Punk and pop up ramen shops.
Friday
So, first of all, this pop up ramen stuff is happening in Oak Cliff after midnight, so you need things to do to kill time until you can get your hands on a $5 bowl. Tradewinds tonight, Ten Bells Tavern tomorrow night. After I expressed my interest in this, my friend, who I’ll call Basketball Bill, informed me that ramen “seems like something I wouldn’t like.” I told him that wasn’t a very nice assumption, but I might have trouble staying awake. “Yeah, I was wondering about that, too,” he says. Blast.
Prior to that, though, the Dallas Black Dance Theatre begins their Cultural Awareness Series at the Wyly Theatre. Artistic director Ann Williams, narrates the collision of spiritual song, featuring the voices of John Archie Sanders and Sandra King Stewart, and dance. You get a good mix of old and new, too. The program consists of Talley Beatty’s Mourner’s Bench, a solo piece choreographed in 1947 as part of a five-part dance set during the Reconstruction period of the South, Asadata Dafora’s Awassa Astrige/Ostrich, another historic piece choreographed in 1932, plus a newly commissioned ballet that celebrates the life of artist Romare Bearden.
Meanwhile, if you feel like absurdist comedy because, well, why not, Kitchen Dog Theater in Uptown continues performances of Eugene Ionesco’s The Chairs. Ionesco is a master of the genre (brutal, funny, serious) and Kitchen Dog’s treatment received praise from FrontRow’s M. Lance Lusk, who notes the director’s ability to craft a coherent narrative from the totally bizarre. There’s the new Belly & Trumpet to try in the ex-Bowery Hot Dogs, ex-Lumi Empanada space.
Saturday
Speaking of Kitchen Dog, it’s time for the theater’s annual fundraiser, the Hooch & Pooch. There will be music, drinks, dancing, and all sorts of other fun at Four Corners Brewing Company in West Dallas. Attire is “hipster formal,” which is one I haven’t seen before. For dudes, ShopTalk’s Raya suggests a button-down, bow tie, and Chucks. For ladies, the jury is still out. Look good, as you usually do. That’s my advice. Helpful, I know.
Also in West Dallas, there’s the Pin Show, the yearly conglomeration of home grown fashion. Yes, many of the designs are cheesy, but there are usually a few gems, and the Danny Church Band, a great jazzy group, is providing the live entertainment. Plus, proceeds support Café Momentum, the chef-training nonprofit that takes juvenile offenders off the street and into a kitchen.
There are a number of art parties, but Cohn Drennan’s opening reception for their Dallas. PUNK! 1976-1982 retrospective is of particular interest. As Peter Simek says, this city was a very different place. He wrote a bit about what to expect from the exhibition over on FrontRow, and our music critic, Christopher Mosley, noted that Mark Ridlen’s video contributions deserve your attention.
Sunday
Will former underdog, now favorite Argo win? Is Zero Dark Thirty basically out of the running because it was directed by a woman? Who will the insufferable Anne Hathaway forget to thank and thank later by horning in on someone else’s acceptance speech? These burning questions shall plague us until Sunday, when the red carpet is rolled out and I’m refreshing the Fug Girls‘ live blog like it’s my job. Apparently Seth MacFarlene and Kristin Chenoweth are closing the ceremony, not with the traditional Best Picture announcement, but with a musical number. This is definitely what America wants.
You have several watch party/themed drink options, which include The People’s Last Stand in Mockingbird Station (go there before it’s infested), Studio Movie Grill, and the Texas Theatre. That one’s my favorite. It’s free, low-key, and dressing up is optional. You can enter their “pick the winners” contest for three bucks, and maybe emerge with tickets to the upcoming Oak Cliff Film Festival.
For more to do with this very busy weekend, go here.
