The Flash List

2012-01-23T13:24:00.003-06:00

Interview: Samantha Brown

Travel Channel Host

Samantha Brown is the delightfully perky Travel Channel host of such shows as Girl Meets Hawaii, Passport to Europe, Great Weekends, Samantha Brown's Asia, and more. Samantha spoke with The Flash List about her life and adventures, the world's perception of Americans, having her ears cleaned in public, and showing Anthony Bourdain how to smile.

TFL: You were born in Dallas, raised in New Hampshire, and now live in New York and travel the world. Had travel been a dream of yours before getting your position as a host on the Travel Channel?

SB: No, I had never traveled before. Growing up in New Hampshire, we were close to Canada so we went there; we’d go to Cape Cod for the summer and Pennsylvania, so I’d never really traveled. And so for me the job, especially when we did Passport to Europe, was to bring the viewer along with me. I didn’t try to be an expert, I wasn’t one, and I just thought, I’m discovering the world for the first time, so that’s how I’m going to present myself to the viewer, so they can discover the world for the first time with me.

TFL: When you began working for the Travel Channel doing Great Vacation Homes, you didn’t consider yourself a travel expert or host, but just a normal, everyday person. Do you think that was in some ways actually a benefit for that role, and how have your experiences caused you to grow and evolve over the years?

SB: Yeah, definitely. I mean, at the time, I thought I was woefully inadequate for the job. So at the time I didn’t think it was good. I wish I had known more. But now looking back, what it really allowed me to do was develop a fan base that grew with me; and so there is a more emotional connection between me and I think my viewers, and that’s what I always wanted. I wanted to be their friend, and when you see the crowd down there, and the line, it’s so nice. That means so much to me; it means that what I wanted to do really paid off. And that is, again, I’m not talking above you, I’m not lecturing you, we’re making these mistakes together - and there’s a lot of mistakes to make when you travel. In the end, I think it’s always advantageous to say, “This is who I am,” and not be something that you’re not.

TFL: When you visit a new culture, you’ve said that it is your “job as a traveler to figure out how to connect with the people and discover their culture.” How do you go about doing that?

SB: Well, I get out of the tourist areas, definitely. So if you’re in Italy, I don’t spend that much time where the David is. I just walk, and I try to get to local neighborhoods where the people of that city live. And they’re never that pretty, they’re not that gorgeous in terms of architecture, the cafés aren’t the ones that are mentioned in travel books or even the shows that we do. They’re just people’s local restaurants and cafés; but that’s where I go, and I just kind of sit down and be a part of their lives. That’s where I start to have the most authentic moments is when I’m just in a normal neighborhood enjoying what people do on an everyday basis.

TFL: When you began traveling extensively, did you find that you had misconceptions about the world? Did you find things to be different than you had expected, or pretty similar to what you expected?

SB: Very different. The media is more about fear when it comes to travel and going to other places. I think they promote the idea that people don’t like Americans abroad, and that’s just not true. They may have problems with our government, but we have problems with their government. But when it comes to people, that stereotype just sort of dissolves and you’re just people talking to people. So I found that the world is a much more friendlier place than the news would have you believe. People love Americans; they love Americans. If only because we spend money. We’re the people who spend the most money when we travel; so the people who see us come to their countries know that this is a great traveler, they’re going to help our economy. There’s a lot less animosity toward Americans.

TFL: What are some good options for first time travelers or people who haven’t traveled very much?

SB: I think in the beginning, you always want to be in your comfort zone somehow. Even now that I’ve traveled everywhere and I love being uncomfortable, that wasn’t the case when I began. So I hate to say, “Kick people out of the fire into the frying pan - you’re going to love it” - you’re not going to love it. If you want to go to Europe, a great place to start is London because we speak the same language, so much of it is familiar to us, we’ve seen London in movies, and that sort of thing, so we’re familiar. … If you start in England, that’s a really great place to get your sea legs, so that you feel a little more confidence and now you can go to France, and now you can go to Germany, or wherever.

TFL: Of all the people that you’ve never traveled with, who would you most like take a trip with?

SB: I want to take a trip with Rick Steves … he’s such a nice guy, and I just enjoy him a lot. But a show I always wanted to do was to take Anthony Bourdain around and show him how to smile [laughs] … we know him very well, he’s a great guy, we get along very well, we understand we have very different personalities. I just want a show: Samantha Brown takes Anthony Bourdain to Disney World! We would have the best time, because we would really play up our own personalities - and maybe even switch them for a little while. He’s a great traveler; he has a perspective that no one has. So I would love that in terms of a show.

TFL: Describe some of your simple pleasures as well as your favorite discoveries and adventures.

SB: I love being home and simply going for long walks, I go for hikes, I love cycling. I just love when I can let my brain just go and wander. I loved Asia because everything was a learning experience and you are truly a foreigner in a foreign land - nothing makes sense. It’s like you’ve landed on the moon, and I love feeling that way now. I really like feeling like I have no idea what I’m doing. When we were in Asia, I had my ears cleaned, which is really interesting. You’re at a local tea shop, you’re outside, it’s like on the park. And you see this man, and he’s got long skewers, he looks like Freddy Krueger. And he swipes them to alert everyone he’s here, sort of announce that he’s here. And in public, people will get their ears cleaned. He’ll just start with his little cotton swab, and he cleans your ears, and people stand really still. I remember being horrified that (1) that’s just something we do in the bathroom - I think I wouldn’t even do that in front of my husband - and (2) how dangerous is that? So I’m like, “Well, I gotta do it ... here I am, I’ve got to have my ears cleaned in public.” It was the softest; he was very gentle. These men who are ear cleaners train; their father passed it on to them. They are artists of the ear cleaners. And that happens every single day. That’s just normal in China at a tea shop, and I think that's just amazing.

To stay in touch with Samantha, she suggests contacting her through her Twitter account (she writes personally). For additional information, see:

http://twitter.com/samtravels

http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Samantha_Brown

http://blog.travelchannel.com/samantha-brown

2012-01-23T13:20:00.000-06:00

Interview: Pauline Frommer

Creator of Pauline Frommer's Travel Guides

Pauline Frommer has said she’d like us all to be able to travel more, and the philosophy behind her relatively new line of guidebooks is “spend less, see more.” Along with answering general travel questions, Pauline speaks to The Flash List about roasting marshmallows over volcanic lava, characteristics of a good travel companion, historical novels as destination inspiration, the number one mistake people make while traveling, and our duty as Americans to travel.

TFL: How are your guides unique, and for what audience are they designed?

PF: The Frommer guides were started in 1957 by my father, Arthur Frommer; and before then, there were no budget guidebooks. Basically, it was thought that if you went to Europe, you took the grand tour, and you had a lot of money, and it would be dangerous if you didn’t spend money lavishly. And so my father was a G.I. in the army during the Korean War, he was sent there; and he was traveling cheaply having an incredible time, and he thought, “I bet Americans would like this.” So our books have always kept a very practical, personal tone to them. Unlike many other guidebooks that have different authors write different sections of them, we have one author’s voice throughout, so that you know if you trust them about hotels, you’ll trust them about attractions and nightlife. And we’ve always tried to focus on what is actually important to our readers. What will make their trip better? We do not shy from being opinionated - even if it gets us into trouble.

TFL: With an Internet full of user generated content and buzz marketing, how can consumers steer toward accurate travel information?

PF: I suggest you go to the journalistically based sites because I think it’s impossible to tell a real review from one of the trumped up ones on TripAdvisor or user generated sites. The problem is that they become very powerful, so you have marketing agencies that have people, staffs, just posting reviews, and it’s not hard to do. So you go to the sources of travel information that you trust, that you know don’t have a horse in the race. … People think that by going to Joe Whoever that they’re getting the real, unvarnished look by a real traveler. The problem is (a) you have no idea whether it’s a real traveler or a marketing person, and (b) when you take the advice of Joe Traveler, in the case of hotels for example, you’re taking the advice of somebody who’s been to exactly one hotel. Whereas, when I wrote my book on Las Vegas, I was there for two and a half months, I stayed in a different hotel every other night. So I can tell you very concretely why you don’t want to be at hotel X, and why hotel Y is better. Because I’ve been to both.

TFL: What do you find to be good options for first time vacation planners or people who haven’t had much experience traveling?

PF: If you want to go abroad, anywhere in Europe; the Caribbean; the safer parts of Mexico are fine - they all have millions upon millions of tourists per year and very good facilities set up to serve them. Probably easier than Africa and Asia.

TFL: Can you elaborate on your method of using books as inspiration for choosing a travel destination?

PF: I like to read novels and histories; I don’t just read guidebooks. For example, for India, there’s no better book than Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children which tells the history of India encapsulated by a boy who’s born at the same moment as Indian independence. It’s just this extraordinary view of India; and if you read it before you go there, you’ll understand so much more of what you see. And then, there can be simple books. There’s a wonderful children’s book called Cathedral that shows you how cathedrals are built and why they were built in the ways they were, and it’s all drawings and text. You will love seeing cathedrals once you’ve read this book, whereas if you don’t know much about cathedrals and you go to Europe, you’re probably going to be a little bored seeing cathedral after cathedral after cathedral.

TFL: What do you see as some common but avoidable mistakes that people make while traveling and when travel planning?

PF: The biggest mistake people make while traveling is over packing. They become slaves to their luggage, especially for multi-stop itineraries, and they cannot use public transportation because they’ve got these big bags with them, they have to tip people everywhere because they can’t handle them themselves. They want to have different outfits I guess for every single possible occasion, and you have to look at your trip and realize, OK I’m probably not going to go to a ball while I’m there [laughs]. I pack one small carry on bag. I went with my husband and two children to Brazil for two weeks - this is when they were younger - but we had two carry ons and a diaper bag and we were fine. Of course in Brazil, it’s light clothing; it was mostly bathing suits. But don’t over pack; that’s one of the worst mistakes people make.

TFL: Can you speak about your perspective of the pros and cons of travel packages vs. individual bookings?

PF: Travel packages are when you bundle airfare and hotel together, and for destinations that have a lot of hotels such as Cancun, London, Las Vegas, they can be very good and will often save you much more money than you would be able to save on your own by booking those elements separately because the level of competition in those destinations between the many hoteliers is so high that they simply don’t want you to know how little they’d be willing to charge and they can hide their pricing in a travel package. … For some other destinations such as Copenhagen or New Orleans or places that don’t have this abundance of hotels, you don’t necessarily save with a package. You have to look at it on a case by case basis.

TFL: What are the benefits and drawbacks of well-known tourist areas vs. off the beaten path adventures?

PF: Well-known tourist areas - there’s a reason they’re well-known. You have a lot of travel writers and pundits who are obsessed with finding the next big thing. But there’s a reason London is so popular; there’s a reason why Paris shouldn’t be missed. It’s because it’s filled with incredible riches that one doesn’t grow tired of; and sometimes if you go too far off the beaten path, you end up in a place where there isn’t that much of interest. Now usually if you’re in a different foreign culture and you go off the beaten path, that can be fascinating because you learn about the local culture, you learn about how people live today, and how different it is from the U.S. and how in many ways it’s very similar. So there’s great benefit in doing that. I think the best way to travel is to have a mix. You know, you go to the well-known sites one day and the next day you just wander at will.

TFL: You just swam with the whale sharks; what are some of your other more unusual adventures and experiences?

PF: Well, when I was in Guatemala, my younger daughter and I climbed a volcano and we toasted marshmallows over the lava. That was very exciting. Of course, that volcano a month later erupted … but it hadn’t been active for about thirty years, so I thought it was safe at the time. That was incredible. Sometimes the incredible experiences are the very quiet ones when you wander into a church that nobody knows about and there’s light coming in through a stained glass window in a way that just touches your soul. And it’s not a famous church, but there was an artisan in the fourteenth century who created this exquisite piece of glass; and you feel like you’ve discovered it and you’ve had a moment with the past. And that can be as exciting as lava.

TFL: What do you think makes a good travel companion?

PF: [Laughs] Hmm, that’s funny. … I think it takes energy and an open mind and a sense of adventure. I think travel for some people - I wrote on this and I got a lot of comments on it, a lot of people agreeing - there’s a lot of unknowns in travel. And having all this time just to do what you want kind of brings out existential questions in some people like, “I guess all my life is meaningless - there’s just time - I don’t have to be doing what I’m doing - what am I doing with my life?” I think for some travelers, they find it very unsettling to be in new destinations; and if they don’t have a plan, they get very upset. The root of travel is travail. Things always go wrong; that’s just the nature of travel. Learning to enjoy that, being a person who enjoys that and just rolling with it, that’s what makes you a good travel companion, but some people you love may not be. So, you travel with them anyway.

TFL: How do you think traveling changes a person’s life and how do you think tourism changes the lives of the locals in any given country?

PF: Saint Augustine said that “Life is a book, and he who does not travel reads only one page.” I think we live in a democracy that is part of a world community that is very, very tied to Europe, to Asia, to Africa; and in order for us to elect leaders who are going to best represent our interests abroad, we need to travel because it doesn’t matter what you read, you won’t really understand what other places are like until you go there. And I think it’s important to travel because it shows our commonalities. You know, we go to places because we want to see the exotic differences, but most of us come away with the realization that everybody loves their children and wants the best for them, that everybody wants clean water to drink and wants to have a decent job, that even in places that are thought of as anti-American it’s just the politics, it’s just the leaders, it’s not the people themselves. People welcome visitors wherever you go, and I think you lose your fear of other cultures. I think we’ve had a very long run of xenophobic leaders in this country lately, and I think that hurts us and the world. As members of a democracy, I think it’s part of our duty as Americans to travel. I’m waving the flag here. I don’t know, maybe that’s too Pollyanna-ish, but I think it makes us better citizens.

For more information about Pauline Frommer (pronounced Fr’oh’mmer, not Fr’ah’mmer), her guidebooks, and her weekly radio show with her dad, go to:

http://www.frommers.com

http://www.frommers.com/pauline

http://paulinefrommerbriefing.blogspot.com

http://twitter.com/paulinefrommer

Opera Review: Lucia di Lammermoor

2011-10-24T08:15:00.000-05:00

Despite its feminine title, Lucia di Lammermoor can be considered opera for guys who don’t like opera (or at least those who might not be sure about it).

One of the most popular operas of all time and generally considered to be Donizetti’s finest work, Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico (tragic opera) set in Scotland around 1700. From the heights of love to the depths of madness, this masterpiece of bel canto (beautiful, elegant singing) recounts a stirring tale of lies and loss - Romeo and Juliet style.

The story is told that our lovestruck couple had met when Lucia (Elena Mosuc) ventures to her mother’s grave and is there approached by a raging bull. Gunfire erupts, Edgardo (Bryan Hymel) has saved her; and thus, voilà, love at first shot.

Luca Grassi makes his American operatic debut as Lucia’s brother, the ruthless Lord Enrico Ashton, a selfish After killing Edgardo’s father and seizing the associated inheritance, Enrico is naturally vehemently opposed to the union of Edgardo and Lucia who exchange vows of love in secrecy. When Enrico finds out however, he deceives Lucia into thinking that Edgardo has left her for another lover; and in a political move to keep the dwindling family fortune intact, forces her to instead marry Arturo (TDO’s Aaron Blake), to the point of actually throwing the wedding dress at her. manipulator that you love to hate (and who was playfully ‘booed’ at curtain call for his wonderful villain-esque depiction).

As the ceremony is prepared (and who doesn’t love a good 18^th century wedding feast?), the chaplain Raimondo (Jordan Bisch) in his beautifully rounded, clear, powerful voice also urges Lucia, who eventually signs the contract against her will. The eerie, muted tones of the set design (Henry Bardon) gave scenes not only a hard look of stone (pillars, steps, castle ruins) but the necessary feeling of cold-heartedness as well, which was sprinkled here and there with foreshadowing ‘splashes of red’ in costume design (Peter J. Hall) including tartan plaids.

Emotionally distraught and doomed to a life of misery (after Edgardo discovers that his one true love has married another and he leaves heartbroken), Lucia takes matters into her own hands. Suffice it to say that things do not go well. Simultaneously, during a tense, stormy night, let-us-have-a-duel confrontation with Enrico, Edgardo’s contagious anguish is effectively exuded by Hymel through a passionate collection of unfolding actions, and his "Tombe degli avi miei" (a song in which he laments Lucia’s assumed betrayal) was spectacular.

In what is deemed “the mad scene”, Elena Mosuc exemplified the deranged Lucia with a mesmerizing performance of the technically demanding "Il dolce suono" ("The Sweet Sound"). The exquisite voice of this coloratura soprano was featured during the flute duet when at times you could barely tell the difference between Mosuc’s incredible voice and the flute itself. “Woman of the Year 2009” and an “Officer of the Arts” (the highest honor awarded to a musician in her native Romania), Mosuc chose the theme of ‘madness in Italian opera’ for her doctor’s degree in music science from which we assume she pulled for her impressive performance that is alone worth the ticket price.

See this 55^th season opener of The Dallas Opera through November 6 at the Winspear Opera House, and consider arriving an hour early for the Joy and Ronald Mankoff Pre-Opera Talk in Hamon Hall. Lucia di Lammermoor runs three hours plus two intermissions. Tickets are also on sale now for the upcoming Tristan & Isolde, about the chance meeting and blossoming love of a Cornish knight and an Irish princess (the wife of his mentor and king).

Lucia di Lammermoor Tickets

Plot Summary

Cast Bios

Composed by Gaetano Donizetti

Libretto by Salvadore Cammarano
Conducted by Graeme Jenkins

Stage directed by Garnett Bruce

Based on the novel The Bride of Lammermoor by Sir Walter Scott

Enter for a Chance to Win 2 Tickets to the Beaujolais & Beyond Wine Festival

2011-10-17T12:56:00.001-05:00

Dress in your 1960's Austin Powers inspired attire for this super groovy food and wine tasting festival with live entertainment.

Enter for your chance to win two (2) tickets to the Beaujolais & Beyond Wine Festival. Each ticket includes commemorative wine class, food and wine tasting, music by DJ Jeff Hickok, dancing, silent auction opportunity, and more.

Just send us your name, phone number, and email address by Tuesday, November 8, 2011; and we'll pick a random winner. Must be 21 years of age or older to enter.

Enter at:
http://www.theflashlist.com/dallas/info/promo/2011/003/dallas/index.html

Theater Review: The Tempest

2011-09-20T19:42:00.002-05:00

Performed by Dallas Theater Center

Wyly Theatre at the AT&T Performing Arts Center

By William Shakespeare, Directed by Kevin Moriarty

OK, we really want to start this review out like this:

"Hey, you wanna see Lee Trull in a 'Speedo' for 25 bucks?"

Buuut, that might be inappropriate and not quite an accurate representation of Dallas Theater Center's newest production, The Tempest.

So, instead, here goes: (and more about Lee later ...)

Shakespeare's beloved play (considered his final one) is the story of Prospero, the former Duke of Milan, (Chamblee Ferguson) and his daughter Miranda (Abbey Siegworth) who have escaped to a magical island after being overthrown by Prospero's brother Antonio (J. Brent Alford) and Alonso, the King of Naples (Matthew Tomlanovich). After twelve years, a storm lands Antonio, Alonso, and others on the island where Prospero hopes to exact revenge and be reinstated to his rightful position.

In this contemporary reimagining, Director Kevin Moriarty and Tony Award-nominated set and costume designer Beowulf Boritt have used a bold, minimalistic approach to create a stark contrast between the dark black suits of the plane crash survivors and the strange, bright white, otherworldly landscape they arrive in. It's a dreamy Lost, 17th century Italian style.

Ferdinand (Steven Michael Walters), the son of the King of Naples, is separated from the other passengers and crew and is feared dead. Spared however by the spirit Ariel (Broadway actor Hunter Ryan Herdlicka) who travels with an airy trail of glitter, Ferdinand soon encounters and falls in love with the beautiful Miranda (especially after she exchanges her baggy, tattered jeans and long sleeve button-up shirt for a pair of almost 'Daisy Dukes' and a sexy halter top). But her father fears that "too light winning make the prize light", so Prospero relegates Ferdinand to the role of servant which he gladly accepts like Jacob working for his Rachel.

With on-the-mark casting for this play, Walters and Siegworth make a perfectly believable couple; and their onstage love is so sweet that you almost want to crinkle your eyebrows at anything that tries to stand in its way. Chamblee Ferguson's full facial hair makes his Prospero seem appropriately old enough to be her father, and his mastery of the heavy Shakespearean dialogue looked effortless (though we know it surely wasn't). Appreciation for Ferguson's dramatic performance was evidenced at the finale by the standing, cheering crowd and by the emotional reactions on the faces of other castmembers which were swelling with passion for the project and what we assumed to be pride for the show and for Chamblee. A great job on a challenging role.

Soooo, you ask ... what about Lee?

In one of several subplots, Lee Trull plays Stephano, an overly drunken butler, alongside jester Trinculo (Cliff Miller) and Caliban (Joe Nemmers), a savage slave who claws his way up (literally) from the depths of the island and vows to serve Stephano, thinking him to have come from the moon. The three are hilarious together, and Trull plays a really good drunk. You know the type: jabber, jabber, funny joke, jabber, jabber, stop, wait, empty blank stare, oh my gosh, is he about to get sick?, No?, OK good, back to jabber, jabber. Makes us want to invite him to our next party ... uh, maybe.

The physical demands of Nemmers' arch-backed slave/monster character effectively called to mind jingles of BC powder commercials from decades past, but all that was immediately forgotten when Trull and Miller suddenly dropped trou revealing their skivvies as they became charmed by the allures of Ed Hardy and Juicy Couture.

Their comedy was a perfect balance for the play's drama (complete with betrayal, sorcery, and murder plots). Add to that the question of madness, factor in some disappearances and reappearances through the large trap 'door', then throw on a couple of cool fantasy creatures like a floating, talking, winged harpy and a frightful 'magic dog' chasing across stage, and you've got yourself a bargain theater experience for just $15.00 - $25.00 a seat!

So, how will Prospero deal with the unintentional intruders? Will the love between Ferdinand and Miranda be allowed to blossom? Will anyone ever get off the island?

Find out as The Tempest runs through October 9, 2011 at the Wyly Theater. And as always, stick around after the play for a free, brief, lively post-show conversation with a cast member where you can hear and share insights.

Dallas Theater Center on The Flash List

Performance Details

Tickets

Plot Synopsis

Actors in Promo Video

Study Guide (.pdf)

Photos by Karen Almond

Theater Review: Guys and Dolls

2011-07-31T13:02:00.001-05:00

Read this article on TheFlashList.com

Performed by Dallas Summer Musicals at Music Hall at Fair Park

© The Flash List | July 20, 2011

We watched Newsies this week (starring a seventeen year old Christian Bale), and we saw Guys and Dolls at The Music Hall at Fair Park; so you’ll have to excuse us as we’ve begun tawwking with a Noo Yawk accent now.

Set back in the middle of da 1900’s amidst the hustle and bustle of a Runyonesque New York City, the celebrated Guys and Dolls musical is considered by some to be one of the best musicals ever created.

There’s these two guys see, and they’re real rascals, ya know? First, ya got the enterprising gambler Nathan Detroit and his gal Adelaide (a showgirl at the local Hot Box entahtainment establishment) who’s all like, ‘yous guys bettah not be runnin’ no crap game!’ After a fourteen year engagement to the noncommittal Detroit, Adelaide’s got a cold, a psychosomatic reaction to the realization that she’ll be gettin’ married on the "12th of nevah”.

Then ya got the big wig Sky Masterson, and he’s all sophisticated and debonair, see. He falls for the consoivative Sarah Brown after a bragging bet with Nathan that he can get any woman he wants to go on a trip wid him. Now this Sarah dahl’s the reserved type, but she goes with Sky anyway ‘cuz she’s in a pickle down at the Save-a-Soul Mission where she’s tryin’ to get da sinnahs saved and all. So they head down to the El Café Cubana in Havana where she drinks a few dulce de leche ‘milkshakes’ flavored with Bacardi and den gets all romantic-like with Sky. Soon, they's all back togeddah in New York on accountah they’s got some dice to roll with da fellas.

Megan Sikora is absolutely spectacular as the giggly Adelaide. Lookin’ like a young Lucille Ball with all that red curly hair and sounding like Bernadette Peters with that high pitched, nasally, squeaking voice, Sikora no doubt nailed the part. Erin Davie was heavenly as the modest, good girl Sarah Brown; and even after a demanding dance number, her duet with Sky Masterson (Ben Crawford) was … shall we say it … divine. with all that red curly hair and sounding like

Nathan Detroit (Steve Rosen) and his cohort Benny Southstreet (Garth Kravitz) gave very respectable performances, but it was Nicely Nicely Johnson (played by Glenn Rainey) that got the audience's shoulders bouncing with his “Horse Right Here” and “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat.”

So anyhows, things all woiks out in the end; so wheddah you’re a dame or a mug, a classy lady or a high-rollin’ gent looking for a solid, tradition musical, go see Guys and Dolls at Fair Park. You won’t soon fuggedaboutit.

More Information

Performance Details

Buy Tickets

“Luck Be a Lady” video on DSM

Dallas Summer Musicals Information on The Flash List

Music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, Book by Jo Swerling & Abe Burrows

Directed by Gordon Greenberg

Dallas Mavericks 2011 NBA World Championship Parade and Celebration Photos

2011-06-17T09:20:00.000-05:00

Source: The Flash List | Dallas | June 16, 2011

SEE ALL PHOTOS / VIEW SLIDESHOW >>

Mavericks fans gathered downtown this morning, cheering to congratulate the team on their 2011 World Championship victory. See The Flash List's photo review of the parade and celebration including pics of Mark Cuban, Rick Carlisle, Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, Jason Kidd, Jose Juan Barea, Shawn Marion, Donnie Nelson, Don Carter, and more.

Read this article on TheFlashList.com at:

http://www.theflashlist.com/dallas/news/2011/06/16/dallas-mavericks-world-championship-parade-celebration-photos-pics.html

Theater Review: Spamalot

2011-06-17T09:07:00.000-05:00

Read this article on TheFlashList.com

©The Flash List | June 15, 2011

Once upon a time in a dark and very expensive forest, King Arthur and his lively band of knights (who "eat ham, and jam and Spam a lot") embarked upon a noble quest to find the Holy Grail (no, not Quail; Grail). After a brief ‘miscommunicated’ diversion to the Moose Village of Finland for some fisch schlapping (and then, whoops, back to England where our story actually begins), the merry men encounter a colorful assortment of characters and events as they gallop far and wide on imaginary horses (while their attendants use halved coconut shells to provide the necessary clip-clopping sounds).

The Tony Award winning Spamalot, which opened last night at Ye Olde Music Hall at Fair Park, is a musical adaptation of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail (a parody of the Arthurian Legend); and it is hilariously raunchy. If you’re a Python fan, we can’t imagine why you wouldn’t love this show; and even if you don’t know your Python from peanuts, that won’t matter a lick - the production is nonstop razzle-dazzle zaniness from beginning to end.

With crude and extremely irreverent humor, Spamalot is a sort of ‘unauthorized biography’ of King Arthur (played by Steve McCoy), who desires to form the Knights of the Round Table. He attempts to enlist the political activist Dennis Galahad (Jacob L. Smith), a Fabio/Hanson/pretty boy type, who is convinced of Arthur’s plight and authority only after seeing the illustrious Lady of the Lake (Caroline Bowman) and her booty shaking, ‘seaweed pompom’ wielding Laker Girls. Meanwhile, Sir Robin (Martin Glyer) wheels through town calling “bring out your dead”, and meets Sir Lancelot (Adam Grabau) over a discussion about the now famous Not Dead Fred John Garry) in a skit that’s everything you hope it will be and so much more.

Eventually, the entire company makes its way to Camelot, a Las Vegas Excalibur themed resort castle complete with casino décor, dancing showgirls, a ‘flying’ nun, and the Lady of the Lake offering up a Cher/Christina/Gaga/diva impersonation. But after a mandate is received at the rocket boosted Feet of God to find the Holy Grail, the team then happens across the paths of some especially lewd Frenchmen (against whom they devise a large wooden rabbit), the armless Black Knight (who fights despite his insistence that his injury is "just a flesh wound"), and the Knights Who Say Ni (who demand not only a shrubbery but also a Broadway musical). As you may know, "The artists formerly known as the "Knights who say Ni" (as King Arthur refers to them) change their name; and on this night in Dallas, they became the Knights who say “Ecky, Ecky, Ecky, … LeBron James can suck it, Go Mavs!” at which time of course the crowd absolutely erupted.

Later, as Sir Robin laments the fact that they can’t possibly succeed on Broadway if they don’t have any Jews, Lancelot receives a note from what is assumed to be a damsel in distress but turns out to be an effeminate young man instead. So Lancelot (“who likes to dance-a-lot”) charges into the castle only to ‘come out’ by way of ‘the closet’ in what comes across as a sort of LSD induced, Latin inspired, Studio 54 disco hallucination with Carmen Miranda fruit-y headwear and maraca wielding boys in tight pants and ruffle-sleeved shirts.

By the way, let us just say that Spamalot’s got the show aaand the go. Not only are the costumes inventive, the sets vibrantly colorful, the choreography whimsical, and the script uproariously funny, but the cast is also extremely talented.

Steve McCoy was a distinguished but laughable King Arthur (which in this case is a very good thing), John Garry kept the audience in stitches as the falsetto speaking Prince Herbert, and Glenn Giron was perfect as the working class Patsy (the king’s sidekick) especially as he sang “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” while performing his soft shoe and tap dance in a style a bit like a chimney sweeping Dick Van Dyke.

As for Caroline Bowman, not only does she have the spot-on diva attitude for her Lady of the Lake part, but this ballsy chick’s got chops ...

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Spamalot is based on the original screenplay by Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, & Michael Palin. Book and lyrics by Eric Idle, Music by John Du Prez & Eric Idle, Directed by Mike Nichols. Performed by Dallas Summer Musicals at Music Hall at Fair Park.

Theater Review: 9 to 5

2011-05-28T09:30:00.000-05:00

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© The Flash List | May 19, 2011

Performed by Dallas Summer Musicals at Music Hall at Fair Park

Behind a semi-sheer curtain featuring images of Jimmy Carter, the Village People, Donna Summer, the Muppets, Charlie’s Angels, and even a reference to Pet Rock, lies Consolidated Industries where three female secretaries fight from 9 to 5 each workday for every inch of ground they take in this 1979 corporate man’s world.

Direct from Broadway and based on the hit movie, this new musical comedy features the original hit title song by the queen of country music Dolly Parton along with her new Tony-nominated and Grammy-nominated score. Dolly herself sets the stage (via video with opening narrations and closing comments) as company veteran Violet (three time Tony nominated Dee Hoty) tries to break into the executive “Boys Club” despite being repeatedly passed over for promotions. She takes under her wing the new girl Judy (Mamie Parris) after Judy’s husband Dick (Wayne Schroder) dumps her for his younger secretary. A quintessential triple threat entertainer in this role, Parris (a native Texan who has performed on Broadway and toured with country music icon Kenny Rogers) was flawless and wowed the crowd with "Get Out and Stay Out," which she belted out with dynamic star quality.

Diana DeGarmo (runner up on the third season of “American Idol”) was just darlin’ as the busty blonde Doralee Rhodes, a character made famous by Dolly herself. Is Diana a dead ringer for Dolly? Of course not. But Good Lord, who is? However, if you reckon she might be a mighty close alternative for the original, you’d be darn tootin’. You can feel the essence, see the mannerisms, and hear the voice of Dolly all over DeGarmo’s performance, especially in her song “Backwoods Barbie”.

Doralee’s boss is Franklin Hart, Jr. (Joseph Mahowald) the Scotch drinking, "sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot" whose politically incorrect antics in the office just beg for a sexual harassment lawsuit. And when the married Hart begins spreading lies that Doralee is his mistress … well, that petite, southern, pistol packing cutie goes on a comical tirade that sends the audience into stitches.

Fed up with the constant mistreatment, the three women head to Violet’s house (along with a fourth companion, ‘Mary Jane’) and fantasize about ousting (and offing) their obnoxious boss. But the next day, when Violet inadvertently slips strychnine rat poison into Hart’s coffee, an irreverent series of slapstick misadventures ensue. (See full plot synopsis.)

The era specific costumes (by five time Tony Award winner William Ivey Long) for this show are spot on - plaid tweed, oversized flowy pleated skirts, silky neck scarves, a flowery little house robe like our mother used to wear, retro luggage, … and was that a Members Only jacket we saw?

A colorful array of lighting (designed by Tony Award and Drama Desk Award winner Ken Billington) accented a continually transforming stage (scenic design by Kenneth Foy) set with metal desks, rotating cubes, ‘drop in’ backdrops, and props that easily glided on and off stage along with an ensemble of actor/dancers. ‘Cause and effect’ type stage blocking consisted of a complex series of quick steps and movements (directed and choreographed by Tony nominated Jeff Calhoun) that had cast members crossing paths to staple papers, hand off file folders to one another, pass the phone cord, and much more creating an whimsical effect like a giant elaborate game of Mousetrap.

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Wildflower! Arts & Music Festival

2011-05-28T09:23:00.001-05:00

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© The Flash List | May 2, 2011

It was Cheap Trick's performance in 2005 that got us intrigued about the Wildflower Festival; and it has been appearances over the years by artists such as Joan Jett, Loverboy, Pat Benatar, Bret Michaels, 38 Special and more that have hooked us on this annual event in Richardson.

Entertainment & Activities

Wildflower is an eclectic music festival featuring concerts which run continually, arts and crafts (one year we hung out with a really talented artist from Russia); street performers (love those crazy Calypso tumblers); an art guitar auction; a kidz korner (for a brief stop by the petting zoo); a rock climbing wall; festival souvenirs; food vendors (like Hooters, Freebirds, Sonny Bryan's, Marble Slab, etc.); and of course, plenty of beer, wine, snow cones, and cold drinks to keep you cool. (All vendors take cash; there is no purchasing of coupons.)

What to Wear / Take

Be sure to wear comfy shoes and maybe a hat, and take a watch and sunscreen. Wildflower is a rain or shine event (in May, no less); so check the weather, and if necessary take a rain jacket or a plastic tarp (to sit on in case the grass gets damp). If you're unsure, you can always throw some extra stuff in the car and go back for it if you need it. (Be sure to get your hand stamped for reentry).

Concert Information

Once you pay to get into the festival, all concerts are included and are first-come first-served festival seating. There are two main stages at Wildflower which we typically refer to as the 'stand up' stage and the 'sit down' stage. Very generally speaking, the metroPCS Stage tends to attract a younger crowd and people generally stand up for shows on that stage. On the other hand, the ViewPoint Bank Stage area (the larger of the two) generally attracts an older audience, most of which sit for shows on that stage. Of course, there's always a group of excited people standing up (and rocking out) near the front of the stage; but it's not a problem at all. You can be seated a bit behind them and still see the stage very well since the lawn has graduated steeping slopes and large screen projection is provided.

People can also easily sit at the back and sides of the metroPCS ('stand up') stage; and you could … technically … try to plant your chairs at the front of it, but we've seen some pretty unsuccessful results by people who've tried to do that. So just plan on standing over there if you want to be up front (which, by the way, is often totally worth it). So if you decide to stand near the stage during a particular artist's show on the metroPCS Stage, we recommend arriving early during the performance of the previous band (or bands). As people leave after a show, you move up. It works fine.

Be sure to check the full music schedule though so you don’t miss any bands that you really want to see. It's quite common for two great bands to be playing on separate stages at the same time.

Lawn Seating

If you want to sit on the lawn at the ViewPoint Bank Stage, here's what we recommend:

1) Just sit anywhere on the grass and don't worry about carrying around a blanket or chairs all day,

2) Get a spot early by throwing down an old blanket or beach towel (that you wouldn't be heartbroken if you lost) and go check out the arts and crafts booths while you wait on your preferred band to start,

or (our favorite when we want to sit)

3) Throw down a blanket or a tarp on the grass and put your lawn chairs on top of it. Concerts can get crowded; so this sort of marks your area, and people tend not to invade your space and your leg room as much.

Parking & DART

There are over 8,000 parking spaces near the festival grounds and the cost for parking directly onsite is nominal, but you can easily take the DART red line right to the Galatyn Park station which drops you off right at the festival entrance. HOWEVER, be sure to check train departure times and make allowances if you are taking DART back home. One year around midnight on a Saturday night, we found ourselves in a huge crowd of people trying to board the last train out. The DART schedule can be found at: http://www.dart.org/riding/dartrailredline.asp

Allowed / Disallowed

Allowed:

Chairs and blankets.

Audio and video recorders (but not in the designated concert zones).

Bags/Purses (which may be checked upon entry).

Smoking (in the designated areas throughout the festival site).

Not allowed:

Coolers, picnic baskets, food, drinks, contraband, weapons, skateboards, roller blades, scooters, bikes, laser pointers, Frisbees, pets (except service dogs) and professional camera equipment (any camera with a detachable lens).

Attend FREE

Volunteers receive a “Volunteer T-shirt” as well as a day pass for themselves and one extra for a friend in exchange for their services. For each additional volunteer shift worked, volunteers receive an additional day pass for the event.

More Information

For much more information, see http://www.wildflowerfestival.com

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The Stewpot: Community Service

2011-05-28T09:14:00.000-05:00

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© The Flash List | January 25, 2011

We stood mesmerized at the silent art auction admiring a truly exquisite watercolor painting. Any upscale Dallas interior designer could easily decorate an entire room around its beautifully balanced composition of vibrant colors. The artist who created it? One of the participants in the Stewpot’s Open Art Program.

The Stewpot, established in 1975 by First Presbyterian Church, provides a safe haven and resources to Dallas’ homeless and hungry including food provision, health care, housing, case management, substance abuse assistance, job training, and youth programs, as well as creative and social activities including art classes, community concerts, and talent shows.

Soup’s On! Luncheon

The occasion for this art auction was The Stewpot’s annual Soups On! fundraising luncheon. For a per ticket donation of $150 or more (which benefits Stewpot programs), well dressed patrons received a warm welcome from emcee Gary Cogill (former Channel 8 personality turned film producer), and they heard remarks from Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, introductions from 2011 chair Lillie Young (senior vice president of the The Lillie Young Group, Allie Beth Allman Associates), a keynote address from Morton H. Meyerson on the subject of “Creating a Vision of Leadership”, and closing remarks from The Rev. Dr. Bruce Buchanan (Executive Director of The Stewpot and Associate Pastor of First Presbyterian Church).

Guest also tasted delicious signature soups from some of Dallas’ top chefs including Brian Luscher (The Grape), Keith Hanks (The Capital Grille), Joel Harloff (The Green Room), David McMillan (MCM Restaurants), Kevin Garvin (Neiman Marcus Restaurants), Nathan Tate & Randall Copeland (Restaurant AVA), Bruno Davillon (Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek), Abraham Salum (Salum), and Jim Severson (Sevy’s).

A Hand Up

With offices in downtown Dallas, The Flash List staff has often become directly acquainted with persons receiving assistance from The Stewpot, a great many of whom are talented and hardworking individuals happy to have a ‘hand up’ instead of just a ‘hand out’. And since what we do for others is counted as what we do for the Lord, we find that the type of giving exemplified by Stewpot volunteers and supporters can be as much of a blessing to the giver as to the receiver, and often more.*

Get Involved

Attend an Event

Accept an invitation for a Red Carpet Tour of The Stewpot or take part in a concert, talent show, tea, or their annual Soup’s On! luncheon.

Volunteer

The Stewpot has a base of over 2,000 volunteers. To become one yourself, contact the Director of Volunteers at 214-746-2785, ext. 320.

Programs & Services

The Stewpot programs include:

The Bridge

The Stewpot serves 1,500-2,000 meals a day, 7 days a week at the Second Chance Café at The Bridge Homeless Assistance Center.

Dental and Medical Care

A partnership with Community Dental Care, Inc. offer individuals three fully equipped dental operations for primary care dental needs as well as second phase dental care for dentures and partial prosthetics.

Casework Assistance

The Good Samaritan Program helps clients utilize a variety of resources regarding employment, public housing, Social Security, SSI, food stamps, veteran's benefits, etc.

Community Voice Mail

Free voice mail (essential for seeking jobs, housing, healthcare, or safety) is available via a personal, 10-digit phone number allowing for messages available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Community Court

Dallas Municipal Courts, the Dallas City Attorney’s office, and private attorneys offer Class C misdemeanor case resolution (other than thefts and assaults).

Representative Payee

Free caseworker assistance is available to persons who are unable (due to illness or disability) to manage their federal benefits independently.

Gun Buy Back

The program has collected and destroyed over 400 pistols, rifles, shotguns and semi-automatic assault weapons since its inception. Guns are ground down and the metal is recycled.

STREET Zine Newspaper

With 10 free copies to get them started, vendors pay 25¢ for each paper (which is focused on homeless and poverty issues), asking readers for a suggested donation of $1.00. Keeping 100% of the donations he or she receives, participants become self-sufficient enough to purchase bus passes, food, and/or necessary living expenses.

Stewpot Enterprises

Clients in the STEP program (Stewpot Transitional Employment Program) are given the opportunity to participate in sheltered workshop activities including assembling bean soup and packaging note cards, and other workshop activities which offer group interaction, problem solving, and income opportunities.

Open Art Program

Classes are held daily, Monday through Friday, and exhibitions of work are held monthly throughout the Metroplex.

Children and Youth

To prevent homelessness and poverty from becoming the future of our children, educational and vocational training opportunities are provided as well as English as a Second Language classes for parents.

How to Help

Help serve second chances to men, women, and children by contributing basic emergency aid such as:

Manna Bags

(Bags filled with canned meat, peanuts, crackers, juice boxes, etc.)

Summer Survival Kits

(Sunscreen, deodorant, bug spray, Band Aids, Gatorade, etc.)

Shave and Shine Kits

(Razor, toothpaste, soap, washcloth, pocket comb, etc.)

Holiday Box for the Homeless

(A shoebox filled with small, inexpensive, unisex items for an adult)

Wish List

(List of desired resources to be distributed by The Stewpot)

For more information, please visit The Stewpot’s website at http://www.thestewpot.org

*References: Matthew 25:31-40, Acts 20:35

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JT’s Private Charter Boat Rentals

2011-05-28T09:06:00.000-05:00

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© The Flash List | August, 2010

Evening Sunset Cruise
Gliding across the lake, sunset on the horizon,
easy listening music in the air …

Summer Party Cruise
Tubing across the water, ice cold beer in the chest,
pulling into Lewisville’s Party Cove …

Nightclub on the Water
Colored lights glowing, music thumping out a beat,
grooving on the dance floor …

Wine Tasting Cruise
Chilled wine for you to sample, well cushioned seats,
cool breeze through your hair …

Customize Your Own Trip

Whether you’d like to spend a leisurely afternoon on the lake or host a catered wedding reception onboard, JT’s Boat Rentals can help you customize a chartered trip aboard their 40’ “Sea Breeze” Party Boat or their 20’ Pontoon.

Public Cruises

JT’s offers a weekly two-hour ‘adults only’ sunset cruise during warm seasons. Just bring your own food and drinks and join the rest of the group for a tour around Lake Lewisville. Coolers, picnic baskets, and alcohol (21+) are allowed; and on our recent trip, we saw passengers with bottles of wine, ice chests of beer, shrimp cocktail platters, turkey sandwiches, bags of Wal-Mart fried chicken, etc. which they generally ate shortly after boarding.

Once out on the water, relax as the sun goes down and take the opportunity to have your photo taken with the lighted Lake Lewisville Toll Bridge as a backdrop. Then once it’s dark, and depending on the mood of the crowd, hit the cleared area at the front of the boat (a.k.a. ‘the dance floor’) as the music may change from easy listening to cranked up dance tunes amidst the glow of multicolored LED lighting along the ceiling and floor.

The Flash List staff had a great time on this cruise and we recommend it for singles and especially couples. A separate family friendly tour (kids allowed) is also offered weekly in warm seasons.

Private Charters

Swimming, tubing, sightseeing, just chillin’, celebrating a birthday party, conducting a meeting, or just having fun … name your event, and JT’s will work with you to accommodate your group’s activities.

Charters on the 40’ “Sea Breeze” can accommodate up to 50 people and include a driver as well as the use of banquet tables, an ice chest, the stereo system (you can bring your own CD’s or iPod), tubes, rafts, and dozens of ‘noodle’ floaties. Tour just about anywhere on Lake Lewisville, hang out at the Party Cove, travel under the bridges, take a swim, or just anchor at your favorite spot on the water. The boat also has transparent side curtains which can be lowered on windy or chilly nights, and features a non-skid deck, plenty of lifejackets, and an enclosed head (restroom) with a marine toilet.

The 20’ Pontoon carries 8-10 people, has a Bimini shade top, and can pull a tube. Charters include a driver and gas as well as the use of swim noodles, life vests, and stereo.

Attire

‘Lake’ attire is perfectly acceptable (especially on chartered trips), and most people were dressed casually on the public sunset cruise (shorts and flip flops). However, dressing up and even wearing heels (should you wish to) is very practical since the walking surfaces between the parking lot and the boat are quite smooth and relatively flat. Boarding the boat (like boarding an airplane) only requires a very easy, flat, even step directly from the dock onto the boat’s non-skid deck.

Know Before You Go

RSVP in advance, confirm on the day of your cruise, and make cash payment at the gate upon arrival.

Mention The Flash List and receive a 10% discount on charters or public tours.

Don’t forget to take your camera for great photo opportunities.

All boat rentals come with a driver.

Glass containers are allowed.

Smoking is allowed (please be courteous enough to send your smoke downwind).

No pets; fishing allowed only on 20' Pontoon.

All food must be cooked - there’s no grilling on the boat.

Tipping is not required, but is appreciated should you decide at the end of the trip that you’d like to do so.

Check www.sunrisesunset.com to find out which evenings the moon and the sun will be in the sky at the same time.

Directions / Parking

JT’s has an address of 1 Eagle Point in Lewisville. This is their office (on land), not their boat. The boat is located in the water at a private slip at Eagle Point Marina.

Directions to the boat dock from Dallas:

Take I-35E north to Lewisville. Take the Garden Ridge exit and go over the railroad tracks. Take an immediate left onto the service road in front of the Slalom Shop. Turn right at the first driveway (just after the Slalom Shop). Then immediately curve to the left and continue all the way to the end of the drive. Just before you get to the end of the drive, you will see on your right a ramp walkway to the dock with blue railing. JT’s boat is located at the end of the ramp in boat house #2. However, do not park in the spaces directly across from the ramp (these are private parking spaces for boat owners). Instead, continue just a little bit farther to the point where the driveway ends in a grass circle. Park anywhere in that area (it’s free), grab your food and gear, and walk back to the dock ramp (it’s not very far at all).

Public cruises leave promptly, and traffic on I-35E can be very heavy at times. So if you choose to leave home and arrive in Lewisville early, there are plenty of places of interest near the highway to keep you occupied before boarding begins.

Contact

JT's Boat Rentals
1 Eagle Point, Lake Lewisville Lewisville, TX 75077 972-292-1001
http://www.jtsboatrentals.com

More Information
Renting “Sea Breeze”
Sunset Cruises
Wine Tasting Cruises

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Music Review: Christmas Celebration with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra

2010-12-31T17:10:00.009-06:00

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© The Flash List | December 10, 2010

You know the highly anticipated scene … you see it at home and on television each year.

The familiar Christmas landscape with its jingling bells, glistening lights on strands of garland, snowflakes gently falling through frosty air, Burl Ives on the radio, the smell of pine needles and sugar cookies …

Well, that’s just about what the Meyerson Symphony Center was like on Thursday night, complete with the telling of the Nativity story, a sprinkling of “tiny tots with their eyes all aglow”, candy canes for the young and old, and even a touch of ‘snow’.

With a triumphant introduction by the brass section quite apropos for the holidays, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Christmas Celebration opened amidst an audible buzz by patrons dressed in festive holiday attire; and if you didn’t know before that Christmas is on its way, you might surely know now.

With all the necessary elements for the season’s traditional musical experience, host and conductor Lawrence Loh (Resident Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and champion of early childhood exposure to music) had his hands full as he led the orchestra along with the 140 or so members of the Dallas Symphony Chorus, the Christmas Celebration Children’s Choir, and internationally renowned organist Mary Preston.

The night’s featured solos of accomplished soprano and native Texan Ava Pine (pronounced AH-vuh) incited that “sentimental feeling” as her angelic voice wafted through the air in such a sweet way that one might’ve thought the whole Meyerson was floating up off its foundation. She sang “My Dancing Day” with dreamy Celtic style; and her rendition of “White Christmas” was delivered with a classic, composed demeanor as graceful and gorgeous as the 1930’s Bing Crosby era style of fashion she displayed. Accentuated under the stage lights donned in a silky, white, floor-length gown with fur shoulder wrap, she was, as Lawrence Loh described her, ‘luminescent’. You can catch Ava again in February 2011 as she sings the role of Juliette in the student matinee performances of The Dallas Opera’s Romeo et Juliette.

The DSO adult choir interjected a few animated fa-la-las into the evening’s concert, but their cheerful yet tranquil presentation throughout the program consisted mostly of soothing, almost solemn, reverent tones - a very welcome, relaxing break from the hustle and bustle of the otherwise busy season.

The kids of the Children’s Choir have obviously taken their craft seriously as well, and their youthful but refined voices were showcased beautifully as they were backed by strong, clean brass sound during “The Angel and the Trumpeter” and gentle strings including harp highlights as they sang “Away in a Manger”.

As always, the DSO stringed instruments were a show in themselves, especially as their fiery, synchronized bows danced energetically during Bizet’s “Farandole”. Keep an eye on that first chair violinist though - his peppy bow carries along a little extra jazzy ‘umph’.

Perched intermittently on the balcony above the orchestra, DSO Resident Organist Mary Preston played a spunky version of “Emmanuel” that boomed from the Meyerson’s impressive 4,535 pipe Lay Family concert organ. Mary serves as Organist and Choirmaster at St. John’s Episcopal and school in Dallas, and offers a free organ recital once a month, schedule permitting, at the Meyerson which is often followed by a tour of the symphony center.

The DSO’s Christmas Celebration was not without a few surprises. An invitation to participate in audience caroling is extended (the seated, no pressure kind - more of a ‘sing-a-long-if-you-want-to’), and a surprise appearance occurs by a very special guest. We won’t mention his name, but let’s just say that he was wearing more red velvet and white fur than all the fancily dressed little girls in the audience combined.

Not too old-style-wooden-bench ‘church-y’ and not too holiday-madness ‘commercialized’, this traditional, heartwarming Dallas Symphony Orchestra production lies somewhere in the warm, just-right, gooey center.

For more information about this and upcoming Dallas Symphony Orchestra concerts, see the links below; and have a wonderful holiday season!

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Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Christmas Pops with Marvin Hamlisch

2010-12-31T17:09:00.006-06:00

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© The Flash List | December 3, 2010

This is a true story.

Here at The Flash List, we are constantly playing the ‘movie quote’ game. You know, someone quotes a line from a movie and then someone else guesses the name of the movie. Well, yesterday, just before the Christmas Pops concert with Marvin Hamlisch, we were playing ‘guess this movie score.’ So we’re listening to classical music, and one of us says, “I don’t think that’s Caddyshack.” (Yeah, that’s how we roll around here.) And alas, it was not Caddyshack. (It was instead the “Theme from Jurassic Park”.)

No worries though, before the night was even out, thanks to Marvin Hamlisch and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, we were able to hear “Waltz of the Flowers” from The Nutcracker, our favorite golfing country club synchronized swimming accompanying tune (see video here).

And that was just the beginning. This Christmas Pops show, a fantastic kickoff to the holiday season, also gave us jingling bells, tap dancers, comedic acting, even flurries of ‘snow’ falling from the ceiling of the Meyerson! And what Christmas season is complete without the chorus singing “O Holy Night” (or a spicy, Brazilian flavored version of “Sleigh Ride”)?

All of this conducted by Marvin Hamlisch, an extremely accomplished composer having won three Oscars, four Grammys, four Emmys, a Tony, and three Golden Globes. He wrote the music for A Chorus Line, which received the Pulitzer Prize, and has composed more than forty motion picture scores including his Oscar-winning score and song for The Way We Were and his adaptation of Scott Joplin’s music for The Sting. Add to that original compositions and/or musical adaptations for Sophie’s Choice, Ordinary People, The Swimmer, Three Men and a Baby, Ice Castles, Take The Money and Run, Bananas, Save the Tiger, and his latest effort The Informant!, starring Matt Damon and directed by Steven Soderbergh. (To boot, we liked his cameo appearance in the film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.)

As a child prodigy himself (mimicking radio music on the piano at age five and accepted into what is now the Juilliard School Pre-College Division at age seven), Hamlisch knows aptitude when he sees it. For this weekend’s concert, he brought along a slew of young talent.

Vocalist Mikaela Schneider, whom Marvin met a year ago in Wisconsin, sang a breathtaking “Ave Maria”, and had you not known otherwise, you would never guess by the sound of her beautifully graceful voice that she was only fifteen. Ten year old flutist Emma Resmini followed. She related that at age three she “heard a flute in a concert and apparently started trying to play the flute on everything.” Her performance of "Valse" from Suite de Trois Morceaux and "Morceau de Concours" (all front stage and from memory, of course) was captivating and impeccable. To quote Marvin, “When the woodwind section applauds, you know she’s done something good.” (See her videos here and here).

And Marvin did something good as well when he took on-the-spot Hanukkah song title requests from the audience like we were all in an episode of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” and then promptly sat down at the piano and played us his rendition of “Lots o' Latkes” (title yelled out courtesy of the lady in the back).

There’s something about those harp strings and bells that just rekindle that childlike holiday excitement. Throw in those flute melodies and some brass, and we’re ready for Santa! It just took one wish (and a little searching around the building), and one crazy Claus turned up. After a little Elvis-esque singing and dancing, Santa made his way around the orchestra floor to take gift orders from the kids in the audience. Times, they are are a-changin’ though. The crowd (and maybe Santa too) was more than a little surprised when the very adorable young “David”, with complete innocence and sincerity, responded that he was really hoping for a MacBook laptop. Hey, you go David; he is Santa after all!

After intermission, Hamlisch introduced us to Julian Nguyen, a violinist, and Austin Allen, who plays the vibraphone. Both boys are eighteen and met their freshmen year at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Their unique arrangement of "Greensleeves" (which had tones of Riverdance with a touch of August Rush) was pleasantly mesmerizing in a very interesting way that would make you and your buddies stand up and say, “Dude, that was sick!” (Which means ‘really cool’ for you older folk. You know, those over 18.)

Speaking of standing up, go ahead and grab those lyrics in your program for the audience sing-a-long. Blow the dust off your “Midnight Clear” and get ready to belt it out in addition to that other song that’s heard near the end of the very popular holiday movie (yep, now we have a quote for you) which contains the line, “Teacher says, ‘Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.’” Aww, too easy. Thank you Zuzu.

For more information, see performance details and ticket information.

Note: We especially love this show for those new to classical music or the symphony. The series of short musical arrangements and recognizable melodies interspersed with comedy and action make this ideal holiday entertainment for general audiences (and a great choice for a date).

TheFlashList.com

More FlashPoints Review and How To articles on TheFlashList.com

Review: Regina Taylor’s The Trinity River Plays

2010-11-30T08:24:00.002-06:00

Read this article with active link references on The Flash List
One continuous story in three acts (Jarfly, Rain and Ghost(story))
© The Flash List, November 14, 2010
Photos by Brandon Thibodeaux

From teenage French kissing lessons to the aftermath of sexual indiscretion, and with Soul Train dance moves alongside unrequited love and bitter grief, the world premiere of Regina Taylor’s new trilogy The Trinity River Plays is a soul piercing account of one woman’s struggle to come to terms with her past as it continues to affect her future.

Playwright and native Dallasite Regina Taylor is well known for her acting roles in blockbuster films such as Losing Isaiah, Courage Under Fire, and The Negotiator (one of our all time favorite movies) as well as her depictions of Lilly Harper in the television series “I’ll Fly Away” and Molly Blane in CBS’s The Unit (which we … [long sigh] … very sorely miss).

In the style of Steel Magnolias, The Joy Luck Club, Soul Food, and T. D. Jakes’ Woman Thou Art Loosed, The Trinity River Plays tell a cross-generational story as seen through the eyes of Iris, a young woman whose loss of innocence on her seventeenth birthday becomes the catalyst for years of secrecy and suppressed animosity. Cosby this ain’t.

Told through a series of intense vignettes, the story hits close to home for many both emotionally and geographically. Set in Oak Cliff, TX beginning in 1978, references are made throughout the production to a host of nearby cities and area landmarks providing audience members with a personal connection to unfolding events. The show offers the most elaborate set design we’ve seen at the Wyly so far, with a huge “Brady Bunch” house (view the model) complete with a ‘backyard garden’, a climbable ‘pecan tree’, and an impressive onstage downpour of ‘rain’ with actual water.

Exceptionally well cast and extremely well acted, The Trinity River Plays chronicle the life of Iris (Karen Aldridge) as she interacts with a houseful of strong, resilient women and the men who come and go in their lives. Aldridge is fantastic in this dual role which portrays Iris at ages seventeen and thirty four. Iris’ prim and proper, pillar-of-the-community mother, Rose, is played by Penny Johnson Jerald, known for her role in the Tina Turner biopic What’s Love Got to Do With It as well as her appearances on 24, Frasier, Star Trek DS9, The Larry Sanders Show, etc.

Rose’s sister, Daisy, is Iris’ lively, expressive, pharmaceutically medicated aunt who alternately puffed her cigarette along with her asthma inhaler. You know that relative who tells you the honest truth no matter how harsh it feels because that’s just what’s best for you ‘child’? Sort of that Tyler Perry / Madea type who’s not afraid to use a weapon when necessary (in this case a handy water hose) to keep her family in line? That’s Aunt Daisy, flawlessly portrayed by Jacqueline Williams whose credits include roles in The Break Up, The Lake House, Hard Ball, ER, Prison Break, and more.

Aunt Daisy’s daughter, Iris’ cousin Jasmine (Christiana Clark - City Pages’ Best Actress ‘09) looked sexy (in a Thelma from Good Times kind of way) in her bell bottom jumpsuit and afro as she futilely aspires to become a successful choreographer with a “deluxe apartment in the sky” before her substance abuse problem changed her course.

Like any analysis of the human experience, this play exposes some pretty raw, often unattractive, aspects of life; but it’s quite funny as well. To quote Iris referring to her ex-husband’s basketball skills, “It was too funny … and a little sad.”

Particularly impressive though were the exceedingly well-thought-out, subtle nuances of a large number of onstage details like retro glass Dr. Pepper bottles, Tupperware on the counter, the tea kettle whistle, and decade specific dialogue including the “plop, plop, fizz, fizz” Alka-Seltzer jingle. Even the folded paper grocery sack by the refrigerator, the sound of Daisy’s hand patting the side of the cake pan to level the batter, and the living room entertainment unit with turntable and stack of record albums reminded us of our own youth and worked beautifully to gel the story into a believable, albeit simulated, reality.

This deep reflection on family ties that bind (and occasionally choke) delivers the message that life’s ebbs and flows can sometimes include breaking away from the pain of home only to return again to its healing embrace, and that sometimes a necessary separation from family members that seem to know everything about you (and yet often don’t really know you at all) can ultimately produce an enduring reconciliation.

Somewhat autobiographical, but mostly a composite of people she’s known and imagined, it is Regina’s hope that The Trinity River Plays will cause audiences to think about their relationships, their choices, and “the possibilities of transformation that each test in life gives us.”

As always, Dallas Theater Center hosts a discussion after each performance, and this show definitely warrants reflective conversation afterward. But with a 3¼ hour run time (which includes two fifteen minute intermissions), a post show wrap up might not be ideal. Maybe a Saturday night show and a conversation over Sunday lunch. That seems more fitting.

The show runs here in Dallas through December 5, 2010 (click here for details) and then heads to the Goodman Theater, Chicago’s oldest and largest not-for-profit theater. We eagerly anticipate Regina Taylor’s next round of work; but in the meantime, The Flash List highly recommends Dallas Theater Center’s A Christmas Carol (details and photos here), playing at the Kalita Humphreys Theater November 26 - December 24, 2010. Read our review of last year’s fantastic performance.

The Men

Jack, Iris’ first love: Samuel Ray Gates
Ray Earl, Iris’ uncle: Jefferson A. Russell
Frank, Iris’ ex-husband: Jefferson A. Russell

The Creative Team

Director: Ethan McSweeny
Set Design: Todd Rosenthal
Costume Design: Karen Perry
Lighting Design: Tyler Micoleau
Sound and Design Composition: Steven Cahill
Additional Composition: Daryl Waters
Dialect Coach: Sally Nystuen Vahle
Fight Director: Matthew E. Ellis
Wig and Hair Design: Valerie Gladstone
Dramaturgy: Janice Paran
Production Manager: Jeff Gifford
Stage Manger: T. Paul Lynch
Assistant Directors: Bryan Hunt, Patrick Walsh

Dallas Wind Symphony and the Jim Cullum Jazz Band Celebrates the Music of Frank Ticheli

2010-11-30T08:16:00.002-06:00

Playing With Fire & World Premiere of San Antonio Dances
© November 17, 2010 The Flash List

"In a way, you have to know what the rules are so that you can then break the rules.

In other words, know what the limitations are so that you can push those limitations.”
Frank Ticheli on knowing the capabilities of the

instruments that inspire creative music composition.

The world-renowned Dallas Wind Symphony, led by Maestro Jerry Junkin, celebrated the music of Dallas’ own award-winning composer Frank Ticheli on Tuesday night at the Meyerson Symphony Center in an All-Ticheli Concert. The featured conductor/composer is well known for his “optimistic and thoughtful” works for concert bands which were paired brilliantly with music by the Jim Cullum Jazz Band, a phenomenally talented seven-piece jazz ensemble from San Antonio.

About Frank Ticheli

One of America’s premiere composers, Frank Ticheli (pronounced teh-KELLY) began playing the trumpet in 4th grade, attended Berkner High School in Richardson, earned a Bachelor of Music in Composition from SMU, and holds doctoral and master degrees in composition from The University of Michigan. He accepted his first tenure-track position as Assistant Professor of Music at Trinity University in San Antonio before joining the faculty at USC's Thornton School of Music in 1991. Ticheli is a professor of composition, but confesses that the “teaching of creativity is difficult to do” and considers himself more of a cheerleader or psychologist when it comes to fostering development in his students.

Although Ticheli is extremely personable and has garnered considerable recognition in the United States and Europe, he spends much of his time not in the spotlight, but rather by himself with a passion that allows one, as he describes, “to sit in a chair with an instrument or with a pencil and a blank page for hours - hours and hours of what could be very lonely time.” But for all of the time that Frank has spent working in an isolated environment, he has emerged with a repertoire of outstanding works; and we are the beneficiaries.

The Concert

The Playing With Fire concert, including the world premiere of San Antonio Dances, was an imaginative expression of Ticheli’s talents, experiences, and thoughtful reflections. After an exuberant opening fanfare by self-described “closet composer” Taylor Goodson, a senior at Montclair State University, first up on Tuesday’s program was Ticheli’s Postcard.

Postcard

Originally entitled A Postcard to Meadville, PA, this funky, energetic, musical reflection with lively bells, tinkling flute melodies, jazzy sax, and crashing cymbals was commissioned by Ticheli’s colleague and former mentor, H. Robert Reynolds, in celebration of the life of his mother to whom he frequently sent postcards.

San Antonio Dances

Ah, how we love San Antonio’s Riverwalk; and this piece, composed as a tribute to the south Texas city, certainly captures its essence. With Ticheli in the role of guest conductor, the 1st movement, depicting the serene Alamo Gardens, is sultry and peaceful, crescendoing with a hint of mariachi sound that then blossoms in the whimsical 2nd movement, “Tex-Mex on the Riverwalk”, which gave us the feeling we were on vacation. After experiencing a “captivating blend of Texan and Hispanic cultural influences” while working in San Antonio, Ticheli proposes that we “Picture a group of friends seated at an outdoor patio of one of the Riverwalk’s many Tex-Mex restaurants, enjoying the scenery, the food, the company. In time, the evening settles in, the air cools, the mood brightens, the crowd increases, music is heard from every direction. Before you know it, the whole place is one great big fiesta and one feels it could go on forever. Viva San Antonio!”

Rest

Created in 2010, Rest is a concert band adaptation of Ticheli’s work for SATB chorus, There Will Be Rest. Taken from a work by poet Sara Teasdale and turned into a wind piece, it is exquisitely beautiful; and its melancholy nature seems to hold the ability to absolutely dissolve stress on contact. Sitting back and allowing the tones to penetrate the core of one’s being could definitely foster hours of peaceful relaxation and slumber. Not because it’s uninteresting (quite on the contrary), but because its soothing rhythms gently compel you to conform to its tranquil flow.

Symphony No. 2

Listen online:

I. Shooting Stars

II. Dreams Under a New Moon

III. Apollo Unleashed

In a collections of works referring to celestial light, the jovial 1st movement uses “fleeting events at unexpected moments” as well as some pretty crazy percussion sounds like snapping, knocking, chiming, cranking, and spinning to illustrate quick flashes of color and light, shooting stars, and things that come and go quickly. It’s an upbeat complement to the 2nd movement, a recollection of Ticheli’s time spent fishing on the Louisiana bayou when hours were stretched and nothing was happening. In stark contrast, the Apollo Unleashed finale offers upbeat tempos and galloping gestures like a mythological action movie.

Playing with Fire

As if that much Ticheli music wasn’t enough to make patrons feel as if they’d gotten their money’s worth, the Jim Cullum Jazz Band joined the Dallas Wind Symphony onstage, and Playing With Fire opened after intermission with drum beats and bass riffs that left us half-expecting Audrey Hepburn to come gliding across stage at any moment doing her Funny Face dance. Originally composed in 1992 as a concerto for the Jim Cullum Jazz Band and the San Antonio Symphony, Playing With Fire is hot, hot, hot. In the 1st movement (“A la Bauduc”, a musical tribute to the late great drummer Ray Bauduc), Steve Pikal placed his musical action high up on the neck of his gut string outfitted bass while Hal Smith (a noted historian and one of the premiere drummers in contemporary classic jazz) simultaneously leaned over and thumped out a rhythm on that same bass with his drumsticks. Their repeated performance was an incredible treat for the eyes and ears that had the crowd’s feet tapping and people literally dancing in their seats all over the auditorium.

Cornetist Jim Cullum (who began playing when he saw an antique cornet in a store window one day while helping his dad in the grocery business) has been playing from The Landing in San Antonio since 1963. Cullum’s soulful, bluesy melodies alongside an extraordinary clarinet solo by Ron Hockett (former lead saxophonist and clarinet soloist for the “President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band), trombone features by Kenny Rupp (who’s played behind vocalists Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennet, Ella Fitgerald, Lena Horne, etc.), snazzy keys by Jim Turner (award-winning piano music producer), and highlights from the 1930 Gibson tenor banjo of Howard Elkins (composer of the Riverwalk Jazz theme “Nightspell”) are absolutely beyond description, so we’ve included this link to “Sidewalk Blues” so you can hear them for yourself.

Playing With Fire surprises and even toys with you, and where exactly the 1st movement transitioned into the 2nd (“Shades of Blue”) and the 3rd (“Polyphonies and Riffs”), we have no idea. Forget about a notable pause or the ‘don’t clap between movements’ rule - the wildly appreciative audience couldn’t contain themselves from offering very enthusiastic applause at minimal lulls, right throughout the music itself, and while on their feet for a roaring standing ovation in the end.

In the infamous words of Brian Setzer of the Stray Cats, Frank Ticheli and the Jim Cullum Band have definitely “got cat class and [they’ve] got cat style”!

What’s Next?

Frank Ticheli and the Dallas Wind Symphony will be recording a CD this summer which will include Postcard, Rest conducted by Ticheli himself, Symphony No. 2, and Playing With Fire featuring the Jim Cullum Jazz Band. We're so in! This will be a must-have for jazz music fans and collectors.

Upcoming DWS shows include Christmas at the Meyerson on December 21, 2010 featuring soprano Mela Dailey and organist Bradley Welch; Roman Festivals on January 25, 2011 featuring the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra and the Meyerson’s impressive Lay Family Concert Organ; the annual salute to Big Band Boogie on February 15, 2011 featuring piano man Jeff Hellmer leading the 19-piece DWS Swing Band and the Dallas Wind Symphony performing the music of Glenn Miller, Woody Herman, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, and more. And you won’t want to miss Redshift on April 20, 2011 when John Gibson will premiere a host of his self-created patuba (puh-TOO-buh) instruments, the pieces for which he picked up at Elliott’s Hardware!

You can also join Frank on tour June 28 - July 5, 2011 in Rome, Venice, and Florence for “Ticheli’s Italian Homecoming” as he acts as guest composer/conductor on a journey to the country of his ancestry. Presented by Kingsway International, you can attend rehearsals, hear concerts, experience the gala, and tour the Colosseum, the Vatican, the Trevi Fountain, and more!

What’s Backstage?

Wanna know “What’s Backstage” at the Dallas Wind Symphony? For $85 tuition, you can enroll in their series of five evening classes starting March 29, 2011 where you can:

* Learn about all the instruments of the Dallas Wind Symphony

* Meet Wind Symphony Musicians

* Share dinner with Maestro Jerry Junkin

* Sit in on a Wind Symphony rehearsal

* Take a backstage tour of the Meyerson Symphony Center

* Attend a Dallas Wind Symphony Concert

* Have Fun, Make Friends, Be Amazed!

Additional Resources on The Flash List

We at The Flash List are big fans of Dallas Wind Symphony events for their casual laid back style, their entertaining educational lectures, as well as their wide variety of musical selections. Says DWS Founder and Executive Director Kim Campbell, "If you don't hear something you like, wait five minutes." Generally, when you attend a DWS concert, you don't just hear some really great music, but you understand it as well. Read more at:

Dallas Wind Symphony: DWS history, programs, dress, etiquette, etc.

Seating at the Meyerson: Where to sit to get the best experience?

Symphony Terms: What's SATB, fanfare, movement, crescendo?

For More Information

Frank Ticheli

List of works, news, upcoming event information, free mp3 downloads, etc.

http://www.frankticheli.com

http://www.manhattanbeachmusiconline.com/frank_ticheli/index.html

http://www.usc.edu/schools/music/private/faculty/ticheli.php

Fantastic Set of Frank Ticheli Interview Videos

http://www.artistshousemusic.org/videos/about+frank+ticheli

http://www.artistshousemusic.org/videos/the+importance+of+passion

http://www.artistshousemusic.org/videos/making+a+living+as+a+composer

http://www.artistshousemusic.org/videos/the+process+of+composing

Frank Ticheli Online Music

http://www.youtube.com/user/concertbandland#p/c/86D56C2B436A8C1A

http://www.last.fm/listen/artist/Frank%2BTicheli/similarartists

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/composers-collection-frank/id260219860

Frank Ticheli Interview Article

Jim Cullum Jazz Band
Jim Cullum Jazz Band Performers
Jim Cullum’s Landing

Read this article on The Flash List

Opera Review: The Dallas Opera's Anna Bolena

2010-10-30T13:08:00.001-05:00

The 2010 opera season is underway!
Read these opera related articles on TheFlashList.com
Opera Review: Anna Bolena
Opera Review: Don Giovanni
Opera: A Beginner's Guide
The Dallas Opera
Winspear: More Than an Opera House
Seating at the Winspear Opera House
FlashPoints Articles Table of Contents

If only history class could’ve been like this!

The Dallas Opera’s second production in this season’s Dangerous Desires series opened last night with Anna Bolena, Gaetano Donizetti's lyric tragedy exposing the drama-infused final days of the second wife of England’s King Henry VIII.

The performance began with a short history lesson consisting of words projected onto a huge tapestry-like piece of red fabric that hung in lieu of a stage curtain. It was an extremely useful way to quickly get everyone up to speed on the storyline (or at least those who’ve not had Showtime’s The Tudors as a guilty pleasure over the past several seasons, anyway).

After King Henry’s marriage to Anne Boleyn fails to produce the desired male heir (only the young princess, Elizabeth), he becomes disenchanted and decides to take another mistress, Anne’s lady-in-waiting Jane Seymour.

Opera: A Beginner’s Guide

2010-10-24T10:05:00.001-05:00

Watching Romeo & Juliet from the balcony of the Music Hall at Fair Park may have piqued our interest in opera at age twelve, but it was definitely Julia Roberts’ character Vivian in the movie Pretty Woman that really captured it. After Edward (Richard Gere) takes Vivian to the San Francisco Opera to see La Traviata (about a prostitute who falls in love with a wealthy man), Vivan (dressed in a spectacular full-length red gown, white gloves, and exquisite diamond necklace) exclaims, "It was so good, I almost peed my pants."

What is Opera?

Thinking that opera is a boring, antiquated art form patronized only by wealthy snobs who pretentiously critique eighteenth-century melodies sung in foreign languages until the proverbial “fat lady” sings is a sad misconception that couldn’t be further from the truth. On the contrary, opera is an exhilarating showcase of ornate costuming, elaborate scenery, dramatic singing actors, and racy plots about life, death, sex, political intrigue, mistaken identities, star-crossed lovers, and much, much more.

Opera is one of the fastest growing performing art forms in the country right now with many venues specifically catering to the 20 - 40 year old audience demographic. And that makes experiencing this time-honored cultural tradition fairly easy for anyone, especially with a little knowledge in your back pocket.

Production

Opera is a type of theater production in which all the words are sung instead of spoken. The words for an opera are called its libretto (Italian for "little book") which is similar to a play’s script or a movie’s screenplay; and while the text itself is authored by a librettist (similar to a songwriter or lyricist), the accompanying orchestra music (the score) is written by a composer. The orchestra conductor directs the musicians beginning with the very first note of the overture (a musical introduction which sets the mood).

Performers

Singing actors are classified by gender and vocal range (how high and low a singer can sing). Males generally fall into the categories of bass (lowest), baritone (middle range), and tenor (high); while females are specified as contralto (lowest), mezzo soprano (middle), and soprano (high). Sometimes mezzo soprano females are cast for trouser roles in which they play the part of a young boy whose voice has not yet changed.

Performance

Operas consist of acts and scenes featuring songs and recitative (sing-speak dialogue), and two common types include opera buffa (a comic opera) and opera seria (based on a serious topic). But unlike movies or typical plays, operas feature a number of diversions including arias (solo vocal performances expressing a character’s emotions), musical interludes (instrumentals played between scenes), and several minutes of applause after especially moving performances. Therefore, it takes longer to move through the plot; so most operas are about 2½ to 3 hours including a 20 minute or so intermission which allows time to stretch, chit chat, get a snack, and run to the restroom.

Language

While some operas are sung in English, most are performed in their original language (usually Italian, French, or German) in order to preserve the musical value of certain syllables which may not otherwise translate fluidly. However, audiences can easily keep up with the storyline just by reading the English supertitles (also called surtitles) which are projected above the stage during the performance.

Selecting an Opera

Many operas tend to have complicated or controversial themes; so in order to choose one that is suited to your personal tastes, you might listen to CD’s, watch DVD’s, or review plotlines beforehand (though you may want to watch out for spoiler alerts). Listening to an opera (or parts of it) before attending a performance is like to listening to an album before attending a concert. It’s just more fun when you understand the words (although you absolutely mustn’t sing along at the opera).

You can also subscribe to opera news magazines, browse opera related websites, or utilize opera reference books such as The Grove Book of Operas by Stanley Sadie. Sometimes movie theaters broadcast live and encore performances of currently running opera productions which you can view for a nominal price, or you could just consider buying tickets for inexpensive seats if you are new or would like to check your level of interest.

It doesn’t really matter how you access information; you just don’t want to be so wrapped up in trying to follow the plot that you miss out on appreciating the intricacies of the music.

Arriving

Be prompt and in your seat well before the performance is scheduled to begin. Give yourself enough time to navigate traffic, park the car, check your coat, and find your seat. You will want to have plenty of time to get settled in, read over your program notes, and do a little people-watching before the house lights dim. In consideration of other audience members, latecomers are typically not seated until there is a pause in singing or a scene change which means that they may have to wait until intermission and watch the performance on the television monitors in the lobby.

Arriving early allows you to stroll the lobby, get a drink, attend any pre-concert lectures, check out the warm up action in the orchestra pit (the sunken area right in front of the stage), and go to the restroom (some operas are quite long, so it might be a while before you get another opportunity).

Dos & Don’ts

Do bring binoculars or opera glasses, especially if you’re on an upper balcony.
Do turn off your cell phone, pager, and/or watch alarm.
Do refrain from talking during the opera including the introductory overture.
Do unwrap cough drops or small pieces of candy ahead of time.
Do applaud after all the arias and chorus pieces but not in the middle of scenes.
Do experience the music, but only on your inside …
Don’t tap along with your fingers or feet, especially on someone else’s chair.
Don’t take photos during the performance.
Don’t read your program during the program.

Applause

Operas are notorious for using silent pauses to create dramatic effect, so be careful about clapping. If you are not sure when to clap, just wait for others in the crowd and follow their lead. Otherwise, feel free to lavish your applause after the overture, after a well-executed aria or duet, at the end of a particularly moving scene, anytime singers come out to take a bow, or at the end of the show. Operagoers are extremely enthusiastic; and to express fervent appreciation, they may scream "Bravo!" (for a male performer) or "Brava!" (for a female performer) or “Bravi!” (for two or more performers).

When to Eat

Most operas are quite long, so you will definitely want to eat before the show. The size of the meal is the variable though. If you feel that a full stomach might cause you to get sleepy during a show, then eat something light beforehand and have dinner afterwards. You can always get a snack or caffeinated beverage during intermission if necessary. Otherwise, you may choose to eat a full, early dinner at the opera house or a nearby restaurant before the performance (and maybe go for dessert afterward!)

What to Wear

Dress at the opera these days covers the gamut all the way from ball gowns to blue jeans. Tuxes and long dresses are quite common on opening night; but they’re certainly not required, and business attire is considered the norm. Dress pants or a nice skirt would be perfectly suitable, though patrons do tend to dress more casually for mid-week performances and Sunday matinees. Feel free to dress up or dress comfortably, but remember that just because you can dress casually doesn’t necessarily mean you should. Wearing flip-flops and a t-shirt may not get you kicked out of the opera house, but it’s not exactly appropriate and it’s sure to get you some disapproving glances. Also, it may be cool in the theater; so if you get chilled easily, you may want to take a wrap or wear something with long sleeves.

Getting Involved

Opera companies often make open casting calls for supernumeraries (which are like movie extras). Supers do not sing or have speaking parts, but are rather used onstage in large crowd scenes or in background roles such as guards, peasants, servants, etc. Now that’s delving into the action! Free show seating is also sometimes offered for volunteers who help with ushering, ticketing duties, etc. Just check with your local arts venues.

Suit Yourself

No matter how involved you get though from spectator to performer, always feel free to formulate your own opinions about opera despite what any of the critics might say. Like books or movies or food, personal taste is extremely subjective and the best operas are the ones that you love the most.

Popular Operas

La boheme, Puccini
Carmen, by Georges Bizet
The Magic Flute, Mozart
Don Giovanni*, Mozart
The Marriage of Figaro*, Mozart
The Barber of Seville, Gioacchino Rossini
Madama Butterfly , Puccini
Tosca, Puccini
Turandot, Puccini
Rigoletto , Verdi
La Traviata, Giuseppe Verdi
Cosi fan tutte, Mozart
Aida, Verdi
Falstaff, Verdi
Otello, Verdi
Pirates of Penzance, Sullivan, Aruthur
Romeo & Juliet, Gounod
Porgy & Bess, Gershwin

*Considered to be one of the greatest operas ever written.

TheFlashList.com

Opera: A Beginner's Guide on TheFlashList.com

More FlashPoints Review and How To articles on TheFlashList.com

Opera Review: The Dallas Opera's Don Givovanni

2010-10-24T09:34:00.017-05:00

The 2010 opera season has opened! Read these opera related articles on TheFlashList.com

Opera Review: Don Giovanni (with photos & active reference links)
Opera: A Beginner's Guide
The Dallas Opera
Winspear: More Than an Opera House
Seating at the Winspear Opera House
FlashPoints Articles Table of Contents

When Paulo Szot walked out onto the stage last night to take a bow after his performance of Don Giovanni, he was loudly ‘booed’ by some audience members. Was it because his depiction of Mozart’s classic villainous anti-hero was so bad? Oh heavens, no. It was because it was so devilishly good!

The Dallas Opera’s new season has been dubbed Dangerous Desires, and indeed its first show at the Winspear Opera House opened with bouts of passion, oaths of revenge, and supernatural vindication, along with gritty sword fights, physical brawls, and eruptions of crowd-startling gunfire.

Although Mozart’s masterpiece Don Giovanni, based on the Spanish legend of the world's most successful womanizer Don Juan, is an opera buffa (comedy opera) that premiered in Prague in 1787, the story stands just as contemporary and relevant today. Polish/Brazilian baritone Paulo Szot (pronounced POW-low SHOT), who recently received a Tony award for his Broadway performance in South Pacific, played Don Giovanni, the young, arrogant, immoral nobleman who seduces unsuspecting women for amusement and then outrages everyone with his unwillingness to repent.

Reminding us tremendously of David Spade’s Russell and Adhir Kalyan’s Timmy from CBS’s Rules of Engagement, Szot’s emotionally infuriating but commanding stage presence was effectively counterbalanced with comedy relief by bass singer Mirco Palazzi who played Leporello, Don Giovanni’s humorous manservant who reluctantly stands guard while his master engages in an inconceivable number of sexual conquests. Soprano Georgia Jarman played Donna Elvira, one such rejected conquest who oscillates between desiring Don Giovanni and desiring vengeance and who pops up everywhere and often throughout the plot to spoil Don Giovanni’s schemes. The three singer/actors were not only immensely talented but also hilarious together in a scene where Don Giovanni and Leporello change clothes in order to trick Donna Elvira so that Don Giovanni can pursue her maid. As Donna Elvira looks out from her balcony (a la Juliet or maybe Daryl Hanna with Steve Martin in Roxanne), Leporello, dressed in Don Giovanni’s oversized clothes, lip synchs with awkward hand motions while Don Giovanni sings from side stage undetected beneath her balcony.

Set in 1600’s Seville, Spain, amber-toned lighting flooded over the stage’s rustic porches and balconies, array of tropical trees, ‘starlit’ backdrop, and city fountain equipped with actual water onstage which Szot used at one point when he bent down to get his hair wet before standing up and slinging his head (and the water) up and over like a GQ or Sports Illustrated supermodel. The city’s dry, breezy feel was a little Spanish, a little Italian, and a little Casa Blanca-esque. Warm tones were contrasted though by the somber, blue-gray hues of stone columns, statues, and eerie dry ice ‘fog’ in graveyard scenes. Colors alternated with the scene changes to parallel the story’s intense tug-of-war between loving devotion and heartless deception.

Also victim to Don Giovanni’s beguiling charms was peasant girl Zerlina (soprano Ailyn Pérez) and her fiancée Masetto (bass Ben Wager) who spent most of the show in a state of justifiable jealousy. The gorgeous Perez was innocently sexy and cracked up the audience when she coquettishly offered out her ‘tush’ for Masetto to ‘beat’ in retribution for her indiscreet behavior with Don Giovanni. But poor Masetto, we so felt the pain of his anger in the midst of Don Giovanni’s emotional and physical cruelty. It’s such a sinking blow to the ego when a more powerful guy not only tries to woo your girl with more money and a seemingly better lifestyle, but then beats you up afterward. We just wanted Masetto to deck the guy … which he finally did. Well, sort of. We’re not sure if ‘punching’ a guy disguised as Don Giovanni counted for total retribution, but it was close enough to appease our sense of justice somewhat.

The most heart wrenching performance however, came from Don Ottavio (tenor Jonathan Boyd) the fiancée of the grief-stricken Donna Anna (soprano Claire Rutter) whose father was murdered by Don Giovanni in his struggle to avenge his daughter’s name after Giovanni’s lusty, unwelcomed attempt to dishonor her. Don Ottavio’s expression of his undying devotion to Donna Anna was packed with emotion for the entire program, and his profound desire to console her turmoil flowed from Boyd’s full, robust voice when he sang,

“What pleases her gives me life.
What grieves her makes me feel as if I’m dying.
Her anger and tears become mine and I cannot be happy if she is sad.”

In an attempt to assure Ottavio of her love and to plead for his patience while she worked through her sorrow, the sound of Rutter’s beautifully velvety voice washed over the audience as she soothingly pledged her fidelity with the words,

“You must know how much I loved you, and you know what I am true.
Calm your torments, if you would not have me die of grief.
One day, perhaps, Heaven again will smile on me.”

The Don Giovanni story is a bit complex, but characters in this show were quite easy to follow even though the action was moving continually. We won’t spoil the dramatic ending for you; but we do highly recommend reading over a plot summary fully before attending. (You may want to watch out for spoiler alerts, but we don't really think knowing the ending matters too much for this story.) The opera is sung in Italian with translated English supertitles projected onto a screen above the stage; and while viewing the production without a translation might be as entertaining as watching a telenovela on Telemundo, we think the whole thing just might be better if you know exactly what’s going on.

But don’t assume that you have to know too much about opera to enjoy The Dallas Opera’s Don Giovanni. Just because Mozart was a keyboard virtuoso by the age of five and could scribble out musical notes before he could write words, doesn’t mean you have to be a classically trained musician to appreciate his work. If you’d like to be a little more prepared and knowledgeable though, read over our brand new article “Opera: A Beginner’s Guide” which answers ‘scores’ of questions about attending the opera. And also check out our article on seating at the Winspear to make sure you get a seat where you can see those supertitles!

For even more information, see:

Dallas Opera Don Giovanni Overview
http://www.dallasopera.org/the_season/101101-index.php#1
Cast Bios
http://www.dallasopera.org/the_season/101101-index.php#2
Plot Summary / Synopsis
http://www.dallasopera.org/the_season/101101-index.php#3

Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center

Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto (words) authored by Lorenzo Da Ponte
Italian with English supertitles
October 22, 24, 27, 30, November 5, & 7, 2010
Run Time: Approximately 3 hours plus one 20-minute intermission

Conductor: Nicolae Moldoveanu
Stage Director: John Pascoe
Production Designer: John Pascoe
Lighting Designer: Jeff Davis

Tasting Preview for Upcoming Taste of Greenville Avenue

2010-10-13T13:33:00.001-05:00

Ask Avi Adelman, and he’ll tell you that Greenville Avenue is experiencing a renaissance. So much so, that in 2009 he helped organize the Greenville Avenue Restaurant Association and suggested the first "Taste of Greenville Avenue" event which showcased food from 20 of the area’s restaurants and attracted over 4,000 guests.

Now Avi’s doing it again; and TOGA 2010 promises to be an even bigger success as coordinators expect over 10,000 people to attend this year’s lineup featuring a great live music bill, an appearance by Mayor Tom Leppert to declare “Taste of Greenville Avenue Day”, and 70 booths including 32 Greenville Avenue restaurants such as San Francisco Rose, The Libertine, Gordon Biersch Restaurant Brewery, Nandina’s, St Martin’s Wine Bistro, Dodie’s, and more with food portions being offered for $2, $4, and $6.

On Tuesday night, in anticipation of the event, Ricardo Avila and Michelle Andrie graciously welcomed staff from The Flash List along with other members of the media to their recently opened restaurant, Mextopia, for a tasting preview of the upcoming Taste of Greenville Avenue which is scheduled for October 23, 2010. Ricardo is formerly of Avila’s Mexican restaurant which was featured on Food Network’s Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives with Guy Fieri (who, by the way, will be in town on November 6th for a grilling showdown at Texas Motor Speedway). In the meantime, Avila will be serving up a version of his brisket tacos along with chicken pozole, a savory stew made with chicken and hominy which can be topped with onions, jalapeños, oregano, and/or lime.

TOGA is a great opportunity to branch out and try out new foods from area eateries much like you might do at the State Fair. (We know you like your Fletcher's corn dogs, but dishes like fried Frito pie or deep fried beer piqued your interest too, right?) At Taste of Greenville, smaller portions and smaller prices mean more samples of more foods!

Other previews we experienced at Avila’s included rice and meat stuffed oozie pastries that will be served by Ali Baba, a light but hearty chicken artichoke pizza by i Fratelli Pizza, deliciously filling gyros by Café Izmir, as well as pear and cardamom ice cream from Bliss Raw Café which was topped with caramelized, rum-soaked figs and candied walnuts. Just one word - yuuum. OK, maybe we’ll also add the words “very light, creamy finish that was sort of like a cross between whipped cream and gelato.” Mmmm. We also tried Bliss’ raw three-seed crackers topped with a creamy spread of crushed macadamia nuts, shallots, and parsley; and although it was delicious enough, we immediately returned to their table for their amazing organic chocolate truffles (and more ice cream). They’re currently preparing for another big Dallas tasting event; so they’re not exactly sure what they’ll serve at Taste of Greenville Avenue, but we’re quite sure it will be well worth sampling.

Taste of Greenville 2010 will be held at 5700 Richmond at Greenville Avenue in the large parking lot behind 7-11, just south of where the now closed Whole Foods is located. For more information, see:

This article on The Flash List

Taste of Greenville Avenue event details

Theater Review: Henry IV

2010-09-30T21:43:00.006-05:00

Performed by Dallas Theater Center at the Wyly Theater

Photos by Nan Coulter

You know a show is going to be different than most when it begins with a warning from house management to “remain in your seats … for your safety.” And with battle scenes consisting of soldiers running up and down the aisles wielding swords, shields, daggers, spears, and even guns, the advice is well worth heeding.

Henry IV was Shakespeare’s most popular play during his lifetime, and Dallas Theater Center’s production offers action, suspense, drama, and a good dose of comedy. While the ailing King Henry (Kurt Rhoads) is leading England in a civil war, the wayward Prince Hal (played by Steven Walters of Friday Night Lights) is carousing, drinking, and living the general party life at the local tavern. He is befriended by one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comic characters - the obese, cowardly, and extremely funny John Falstaff (Randy Moore).

Walters’ Price Hal character is emotionally torn between his naughty, rebellious lifestyle and his royal obligations to his father and his country; whereas Moore’s fat Falstaff character is hilarious as he shuffles around the stage like an old pregnant woman telling exaggerated fish tales about would be battle feats. With a motto of “Always be late to a fight and early to a feast” and with a fighting style something akin to a marching band drum major, Moore played Falstaff with comedic perfection.

Despite a mostly male cast, Christina Vela and Abbey Siegworth balance the group as the show’s only two female performers. Vela plays the fiery, voluptuous tavern hostess, Mistress Quickly, who holds her own amidst Falstaff’s drunken, lusty advances. Her hearty belly laugh and cackling at his stories cracked us up as much as the dialogue. Seigworth, one of our favorite DTC actors, plays two characters - the velvet clad, porcelain skinned Lady Percy who lives and mourns with both strength and delicacy; and in stark but still very likeable contrast, the dark-eyed, ratty haired prostitute Doll Tearsheet who looked a bit deranged and like she’d been wandering the back alleys for a month and a half.

Costumes for this production were period pieces made up of very worn-looking ‘peasant’ fabrics as well as rich velvets and brocades, metal studded leathers, quilted vesting, and even chainmail. Stage design consisted of 4,000 linear feet of wooden plank ramps which actors used as landscaping in fight scenes, as tables, and even as beds.

The Wyly was configured this time as a theater-in-the-round where the audience surrounds all four sides of the stage action. And the play is not short on stage action - sit close enough and you’ll likely be part of it. You may have a cast member shake your hand, give you a hug, caress your neck, throw you a piece of candy, or use you as a hiding place. Sit further back however, and you’ll be able to get a wider perspective of the exploits as actors run on and off stage, up and down scaffolding, and all over the theater and balconies.

The show is two and a half hours long plus two fifteen minute intermissions, but you’ll want to hurry back and be seated quickly since the returning action begins abruptly and can come from anywhere. And hopefully, despite being a row or two off the stage, you will (like us) hear the house manager say, “Your seats are pretty safe.”

Theater Review: Shrek The Musical

2010-09-30T21:36:00.006-05:00

Once upon a time in a land not so far away (just over at Fair Park, actually) there was a big, nasty ogre named Shrek (played by Eric Petersen) who was gently guided … uh, make that kicked out … of the bog at age seven with little … uh, make that no … encouragement. A self-proclaimed “crackpot magnet,” Shrek meets up with Donkey (Alan Mingo, Jr.), a furry friend who seemingly ‘drops’ from the sky with aspirations of adding hair extensions to his ankles and becoming one of those horses that pulls the wagons of beer. In order to take back his swamp from vagrant travelers like the Big Bad Wolf, Ugly Duckling, Three Bears, etc. who have been displaced by the ruthless Lord Farquaad, Shrek and Donkey embark on a journey to save Princess Fiona (Haven Burton) whose rescue mission profile describes her as one who loves “Piña coladas and getting caught in the rain.”

Despite a dialogue packed with double entendre, this production is great for both children and adults, and characters are very similar to what you would expect after watching the animated movie (accents and all). The never-ending wisecracks kept us snickering, and the only time we heard the kids laugh louder than the adults was when Shrek and Fiona engaged in a comical comparison of sad life stories that quickly morphed into a gas-fest/belch-athon.

The musical’s inspirational message is to let our “freak flag fly” which was preached by a cast of zany fairy tale characters including puppets, rabbits, and “hobbits with bad habits”. Pinocchio insisted he wasn’t wooden, but rather had a glandular condition, and Three Blind Mice with blonde wigs, glammed-up fur coats, and short sequined dresses popped out some high energy Tina Turner-esque dance moves.

Even with a stage set design that changed a couple dozen times and scenery that seemed to glide across the floor on its own, the best ‘prop’ of the show was the singing, blinking, giggling, 10’ tall dragon that ‘flew’ around the stage manned by four puppeteers all dressed in black. The dragon was extraordinarily voiced by Carrie Compere (who also played Shrek’s Mama Ogre).

Madison Mullahey was absolutely Shrektacular as the young Fiona. She easily held her own presence on a stage full of commanding adult actors, and her voice and personality were WAY bigger than her very young, petite frame.

Highlight performance of the evening though? Without a doubt, it was definitely Lord Farquaad’s legs! The character is extremely short in stature, so costume concessions were similar to Tim Conway’s Dorf on Golf and at one point consisted of shiny red boots, a sparkly blue skirt, gold belt, red breastplate, and a big blue cape (to cover up the legs of David F.M. Vaughn who acted the whole show on his knees). Often looking like a miniature cross between Elton John and Wonder Woman, David sang with powerful expression, brilliant humor, and (quite importantly) clarity.

The show runs through October 17, 2010 during the State Fair of Texas; so grab your choice of deep fried goodies, take a spin on North America’s largest Ferris wheel, pick up a pair of your own green ogre ears in the Musical Hall lobby, and settle in to live happily ever after.

Shall we say anything more about Shrek The Musical? Nah. “That’ll do, Donkey. That’ll do.”

Sushi: An Introduction

2010-08-04T16:10:00.001-05:00

Although the appeal of eating sushi continues to grow in America, partaking can sometimes be a tricky maze of strange foods, dissimilar cultural traditions, and foreign languages. This guide will carefully launch you into the enticing world of this Japanese edible art.

DEFINITION

Although sometimes misunderstood to refer to raw fish, the term “sushi” simply means “vinegared rice.” The key ingredients in sushi rice are white, short-grained, Japanese rice; rice vinegar; sugar; and salt. A specific balance is essential for achieving the necessary stickiness and a delicate, sweet flavor that complements the fish.

Sushi rice is generally combined with other ingredients such as fish or vegetables. Fish is frequently, but not always, served raw and should be fresh and of high quality. Types of fish commonly used for sushi include tuna, mackerel, salmon, and yellowtail among others. Seafood used can include shrimp, crab, scallops, eel, squid, and more.

Sushi can still be enjoyed however by those to whom raw fish does not appeal. Restaurants often have many other choices containing vegetables or including smoked salmon, fried shrimp tempura, cooked eel with sweet sauce, etc.

TWO COMMON TYPES OF SUSHI

Nigiri [pronounced nee-ghee-ree]
Nigiri-zushi (hand-formed sushi) consists of a small, oval, hand-pressed clump of sushi rice topped with an expertly cut slice of fish and sometimes a bit of wasabi. Nigiri sushi is very common, generally served in pairs, and meant to be eaten by hand in one bite. The rice is loosely packed, so eating with chopsticks can be tricky. For some people, especially women, eating a piece of nigiri in one bite can be a bit much, so a good sushi chef will adjust the size to accommodate the needs of each customer.

Maki [pronounced mah-kee]
Maki-zushi (rolled sushi) is a filled, cylindrical roll generally wrapped in nori (dried seaweed wrapper) and usually cut into six or eight pieces. Some maki-zushi rolls are made with the rice on the inside and the nori on the outside, but uramaki (inside-out rolls) can contain two or more fillings and is made with the nori on the inside and the rice on the outside. Temaki is a type of maki-zushi in which the filled nori is rolled into a cone shape and eaten by hand.

Nigiri

Maki

Temaki

SASHIMI

Sashimi is sliced raw fish without rice and is therefore technically not sushi. It is eaten with chopsticks and often at the beginning of a meal before other flavors affect the palate. Like sushi, sashimi is available in many varieties with a wide array of flavors, so it is good to experiment to find preferred tastes.

THE SUSHI RESTAURANT

Eating at a sushi restaurant, or sushiya, is an experience that engages the senses by means of colors, textures, flavors, aromas, and even conversations with those around you. Therefore, be prepared to relax, take your time, and enjoy your meal.

When you arrive, you should greet the host or hostess as well as the itamae (sushi chef). If choosing to eat at a table, it is still acceptable to walk by the sushi bar to examine the displayed selections and ask the itamae for recommendations, although questioning whether something is fresh is considered insulting.

THE SUSHI BAR

Sitting at the sushi bar gives you an opportunity to watch the chef prepare your food and can be informative as well as entertaining. At the counter, a cup of 'agari' (hot green tea) may be served for cleansing the mouth, and an 'oshibori' (a hot, wet towel) may be offered to use for cleaning your hands before touching the food.

If the bar is busy, you may order some edamame (boiled soy beans) or some Miso soup, (from soy bean paste) which is often served before or during a sushi or sashimi meal. Miso soup (misoshiru) is consumed by holding the cup in one’s hand and bringing it to the mouth. If you are not given a spoon, it is not necessary to ask for one as it is customary to use chopsticks to eat the pieces of tofu, seaweed, or mushrooms. A little slurping is acceptable with noodles or soup, especially if it is hot.

You may ask the sushi chef for special or seasonal items that are not on the menu; but remember to only order sushi from the itamae, and order drinks, soup, and other non-sushi items from the waitstaff.

ORDERING

The waitstaff may sometimes offer you a small piece of paper which lists all the types of sushi that the restaurant offers on which you simply mark the quantity of each type that you would like. Sushi bar customers may also sometimes order by indicating “omakase” or “okonomi.”

Omakase [pronounced oh-mah-kah-say] means “it’s up to you.” The order will be decided by the chef, giving him an opportunity to be artistically innovative with what he knows are the freshest ingredients. Most chefs however will be respectful of any allergies or dislikes that a customer may have. Ordering omakase is generally an indication that a patron is willing to accept a higher expense for his meal.

Okonomi [pronounced oh-koh-no-mee] means “what I like” and the order placed based on the customer’s preferences. You may, however, request the chef’s recommendations, a change in the amount of wasabi, or a reduction in the size of your sushi, etc.

DINING

Generally it is recommended to begin with sashimi and lighter-tasting fare, gradually proceeding toward heavier, stronger flavored dishes and those with a higher fat content.

Sushi should be ordered in small amounts at a time and eaten as soon as it is served in order to maintain optimal temperature. When served together, maki-zushi rolls should be eaten before nigiri to prevent the outer seaweed from getting soggy.

Commonly, when ordering a particular sushi topping, the chef makes two nigiri, enabling you to enjoy your fish preference, but leaving room for variety. However, sushi should be eaten with moderation as too much can result in your tongue becoming coated and numbed to taste variations. And do keep in mind that leaving food on your plate can give the chef the impression that you didn’t like it.

CONDIMENTS

Soy sauce
If you do not feel as though your sushi is spicy enough, you may use a little shōyu (soy sauce) which is served in a small, shallow dish beside your plate. Just pick up your sushi and dip the edge of the fish side only into the soy sauce. It is not common to pour soy sauce onto sushi, and it is considered wasteful to pour more soy sauce into the dish than you will use. Be careful also not to dunk or dip the rice side of your sushi into the soy sauce, as the rice is highly absorbent and may fall apart or become too bitter. As well, you should not remove the fish from the nigiri to dip into the shōyu as this can be perceived as a deconstruction of the chef’s artwork.

Wasabi
Nigiri-zushi often comes with what the itamae considers to be an ideal amount of wasabi placed between the rice and the topping. Real, fresh raw wasabi has a mild flavor and is unlike the often served commercial paste created from powdered horseradish. However, depending on the flavor desired, extra wasabi can be requested or added to the sushi to suit your preference.
Though there is much debate on the subject, it is considered bad practice by many to mix wasabi into the soy sauce dish unless you are eating sashimi. To obtain maximum flavor of both the wasabi and the shoyu, it is better to add the wasabi directly to the sushi and then dip sushi lightly into the soy sauce.

Gari
Gari [pronounced gah-ree] is off-white or pink pickled ginger that is served with sushi. It is eaten with chopsticks to clear the palate between varying types of fish or sushi.

TECHNIQUE

Using Chopsticks

Sushi may be eaten either with chopsticks or by hand. Many restaurants provide single-use wooden chopsticks that you just snap apart to use. Here are a few guidelines:

Rub chopsticks together only if there is a splinter.

Use the thick end of the chopsticks (not the part you put in your mouth) to pick up food from a shared plate.

Do not pass food from chopsticks to chopsticks as it is reminiscent of a funeral tradition involving the handling of cremated bones.

Avoid stabbing food or storing chopsticks vertically in food, especially rice, as this is done at Japanese funerals for altar offerings.

When chopsticks are not in use, they should be placed on the holder, on the shoyu dish, or in front of you with the tips pointing to the left if you are right-handed.

Using Your Hands

To eat nigiri, pick up the piece like you would a computer mouse with your thumb on one side, your middle finger on the other side, and your index finger at the ‘front.’ Flip it around (using your index finger to push upward), dip the fish side into soy sauce if desired, and place the whole thing in your mouth fish side down.

PAIRING DRINKS

Green tea and beer have mild flavors, and each pair nicely with sushi. Since sake (rice wine) and sushi are both rice based, it is recommended that sake be reserved for eating before a meal, after a meal, or with sashimi to avoid an excessive rice load.

When drinking alcoholic beverages with sushi, do not serve yourself, as it is customary for table companions to serve one another. Check on tablemates and refill their drinks as needed. When you are offered a refill, drink any remaining amount in your glass and then hold it toward the person offering. And don’t forget that it is polite to offer to buy a drink for the sushi chef.
Only after everyone at the table is served drinks, feel free to toast “Kanpai!” (“dry glass”), but do not give the Italian toast “cin cin,” as in Japanese this refers to male genitalia.

NYOTAIMORI: NAKED SUSHI

Originating in Japan, and deemed illegal in China, “body sushi” (eating sushi from the body of a woman) is considered risqué but trendy these days. Nyotaimori (“female body serving”) models are covered with flowers and a few strategically placed banana leaves which serve to prevent the sushi from becoming warm. Completely shaved and washed with fragrance free soap, these women are expected to lie still sometimes for hours while patrons serve themselves sushi from the reclining woman’s torso.

Both artistic and sensual, nyotaimori can be found at a few restaurants in the United States, but more often at private parties. Rules are strict however - no speaking, touching, or lewdness toward the models; chopsticks only are used to retrieve sushi; and usually no cameras without the host’s permission.

And body sushi is an equal opportunity food play endeavor. While nyotaimori refers to the female body, “nantaimori" is the art of "male body presentation."

FINAL NOTE

While a few guidelines can serve as a general path through otherwise unfamiliar territory, in the end you should always enjoy your food and your life your way. So eat; drink; and above all, be merry!

Note: Although health concerns regarding eating raw fish are minimal for healthy persons, raw and undercooked foods can carry certain health risks. If you have concerns, you should consult your doctor before consuming.

TheFlashList.com
Sushi: An Introduction on TheFlashList.com
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300 Dallas Bowling

2010-08-04T15:43:00.000-05:00

We were extremely pleased with the level of service we received at 300 Dallas.

We walked straight in to the front counter and mentioned that it was our first time there. We were asked for our shoe size and our names (along with the correct spelling, which was a plus to us.) This information was put into the computer, we were assigned a lane, a tab was started, and no money was exchanged until the end of the evening.

We were then directed over to a nearby counter which housed a display bowling ball that had several sets of various sized finger holes drilled into it. We were asked to determine which size best fit our fingers, and balls were chosen for us based on our weight and finger size. The shoes and balls were then carried to our lane for us by the host, and our waiter soon arrived to take our drink and food order.

The booths were plush, the scoring computer worked well, and with 20+ huge big screens lined up across the end of the lanes, we helped The Clash "Rock the Casbah" just before Beyonce began belting it out to all the "Single Ladies". 300 kept the fun ‘rolling’ and never once did we have to call anyone over to fix the pin setting machine. (Yeah, we have quite a bit of experience bowling 'old school'.)

After we perused around the upscale billiards area and white cloth covered dining tables, we were offered a peek at Club 300, a super sleek six lane private bowling suite which includes its own bar and meeting room. We want to have a small party just so we can host it in Club 300.
For a bowling alley (or even a nightclub or bistro), 300 Dallas certainly lives up to its claim of being “strikingly different, indeed.”

Know Before You Go:

The club utilizes black lights; so if you’re going to wear a black shirt, make sure it’s lint free because those little white fibers are gonna glow!

TheFlashList.com

300 Dallas Bowling on TheFlashList.com

More Reviews & How Tos on TheFlashList.com

Kraig Parker (Elvis Tribute Music Artist)

2010-07-30T10:04:00.002-05:00

Legs kicking, hips shimmying, butt wiggling … enamored women crowding the stage in hopes of receiving a touch, a kiss, or an all-so-precious sweat soaked scarf.

This is what we experienced at a recent Kraig Parker show as he rocked out to “Blue Suede Shoes”, “All Shook Up”, “Heartbreak Hotel”, and wooed the crowd with “Love Me Tender”, “Don’t Be Cruel”, “Teddy Bear”, and more.

For those who would like a good Elvis fix, The Flash List recommends attending one of Kraig's shows. And we’re sure that Kraig would thank you, thank you very much.

TheFlashList.com

Kraig Parker on TheFlashList.com

More FlashPoints Review and How To articles on TheFlashList.com

Dallas Wind Symphony

2010-07-30T09:54:00.004-05:00

Just take a little taste - you’re probably going to like it. Trust us.

Conductor Jerry Junkin seems to dance around the Meyerson stage with music as his partner. And what a lovely pair they make. He is physically expressive, commanding, inspiring, and passionate. And the music - produced by the extremely talented musicians of the Dallas Wind Symphony - naturally follows his lead.

Laid Back Style

DWS is the leading professional civilian wind band in the US, and performs an eclectic mix of styles ranging from classical to pop. Their concerts are billed as “a let-your-hair-down, relax-and-have-some-fun kind of series”, and we agree. Maestro Junkin relates to the audience as if we’re all sitting around in his basement for a late night jam session. He’s personable, funny, and informative, walking the audience through each piece music and the understanding of what’s what.

DWS History

Dallas Wind Symphony was founded in 1985 by Kim Campbell, a trombonist, when he walked into the office of SMU Music Professor Howard Dunn and said, "I would like to start a reading band of the finest wind and percussion players in the city, and I want you to conduct it." Professor Dunn smiled and replied, "I've been waiting for you all my life!"

Although Howard Dunn passed away in 1991, Kim continues as Executive Director; and Jerry Junkin, Director of Bands at the University of Texas at Austin, was named Artistic Director and Conductor. The Dallas Wind Symphony has entertained more than a million people both at home and on tour, including a command performance for Queen Elizabeth II. The band has also released over a dozen recordings, two of which were nominated for Grammy Awards.

Attending a Concert

You could have a great time at any one of the Dallas Wind Symphony’s shows just by walking in, sitting down, listening to the music, and humming all the way home. However, if you want to enjoy an even richer, deeper experience, there are plenty of opportunities to do so. You can:

Familiarize Yourself with the Music

Arrive early to give yourself some time to look over the program. In it, you’ll find pages chock-full of information about the origins of the various pieces being featured as well as bios of musical contributors such as the conductor, composer, any soloists, etc. Sometimes it can be beneficial to understand what a writer was trying to accomplish before you listen to his work; and sometimes (like in, say, sports), the more you know about a topic, the better you can appreciate and enjoy it.

Attend the Pre-Concert Lecture

Before each concert, a Windnotes lecture is presented (at no extra cost). Concertgoers can gain musical background information, hear interesting stories, and get an entertaining behind-the-scenes run-down of what they are about to hear.

Experience the Fanfare

After the lecture and before each concert, stick around in the lobby for a world-premiere fanfare written just for the Dallas Wind Symphony. This is not a little quartet quietly playing in the corner; rather, it’s an impressive show-before-the-show that you’ll definitely want to experience. The crowd gathers in the Meyerson lobby (near and on the staircases) and faces up and toward the front windows. Several members of the wind symphony (specifically brass musicians) can be seen and heard as they sit on the upper level above the crowd and perform a short, exciting, upbeat piece as a show starter before the main concert.

Enjoy The Show!

Prepare to stand as the “Star Spangled Banner” begins each concert, and then settle in for an evening of entertainment by wonderfully skilled musicians. Like we mentioned, it’s great to know the background of the music in order to grasp the intent of the writer; but if you don’t, that’s all right. Just sit back and enjoy the music or make up your own story. The sound of the music can evoke plenty of creative scenarios in your imagination - maybe you’re cycling along the coast of a small Italian town with the sea breeze gently blowing through your hair; or maybe you’re sashaying into Rick’s Café in Casablanca, picking a stiff drink, and getting ready to go throw some money down at the roulette table.

Conversely, suppose you have a specific sound that you’d like to hear the Dallas Wind Symphony play - then you may donate a piece of music from the extensive wish list that can be found on the DWS website. Choices include marches, folk tunes, symphonies, pops, waltzes, music from movie soundtracks, and even Freddy Mercury’s Bohemian Rhapsody.

You may also purchase DWS CD recordings at the Meyerson or online, and enjoy their music long after the show.

Absolutely Know Before You Go

The concert hall can get very quiet during certain phases of soft music. Therefore, be sure to turn off your cell phone, unwrap any cough drops beforehand, and know that the sounds of rifling through your purse or even whispering can seem louder than usual.

and … DON’T CLAP BETWEEN MOVEMENTS!!

Some pieces of music have ‘sections’ known as ‘movements’. It is proper to only clap at the end of each piece, rather than after each section (even though the band takes a noticeable pause to readjust). For instance, you may see something like this in your program:

Southern Harmony for Wind Ensemble (1998) …. by Donald Grantham
I. The Midnight Cry
II. Wondrous Love
III. Exhilaration
IV. The Soldier’s Return

Only clap at the end of The Soldier’s Return, which marks the end of Southern Harmony. Don’t clap after each movement.

Dress

Dress is a little more casual than at other symphony performances. Men could wear a black suit if they wanted to (certainly those on stage do), but it’s not really necessary and most people don’t. Most men wear blazers, dress pants, or even nice jeans. Women tend to wear church type dresses, skirts with jackets, dress pants, or nice jeans.

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Theater Review: It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman

2010-06-28T17:23:00.000-05:00

Look, over at the Wyly! It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman. And the Man of Steel is dispersing truth, justice, and the American way via a musical. But it works.

Background:

Originally opening on Broadway in 1966 and starring Jack Cassidy (David Cassidy’s dad) and Linda Lavin (from the 70’s sitcom Alice), the show was well received but ran for only four months. In 2008, however, Dallas Theater Center’s Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty approached the show’s composer Charles Strouse and its lyricist Lee Adams (whose collaborative efforts include the score for Bye Bye Birdie and the All in the Family theme song “Those Were the Days”). Moriarty acquired permission to revise the work and then commissioned Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, a "lifelong fan" of the musical, to create an updated book which features several new characters.

Dallas Theater Center's Musical Production:

The show is set in 1939, a year after Superman arrives in Metropolis and focuses on the relationship between Superman (Matt Cavenaugh) and Lois Lane (Zakiya Young). Cavenaugh (whose voice sounds remarkably similar to Patrick Duffy‘s) transitioned well between his two characters - Superman and mild mannered reporter Clark Kent (whose name, by the way, is a combination of actors Clark Gable and Kent Taylor).

The superhero is determined to fight “evil and corruption in the city” and repeatedly ‘flies’ onto the stage to save Metropolis from a menacing band of criminals. Erupting gunfire and ensuing fight scenes were reminiscent of the Batman television series (especially when coupled with the song “Pow! Bam! Zonk!”) and were complete with acrobatics as well as impressive mid-air flipping and spinning. All this interspersed between song and dance numbers like the deliberately campy but entertaining “Supernice” with its “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” style bop.

Creative use of onstage props included x-ray vision (now you see someone behind the door, now you don’t) and a door that seemed to slam by use of ‘superpowers’. Scenic designer Beowulf Boritt also offered an artistic three dimensional lighted cityscape set backdrop that reminded us of looking up at the sky from downtown’s Pegasus Plaza or through Nasher Sculpture Center’s Tending, (Blue) exhibit.

We super-loved the Secret Society of Super Villains which included Space Age Cowboy Jupiter James (Kent Zimmerman); the voluptuous Scarlet Widow (Julie Johnson, who is also the voice of Barney and Friends’ Baby Bop); the sexy, feathered Blackbird (Kate Wetherhead); dancing Court Jester (Bob Hess); as well as the team of Cadabra (DTC’s Cedric Neal) and Kazam (Matthew J. Kilgore) who seemed to be a crazy cross between the Mad Hatter and Ronald McDonald. Kudos to costume designer Jennifer Caprio for era specific business wear and outstanding villain costumes.

Highlight Performances:

Patrick Cassidy (son of Jack Cassidy and Shirley Jones, brother of Shaun Cassidy, and half brother of David Cassidy) carried a substantial portion of show with his performance of the evil mastermind and arch-villain Maxwell Menken, the role his late father played in the original production. Patrick has acted on Broadway, toured nationally, and has been seen on television shows such as ER, CSI Miami, Smallville, Law & Order and more.

Equally as impressive was Jennifer Powers’ portrayal of The Daily Planet’s sassy gossip columnist Sydney Sharp. Her strong execution of the song “You’ve Got Possibilities” makes us understand why famous American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim included the tune in his list of songs he wishes he’d written.

Andrew Keenan-Bolger did an exceptional job playing the spirited cub reporter Joseph “Torchy” Carter, and Cara Statham Serber was fabulous as Max Menken’s sexy assistant Miss Marilyn Nessbit as she delivered humor and emotion along with a tight skirt walk and Cyndi Lauper-esque accent.

You don’t have to be extremely familiar with the Superman story or comics in general to enjoy this play, although you’ll probably enjoy it even more if you are a fan. The show is three hours long including intermission; so you might plan to eat beforehand especially since DTC invites you to stay late afterward to see the stage and hear their crew reveal the magic behind Metropolis.

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra at the Morton Meyerson Symphony Center

2010-06-28T17:13:00.000-05:00

If your last experience with orchestra was of the “Electric Light” variety or was a junior high school band recital, then you may have a pleasant surprise in store. Just think ‘movie music.’ Reminiscent of Indiana Jones, Titanic, or even The Lion King, the sounds of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra elicit a strong emotional response that can seem to transport you to another place and time.

Wherever you find yourself, be assured you'll arrive there in style. Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2009, the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center is regal indeed. But despite the elegance of its marble floors and glass walls, the Meyerson is comfortable and relaxed with a staff that was casual, friendly, and extremely helpful on our recent visit.

Doors to the concert hall open thirty minutes before the performance, so be sure to go early to find your seat, soak in the ambience, and read over your program. There you can find a list of symphony rules such as no talking during the performance and no unwrapping cough drops or rifling through your purse. Keep in mind that the music in some parts of the show can be very soft, so talking babies, beeping watch alarms, and even a growling stomach may seem louder than usual.

If you’d like to eat before the show, the Meyerson serves dinner at two restaurants, Opus (fine dining and Sunday brunch) and Allegro (light dining). Bars are also set up in these areas so you may purchase bottled water, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages before the show or during the fifteen minute or so intermission. Don’t worry too much about losing track of time during the break though, as you will hear bells chime overhead to let you know when it’s time to make your way back to your seat.

Our seats near the stage on the Orchestra Terrace were well cushioned, well positioned (angled toward the stage), well spaced (plenty of legroom), and extremely comfortable even at the end of the two hour performance. The center is known for its unsurpassed acoustics and unobstructed lines of sight, and we were well pleased with the entire experience.

While having a broad knowledge of any topic generally gives one a better appreciation of it, we don’t feel that a degree in music or even much of a study of it is required in order to enjoy the symphony. Just a love of music and consideration for the talents of others are all that’s really needed to find yourself hooked on the ‘symphonic.’

Dress for Women:
Though we were there for a seasonal performance and maybe not on one of the most formal of evenings, the outfits we saw covered a very wide range including dressy dresses, cocktail dresses, casual dresses, lots of dress pants (mostly black) with sweaters or nice shirts, and even some jeans with nice shirts or jackets.

Dress for Men:
Also a wide range of attire including tuxes, suits, sport coats, dress pants with nice shirts, and jeans with dress shirts or jackets.

Parking:
Dallas Arts District Garage: $10.00 per event, Cathedral Garage: $5.00 per event, Star Parking on Olive Street: $10.00 per event, Valet: $11.00 per event on both levels. See parking map below.

Tours:
Free public tours of the Meyerson are available on selected Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 1:00 PM, and once a month a free 30 minute recital demonstration of the center’s impressive 4,535 pipe concert organ is presented to the public with a tour following. Reservations are not required.

Know Before You Go:
If you enter the Meyerson from the Dallas Arts District Garage and find yourself on the lower level near the Symphony Store, just look to the right and take the large stairway up. Elevators are also available, as the entrance to the concert hall is upstairs.

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Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center Seating

2010-06-28T17:03:00.004-05:00

The Sound

Since most of our readers tend to not be acousticians, sound engineers, or classically trained musicians with incredibly discriminating ears, we won’t bother telling you about how the Meyerson is a narrow, rectangular, shoe-box design which allows for better sound manipulation than, say, a fan-shaped auditorium, which allows sound to dissipate easier. We won’t mention the canopy over the Meyerson stage that is raised and lowered to achieve the right sound balance, and we won’t say anything at all about those windows at the top of the auditorium that are opened and closed to control sound waves.

Besides, sound is going to vary with each performance anyway.

We’ll just tell you that the Meyerson employs people who are well educated in those things and that they do their best to provide everyone in the audience with the best aural experience possible.

The View & The Experience

We’ve sat in quite a few seats at the Meyerson, all of which were well cushioned and comfortable to us even at the end of long performances. Since the center is known for its unsurpassed acoustics and unobstructed lines of sight, we’ve been pleased with all of our seating options - but for different reasons. Here’s our run down of what we think of each:

Orchestra Floor (first several rows): Super if you are seeing a solo artist who is performing at the front of the stage, or if you’re attending a special presentation, or if you want to watch the conductor. But otherwise, it might be that all you see from these very up-close seats is the feet of the musicians poking out from under a sea of music stands.

Orchestra Floor (middle and back rows): Good seats, good sound.

Orchestra Terrace/Side Orchestra (lowest balcony): Great view (you can see up and over those music stands and watch the musicians play); and the seats are well positioned (angled toward the stage) and well spaced (plenty of legroom). Side Orchestra seating near the stage is fantastic.

Loge Boxes (second of four balconies): Amazing seats with, of course, the highest price tags.

Grand Tier & Grand Tier Boxes (highest balcony): Here’s a seat we love for what may be an inappropriate reason. For one performance, we sat in the front-most seats (Box A, Seats 1 & 2) on the Grand Tier, the highest balcony. It’s so high, and so far removed from the stage and the rest of the audience, that it seems like you’re in your own little world up there. We were able to whisper without notice. Certainly the other couple in the box with us did not notice - they were lip-locked for most of the performance. Wow. So there’s that as well.

Choral Terrace (on the stage): This is great if you’d like to feel like part of the orchestra. Of course, you face the audience, so you see the backs of the musicians; but you can keep tabs on some of those crazy percussionists in the back. We won’t tattle on anyone, but we have seen a few mischievous hijinks going on back there during performances.

Stand By Seating: Uughh. Just pay for the seat you want. ‘Stand by’ seating is what you get when someone else buys a ticket, but can’t make it to the show. So you might be able to sit in their seat. And maybe they purchased a really great seat. Great for you. But, on the other hand, maybe they show up late. Then there you are, having to get up out of their seat and move to another seat. Maybe in the dark. And you may have to move again if the next person shows up. So if that’s fine with you, then go for it. It can pay off very handsomely, but it’s a risk you have to decide that you’re willing to take.

For more information about Meyerson seating and ticketing, contact:

Myerson Symphony Center

2301 Flora St. Dallas, TX 75201 214-670-3600

http://www.meyersonsymphonycenter.com

http://www.diningatthemeyerson.com

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Musical Terms to Know Before Attending the Symphony

2010-06-08T16:41:00.007-05:00

© April 2010 The Flash List

We don’t want to bog you down with an overweight backpack of music vocabulary, but we would like to share a few terms that you might like to know before you head over to the symphony.

THE PEOPLE

Performance Art
Art involving visual as well as dramatic or musical activity such as theater, film, dance, etc.

Orchestra
A performing group playing various instruments including:
        String instruments (violin, viola, cello, double bass, guitar, etc.)
        Woodwind instruments (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, saxophone, etc)
        Brass instruments (trumpet, trombone, tuba, French horn, coronet, etc.)
        Percussion instruments (drums, cymbals, piano, bells, tambourine, etc.)

Wind orchestra (wind band or concert band)
Musical group consisting of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments.

Conductor
Person who leads the orchestra by means of gestures and indications.

Ensemble (pronounced on-sahm-bull)
Musical performing group 'assembled' together such as an orchestra, choir, chamber group, or band.
THE MUSIC

Melody
A succession of singles tones; a simple song.

Harmony
The combination of two or more different notes sounding simultaneously.

Texture
The interweaving of melodic and harmonic elements in music.

Symphony
A large instrumental composition generally divided into three or four parts.

March
A piece of music written for marching to.

Concerto (pronounced kuhn-chair-toe)
A piece of music written for a soloist and an accompanying orchestra.

Suite (pronounced sweet)
An ordered set of musical pieces which may be derived from an opera, movie, or ballet (such as the “Nutcracker Suite”).

Overture
An instrumental introduction for opera, ballet, or an oratorio.

Movement
Complete, self-contained sections, or parts, of a larger musical work.

Fanfare
A short piece of music played by brass instruments and trumpets (and sometimes percussion), usually for ceremonial purposes.

Requiem (pronounced rek-wee-em)
A musical composition associated with death or mourning.

Tempo
The rate, speed, or pace of the music.

Crescendo
A gradual increase in the volume or force of music.

Register
The specific range in the sound of an instrument or voice

SATB (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass)

    Soprano - the highest singing voice of a woman or young boy.
    Alto - A low female singing voice.
    Tenor - A high adult male voice.
    Bass - a male singing voice of the lowest range.

More? Yes, of course there's more! But we'll let these terms marinate first and then add some more new words later.

One chapter at a time ...

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Wicked: Dallas Summer Musicals

2010-05-28T19:39:00.011-05:00

What do Legally Blonde, Animal Farm, Star Wars Episode I, and Dr. Dolittle have in common? Themes that lead you straight down the yellow brick road to the Land of Oz and to Dallas Summer Musicals' currently running production of Wicked, the previously untold story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda, the Good Witch of the North.

And the journey is wonderfully fantastical!

Though often considered to be a behind-the-scenes type of prequel to Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the story (adapted from the novel Wicked by Gregory Macguire) actually takes place before, during, and after Dorothy and Toto drop in. The show’s complex but easily followed plot follows the relationship between the two Ozian witches who meet in college and become unlikely friends as they not only share a dorm room, a common love interest, and a knack for magic, but as they also experience social injustice, political corruption, and discrimination against Elphaba for the emerald green skin she was born with and against Doctor Dillamond, the university’s only animal professor.

We won’t spoil the plot intricacies and the surprise twist ending; but Wikipedia has a great complete synopsis if you’re interested, although we recommend skipping the last paragraph under “Act II” if you want to wait for the show to find out how things turn out.

Performers

Donna Vivino (daughter of Jerry Vivino, a member of the Max Weinberg and The Tonight Show Band) plays Elphaba, the smart, hard working and compassionate, but awkward and misunderstood Laney Boggs of Oz. The ugly-duckling-turned-swanlike role showcases Vivino’s extraordinary talent and spectacular vocal range. Her strong, emotion evoking voice was fierce and captivating in songs such as “The Wizard and I”, “No Good Deed” and especially crowd-pleasing in her powerful rendition of “Defying Gravity” which she belted out while being dramatically hoisted into the air high above the stage.

Chandra Lee Schwartz plays Glinda, the perky, capricious, self-absorbed blonde who floats onto the stage from overhead amidst a spray of bubbles and hardly seems to have to lift a wand for her immense popularity. Schwartz’s performance was wonderfully sweet as she eloquently delivered humorous quips and one-liners, and she was certainly in her blissfully charming element as she sang “Popular”, one of the highlights of the show, as she with great exuberance attempts to teach Elphaba to embrace her softer, feminine side.

Other outstanding performances included those by Richard Kline (Larry from television’s Three’s Company) as The Wizard, Richard H. Blake (recently seen on Broadway as Legally Blonde’s Warner) in the role of Fiyero who rolled onto the stage with the pomp and circumstance of a Disney prince and/or Dudley Do Right. Jayne Houdyshell (whose credits include television’s Law & Order) plays Madame Morrible, a headmistress at Shiz University; and with her stark white-ish makeup, bright red lipstick, green boa, and kimono style dress, she looked like something fantastically straight from the Moulin Rouge or out of a Toulouse-Lautrec painting. And of course we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention those freakishly delightful acrobatic ‘flying’ monkeys!

Costumes

The exquisite Ozian costumes were stars themselves in this production. Heavy, ornate, woven frocks as well as rich, silky, exotic pieces with sequins, feathers, ruffles, fringe, leather and fur had incredible stage presence on their own. Lavish designs, some with exaggerated elements of French and Asian fashion, were reminiscent of anything from Coco Chanel to Carmen Miranda (minus the fruit) to Eliza Doolittle to Willy Wonka, and some reminded us of our long past days working at Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor. It was all very, as they say in the Emerald City, “Ozmopolitan”!

Set Design

With elaborate props sliding on and off stage, a huge robotic Wizard face verbally commanding attention, a moving mechanical dragon with the wingspan of a Cessna 172 looming above the stage, scene enhancing LED and spot lighting, and around 200 pounds of dry ice fog in the air, sets gave us the sensation we were in a crazy fun house, steamy train station, misty forest, or stage sized clock tower.

Value

Opening to a packed house in Dallas, the award-winning musical has broken the house record in every single city in which it’s played and is well worth the ticket price. Especially if you are the winner of the daily day-of-performance lottery where names are drawn for a chance to purchase $25.00 orchestra seats. The show, which ran almost three hours including intermission, is extremely entertaining for adults and is also family friendly without being sappy.

Dress

Dress at this production was a bit dressier than other DSM shows. We saw a few people in jeans, but most men had on dress pants or business khakis, while a good number of women wore summer dresses.

World of Wicked at The Shops at Willow Bend

Wicked cast members will give a live performance and sign autographs on June 5, 2010 at The Shops at Willow Bend. And from now until June 13, 2010, you can step inside a 20-foot bubble featuring set props, costumes, and photo opportunities at the "Behind the Emerald Curtain" exhibit in the Grand Court.

For more information, see the Dallas Summer Musicals website or check out the Wicked related specials and giveaways at The Shops at Willow Bend.

Art: View, Appreciate, Discuss

2010-05-28T19:23:00.000-05:00

Maybe you’ve walked through an art exhibit at one point or another and thought, “I could’ve done that!” Or maybe you’ve looked at a piece of art and wondered what in the world the artist was thinking. Well, whether or not you figure out what the artist was thinking, here are some questions you can ask to get yourself thinking:

The Elements of Art and Design

Line
Does the piece of art have clearly defined lines or implied lines where two colors or edges come together? Do the lines seem to cause your eye to be moved in a certain direction or to a specific focal point?

Color
Do the colors seem warm (reds, oranges, or yellows) or do they seem cool (greens, blues, or purples)? Do the colors elicit an emotional response - peacefulness, anger, coldness, barrenness, coziness, etc.?

Texture
What type of texture can you see? Does the artwork seem rough or smooth or soft or hard or a mixture? Is the texture real (tactile) or implied (visual only)?

Shape
Do you see geometric shapes such as rectangles or triangles or do you see irregular organic shapes? Are they simplified and abstract or do many smaller shapes come together to present a detailed work?

Form
What three dimensional shapes do you see? Do they change as you view the piece from different angles? How do the forms relate to one another and how do they affect the piece as a whole?

Space
What techniques does the artist use to make a two dimensional piece seem three dimensional? Do some elements seem to come toward the foreground while others seem to recede back? What types of secondary shapes are left in the background?

Value
Are the colors light or dark or do they offer a contrast? Are the colors bright and intense or dull and grayed out? What purpose does that serve the work?
The Principles of Art and Design

Emphasis
What in the piece grabs your attention? How is this achieved? Where is the focal point and how is it important to the work?

Balance
Does the art seem to have equal ‘weight’ on each side, or does it look heavier in one area as if it might tip? Does one aspect of the piece seem to be overbearing, or is a sense of overall stability achieved?

Harmony
Do the individual parts of the piece seem to ‘match’? Do they work together as a whole or do they seem in conflict?

Variety
What types of interesting differences can you see? Is interest created by the use of varying colors or different thicknesses of lines or contrasting shapes?

Movement
Is there a feeling of action? Does it seem exciting or mellow? Is your eye directed in a particular systematic way?

Rhythm
Do you see a particular pattern or repetition? Is the pattern one of color or light or shapes or something else? How does the pattern seem to cause movement in the artwork?

Proportion
Do the objects seem to be related by scale and size? Or are they intentionally disproportionate; and if so, for what purpose?

Unity
Do the parts of the work of art seem to be disjointed or does the piece seem to come together as a whole? Do you feel a sense of cohesion and completeness?

A Few Characteristics of Main Art Periods

Antiquities
Before 500 years BC
Very old items that look like something you’d find on an archaeological dig.

Greeks And Romans
500 BC to 500 AD
Look for marble statues of seminude figures, many with broken limbs.

Medieval
500 to 1500
Primitive looking, mostly religious relics that tend to be flat looking.

Renaissance
1400 to 1520
Use of perspective in highly realistic renderings.
Four famous period artists were Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael.

Baroque
1600 to 1725
Dramatic, impressive, lots of detail.

Neoclassical
1700 to 1800
Reintroduction and romanticizing of classical elements and themes.

Realism
1800 to 1880
Artists painted what they saw instead of what they imagined.

Modern Art
1800 - present
Art that breaks with former tradition and formal rules.

Impressionism
1870 to 1900
Many tiny ‘dots’ of paint that add up to one big picture.

Post Impressionism
1880 to 1920
Thicker ‘swipes’ or larger 'dots' of paint that add up to one big picture.

Cubism
1900 to 1920
Using cubes or geometrical shapes, viewing more than one perspective at a time.

Abstract
1912 to present
No subject represented at all. Splotches of color.

Surrealism
1920 to present
Weird stuff you might see in a strange dream.

So begin viewing art and creating your own thoughts and opinions about what you admire as well as what you can ‘appreciate’ (but maybe wouldn’t have hanging on your living room wall.) Just start looking around – art is everywhere!

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Nasher Sculpture Center

2010-05-28T19:13:00.004-05:00

© February 2009 The Flash List

We admit - rather sheepishly - that we were surprised the first time we went to the Nasher Sculpture Center. We are a little picky - all right, quite picky - about art. We want to see something that’s relevant, creative, interesting, and thought provoking or inspiring. And the Nasher provided just that.

We were pleased to find not only works from recent artists, but also pieces from Picasso, Matisse, Rodin, and Gauguin. And being outside in the retreat of the beautiful sculpture garden made us want to don a 19th century Pride and Prejudice dress or a top hat and tails for a leisurely stroll along the marble stone walls under the elm and oak trees. … That or just throw off our shoes and take off running across the grass.

We recommend stopping by the Nasher when you’re in a peaceful, unrushed, melancholy mood and you have time to stroll about. Take time to read the descriptions of each piece in order to appreciate, understand, and enjoy it more fully. You can learn a little about Raymond and Patsy Nasher and even see photos of their home when some of the pieces were housed there.

The museum is open every day except Monday, and is free from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM on the first Saturday of each month. Admission includes a free audio tour and entrance to special exhibitions.

Know Before You Go

If you go on a Target Free Saturday, you might want to get there early so you can park at a meter on the street instead of paying the higher $9.00 or $10.00 parking lot or garage fees. It’s about $3.00 for two hours of meter street parking, and that should give you plenty of time to see the exhibits. Also, an early arrival gets you in while the kids are still at home watching cartoons.
Photography is allowed in some galleries - just ask the docents which ones.

Contact

Nasher Sculpture Center
2001 Flora St. Dallas, TX 75201 214-242-5100
http://www.nashersculpturecenter.org

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Dallas Museum of Art

2010-05-27T10:32:00.004-05:00

We love hanging out at the DMA. It seems like there’s always something going on there for any emotion you might have or any mood you might happen to be in. You want undisturbed quiet solitude to ponder the intentions of an artist’s use of a particular shade of steel blue? They have that. You want to stay up late, sip wine, giggle with friends, and mingle around? They have that. You want to recline on a blanket under the stars in the warm breeze while swaying to smooth jazz? They have that too.

The Dallas Museum of Art offers a wonderful permanent collection of art, various interesting special exhibitions, as well as concerts, hands-on programs, tours, lectures, and more. We recommend visiting anytime you have the chance and inclination.

Thursday Night Live

Join the Dallas Museum of Art for Thursday Night Live on Thursday evenings from 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM. Enjoy live jazz in the atrium while sipping cocktails, have dinner in the Atrium Café, or order small plates at Seventeen Seventeen Restaurant. In May and June, the music moves outside, so bring your blanket for the Bank One Jazz Under the Stars music series.

Late Nights

The museum is open until midnight on the third Friday of each month.

Museum Etiquette to Know Before You Go

Do not touch any of the artwork. Security personnel can usually be found very nearby and will generally not hesitate to confront you if you look like you’re getting too close. The museum suggests standing a distance of at least three feet away from works of art.

While still and video photography is allowed in the permanent collection galleries, flash photography and camera lights are not. Video and photography of special exhibitions and loaned objects is not allowed.

Smoking is not permitted anywhere in the museum.

Food and beverages are not allowed in the galleries.

All umbrellas and oversized objects must be checked at the coat check on the first level under the staircase next to the Atrium Cafe.

DART to the Art

There is a DART rail station just south of the museum on Bryan Street between St. Paul and Harwood Streets.

http://www.dart.org/riding/stations/stpaulstation.asp

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Art: View, Appreciate, Discuss on TheFlashList.com

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Champagne: Opening and Serving

2010-05-24T11:45:00.002-05:00

1) Take the foil wrapper off of the mouth of the bottle.

2) Point the bottle away from yourself and others and keep your thumb over the cork.

3) Put a towel or napkin over the top of the bottle.

4) Dry off the bottle and clean the ‘punt’ (the indention in the bottom of the bottle.)

5) Hold the bottle tightly.

6) Pull out the metal tab, twist it 6 half turns counterclockwise, then remove it.

7) Hold onto the cork and turn the bottle. Do not turn the cork because you’d have to let go of it every so often, and you want to keep control of the cork.

8) Slow down turning as the cork eases up.

9) Tip the cork a smidge sideways to let in a little air and let it ‘sigh’. Remove the cork without a pop.

10) Quickly pour the champagne down the sides of a tilted glass in order to prevent a head of foam and turn the bottle a little as you finish pouring to prevent dripping.

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