We all know the story of Helen Keller, how the three-legged little girl learned to say the quadratic equation under the watchful tutelage of Annie Sullivan, despite the fact that she had three legs. Magical. But the Dallas Children’s Theater makes bold assertions in their new production of The Miracle…
Any person can take brush, roller or aerosol can to canvas and produce a painting these days, so what makes a work of art actually art? Moreover, what makes paint paint? It’s a question not easily answered (unless, say, you pull out your Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary because you’re a smartass),…
We all know Shakespeare. The “thees and thous,” the Romeos, the Juliets. But the one-man show Shakespeare’s Keeper shows us a new side of the Bard. The award-winning play centers on life in the era of Shakespeare’s famous Globe Theatre. Told from the perspective of a sometimes caustic stage hand,…
Bruce Bruce is a large man. He’ll tell you so himself, in fact. He usually opens his stand-up routine stating his assumption that the people in the front row are hoping he doesn’t fall on them. He has been losing weight, though. According to some recent interviews he lost more…
Martha Stewart would vurp if she saw my house right now. My bed isn’t made, my desk is a total mess, half of the food in my fridge is furry and I haven’t dusted the baseboards in…well, ever. But according to Eric Abrahamson and David Freedman (writers of A Perfect…
King of the Road, a musical about a vaudeville family nearing the end of the line if they don’t step up and find a new act, reminds us of two things: Roger Miller (for obvious reasons) and The Aristocrats (because we’re really hoping this is not the sort of act…
Where do you recognize Brad Sherwood from? Perhaps his artful turn as “Team Agent #2” in the 1997 remake of That Darn Cat. How do you know Colin Mochrie? He’s the tutu-wearing “Snack Fairy” in those Nabisco commercials. More than likely, you’re most familiar with the duo’s work as cast…
At this very moment they’re ascending the frostbitten peaks of Park City, Utah: filmmakers and film-breakers, which is to say, in the latter case, movie execs and film critics who will decide what’s hot after spending a week in the bitter cold. Among those making the long trek to the…
For its first 20 minutes, Democracy painstakingly documents events surrounding the 1969 election of left-leaning politician Willy Brandt to the post of chancellor of West Germany’s democratic parliament. If that sentence bores you down to your lederhosen, just wait till you hear what’s in the rest of this 150-minute drama…
The Cowboys may be America’s Team, but is there a doubt that the Mavericks are Dallas’ team? The overwhelming favorite to return to the finals, if not win it all, the Mavs are sporting the best record in the NBA, and here’s what’s really scary: They’re not even kicking on…
Who could possibly be less Mexican than Charlton Heston? William Shatner (“Spock—pass me—those—churros.”)? Heidi Klum (“¡Nina Garcia!”)? How did Heston ever get cast as a Mexican official? Maybe Orson Welles was impressed by his chipotle-mayo gordita portrayal of Ben Hur. Or, perhaps he was taken aback by his extra hot…
Her infamous tenacity, notable (if slightly tarnished) résumé and James Bond villainess name may have helped establish NPR legal affairs consultant Nina Totenberg as the Lois Lane of the public radio airwaves. But it was her Peabody Award-winning coverage of the Clarence Thomas sexual harassment allegations that first brought her…
Even with the trendy Bishop Arts district and now the fancy Belmont Hotel, I still find myself defending Oak Cliff. And I don’t even live there. My Plano friend Klint had some reservations about a dinner outing down that way, but what do you know, I think he was pleasantly…
There’s a moment in Fearless Freaks, Bradley Beesley’s fine 2005 documentary about the Flaming Lips, when Lips’ multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd allows Beesley to film him shooting heroin. It’s a conflicted moment, part truly sad—it’s clear Drozd is resigned to his addiction—and also, truth be told, somewhat romantic, in that tragic,…
In the middle of bustling and sometimes gritty downtown Dallas is the world-class Crow Collection of Asian Art. And in the middle of a busy Tuesday, the Crow offers noon gallery talks—the perfect foil to a day that’s usually too far from Friday to even think about fun things such…
Recently in this section, I mentioned my country and western music phase, which played a crucial part in my greatest heartbreak. Just before that, I went through a whole smooth jazz/New Age stage that was brought on by my discovery of the Oasis radio station. Why I latched onto that,…
Last year, my painfully enthusiastic roommate handed me a dollar-store eye patch and forced me to participate in Talk-Like-a-Pirate Day. A few months ago, my little brother had a pirate-themed birthday party, complete with temporary skull-and-crossbones tattoos…and he was turning 19. Pirates are everywhere these days, whether we like it…
We’ve never been accused of being sophisticated, so it should come as no surprise that the phrase “Delicately Dirty” takes our minds directly to the gutter. What might it mean? An online store selling pre-owned lingerie? A fetish shop focusing on leather and lace? An indie doc exposing the innermost…
Bees and black holes. Sounds like a bad summer vacation, but the WaterTower Theatre “shows us the honey” in Charlotte Jones’ award-winning British play Humble Boy. In her “Hamlet Light,” dysfunctional family ties tangle in the string theory following the death of astrophysicist Felix Humble’s bee-keeping father. This smart comedy…
Much like Bo Jackson’s dual membership in the Los Angeles Raiders and the Kansas City Royals, or Jared Leto’s mediocre turns as an actor and a member of the rock band 30 Seconds to Mars, Henri Matisse traveled many avenues of the art world. He may be best known for…
Much like Bo Jackson’s dual membership in the Los Angeles Raiders and the Kansas City Royals, or Jared Leto’s mediocre turns as an actor and a member of the rock band 30 Seconds to Mars, Henri Matisse traveled many avenues of the art world. He may be best known for…
How do you tell your real friends from the fakers? You know, which are the ones that would take a bullet—or at least, tell you they would—and which are the ones that smile, nod, agree with you to your face and then remove that smiling mask like a villain in…
