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Photo courtesy of Kevin John Edusei

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents An Evening of Kodály, Mozart, and Brahms

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents An Evening of Kodály, Mozart, and Brahms

Principal Guest Conductor Kevin John Edusei will conduct this special concert, the orchestra’s final performance in Bass Performance Hall for the 2022–2023 season, featuring bassoonist Joshua Elmore.

Selections will include Kodály's Peacock Variations, Mozart's Bassoon Concerto, and Brahms' Symphony No. 4.

Photo by Andrew Eccles

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents Haydn: The Creation

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents Haydn: The Creation

The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra closes out Robert Spano’s inaugural season with Haydn's monumental Creation, a dramatic oratorio for vocal soloists, orchestra and choir that renders the Biblical text in music. The Miami-based vocal ensemble Seraphic Fire joins the orchestra in this special “Theater of a Concert” while acclaimed visual artist Elaine J. McCarthy - whose work has appeared at The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, on Broadway and more - lends her talents to bring this ambitious production to life.

Photo by Andrew Eccles

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents Three Chamber Music Masters: Mozart, Poulenc, and Lutosławski

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents Three Chamber Music Masters: Mozart, Poulenc, and Lutosławski

The breeziness of Mozart's "Kegelstatt" trio for clarinet, viola, and piano is inherent, as the melodies came to him during a friendly afternoon at skittles, a game similar to our duckpin bowling. The atmosphere remains vivacious and playful for Poulenc's Sextet for Piano and Wind Quintet before the Kimbell Chamber Series closes with a selection of chamber works by the 20th-century master Lutosławski, often described as Poland's most inspired composer since Chopin.​

The concert will feature pianist Robert Spano, FWSO musicians, and guests.

Photo courtesy of The Dallas Opera

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents Three American Tenors

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents Three American Tenors

Three of the most sought-after tenors of the 21st century - Michael Fabiano, Bryan Hymel, and Matthew Polenzani - will perform an exciting and varied program of classic opera arias, Broadway favorites, and American standards. The concert will be conducted by Robert Spano.

Photo courtesy of Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth

Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth presents Czechs are Wild

Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth presents Czechs are Wild

The Amernet String Quartet has garnered recognition as one of today’s exceptional string quartets and are Ensemble-in-Residence at Florida International University in Miami. The group is comprised of Misha Vitenson, violin; Avi Nagin, violin; Michael Klotz, viola; and Jason Calloway, cello.

Selections include Agocs' Imprimatur Quartet No. 2; Janáček's Kreutzer Sonata; and Dvořák's Quartet No. 3.

The concert is preceded by a pre-concert conversation at 1:15 pm.

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'Yellowstone' stars to greet fans at Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo

Yellowstone news

Yellowstone fans, get your comfy shoes ready - there'll be a long line for this one. Cole Hauser a.k.a. "Rip Wheeler" on Yellowstone, and Taylor Sheridan, the show's co-creator, executive producer, and director of the series, will meet fans and sign autographs at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo.

The event will take place from 4:30-6:30 pm only on Friday, February 3. Location is the 6666 Ranch booth near the south end of Aisle 700 in the Amon G. Carter, Jr. Exhibits Hall.

According to a February 2 announcement from FWSSR, "fans will have the opportunity to snag an autograph as well as purchase some distinctive Yellowstone and 6666 Ranch merchandise while also enjoying all the features the Stock Show offers."

The event is free to attend (with paid Stock Show admission) and open to the public.

It's the second year in a row for Hauser to appear at FWSSR; in 2022, he and fellow cast mates drew huge crowds.

Sheridan, a Paschal High School graduate, is no stranger to Fort Worth; he lives in a ranch near Weatherford and filmed 1883, the prequel to Yellowstone, in and around Fort Worth. Currently, another spinoff, 1883: The Bass Reeves Story, is filming in North Texas.

The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo is winding up its 2023 run on Saturday, February 4.

Surprise, DFW has a new theater company and its first show is this weekend

Welcome to Cowtown

What do Guiding Light, Bye Bye Birdie, and Oleanna all have in common? Arlington-raised actor, director, and producer Ryan Brown, who is one-half of Sweet Apple Productions with Jennifer Bangs.

Brown and Bangs first met at Shackelford Junior High School, where Bangs played Kim and Brown played Hugo in the school musical about an Elvis-type singer who visits a small town — that's where the name Sweet Apple comes from. Coincidentally, Brown is also the son of best-selling romance and thriller author Sandra Brown, who still resides in Arlington.

"I had such a crush on him in school, but we were never really that close," confesses Bangs.

Ryan Brown went on to book featured roles in two soap operas, Guiding Light and The Young and The Restless, while Bangs wrote, produced, and performed in two successful solo shows and still hosts a podcast.

The pair reconnected in New York City during the pandemic, thanks to a Facebook friend suggestion, and began a production company producing music videos and filmed podcasts. In the last 18 months, both found themselves back in Dallas-Fort Worth and ready for a new challenge.

"We thought, 'why not continue this partnership and expand into theater?'" says Brown.

Their first production is David Mamet's Oleanna, which runs March 30-April 2 in Stage West's performance space in Fort Worth.

The 1992 two-character play is a power struggle between a college professor and one of his female students, who accuses him of sexual harassment. Brown plays the professor, and Bangs directs.

"I studied film and drama at OU in the early ‘90s, and OU did the show while he was there," says Brown. "It was a new play at the time and its script really spoke to me. But what impressed me almost as much as the show was the talkback after — I had never seen an audience have such a visceral reaction, or be so split down the middle about whose 'side' to take. I thought how I’d love to do this play, but it’s an old guy and college-age girl — 30 years later, I guess I've aged into the role."

At the time of Oleanna's debut, America was glued to the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hearings. Now, the #MeToo movement has gathered steam, Harvey Weinstein is in jail for sexual abuse, and former President Donald Trump is supposedly about to be indicted for his illegal payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

"It struck me as odd that Mamet, who just last year wrote a short story objecting to social media moderation of right-wing politicians like Donald Trump, decided to tackle a subject like this," says Brown. "And even more interesting, he didn't take a stance with this play. The ending doesn't declare who is right or wrong."

Bangs points out that Mamet has now banned talkbacks from his plays. To help audience members who may want their opinions to still be heard, the Sweet Apple website has a section titled "Which Side Did You Take?" that leads to a poll. (Interesting side note: A popular tagline for the play is "Whatever side you take, you're wrong.")

"On one hand he’s an artist creating something, and on the other hand he's censoring it," Bangs reflects. "We're all watching the same thing play out in real time, but it's fascinating how differently everyone sees it."

There are no immediate plans to announce a full season, but Brown and Bangs say they are already eyeing their next possible production.

"We're considering doing Children of a Lesser God, and would be really excited to work with the local deaf community and actors who sign," says Bangs.

"It's another play that's on my bucket list," says Brown. "What really pushed us to explore it was receiving a self-tape from a deaf actor who signed her audition for Oleanna. We've already been speaking to her about the possibility of working with us, and it's really something we want to explore."

Another reason to hold off on an official season is that the duo don't want Sweet Apple Productions to be limited to theater.

"We're presenting ourselves as an alternative production company," says Bangs. "When COVID hit, everything shut down but we did not. We want to continue making art no matter what."

Tickets for Oleanna range from $25-$35 and can be purchased here.

Sweet Apple Productions presents Oleanna
Photo courtesy of Sweet Apple Productions

Sweet Apple Productions presents Oleanna March 30-April 2.

One Fort Worth restaurant makes list of James Beard Award finalists

Awards News

An unprecedented number of DFW chefs and restaurants, including one from Fort Worth and five from Dallas, are in the running for a prize from the James Beard Foundation, which has selected finalists for its annual Restaurant and Chef Awards.

The awards recognize chefs and other culinary professionals in a wide range of categories, ranging from Outstanding Chef to Best New Restaurant. These finalists emerged from a pool of semifinalists announced in January.

Candidates from Dallas-Fort Worth who are in the running for national awards include:

  • Best New Restaurant: Don Artemio Mexican Heritage, Fort Worth
  • Best New Restaurant: Lucia Dallas
  • Outstanding Bakery: Kuluntu Bakery, Dallas
  • Outstanding Bakery: La Casita Bakeshop, Dallas
  • Best New Restaurant: Restaurant Beatrice, Dallas

Don Artemio has been on a winning streak. It's been nominated for Best New Restaurant in CultureMap's 2023 Tastemaker Awards, and also made the latest list of Best New Restaurants by Texas Monthly.

In addition to the DFW nominees, three other Texan restaurants and chefs are in the running for national awards:

  • Best New Restaurant: Tatemó, Houston
  • Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program: Nancy’s Hustle, Houston
  • Outstanding Bar: Las Ramblas, Brownsville

Texas also gets its own regional award in the category of Best Chef: Texas. The finalists are:

  • Reyna Duong, Sandwich Hag, Dallas
  • Benchawan Jabthong Painter, Street to Kitchen, Houston
  • Emiliano Marentes, Elemi, El Paso
  • John Russ, Clementine, San Antonio
  • Ernest Servantes and David Kirkland, Burnt Bean Co., Seguin

Notably, all of this year’s finalists for both the national categories and Best Chef: Texas are new. None received nominations in 2022.

Last year, Texans did well in the awards, with Houston cocktail bar Julep winning Outstanding Bar Program, Austin chef Edgar Rico (Nixta Taqueria) winning Emerging Chef, and Austin chef Iliana de la Vega (El Naranjo) winning the first ever Best Chef: Texas.

In addition, two Texans won media awards — Austin chef Jesse Griffiths (Dai Due) for his cookbook, The Hog Book: A Chef’s Guide to Hunting, Butchering and Cooking Wild Pigs and Texas Monthly taco editor Jose Ralat for his Tex-Mexplainer columns.

The Foundation will reveal its Restaurant and Chef Award winners at an awards ceremony on Monday, June 5 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Media Award winners will be announced on June 3.