The Dallas Opera is hosting another round table talk tonight, and this one is about “the importance of arts in education.” I can already hear hackles rising. My parents laid a good foundation, but I credit my high school theater teacher with getting me seriously interested enough to take a dramatic lit course my freshman year of college. Look at me now, tortured by Playbill.com emails offering discounts on Seminar and the chance to hear Alan Rickman’s gravelly voice. Clearly, if schools had all the money in the world, no one would say, “Nope. No choir for you.”
Anyway, join FrontRow’s Peter Simek, TDO general director Keith Cerny and panelists LeAnn Binford, director of creative learning workforce at Big Thought, Inc. and Zannie Voss, PhD professor and chair of arts administration at SMU’s Cox School of Business and Meadows School of the Arts as they discuss the value of arts education, how it’s supported in the face of budget deficits, and how effective programs are developed. Peter’s moderating, so go ahead and swing from the rafters. Go nuts.
If you are a fan of the Polyphonic Spree, you will not balk too much at the drive for tonight’s show at Dan’s Silverleaf. We gave away tickets on FrontRow yesterday (sorry if you missed it), but $20 isn’t bad at all. And don’t worry about the crowd. According to FrontRow’s Christopher Mosley, the band has played smaller venues in Denton before when they were every bit as popular. Chris, who talked to the Spree’s tour manager about all the undue concern, says, “It’s no big deal at all, and the fact that people keep writing about it as if it were unthinkable sounds like they’ve either run out of subjects or just want to take underhanded shots at Denton.” I say, cool out, enjoy the show, and go get some of those fried onion things from Rooster’s Roadhouse next door.
And there’s your night. For more to do, go here.
