Staged Reading: Advent by Montgomery Sutton

“The Aviary invites you to join us at 500X Gallery (500 Exposition Ave, Dallas TX 75226-1789) on Sunday, December 21st at 7:00pm for a public reading of Advent, a new play by Montgomery Sutton, as the inaugural entry in our “Hatchlings” play reading series. In Advent, two brothers isolate themselves…

One Last Nutcracker

You’re running out of time to spend with the rat king. With Christmas swiftly appraoching, there are only a few days during which the viewing The Nutcracker is appropriate. It’s a longstanding tradition for families to drag Dad to the theater for the dancing sugarplums. And for 30 years, it’s…

Jangled

Is the holiday season getting you down? Do you feel pressured to find the right gift, attend all the parties you’re invited to, and sing along with every single Christmas song you hear? Are all those sleigh bells ringing, jinglin’, ring ting tinglin’, leaving you feeling a little jangled? Well,…

Matt Lyle’s House Party

There’s nothing quite like the holidays to make you feel like a kid again, even if you’re a bona fide grownup with a career and a 401k and your very own medical debt. Because when you walk into your parents’ home for holiday celebrations, all those adult things just kind…

Matt Lyle’s House Party

There’s nothing quite like the holidays to make you feel like a kid again, even if you’re a bona fide grownup with a career and a 401k and your very own medical debt. Because when you walk into your parents’ home for holiday celebrations, all those adult things just kind…

Holiday Lights With More Sparkle, Less Cheesiness

Holiday stories have been done many different ways. There are comforting storybooks, quaint cartoons, heartwarming movies, frothy ballets and even sparse Christmas plays. In so many of these, the cheery holiday message takes center stage, while the medium takes a backseat. Not so with Lightwire Theater’s A Very Electric Christmas…

All That Christmas Jazz

You know what you’re missing? The smooooooth sounds of jazz. For the last month, you’ve been surrounded by jarring renditions of “Santa Baby” and resurrected Wham! Songs. Now your poor nerves are inflamed and the opening notes of “All I Want For Christmas Is You” have started to feel like…

Merry TubaChristmas

You’ve survived the crowded shopping. You’ve suffered through Jim Carrey’s desecration of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. You’ve sat through tassled titties celebrating the birth of Christ, and ironic Nutcrackers and — shudder — traditional Christmas chorale music. You’re near the finish line, so take this day to relax. Head…

The Ten Best TV Shows of 2014

By Inkoo Kang TV continued to unmoor from its origins and transform into something else this year. No longer tethered to a specific appliance, a particular kind of storytelling, or even commercial concerns, “television” now feels like an increasingly obsolete word. But that’s a discussion for another time, for we’ve…

Five Art Exhibitions To See This Weekend

Cognitive Dissonance Cognitive Dissonance is something most adults understand, and relate to. That two things you believe or value could be in direct conflict with one another is a frustrating, anxiety-filled way to live in this gray-shaded world. The new series of work by Dallas-based artist Gaeb Cardinale shares a…

Marion Cotillard Wins — Twice — in Our 2014 Film Critics’ Poll

What kind of circle is time again? A year after blowing the doors off our annual critics’ poll, golden boy Matthew McConaughey won just a single vote for his turn in the loudest movie of the year, Christopher Nolan’s tears-in-space effort Interstellar, which has tied with the unprescient Transcendence as…

100 Dallas Creatives: No. 30 Delicate Touch Margaret Meehan

Mixmaster presents “100 Creatives,” in which we feature cultural entrepreneurs of Dallas in random order. The touch of artist Margaret Meehan is delicate. Which is not to say that her work is sugarcoated, but respectful, intricate and sensitive. Gleaning subject matter from history and literature, much of Meehan’s work pulls…

Bad Taste, Good Time at Trailer Park Christmas Musical

If you have soured on The Nutcracker or are humbugged by too many Christmas Carols, pull into The Great American Trailer Park Christmas Musical, now onstage at WaterTower Theatre in Addison. It’s a hot mug of sassy-crass tea, two hours of low comedy with a high-caliber cast. Christmas season has…

This Weekend Stay Home Alone at the Griswold Family Christmas

With more than 20 years of annual viewing, lines from Home Alone and Christmas Vacation have become part of my family’s holidayspeak. Even the easily ignored lines like, “Buzz, your girlfriend, Woof!” or when Clark is wandering the supermarket with his brother-in-law Eddie says, “And Clark, make sure you get…

100 Dallas Creatives: No. 31 Critical Artist Thor Johnson

Mixmaster presents “100 Creatives,” in which we feature cultural entrepreneurs of Dallas in random order. Thor Johnson has great stories. A lot of great stories. And a lot of shocking ones too. He’s been in and out of the art scene in Dallas since the 80’s, with his first exhibition…

Our Arts Editor Goes Clubbing, Finds America

Near the back of my closet, I have two bright pink costume dresses I’ve worn to theme parties; I have my sister’s garish red prom dress; five versions of the little black dress that hit too close to my kneecaps to be properly labeled little; and tucked somewhere near the…

2014: A Year in Dallas Dance

The Dallas dance scene is alive and well, and if 2014 is any indication, 2015 is going to provide us with a lot of entertainment, opportunities to perform and chances to expand the community. In an effort not to sugarcoat anything, I will say that we are still facing issues…

The Asshole’s Guide to Holiday Movies

By Amy McCarthy & Jaime Paul Falcon You poor people, you’re on your way home for the holidays, and the reality that you can’t steal away to the bar every night sinks in right around the time your mother insists that you actually talk to your grandparents instead of just…

Five (Blissfully) Non-Holiday Events This Week

This time of year, you’re either deeply enamored with all the holiday music and Christmas lights, or trying to figure out how to put your head in a vise so it will all just go away. If you fall into the latter camp, finding something to do during the holiday…