What’s it like to be a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer whose works have been performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Tokyo String Quartet and The President’s Marine Band? You’d have to ask Jennifer Higdon about that, and you may just get your chance at Composing Conversations. As one of only a handful…
After years of hiding your tap shoes, it’s time to pull them out and hoof it down to Fair Park, where you can join the Fab-TAP-ulous fun with tons of fellow dance lovers thanks to the Dallas Dance Council of North Texas and Dallas Summer Musicals. This sweet duo is…
Dallas Comic Con, that annual ode to pop-culture nerdery, arrives at the Irving Convention Center this weekend. If it’s anything like last year’s, it will be glorious. But for noobs and vets alike, it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle. So we’ve created a simple-to-follow-if-you-know-your-A-B-Cs glossary, to give you…
Thought all subcultures were already tapped for reality television? Guess again. A new program is gaining momentum and intends to fill its cast with our favorite obsessives, The Nerds of Earth. The Quest has been described by its creator as “Amazing Race in Middle-Earth” and takes its potential crew on…
Dallas’ sprawl is often seen as a weakness, especially when it comes to creating community. But sometimes a little distance is useful. It allows for distinctive pockets of artistic personalities to emerge, and when those pieces click together, as should happen on Saturday, our city’s many influences become visible, tangible…
If you’re a new parent, of course you want the best for your beautiful little angel-bundle of piss and dump. And don’t fancy designers know it. Here are five ridiculous baby-clothing options that are currently available in the world. Prepare to be amazed. Gucci Double-Strap Sneaker, Pink (above) You, too,…
There’s a lot going on in That Mortal Coil (Rebuking the Ideal in Contemporary Figurative Art), CentralTrak’s newest group show, curated by Heyd Fontenot. The exhibition is a search for beauty in unconventional bodily spaces, and a retaliation to how the human figure is perceived in terms of physical perfection…
Before they were strangers who decided to stop being polite and start getting real, the cast members of Real World were just stars in waiting. MTV’s iconic staple of reality television is now casting for Season 29. The show’s vetters will be in Dallas at Redrock Bar and Grill on…
When we see you on the street and think you put some thought into your style, we may take your picture and ask you things. See previous installations in the Street Style archive. We were thrilled by the sunshine, local jams and summer fashion at the 4th Annual Homegrown Fest…
A few weeks ago, Jason Reimer’s lovely teaser for the Oak Cliff Film Festival made the rounds. Today, we finally get some concrete evidence of just what will be screening. Some highlights include Computer Chess, Andrew Bujalski’s wonderfully weird ode to ’80s computer programmers; Joe Swanberg’s brewery comedy Drinking Buddies;…
The 14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition kicks off with preliminary rounds in Fort Worth in just two weeks. On Friday, the organization tweeted this teaser video in anticipation of the high-stakes, high-pressure event…
Embrace your fandom, dig for obscure back issues of your favorite reads and pull on a weird jumpsuit because it’s Comic Con time. This year’s fest sets its phasers to stun on Saturday when Shatner pops by for a visit. Prefer late-model Trek? No problem, special guests Geordi La Forge,…
The audience that packed into last night’s Found Footage Festival at Texas Theatre learned some important lessons. The most haunting stemmed from a video segment regarding the management practices of various open sores, where crudely edited television hosts materialized out of an abscessed toe, or spun a terrifying game of…
In the last decade, social media and the Internet have assisted in getting more eyes and ears on the subject of autism, giving us a better understanding of what children on the autistic spectrum need on a daily basis, whether or not vaccinations play a role and how to edge…
Information: There’s a Huggies App that sends you a tweet whenever your kid pees in his diaper. Adweek tells us that the Huggies TweetPee is “a little sensor dreamed up by Ogilvy Brazil that affixes to your baby’s diaper, syncs with an app and tweets at you whenever it detects…
A man stands alone in the first-floor hallway of the Fairmont Hotel in downtown Dallas. His lanky arms hang behind his back, hands clasped. His fedora sits low between his eyes, obscuring his unflinching gaze at the glass encasement filled with large-scale, Renaissance-style oil paintings. Tony Bennet, the hotel doorman,…
While last year Art Con doled out speakers for RZN8, this year’s seed event — which raises money and awareness for the annual party — gets more visually freaky. The gang just announced that the June 8 event, MOUNTED, will be all taxidermy-themed. Participating MOUNTED artists have been issued wall…
(Wait through the ad. It’s worth it) Well, now you’re awake. That was just one snippet from tonight’s Found Footage Festival at Texas Theatre. Add another work week to the body count and get ready for a three-finger pour of not-office. Unstuffy art pops up all over Dallas on Saturday;…
Every week we highlight the best comedy of the coming weekend. Find more comedy events at dallasobserver.com/calendar. Marc Ryan at Hyena’s in Dallas From the backwoods of Louisiana, Marc Ryan is a hootin’ and hollerin’ ball of energy on stage. Constantly battling the “stupid hick” stereotype, Ryan is anything but…
There’s a scene in Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby in which Leonardo DiCaprio’s hyper-rich, super-awkward Jay Gatsby takes it upon himself to redecorate the bachelor pad of his less-prosperous friend, Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire). Gatsby’s old flame, Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan), is coming to Nick’s house for tea. Eager to…
One of the most beguiling of the many stories all knotted up in Salman Rushdie’s brilliant, baggy, exhausting 1981 novel Midnight’s Children concerns a lovelorn doctor, his beautiful patient and that timeless exemplar of old-world prudishness: a sheet with a hole in it. The patient, Naseem, not yet of marriageable…
“It was 1991. I fly into L.A. I take a cab to Compton. On the phone, Richard [Williams] said, ‘The only thing I guarantee you, you won’t get shot,'” says tennis coach Rick Macci. “I thought he was kidding.” Macci was meeting with Williams and his two young daughters, Venus…
