Every new generation can glean fresh meaning from Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Now onstage at Addison’s WaterTower Theatre in a stark but precisely rendered production directed by Terry Martin, the play never seems out of date. Such is its legacy as one of the finest tragedies of the 20th century…
Ellie Parker (Strand) This extremely raw portrait of an actress trying — and failing — to make it in Hollywood showcases Naomi Watts in a wrenching and sympathetic performance. Writer-director Scott Coffey shot the movie over nearly six years, beginning in 1999, before Watts was a household name. Though they…
With scrappy warblers like Kellie Pickler and Bucky Covington trying to out-twang each other on American Idol, country music is hotter than a corn dog at a county fair. One reason is that almost anybody can sing it. Even mopes who argue that NASCAR isn’t a real sport have been…
Caved In: Prehistoric Terror (Lions Gate) The Dark (Sony) Death Cab for Cutie: Directions (Atlantic) Deep Blue (Miramax) Dora the Explorer: Dora’s First Trip (Paramount) 18 Fingers of Death (MCA) The Greatest Game Ever Played (Disney) Laugh or I’ll Shoot Collection: The Naked Gun, Airplane!, and Top Secret! (Paramount) The…
Charles Barkley, we’re sick of your shit. Every time our glorious hometown warriors, the Dallas Mavericks, make an impression on a TNT broadcast, you babble and stutter in halftime and post-game analysis about whatever element of the Mavs’ offense/defense/picket fence is “soft.” You know what’s soft, Chuck? Your wrinkly, bald…
It used to be a charming millinery ritual: Every spring, little girls would get new dresses, Mary Janes and Easter bonnets. Well, those little girls grew up and graduated to wearing charming and often elaborate hats to church for Easter. Think of the Annual Mad Hatter’s Tea Party at the…
“Well, what can you eat?” is a common question amongst my group of friends. I am notorious for my food allergies—eating and cooking is a daily adventure. As a health-conscious food snob who’s been brown-bagging for years, I am constantly in search of new ideas. More than 11 million Americans…
These days, holiday observance has given way to social fun, and this weekend is no exception. You’ll be likely to find more people celebrating outside with an egg hunt than inside a church (for one of the two days of the year that they actually attend a service). How “He…
There’s a myth floating around that humans only use 10 percent of our brains. (Personally, I have allocated about 3 percent to daily use while the rest is filled up with 26 years of song lyrics.) Does each of us have a large chunk of unused, untapped gray matter? Scientists…
Native Americans make some damn fine storytellers. I mean, when you go through the type of crap they have as a people, it’s hard not to end up with a juicy tale or two. Choctaw author and storyteller Tim Tingle has told one such tale with Crossing Bok Chitto, the…
Neil Simon’s Rumors would be a hell of a lot cooler if he had just added a ‘u’ to the title and written it about Fleetwood Mac. Now there’s a play I would see. Messy break-ups. Rock and roll excess. Stevie Nicks practicing witchcraft while a roadie blows the devil’s…
If we didn’t need children to give Walt Disney a marketing demographic, thereby employing thousands of people, I could do without the little turds. They smell bad, and they ask way too many questions. But I’m not about to get all King Herod on the collective child ass and call…
Chances are, if you’re a New Balance shoe owner interested in fun run bulletins, you already know the drill—pay a small fee for charity, run a 5K with a bunch of people, get an award if you lead the pack. But this one’s called the Bunny Boogie Fun Run, and…
“Women cannot complain about men anymore until they start getting better taste in them.” Bill Maher, in his own words. Love him or hate him, you can’t help but, at the very least, muse upon his irreverent humor and fiendishly provocative social and political barbs. But speaking of “better taste,”…
There are some words that just sound dirty, no matter what, even if they’re not actually dirty words. Like “ficus.” You don’t want just anyone putting their mouth on your ficus, do you? And “phalanges.” If someone touched your phalanges without your permission, wouldn’t you feel violated? Or “Orangina,” which…
When Indian musicians Sushmit Sen, Asheem Chakravarthy, Amit Kilam and Rahul Ram come together onstage, the result, according to a Wikipedia profile, is “Indo-rock fusion with jazz-spiced rhythms that integrates sufism, shlokas, environmentalism, mythology and revolution.” We like it because it has a beat you can dance to. Catch their…
Living the Christian life is certainly no walk in the park. Combined with the struggles of adolescence, the spiritual challenges can be daunting to say the least. Take it from a preacher’s kid who took a bumpy, circuitous route to the Lord. So, my hat is off to the young…
Living the Christian life is certainly no walk in the park. Combined with the struggles of adolescence, the spiritual challenges can be daunting to say the least. Take it from a preacher’s kid who took a bumpy, circuitous route to the Lord. So, my hat is off to the young…
Guidance counselors would have you think they know everything about everyone. The principal’s secretary probably has a golden stash of rumors. But the person who truly knows everyone and holds their fate in her steaming ladle: the lunch lady. Paul J. Williams examines this theory in his one-man show, Dishing…
Some girls grow up to become Miss America, and some girls grow up to become low-rider beauty queens. That, more or less, is the subject of Latino playwright Cristobal Beal’s new comedy, Miss Hell on Heels—Low Rider Queen. The play tells the story of two girls, Mona and Nita, and…
Del Castillo, named “best traditional Latin band” at the recent Austin Music Awards, is anything but. Consider that they’ve also won “Best Contemporary Latin Band,” “Best World Music Band” and, simply, “Best Band of the Year” in years past at the same event. Brothers Rick and Mark del Castillo play…
Funny isn’t exactly the term that springs to mind when I hear the words “feminist musical revue.” Instead, I have to admit I instantly typecast and imagine a stage full of DiFrancos—with perhaps a braless L7 or a protesting Baez thrown in for good measure. Hence, the Contemporary Theatre of…
