Arts & Culture

In need of a holiday? Lucky you—because, as the old song goes, life is a cabaret, old chum–and nothing will take you away faster than a singer with a songbook of showstoppers. Also, wine helps. Such is the allure of Cabaret and Cabernet, a decadent escape that doubles as a…

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…

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…

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…

Guardians of the Galaxy is bound to become the movie that you’ll have to see this summer regardless of whether or not you like comic books or you risk becoming the joy-assassin of the season. Director James Gunn, however, may have given a much needed spin on the genre. He…

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…

At this point in the lives of the remaining members of Monty Python, you have to wonder: Is that a bit from the Ministry of Silly Walks he’s doing, or does John Cleese have a touch of lumbago? Oh, it’ll be hilarious either way; it’s just nicer to laugh with…

Stiff Who killed Mickey Blake? That’s exactly what Jeff Swearingen is trying to figure out in his newest play, Stiff. The 2014 Mastermind takes us back to the 1950s, when Broadway was booming, directors were dreaming big, and critics were the almighty and powerful ones who had the ability to…

The statistics are stunning: according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, almost 240,000 Americans age 12 and older are sexually assaulted each year. This means that someone you know has probably survived such an attack—and has had to pick up the pieces and keep going after it happened…

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…

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…

Any list of the best classical concerts to hear in Dallas this August is going to be a short one. Toward the end of the month, the Fort Worth Symphony is putting on a mini festival of music by Brahms and Dvorák (featuring guest soloist Augustin Hadelich on violin). But…

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…

“It’s like I can feel our electrons falling so love with each other’s positive particles…Because chemistry is the only thing deep enough to explain this.” This the last line in the trailer for Chipping Smooth, the inaugural work from Pipe Dream Productions, a rag-tag organization of artists founded just this…

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,…

The myth of Dallas often eclipses the actual city. Thanks to Dallas the TV show, Dallas the city lives in the shadows of oil rigs, oversized cowboy hats and big money. Stereotypes aside, we’re creating our own identity that is actually pretty awesome. It’s time to put down the cowboy…