Arts & Culture

Contrary to what you might believe, Give It Up! is not an anti-abstinence seminar, but rather a “contemporary pop musical comedy” written by playwright Douglas Carter Beane (Xanadu; To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar). You weren’t too far off base, though, as the play–based on the ancient Aristophanes…

As if art isn’t already complex enough–just deciding on a simple idea can take weeks–providing an entrance to understanding the broad universe of geometric abstraction through art sounds impossible for someone who isn’t used to creating anything but stick figures on a sheet of paper. Movement, Light, Space, Time, Dimension…

Anyone who’s ever read Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, or even just seen the Spielberg film–hell, even seen part of it–knows what a harrowing yet jubilant life sweet Celie leads. Seems an appropriate translation then–taking that emotional and incredible journey from book to film and, finally, to musical. After receiving…

Joe Pike doesn’t dick around. He’s a mercenary and a badass, and he’s seemingly got no qualms about his intense line of work…until his friend, another former mercenary, and his whole family are murdered by Eastern European mobsters. So, just as Pike must learn the ways of said Eastern Euro-mob…

I’m a music person. No, not really a musician–a fan. A connoisseur, really. So, if I believed in the healing power of anything besides medicine, it would be music. Music teacher Joel Shickman believed in that power and, even after his death from leukemia, that belief lives on in his…

I think there’s a tendency among a lot of people to regard remembrances of the civil rights movement as somber affairs, simply because of all the struggle and strife that affected those involved in it. When you think of the people who died for the cause, the loss of luminaries…

Let’s say your New Year’s resolution was to finally get in shape this year. Well, join the club. We’ve all been there–some of us more than once. Perhaps you’ve noticed that your gym is more crowded than usual. Perhaps you’ve seen an uptick in health food sales at your local…

Debating the merits of Houston compared to Dallas seems an exercise in futility. One has enough smog to choke a horse, while the other has an NBA team with a horse mascot and the most embarrassing championship choke in history. One couldn’t keep its NFL team but eventually got another,…

I admit I have a certain fondness for those Broadway tunes, and I love a good soft-shoe shuffle, which is why I’m an easy sell for a night of song and dance complete with a little gender swapping at Uptown’s Broadway Our Way. The show has been selling out annually…

Usually, there’s nothing funny about murder, but when the crime becomes a musical, there’s room to bend the rules. In The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, a Nazi spy and a German cabaret entertainer–along with the rest of the guests in a New York mansion–try to expose the mysterious murderer…

There’s a reason that prints of Claude Monet’s impressionist paintings are so often used as “starter art.” Relatable, visually attractive and extremely well known, the work is hard to go wrong with. It’s no surprise that Monet was a gardener beyond the paintbrush too. Expert Eric T. Haskell discusses how…

There are plenty of things to miss now that the holidays are over–days off from work and school, the joy of watching a child unwrap a present and especially the drinking. But perhaps the most sorely missed is the attention that charities like the North Texas Food Bank and Tarrant…

Give me the chance to ask Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner a question and I’d ask him if he wouldn’t mind explaining to my boss why I was wasted the other afternoon when I was supposed to be on deadline. Give me two questions and I’d ask how he felt…

If you’re a part of the baby boom generation, congratulations on making it through the red scare. Life just wouldn’t be the same without a few scary communist and socialist experiences. Wouldn’t you agree? After all, they say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and the American public should…

Perhaps the most inane colloquialism these days is the mopey, just-give-up phraseology of “It is what it is.” It is? What? It is. Oh my, how thought-provoking. So we hope that the Thornwood Gallery’s Paint Is Paint exhibit goes a little deeper in content than in title. Then again, it…

If someone finds out you’re a fan of the show Flight of the Conchords, there’s always one question they want to ask: Bret or Jemaine? But I think people need to delve deeper under the surface of the show and ask the real, tough questions like: Murray or Dave? Come…

North Texas may not be renowned for its cold weather (white Christmases aside), but you don’t really need to be hiding from a snowstorm or lounging by a crackling fireplace to remind you that it’s soup season. Before winter’s come and gone, head on over to the Dallas Central Market’s…

As if getting back to the grind after the holidays weren’t depressing enough, many people have New Year’s resolutions dragging them down. Here’s an idea: rather than make a negative food-related resolution, like dieting or cutting back on the booze, resolve to appreciate good food. Start by learning to cook…

Some of us are old enough to remember the first wave of “blaxploitation” flicks that stormed theaters in the early 1970s. Others experienced the phenomenon via videos and television. Regardless, it’s safe to say that most are familiar with the genre and know that its influence is still being felt…

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, as the old saying goes. Whoever said that conveniently forgot to mention that really sincere imitation can be downright creepy, though. At the top of that list: fat, sweaty Elvises clad in white leather. Further down the list is Led Zeppelin 2, the…

Have you ever stared at a piece in an art exhibit and wondered, “Why would I pay for this when my 3-year-old could easily create a reasonable facsimile for free?” Likewise, have you ever listened to a musician bent over his amp for upward of 30 minutes, fiddling with his…