Back Talk Lakewood/East Dallas

Wanna be in a Gary Coleman movie?

Read this post from one of our Lake Highlands bloggers. Conveniently, filming is taking place early next week at the Lakewood Theater.

Free admission to Dallas Museum of Art and Nasher Sculpture Center all weekend

Yes, that's right — and they're air-conditioned, too, so all the better. The DMA and the Nasher, which normally charge adult admission prices of $10, are opening their doors from 6-10 p.m. tonight and all day Saturday and Sunday to anyone who wants to visit, free of charge. It's part of the Dallas City Arts Celebration, which lasts all weekend long and includes outdoor concerts, dance performances and culinary showcases in the Dallas Arts District (not air-conditioned, but still lots of fun).

On top of free admission, the DMA is offering half-price tickets to its newest exhibition, "Making It New: The Art and Style of Sara and Gerald Murphy". Since only seven Gerald Murphy paintings are known to exist (each, including the one above, is part of the exhibit, two in the DMA's permanent collection), the exhibit is mostly a history of the Murphys' lives, which I found fascinating. Display cases are full of memorabilia from their interactions with well-known artists and thinkers from the 1920s and '30s, such as Gerald Murphy's Yale University classmate Cole Porter, with whom he collaborated on a breakout American jazz ballet, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose family was part of the Murphys' social circle during their time as expatriates living on the French Riviera.   

My favorite part of the exhibit, however, had to be the newspaper clippings with witty captions sent from caustic American poet, Dorothy Parker.

Dallas Arts District detailed; lots is going on there, but most is pretty high-dollar

I have to admit I've never quite grasped the entire downtown arts district vision; in the abstract, it sounded like a good idea, but despite looking at some of the generic site plans over the years, the whole thing just never clicked with me. But the Morning News has an outstanding package of information (two pages' worth) in Sunday's paper, complete with architectural critiques of the new buildings, a site plan identifying each building, and commentary describing what's being built and what probably should have been added to the plan. Overall, the arts district — according to the way I read the DMN package — is shaping up to be a pretty-to-look-at but a little pricey-to-enjoin area of downtown. Lots of arts opportunities (clearly, if you have an artistic kid, you should be looking at the brand new $55 million Booker T. Washington arts magnet school, given its proximity to everything down there), a few retail opportunities (with lots more needed) and some downtown condo/high-rise housing, if you happen to be packing upwards of $500,000 to $1 million and more in your housing budget. What's missing, according to the News, is more "middle-income" (which would probably be defined as $250,000-type stuff, in this setting), an actual DART stop closer to the district, and a more well-rounded shopping experience. But hey, given what's been in that area between Ross and Woodall Rogers for as long as I've been in town, it's a great step forward, with more to come.

'The Drowsy Chaperone' leads me to Gilbert Blythe

Last night my sister and I took our husbands to the Dallas Summer Musicals performance of "The Drowsy Chaperone", which we saw on Broadway two years ago with the original cast. Our first time to watch the show, we didn't really know what to think during the first act, but by the time we reached the second act, tears were rolling down our cheeks from laughing so hard. We finally figured out that it's a musical for people who both love musicals and can appreciate all the quirks of the classics.

We decided to see it again when the national tour came through town at Music Hall at Fair Park, and bought tickets a few months ago. I honestly hadn't looked into it to see if the touring cast was as good as the original, mostly because I didn't want to go in with any preconceived notions, but it turns out that this cast has gotten rave reviews, including here locally.

Of course, I didn't read any of this before I sat down in the theater last night, so when I opened my Playbill to look over the cast list, my eyes popped when I read the name of the person playing the lead role — Jonathan Crombie.

Sold-out Radiohead concert greatness and thought-provoking parking situations

Last night I enjoyed what might be the single most magnificent concert experience of my lifetime. The Radiohead show at Superpages.com (formerly Starplex, formerly Smirnoff music center) was, in a word, brilliant. But since I’m guessing most Back Talk readers aren’t Radiohead fans (please correct me if I’m wrong here — I'd love to know otherwise), I’m going to reflect a bit on another aspect of the concert-going experience we can all relate to — parking. I’ve seen this before when I’ve attended the Texas State Fair or concerts at Starplex/Smirnoff/Superpages.com and it’s always intrigued me — homeowners selling parking spots on their driveways, streets and lawns.

Nine Woodrow students honored with 'Cappie' nominations for drama performances

They're the high-school equivalent of the Oscars or the Academy Awards. They're the Cappies, and nine Woodrow Wilson High School students were nominated for Cappies as a result of their work this year in the musical and other drama presentations. The awards will announced at a ceremony Monday at Pearce High School in Richardson. Among the nominees: Rachael Regan, Katie Shank, Sean Draper, Sam Schuerger, Kate Pederson, Lizzie Cochran, Hayden Faram, Alex Horne and Rachel Kittrell. Admission is $10 if you want to see the ceremony first-hand.

Party at White Rock Lake this weekend

Whether you like the White Rock Lake Foundation's controversial lighting project or not, you gotta like their White Rock Lake Festival which happens to be tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. From the look of things out my window, it appears to be shaping into a beautiful weekend so get there early if you have to drive (park). Tickets are $2 and an extra $5 for admission to the children's activity area. Visit the WRL Foundation site for a list of musical acts, vendors and activities, etc.

By the way they've also got a picture of proposed lighting on the site ... doesn't look that bad to me.

SPCA poster contest now taking submissions

Think your kid could be the next Picasso? Well, if you've got a truly artsy tyke, listen up: The SPCA's "Be Kind to Animals Week" is coming up (May 4–10). In celebration of that, the SPCA folks are having a poster contest for kids age 8 through 12. The posters must have an animal theme, and they must be turned in no later than Wednesday, April 30.
If you'd like to enter your child's art submission, check the SPCA website to find out where you can drop it off or mail it. All winning entries will be publicly displayed at various shelter locations during the "Be Kind to Animals Week." There's also going to be several free activities for kids that week. If you'd like to sign your kids up for the free activities, just contact Jason Firebaugh, or call 214.461.1811.

Defunct Casa Linda building, Pegasus making a comeback

Do you recognize this building? If you’re partially oblivious to things that don’t directly affect you, as I am, you might not know it’s right in our neighborhood — Casa Linda to be exact — and it’s undergone, in the last few months, an incredible makeover. For many years this was a windowless, non descript box of a building next door to the Casa Linda “Curves” offices at 9543 Losa. A while back, Jeff Snoyer, who also bought and revived Highland Park Cafeteria, took out a 20-year lease on the (old Chamber of Commerce) building because, as he put it, he couldn’t take looking at it the way it was. He immediately began renovations — one of the first steps was putting in windows — and (quietly) announced hopes to turn it into a “community hub” where local residents can lease an office for as little as $175 per month.
Here’s (sort of) what it used to look like (that blue tape is to mark the windows).

Now for the finishing touch: Snoyer wants to make this building not only highly functional but also recognizable. So he’s putting the famed red Pegasus on top. No, he hasn’t robbed the old red courthouse of the original Casa Linda Pegasus. But he has collected, over the years, three similar circa 1950s Pegasus’. Two are full size and one is a “baby”. According to a press release this morning, a local design firm has brought the Pegasus family together in a unique design to top off the renovated building. Here’s a PDF of the full media release: Download press_release_pegasus.pdf

Snoyer also owns the former Bank One building on the other side of “Curves”.

James Brown back in Dallas for a final appearance on Greenville Avenue

The late singer James Brown is back in Dallas, this time for awhile, appearing again at the former Fast & Cool Club (soon to be the National Sports Club) on Greenville near Martel.

Of course, this James Brown is the huge colorful mural on the building's side, painted by muralists Dan and Mae Hitchcock and uncovered by Woodrow Wilson HIgh School grad Reza Dibaje during the building's renovation, according to today's DMN.

Interestingly enough, for those of you old-timers out there, Dibaje told the News that the mural came about to provide competition with Shannon Wynne's Tango frogs, which graced the top of his nightclub down the Greenville. The last time I saw those frogs, they were atop a gas station off I-35 on the way to Waxahachie.