When I reached out to Katherine Bourne, one of the key organizers of Shakespeare in the Bar, she mentioned in passing that one of their actors is sick and they’re trying to decide whether to have a sock puppet or an audience member fill the role. I voted sock puppet…
Mixmaster presents “100 Creatives,” in which we feature cultural entrepreneurs of Dallas in random order. He’s young, but he’s already got the critics raving. Adam A. Anderson is one of the rising talents in the Dallas theater world. He’s won the DFW Theater Critics Forum Award for best actor and…
So far in our quest to find the fugliest building in Dallas, we’ve attacked the AT&T corporate office in East Dallas and the Dallas World Trade Center building. Two strong contenders for sure. But is the next one fugly enough to take top standing? I’m talking about the ever-popular Turley…
Theatre Britain’s annual British “panto” fairytale at the Cox Playhouse in Plano is always a holiday treat. This year Beauty & the Beast, not the talking furniture Disney musical, but a campier comedy by Jackie Mellor-Guin, uses all the traditional gimmicks we now know to expect. Kiddies will latch onto…
Surprising his fans is kind of Dave Chappelle’s thing. I’m not sure I fully understand the marketing strategy of announcing things out of nowhere, but it must be working for him. In 2012, he announced it day of, which meant swiftly canceling plans with anyone who didn’t want to move…
I was running late last night, as 8 p.m. approached swiftly and I was still not on Greenville Avenue. I wasn’t meeting people for dinner or drinks, and it was unlikely my night would last past 9 p.m. I was headed to a podcast listening party. Because exactly two weeks…
By Anita Riot If you aren’t familiar with the decade-long rise of modern roller derby, you may not know that teams, officials and fans from 30 different countries have already taken over the concrete floors of the Dallas Convention Center. The Roller Derby World Cup, hosted by Blood & Thunder…
If you’re not listening to the hit podcast Serial, chances are you know someone who is and won’t shut up about it. If you’re a friend of mine, I’m probably the fanatic in your life who monologues about what exactly happened in Woodlawn, Maryland — the sleepy suburb of Baltimore…
Settle in for a long winter’s nap at A Civil War Christmas at Theatre Three. It’s a mournful 150-minute drama with music, all public domain stuff (“Silent Night,” “There Is a Balm in Gilead,” and even “The Yellow Rose of Texas”). Author Paula Vogel won a Pulitzer Prize for How…
BY INKOO KANGHospitals are depressing. Until recently, medical shows glossed over this basic fact of life by focusing on the most glamorous clique within them: doctors. For the past two decades, the upwardly mobile audience identification integral to most TV shows taught us to look away from the bedpans and…
The biggest laugh I heard from the audience at my screening of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies came from seven words in the end credits: “Based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien.” Just picture that tweedy Oxford philologist nodding in pleased approval at this adaptation of his…
One of my favorite holiday traditions as a young child was our annual reading of the classic holiday tale The Polar Express. Now thanks to Robert Zemeckis’ love of special effects and budgets that could make a third world dictator jealous, we no longer have to rely on our imaginations…
If you’re not listening to the hit podcast Serial, chances are you know someone who is and won’t shut up about it. If you’re a friend of mine, I’m probably the fanatic in your life who monologues about what exactly happened in Woodlawn, Maryland — the sleepy suburb of Baltimore…
‘Tis the season when the pundits come out of the woodwork to proclaim that Christmas is dead, killed off by a bunch of non-believers who have co-opted all the good sales and cookies for their secular holiday celebrations. We hear of a post-Christmas society, where even Santa is a sinner…
Even if you don’t really give a damn about the holiday season, you can still celebrate Festivus. Even better, you can celebrate Festivus with an evening of burlesque. Presented by Viva Dallas Burlesque, Festivus Follies promises an evening of great burlesque from some of the country’s best dancers, including Minneapolis’…
The guy that wrote that “Tap Your Troubles Away” song was on to something. Despite the racket that it conjures up, it’s the very definition of “joyful noise”—a spirited rat-a-tat that elicits a smile with every shuffle-step. And it’s worth noting that the art form behind the cheerful hoofing has…
Denton’s holiday festival is beloved by its residents, and for good reason. The annual Holiday Lighting event is practically a one-stop-shop for every holiday experience you could want. Santa will be on hand to take pictures with kids and immature adults, along with horse-drawn carriage rides around the town square,…
In the dark underbelly of the North Pole lives a legion of elves deeply, deeply dissatisfied with their lot in life. They’ve let themselves go — bulbous bellies poke out from under their elf apparel, unseemly hair pokes out from their trademark ears and their complexions have undertones of “don’t…
You’ve seen those Christmas trees on advertisements, on Pinterest and maybe on the Facebook page of that friend you have who fancies herself an interior designer: monochromatic, modern and cool. The tinsel is symmetric; the lights, perfectly twinkling. There are no crappy salt dough ornaments contributed by 3-year-olds. No Borg…
Hundreds of drunk Santas roaming Dallas sounds like the beginning of a scary Christmas movie. Unless of course you’re in on the drinking, too. Starting at 4 p.m. Saturday at Mockingbird Station, you can meet with other people who want to drink away the holidays for a Santa Rampage. This…
As a child nothing was more exciting on Thanksgiving morning than to rush to the television and watch the floats and balloons march through the streets of New York City. Plus, who didn’t love the Broadway dance breaks? My mom would make hot chocolate and breakfast, and I’d rummage through…
Klyde Warren Park, that lovely little downtown green space lights up this weekend in Christmas colors. The highly photographable tree will be lit by Santa himself at the culmination of the daytime, family evet, Celebrate the Holidays at Klyde Warren Park. Snap a shot with Mr. Claus, feed a live…
