Nothing — and I mean nothing — was off limits last night at Bass Hall. Joan Rivers joked about it all, from falling vaginas to fat people needing two airline seats to Michael Jackson kiddie sleepovers. The show opened with Brad Upton. He did the whole bitter, old guy humor…
A revenge of the have-nots playing on the clear class stratification of the luxury high-rise, Tower Heist pits lobby against penthouse. Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) is the manager of The Tower, an exclusive apartment building on New York’s Columbus Circle (the Trump International, in fact). Josh’s job is to know…
The morality of the mad-scientist tale has remained more or less fixed since the beginning of sound cinema: From Dr. Frankenstein’s hubristic claim to “know what it feels like to be God,” to Jurassic Park’s criticism of “scientists [who] were so preoccupied with whether they could that they didn’t stop…
There is a fiddler and there is a roof in Rags, the 1986 musical getting a splendid revival at Irving’s Lyric Stage. But those aren’t the only things it has in common with that other piece of American musical theater featuring Russian Jews belting show tunes. The books for Rags…
As if the tasseled breasts, acrobatics and flashes of sensual skin aren’t enough, Viva Dallas Burlesque performs Beggar’s Carnivale! with a vaudeville twist. The event features top burlesque dancers from St. Louis in an act that blends slapstick theatrical style with graceful aerial maneuvers from infamous burlesque dancers of the…
Many of you have experienced sibling rivalry. You loved your brother and your sister even though they pulled that prank on you at the dinner table the night before. Pillow fights, bathroom “hogging” and “she ate my cookie” were common incidents back in the day. Max and Ruby are no…
The Statue of Liberty is arguably the most recognizable monument in New York, but few things say freedom and liberty these days like a boardwalk hot dog or resemble the huddled masses like the crowded Astroland Park. Photographer Harvey Stein has sought to capture the ever-changing nature of the “poor…
MBS Productions presents the world premiere of Octavia, a play banned for centuries by the Roman Empire because of its political content. Set in 90 A.D., the romantic tragedy follows tyrannical Roman Emperor Nero and his wife, Octavia. The play presents multiple challenges Octavia faces, including what it means to…
Even though Halloween has come and gone, the folks over at the McKinney Performing Arts Center are keeping the spook alive. On November 5, the MPAC, located in the renovated historic Collin County Courthouse that was rumored to be haunted, will host a paranormal lecture series. Speakers for the event…
If you’ve been to the Dallas Zoo lately, you’ve likely noticed that it’s a heckuva lot better than it has been in years past, and much of that success can be attributed to its privatization in October 2009 and fund-raising efforts like the annual Zoo to Do. Celebrating its 20th…
We live in interesting times that beget interesting fears. Our nightmares aren’t so much of the monster and zombie variety, but rather ideas like environmental decline, technological alienation and human rights issues. These fears are found in the Latina Dance Theater Project’s The Slumber of Reason, a darkly comic performance…
What does a plot that involves four grown women fighting over a “sexy” cable guy make you think of? If it rhymes with scornography, then shame on you. It is actually the premise of The Black Academy of Arts and Letters play Love Won’t Let Me Wait, onstage through Sunday…
Sarah Vowell appeared on The Daily Show last year to promote The Wordy Shipmates, her set of essays on Puritan America. She was talking about the history of Rhode Island when the host suddenly interrupted her. “You’re very smart,” Stewart said dreamily, gazing across the table at her. She really…
It’s not always easy to entertain preschoolers, but the folks at Dallas Heritage Village have an activity for the sippy-cup set that’s more fun and educational than that Elmo DVD your kid has watched a thousand times. Barnyard Buddies is back, and this installment, Saddlebag Supper, features a craft activity…
What do a desk, logs, cardboard boxes, buildings, a train, fans, radios, a tractor, a bed, blocks, toy trees, a dollhouse, Saturn, record players, a grandfather clock, train cars, cash registers and Tinker Toys have in common? Nothing and everything. Almost everything anyway. That’s the central message in Lance Letscher’s…
For anyone who’s seen Shrek, it’s impossible to think about the lovable green ogre as having any voice but Mike Myers’ over-the-top Scottish accent. Strangely enough, Chris Farley of SNL fame was the original choice to voice the character on the big screen. (Perhaps even more confusing is that Janeane…
Clicking through vacation photos on Facebook is a poor substitute for actually being there. A photo of a Hawaiian beach makes me feel less like the sun is warming my face as the tide rolls in and more like I need fewer braggart friends. But maybe the communication breakdown is…
Museums generally have many rules: no drinking, no smoking, no photography, no loud talking, no touching, no fun. It’s a lot like elementary school — not a place where anyone necessarily wants to go, but in the end you’re glad you did. If you can follow along with that stunning…
I’ve seen Billy Zinser’s work, and it’s totally fabbers. And yes, that’s totally a word. His art is abstract and overly textured like chunky streams of paint spilling forth on a canvas. I know what you’re thinking, and no, I didn’t go to art school, but that doesn’t stop me…
Greater minds have filled countless pages trying to articulate a definition of art, but all we know is that it seems to come from a source greater than pure education or formal training. This fall, the Pollock Gallery at SMU celebrates underappreciated American artists in its exhibition Self-taught Masters of…
Driving through Arkansas not long ago, I turned on the radio and scanned for local stations talking about anything but rightwing politics or Jesus. It was early on a Saturday morning and I stopped on a show called “The Trading Post.” In a drawl you could drizzle on a waffle,…
Welcome to another edition of Geek-Offs, where you’ll find the perfect distractions to help you muddle your way through hump day each week. I have an irrational fear of falling. It’s not that the fear itself is unheard of, but the reason it’s truly irrational is that the nerd in…
