside world know that Dallas is a big city that does, well, big things. But big is such a broad…
Rio Ritz 2722 Routh St. A well-run boutique needs a welcoming atmosphere, trendy clothes, and pristine changing rooms. Oh, and booze. Rio Ritz has all of this in spades. Earlier this year, Thais Moses opened the doors of her well-curated shop to the benefit of closets throughout Dallas. The store…
What’s that saying about tides and ships? As the arts scene in Texas swells, the opportunity for cross-city collaboration. Whether it be sending Dallas artists to Austin, or bringing Houston artists here, as is the case with Draped Up & Dripped Out, which opened at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center…
It’s a jungle out there. The Mixmaster is looking for a few good writers to come along on our expedition through the arts and culture in Dallas. Ask yourself the following questions: Can you sniff out cool ways to spend the weekend? Do you wander into new shops out of…
Even paintings need to get out town for the summer. If you are driving through Dallas during the month of August, you might notice a few luminaries stopping by for a visit. Willem de Kooning is splitting time between Oak Cliff and the Cedars; Edward Hicks found a Peaceable Kingdom…
At WaterTower Theatre, time shifts to 1964 in San Francisco. Young Marines head out onto the town before they’re shipped off to a growing war in Southeast Asia. They are looking for a good time, hounding for women. Eddie Birdlace happens upon Rose, a young musician working a late-night shift…
Last fall, a small group of young actors appeared in the Bishop Arts District, mounted a gripping production of Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis and then vanished. But not before promising an entire season of productions under the moniker Davis Street Collective. It’s the sort of thing that happens here too…
Celia Eberle’s work as an artist knows no restrictions. A lifetime Texas resident, Eberle considers herself a product of the “pine curtain,” a reference to growing up in Longview. For the past 25 years, she’s shown her work in and around Dallas, building an oeuvre that’s imaginative, surreal and occasionally creepy. Many times, one of her mixed media sculptures has sent an unconscious tingle down my spine.
It seems we can expect great things from Gavin Delahunty. Just two months into his tenure as the Hoffman Family senior curator of contemporary art, he’s making huge strides to bolster the Dallas Museum of Art’s interest in modern art. One such effort is his curation of an exhibition of…
Chipping Smooth Immersive theater is not a synonym for participatory theater. So you won’t need to bring a monologue or warm up your vocal chords before attending Chipping Smooth this weekend. In fact, please don’t. It does mean that you will be part of the theatrical experience. You’ll be amidst…
You can’t slow time down; you can’t speed through life. You have to take it as it comes, repeating mantras like “It is what it is” or “C’est La Vie.” Resisting time is futile, but that won’t stop Melissa Dickenson from wrestling with it in her art. The San Francisco-based…
This summer may go down as the season of printmaking. Thus far, we’ve had parties dedicated to the often over-looked art form, as well as live displays of the complicated process of paint, emulsions, scraping and pressing. The upcoming exhibition at Cohn Drennan Contemporary, Prints!Prints!Prints!, features the work of University…
Blue Moon Men of Kentucky What do folk music and aliens have in common? Well, nothing. At least they didn’t until The History of Future Folk, the movie about two aliens who visit Earth and decide to save the planet because they’ve fallen in love with — among other things…
How many plays does it take to call a series of shows a festival? Or is it simply the label that makes it so? Whatever the answer, the words “New Play Festival” always make me pretty happy when I see them on a Dallas playbill. This year, Soul Rep Theatre…
Immersive theater is not a synonym for participatory theater. So you won’t need to bring a monologue or warm up your vocal chords before attending Chipping Smooth this weekend. In fact, please don’t. It does mean that you will be part of the theatrical experience. You’ll be amidst the performers…
It’s not very often that an artist gets something right on first try. But Hayao Miyazaki may be the exception. Many critics regard his debut film, Nausicaa, to be his masterwork. Certainly, it redefined the possibilities of storytelling in animated films, creating a landscape that was picturesque, with a story…
On a blistering Saturday morning, a few runners peek into the doors of 521 E. Lawther Drive. They’re halfway through a nine-mile jog around White Rock Lake and this unassuming cream colored building looks like it has a bathroom and air conditioning. But the Bath House Cultural Center also looks…
Six floors up in the Wyly Theatre, there is a black box theater that has been sorely underused; Nine floors up there is a rehearsal space that rarely sees an audience. Both the Winspear Opera House and the Wyly will enter year five this fall, which makes them ripe for…
Over the weekend, a post popped up in my newsfeed from the Festival of Independent Theatres. “…Elaine Liner suggests that we be put out of our misery. Do you agree? We welcome your thoughts on the matter!” It linked to her stage column this week, which bears the heady title,…
Shuffle, ball, change. Aaaaaand, dig! Those are the only tap dance words that stuck with me from the beginner adult class I took last fall. Turns out, you need rhythm to tap, and I’ve got zero. But it just looks so darn fun when dancers fly around the stage creating…
Summer is the perfect time for road trips and staycations, which might be how you’re choosing to spend this weekend. And if you’re looking to do that, we’ve got a few recommendations for both (see Road Tripping, Staycations). But if you’re planning to spend the weekend in Dallas and want…
The Boy From Oz might be most well known as the sexy Hugh Jackman musical that overtook Broadway a few years ago. Beyond that it’s just a fun jukebox musical about Australian songwriter and entertainer Peter Allen, former husband to Liza Minnelli, who apparently was the only person on the…
