This last weekend marked the opening of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra’s 2014-2015 classical season. Saturday evening kicked off with an honorary video commemorating musical director Miguel Harth-Bedoya’s 15th season with the FWSO, followed by a short talk with new composer-in-residence Anna Clyne (on her composition Rewind) and the National…
“I don’t know if I’ve made any significant contributions other than following the advice of an early mentor to ‘keep making art’,” says Val Curry, sculptor and installation artist about making art in Dallas. But he’s probably wrong about that. This guy is one of the most interesting people you…
By Justin Hunt The storybook nostalgia of South Dallas’ RE Gallery is the perfect milieu for the exhibition of Benjamin Terry’s latest works, the unconscious mind. While Terry’s previous ventures focused principally on large, technically adept, two-dimensional works, the current series is a breakthrough of shape and color in much…
Most critics of comedians who love to take their audiences to dark places usually have a single criticism in mind when they prepare to launch their arsenal of self-righteous indignation. “The dark, sad things you’re trying to make people laugh about wouldn’t seem so funny if they happened to you,”…
By Monica Hinman Last night at the Dallas Museum of Art, KERA’s Art and Seek kicked off their sixth season of State of the Arts, which brings together leaders in the local art world to engage in a dialogue about developments and trends in art and culture. Last night’s panel…
Many people wondered what would happen to the Bruce Wood Dance Project (BWDP) after the untimely passing of their artistic director and choreographer. Would the company fold once again? Or would they continue to pursue the mission set forth by their founder? It seems as if fate, this city, the…
One of the first shows that comedian Chris Tellez organized sounds like the nightmare scenario of any aspiring comic. He started a regular monthly stand-up show called “Pillow Talk” at a dive bar in Oak Cliff that didn’t have working air conditioning. The place was packed with sweaty people trying…
Mixmaster presents “100 Creatives,” in which we feature cultural entrepreneurs of Dallas in random order. Know an artistic mind who deserves a little bit of blog love? Email lauren.smart@dallasobserver.com with the whos and whys. Edward Ruiz. Confetti Eddie. The man with the giant dinosaur outside of his studio. You might…
The idea of inviting strangers into their home is not new to Lily Taylor and Sean Miller. When the artistic couple lived in Denton, they participated in the (International) Home Theater Festival, a movement to take performance out of the theaters and use house venues. Recently, they became Dallas residents…
“I can’t go a day without clicking my camera. Capturing the personalities in the flowers, capturing the personality of the ice that forms on the lake by my house…I see the dancers in those flowers and that ice.” Moses Pendleton, artistic director of the dance company Momix, is wired to…
It might be difficult to believe this, but there is an entire generation of adults who have not necessarily seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It’s about time these young whippersnappers learned the “Time Warp” and I can think of no one better to teach them than the Dallas Theater…
Some movies seem to be put on this Earth just for actors. You look at the synopsis of a picture, and you think, “Well, it could be OK,” but then you notice who’s in it — maybe a performer you like but haven’t seen in awhile, or someone you never…
The Drop, the richly textured, beautifully acted film collaboration between Belgian director Michaël R. Roskam (Bullhead) and novelist-turned-screenwriter Dennis Lehane (Mystic River), takes place in the present, but its heart lies in the noirish past of both movies and literature. In that shadowy realm, tough guys are endlessly quotable, and…
Seeing a show at Lyric Stage isn’t just a chance to revisit a beloved piece of American musical theater; it’s an education in how musicals were done, and still can be done, on a grand scale. Lyric’s specialty, its sole focus, is reviving big American musicals, so the draw of…
Even the most inspiration-averse will have eyes as moist as blowholes by the end credits of Dolphin Tale 2, a good-hearted kids’ drama whose earnestness and surprising moral complexity put other sunny-weepy sea-mammal flicks to shame. After the story wraps up, the filmmakers work a trick that’s become common in…
Four years ago, comedian Bill Hader told his agent he wanted to do a drama. It took awhile. “I used to think typecasting wasn’t a thing, and it totally is,” Hader admits. “That’s an industry feeling: ‘How can I take that person seriously when I know they’re capable of such…
“I’ll always be anti-authoritarian, as long as I live,” says Terry Gilliam, the comic provocateur who’s been taking aim at the establishment for over four decades. The only thing that changes: his targets. In Life of Brian, it was religion. In Brazil, the government. And in his latest film, The…
What’s fascinating, new and neglected across all major video platforms. Among other things, cinema has always been a ready-made self-eulogizer — Hollywood was making two-reeler silent comedies about the craft of moviemaking before the viewing public even knew what it entailed, and documentaries about famous and forgotten threads of film…
#454887520 / gettyimages.comJustin Long, Kevin Smith, Haley Joel Osment and Genesis Rodriguez of Tusk pose for a portrait during the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.This summer, a prankster stole Kevin Smith’s Twitter account and tweeted, “Before this comes out I want to state that I am a gay proud man.”…
At 7 p.m. Thursday, September 11 KERA’s Jeff Whittington hosts a conversation with Devon Nowlin Artist; founding member, Homecoming Committee; Arthur Peña Artist; founder and Director, WARE:WOLF:HAUS and VICE PALACE; Darryl Ratcliff Artist; Community Engagement Associate, National Center for Arts Research & Initiative on Arts+Urbanism. Thu., Sept. 11, 7 p.m.,…
The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra opens its 2014/2015 classical season with a concert that combines brand new sounds with familiar ones. At 7:30 p. m. Friday, the orchestra welcomes new composer-in-residence Anna Clyne with a performance of her analog-inspired Fri., Sept. 12, 7:30 p.m., 2014…
Nothing is better than partying for a good cause. You drink, you eat, you dance, all the while knowing that your very presence supports something valuable. Take the Community Cast Party, for example. From 7 p.m. – midnight Saturday you can support WaterTower Theatre by eating good food, entertainment from…
