disney treasure trove

Arlington Museum of Art to debut 2 stunning exhibits of Disney memorabilia

Mia's coronation crown from Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement.

Photo courtesy of Disney

Disney is bringing its iconic royal heroes (and its villains) to the Arlington Museum of Art with a show-stopping experience for North Texas enthusiasts of all ages.

Starting September 14, two new exhibits will debut over 300 artifacts, costumes, accessories, and more sourced from Disney films and shows over the last 65 years: Heroes & Villains: The Art of the Disney Costume and All That Glitters: The Crown Jewels of the Walt Disney Archives. Once open, the exhibits will be available for patrons until March 23, 2025.

This will be the first time these two collections will be exhibited at the same time by a single venue.

Heroes & Villains encapsulates the character development of several classic Disney heroes, antiheroes, and villains through the art of costume design and "textural storytelling." A few of the chosen costumes that will be featured in the exhibition include the wardrobe worn by the Sanderson sisters in Hocus Pocus 2, Belle's signature golden yellow ballgown from the 2017 live action Beauty and the Beast, and select costumes from the TV show Once Upon a Time.

For expert Disney lore fans, the dress worn by Letha (played by Bette Davis) in the 1978 sci-fi adventure film Return from Witch Mountain will also be on display in Heroes & Villains.

Cinderella, Arlington Museum of Art, Disney Blue ballgown from Disney's 2015 live action Cinderella.Photo courtesy of Disney

The second exhibit, All That Glitters: The Crown Jewels of the Walt Disney Archives, will take museumgoers on a five-part journey through a Disney character's development and personality via jewelry and accessories.

More than 80 understated costume pieces like earrings, cuff links, and rings will be front and center in the "Every Little Detail" showcase, while "The Feature Vault" is exactly as it sounds: Iconic crowns, tiaras, necklaces, and pendants worn by their famed Disney characters.

Exclusive jewelry pieces that attendees will find in "The Feature Vault" include Elizabeth Swann's pirate medallion necklace (worn by Keira Knightly) in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, the coronation crown worn by Mia (played by Anne Hathaway) in Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement, and the voice-capturing shell necklace worn by Melissa McCarthy's Ursula from the 2023 adaptation of The Little Mermaid.

Additional showcases in the All That Glitters exhibit include a chronological collection of "Watches Through the Decades"; a behind-the-scenes peek at the jewelry prop creation process in "Made for Screen"; and "Reflections of Reality," a display and analysis of Disney accessories that were influenced by historical events and people.

“Whether on television, in a movie theatre, or at a Broadway show, when we meet a Disney character for the first time, we instantly begin to understand them,” says museum president and CEO Chris Hightower. "That is how extraordinarily important costume design is to conveying persona and how Disney truly sets the standard of excellence.."

Tickets for the two Walt Disney Archives exhibitions will begin in June, and museum members will get early access to free tickets before the public on sale. More information about the Arlington Museum of Art can be found on arlingtonmuseum.org.

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Season of Love

Dallas-Fort Worth theater stars release original holiday album

Cherish Love Robinson Love's Holiday album

Photo by Jordan Fraker

The album is out now.

Move aside, "Jingle Bells." Members of Dallas-Fort Worth's theater community have debuted a new holiday album full of original songs, all spearheaded by singer/musician Cherish Love Robinson.

"A few friends invite me to their annual Christmas parties, and I’m usually the last one to leave, hanging out at the piano with a group of others, singing holiday classics," she says. "Every year, I promise myself I’ll record a Christmas song, but either I remember too late or forget altogether. Then in January, after watching a documentary about Quincy Jones producing ‘We are the World,' I realized I’d been wanting to do this for years."

Titled Love's Holiday, the nine-song album was recorded, mixed, and mastered entirely in Dallas (in the digital liner notes, Robinson dedicates a special shout-out to Oak Cliff). Robinson fully composed and produced all the tunes, with rapper Cya Fix collaborating on the song "Better."

"I didn’t want to hassle with licensing or digging for public domain songs, so I made the decision to create original material instead," she says. "I just started writing like a madman and didn’t stop until June."

The song list spans comedic — "A Birthday Christmas," "Broseph & Mary" — to soulful with "I Pray" and sassy with "Slayeigh." Songs like "RSVP" and "Home" evoke classic Christmas vibes.

Frequent theatergoers will likely recognize many of the singers, including Justin Locklear, Lee Walter (as Jada Pinkett Fox), Brett Warner, Quintin Jones, David Lugo, and Dallas Theater Center Brierley Acting Company members Blake Hackler and Sally Vahle.

Area musicians like pianists Rebecca Lowrey and Cody Dry, guitarist Ian Ferguson, bassist Benjamin Brown, and fiddler Kat Glaze lend their talents as well, with Robinson herself accompanying several songs on keyboard and percussion.

"When I sat down to think about who I wanted to collaborate with, I was lucky that everyone I asked said yes," Robinson shares. "I didn’t just want to work with talented singers; I wanted to bring in musicians who really inspire me as well."

Cherish Love Robinson.Photo by Jordan Fraker

Some of Robinson's notable onstage work includes The Witch in DTC's production of Into the Woods, Doloris Van Cartier in WaterTower Theatre's Sister Act, the rock musical Hundred Days at Circle Theatre, and Theatre Three's original musical Solstice, which she also co-composed.

Robinson's voice and vocal production have been featured on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and HBO’s Big Little Lies, with superstars Erykah Badu and The Roots of The Tonight Show, and on The Colbert Show as a background singer. As a producer, she has crafted and arranged vocals for artists such as Elle King, The Texas Gentlemen, and Paul Cauthen.

"My favorite time of year starts with my birthday in October, and it spans all the way through the holidays until New Year's Day," Robinson says. "Those months are absolutely my favorite. I have to remind myself not to start listening to holiday music too early!"

Love's Holiday is available for streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music, and can be purchased for digital download here.

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