Arts Blog

Latino Cultural Center opens show with art from The Arc of Dallas

2009-07-04T18:41:52Z

This week's opening of the "Art and Ability" show at the Latino Cultural Center was a huge succe$$.

All the pieces--sculptures to paintings to watercolors to collages--were sold out. The show was brought to the center by The Arc of Dallas, a non-profit that serves Dallas, Collin and Rockwall Counties with a focus on improving life for people with intellectual and related developmental disabilities.

Among the pieces was a Fourth of July favorite: the U.S. flag drawn in a heart shape, rather than the old faithful rectangle. The watercolor was by Jessica Joy Gradle, who wrote this for the exhibit's brochure:

"America offers freedom from discrimination for the handicapped and love for anyone who is different."

]]> The oil and resin on wood piece shown here in this cyberplaza is by John Bramblitt and titled "Jazz Street."

The show closes on August 23rd.

The gallery coordinator, Viola Delgado, calls the exhibit "art from the heart and the soul."

This collection of artists wasn't distracted by art theory over color and line, Delgado says.

The result?

"Art that is just so pure."

That's Broadway: 'Hair' on Conan and 'Rock of Ages' breaks a world record

2009-07-02T15:35:19Z

It's only the second day of July and already there's tons of news on the Broadway front. I hadn't expected anything to much to happen until the end of the summer.

But you can't keep Broadway down - not even in the soggy weather soaking New York City.

Tony award winner Hair not only topped the Billboard Broadway chart with their cast recording, but it will be the first Broadway musical to perform on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien on July 13.

]]> Rock of Ages continues to be my favorite group of people working on Broadway. After the matinee yesterday, they broke a Guiness World Record by creating the largest air guitar ensemble with the cast, crew and audience. Please continue being awesome, Rock of Ages.

In completely unsurprising news, Neil Patrick Harris is reportedly in talks to host the Emmys in September.

Jude Law will bring his indecisive Danish prince to Broadway in the fall. The Donmar Warehouse production of Hamlet is slated for a limited engagement at the Broadhurst Theater.

Finally, The Little Mermaid posted her closing date for August 30. That's Broadway for you.

Two grants from national peers to Kitchen Dog

2009-07-01T20:15:34Z

At the National New Play Network's annual conference, which Kitchen Dog Theater hosted here in Dallas last month, the local pups got voted two awards. One was for a show already finished, in fact -- the rolling premiere of Jihad Jones and the Kalashnikov Babes, which headlined KDT's new play festival in May.

The big news, for us at least, is that a writer nominated by Kitchen Dog, Elaine Romero, received the annual new play commission for her piece Ponzi.

The Fire and Rain test

2009-07-01T13:39:25Z

There's a famous story about the singer/songwriter James Taylor. Once, in concert, a woman in the audience started screaming "I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU."

James Taylor screamed back "It helps not to know me."

Well, I just love Joel Ferrell. But I don't know Joel Ferrell, the latest hire at the Dallas Theater Center (artistic associate- casting). I just know of his reputation........ and it's great. Something just feels right about his being at the Dallas Theater Center. Don't know why, but it does.

I hope his work there is gratifying and draws on his reputed strengths. I hear he's seasoned, knows our talent pool, knows New York, knows this business. He directs musicals AND plays, so he reallllllllllllllly knows how to read a script and cast it. This feels good. Feels right.

I don't know Joel Ferrell and I really don't plan to put him to the fire and rain test. I just know that I love this move by the Dallas Theater Center. Joel Ferrell "People I know love you. People I know love you." Congratulations DTC.

Wilkerson to join Artisan Center Theater

2009-06-30T20:18:25Z

It's a real mark of how serious that mid-cities community institution, Artisan Center Theater, is about upping the ante that it has hired John Davidson as artistic director, effective Aug. 1. Wilkerson just directed a successful My Fair Lady for the company -- and that was surprise enough, since Wilkerson is hardly a community theater sort of guy.

He had been appearing on Broadway and in major national tours for years when he did a couple of guest stints in the Dallas area -- most notably playing Emile de Beque in the Dallas Theater Center's fabulous South Pacific a decade ago. Then he and his wife, a Dallas native, moved here to found a very ambitious new company about five years ago. After a production of State Fair in Grapevine that didn't get the audience it deserved, the company folded. But Wilkerson and his wife, Margaret Shafer, have made occasional local appearances, and he has been touring as one of the Three Redneck Tenors (though he's actually a baritone).

Wilkerson will be running Artisan's educational program and directing four shows a year with the company, beginning with a Mikado that holds auditions July 13 and 14.

It's odd that this comes the week that Theatre Arlington announced that it will no longer have an artistic director, with the departure of B.J. Cleveland. Artisan's future will certainly need watching.

Great Depression Fun

2009-06-30T14:17:57Z

Nobody longs for unemployment and poverty. But it's been proven that adversity and hardship can bring out creativity. The Post WWI and Great Depression era were periods of great creativity. Now we're in a new depression of sorts. Social pain of a sort we're having these days gives everyday folks something of real substance to write about, and sing about. And there's two shows going on in town that honor the hardships that create the kind of great art I'm talking about.

]]> Even for sheer entertainment purposes The Great Depression era is currently all the rage. Are you planning on seeing "Public Enemies" when it opens at movie theaters?

Despair, poverty, corruption, strife between labor and management, melodramas, detective stories and the underside of life in big cities circa 1930's is always an appealing topic for the artists among us. (Fine with me as long as they are not happening in my real life- as long as those events are in the far off past.) If any good thing can come out of these hard times, it might be great literature and great art.

I'm reading that the Great Depression is now a popular party theme, too. I'll admit that I got excited when I read on the arts blog today that Theatre Too is offering nickel tickets for the Woody Guthrie show (which I thoroughly enjoyed when I saw it on opening night- the "Hey, Hey, Hey" number is way too much fun and the "Deportees" song brought tears to my eyes.) I love seeing good old American trains, too, so a boxcar with a bunch of guitars and "making a social statement" singing suits me just fine for entertainment. Bootstraps "The Boxer" is coming for another performance and NOTHING is more appealing to me personally than an old silent movie- Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Lillian Gish are mainstays on my walls and in my DVD collection. Nobody was more down and out than The Little Tramp Charlie Chaplin. Unless it's the characters in "The Boxer". SUCH fun. Go see both shows. If you're going through tough times, you will feel so much better afterwards.

Hey, it may inspire you to write.

The Boxer: One night only before it goes to New York

2009-06-29T21:00:45Z

Matt and Kim Lyle moved to Chicago nearly a year ago, but they've stayed active with two new shows from Matt's hand at area theaters. Now they are reprising their hit The Boxer for one night only, Aug. 22, before they take it to the New York Fringe Festival. The performance will be at 8 p.m. at the Dallas Children's Theater's Rosewood Center for Family Arts. Tickets are $20 through July 10, $30 thereafter -- the show is a benefit for the Fringe trip. Call 214-334-1659. or go to www.theboxer.org.

(Photo of Jeff Swearingen and Kim Lyle by Mark Oristano)

Nickel tickets at Theatre Three

2009-06-29T19:53:04Z

Since the current show in Theatre Three's basement, Woody Guthrie's American Song, is set mostly in the Depression, it's appropriate that the organization is offering people who have been laid off in the current economic crisis an amazing deal. They can see the show for a nickel -- it they call and reserve a "nickel special" ticket and bring a pink slip or other proof of unemployment when they attend.

That's Broadway: where to eat around Broadway

2009-06-29T19:40:45Z

It's finally summertime. Summer means vacations and vacations mean tourism.

Tourists keep my adopted city running. Restaurants, shopping, museums and theatre all benefit from the influx of new, excited people visiting New York City. But those tourists need directions and recommendations to really enjoy all NYC has to offer without spending too much money. Most importantly, where to eat!

Since I spend most of my time hovering around the 10 block radius surrounding the Broadway theatre district, I have compiled a list of fantastic and inexpensive places to eat based on my own needs to eat and save money.

]]> 1. Café Edison - http://www.edisonhotelnyc.com/ Also known as the Polish Tea Room, this Broadway staple is perfect if you are feeling like diner food. Neil Simon's play 45 Seconds from Broadway takes place in this restaurant. It's a good place to spot some Broadway stars stopping in between shows for a BLT or matzo ball soup, like Edison regulars Rebecca Luker and Danny Burstein.

2. Sardi's Restaurant - www.sardis.com Sardi's Restaurant is practically a historical landmark of Broadway. This is the place with all of the caricatures of Broadway stars on the walls. My advice is to go to the second floor and have a drink. Skip the food and just enjoy the atmosphere. Like most Broadway shows, it is closed on Mondays.

3. Joe Allen - http://joeallenrestaurant.com/NY_home.html Everyone thinks of Sardi's when they think of Broadway, but Joe Allen is the true theatre fan's haven. Instead of celebrating hit shows, Joe Allen remembers the flops. The show cards adorning the walls represent shows that continue to be the butt of jokes on Broadway - Carrie, anyone?

Joe Allen is perfect for having a drink after a show for some star gazing. The next time you are in Paris, London or LA, you can hit up a Joe Allen as well.

4. Angus McIndoe - http://www.angusmcindoe.com/ Just down 44th Street from Sardi's, Angus McIndoe's restaurant may not scream Broadway with its Scottish name, but trust me - you will run into Broadway actors and producers alike in this place, including part owner, Nathan Lane.

I highly recommend trying the all day breakfast while sitting on the third floor. Plus they just added a great lunch special, perfect for when you are seeing a matinee.

5. Restaurant Row - www.restaurantrownyc.com If you want a nicer dining experience before or after seeing a show, West 46th Street offers a bounty of delicious restaurants and bars all located on one block between Eighth and Ninth Avenues.

My favorite is Lidia Bastianich's restaurant, Becco. They have an endless pasta selection for $23 and all of their wines are $25 a bottle.

6. Ninth Avenue - If you don't feel like going to Olive Garden, Fridays, Planet Hollywood or Bubba Gump's, head west to Ninth Avenue where the locals eat.

Cheap Thai food (Yum Yum Bangkok) dominates, but you will also find the Film Center Cafe for great American food, any Italian restaurant guaranteed to be better than any you'll find at home, and almost all the restaurants have a pre-theatre prix fix.

Plus, most tourists don't stray too far from their theater for fear of getting lost, so you will be sure to get a table in time to get you in and out for your show.

These are just some suggestions of where to eat when seeing a Broadway show. Actually if you count an entire avenue and one whole street named after restaurants, it is a giant list of possibilities.

It is very easy to get ripped off when you are on vacation. Use this list to make sure you have delicious and inexpensive meals while visiting New York City. That's eating around Broadway for you!

A little strip center with heart.

2009-06-29T16:25:50Z

My pal, Joy Tipping, always uses the phrase "if the F5 ever hits" as if it is her own ten point scale. I know one place that better survive the F5 if it ever hits! My special strip center, my familiar, is that section on Mockingbird Lane near the Palomar Hotel.......the strip center occupied by Premiere Video and Pocket Sandwich Theater.

Nothing against Netflix or Blockbuster. I just prefer Premiere Video. Sam and Heather run the place. They've made it a kind of a haven for the arts community.

Pocket Sandwich Theater is special, too- where other theaters have companies- Pocket Sandwich Theater has a family. It's a theater with a great big heart. I was reminded of that heart on Saturday when Pocket hosted the memorial service for friend and fellow playwright, Steve Lovett.

]]> It was the theater where some of his dreams came true. Steve Lovett wrote plays, melodramas mostly- and Pocket produced them all- over and over again --they were big hits, were pretty darn funny and family friendly, too, because Steve was a master at innuendo.

Pocket has also long been a safe place for actors to hone their comedy craft. Steve acted there many times. Too bad the critics don't usually bother to come- the Pocket is a place for the sublime to the ridiculous- roles sometimes brilliantly portrayed by unbelievably talented comics (David Lugo for one- hello!), but at the least always entertaining. The professionals along with the ever-aspiring actors are welcome to act there. Once anyone acts there, they kinda end up hanging around.

Where other theaters have companies, Pocket has a family.

Nothing against the other theaters. Or their companies.

The strip center also houses Whole Earth Provisions, Run On, a great consignment store and a very special yoga studio.....if there was only a Whataburger instead of the Burger King (in my opinion), that strip would be perfection- especially since one can get a glass of wine over at the Palomar (or a glass from a box of wine at the Pocket.)

Nothing against the Burger King. I just prefer Whataburger.

(On the Pocket stage right now is "Death, the Musical", an original musical written and composed by local luminary Scott A. Eckert, a true Renaissance man - he sings, he writes plays, he writes music and lyrics, he music directs, and he has an MBA. I highly recommend that you check his Shakespeare for the Modern Man series out sometime-Pocket launched them and they were hits, so no doubt they will return to the Pocket Stage sometime in the future.)

Dallasite Russ Jolly was in "Woody Guthrie's American Song" -- 20-odd years ago!

2009-06-24T20:24:54Z

Russ Jolly, the former Broadway actor now in business in Richardson, frequently has good stories about his days and connections in New York. (He was a prime source about Rent creator Jonathan Larson when I did a feature biography on the late composer some years ago.)

Russ worte this morning about his connection to the Woody Guthrie review now in the basement of Theatre Three, which was created by Peter Glazer:

Peter Glazer was first assistant stage manager during the original run of Big River and to my recollection called the cues during the majority of the performances. He's teaching at UC Berkeley now and has a great old Berkeley vibe. Anyway, he had me and another cast member from Big River along with two other actors do the first staged/sung-thru reading of American Song way back in 85 or 86 while we were stilling running Big River. We performed it at The Writer's Theatre which was a small company founded by Tom Fontana who was the creator of St. Elsewhere. I recently reconnected with Peter and have kept in touch with the others in the first cast Linda Kerns, Nicole Orth and Scott Wakefield, who appears on Texas stages on occasion. It's always funny for me to read about shows like this 25 years later and recall the humble origins.

Russ also reports that Lyric Stage had worked all the kinks out of its The King and I by Saturday's performance and that it is "the best, most complete production" he's every seen at Lyric.

(File photo of Russ Jolly from 2003, Willy Welch and Alexander Ross in Woody Guthrie's American Song by Ken Birdsell courtesy of Theatre Three)

Billy Crystal first theatrical show at Winspear Opera House

2009-06-24T20:07:52Z

The Lexus Broadway Series, the tour presenter for the new Winspear Opera House about to open at the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts in October, is scooping its own first show. The Lincoln Center South Pacific is the first subscription item in December. But today the organization announced that it is bringing Billy Crystal's Tony Award-winning one-man show, 700 Sundays, from Nov. 17 through Nov. 22.

Crystal's tribute to his late father set the record for one-week sales for any non-musical show on Broadway back in 2005. A short tour hit some American cities and Australia. AFter a two-year hiatus, the actor-comedian is reviving the piece for a six-city tour.

It's a coup for the series and the DCPA to get a star as big as Crystal duriing its first month of regular operation. Tickets go on sale in July and will be available only to subscribers of the main Lexus Broadway Series.

(Photo by Carol Rosegg)

We were there: Dame Edna at Bass Hall

2009-06-23T17:08:25Z

She knows how to make an entrance: Dame Edna hit the Bass Hall stage on Tuesday night swathed in what seemed an acre of cascading hot pink and silver ruffles, all topped by that magnificent coif of Easter-egg purple. The regular Bass Hall drapes had been replaced by purple ones, of course -- and really, you can't help but admire a woman who apparently considers purple a neutral (as do I).

]]> Dame Edna, the alter ego of Australian actor and comedian Barry Humphries, sang a couple of songs (her ... erm, let's call it "unique" singing voice also filled the hall before the show; at one point, I wrote in my notes: "The yodeling MUST STOP!") and then launched into her trademark "picking on the audience" routine. Three women named Claire, Debra and Lynn were the main attack objects, with Edna gently, helpfully criticizing everything from their wardrobes to hairstyles to choice of male companions. A good deal of fun was had with the definition of "detached," as in "detached house," a British-ism for "not a condo or townhouse or apartment."

She called us her "darling little Fort Worthans" and, frequently, her possums (are possums cuter in Australia than they are here?). She expressed sympathy for the "nouveau pauvre" (newly poor) investment bankers, mortgage analysts and the like sitting in the high balconies. "Listen to their wistful, yet resentful cries!" On hearing that Claire is unemployed, Edna gently queried, "Did you ever make a useful contribution?"

One of the women, Debra, got her revenge when Edna called the trio of women and a man identified only as "senior" (he had gray hair) up on stage for the talk-show portion of the evening. When Edna challenged Debra to sing "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" from Oklahoma!, Debra did a bang-up job, leading Edna to exclaim, "We've found the Susan Boyle of Fort Worth!"

At evening's end, Edna tossed -- well, hurled would be more accurate -- dozens of gladiolas from the stage, then led the crowd in a sing- and sway-along with gladiolas pointing high. "Stand and tremble your gladdies!!" she demanded, and the audience happily lost all dignity in complying with Edna's whims.

If you'd like your own chance to "stand and tremble," not to mention laugh so hard you''ll tear up, Dame Edna: My First Last Tour, presented by Casa Mañana, plays through Sunday at Bass Hall. Get your tix here.

Photo by Greg Gorman: Barry Humphries as Dame Edna.

3rd Annual Kids Art Celebration in Arlington

2009-06-19T17:16:11Z

The kids can do art for free and anything you buy (books for dad, hint, hint?) will benefit the Arlington Museum of Art at the 3rd Annual Kids Art Celebration at Barnes and Noble at Arlington at the Parks Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m.

Just let a cashier know that you want your purchase to benefit the Arlington Museum of Art and Barnes and Noble will make it happen.

Kids activities include:
An edible art station presented by the Children's Art Cafe where kids can create art with messy and yummy supplies

Learning how to draw caricatures from caricature artist Ty Walls

Face painting techniques from Rebecca Williams

Projects to complete and take home from UpStairs Gallery of Arlington along with information on instructional classes for kids to adults.

That tacky Convention Center hotel design

2009-06-19T14:47:20Z

Bravo to real estate reporter Steve Brown for his column today on the dreary design for the Dallas Convention Center Hotel. I've been meaning to write much the same thing. This is one of the highest-visibility sites Downtown, and it will be a big building that everyone who comes to the Convention Center will see. But the initial design looks cheap and tacky.

Dallas missed another great chance to welcome visitors with good architecture in the international terminal at D/FW. What we got there is generic, colorless, utterly uninteresting. We've GOT to do better this time with the hotel.

Back to the drawing board!