Another week in the books, another opera opening to attend tonight.
Friday
The Dallas Opera begins performances of the Barber of Seville, the popular comedy that contains the famous “Figaro, Figaro, Figaro!” aria. The full story revolves around the schemes of Mr. Figaro and the rich Count Almaviva as Almaviva attempts to win the heart of the beautiful young Rosina without informing her of his true identity. Italian composer Gioachino Rossini’s works are often compared to an excellent glass of bubbly—fizzy, light, crowd-pleasing, and yet still substantial enough to have you rolling in the aisles. But you should still have that glass of bubbly, albeit in one of those hilarious adult sippy cups AT&T Performing Arts Center uses now.
Elsewhere in the Arts District, Dallas City Performance Hall hosts the Texas Ballet Theater for a performance called “Balanchine and Beyond,” which you can see through Sunday. The dancers will do famed choreographer George Balanchine’s Serenade along with an all-male tribute to Liza Minnelli and the premiere of a piece choreographed by company member Carl Coomer. I really need One Arts Plaza to fix this utter disappointment of a restaurant situation, stat. I miss Cafe des Artistes’ happy hour.
Meanwhile, comedienne Chelsea Handler and her “Uganda Be Kidding Me” tour are at Verizon Theatre. I found her Oscar tweet in particularly poor self-promotional taste, but who am I? If you like her on E, you’ll most definitely like her live.
Saturday
ShopTalk’s Raya Ramsey is going to DIFFA at the Omni Saturday night, and she will look gorgeous and report back. The rest of us peons will do other stuff, like Opera Shots at the Foundry. This is just one reason the Fort Worth Opera is pretty cool. Show up in denim, drink a beer that doesn’t require a lid, and enjoy performances from the stars of Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers and Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte along with classic arias sung by FWOpera’s Studio Artists and members of the 2014 Festival Chorus.
Meanwhile, there’s the Design District Market, which should be familiar to you. Tons of local vendors, plenty of craft beer (it’s located at Community Beer Company, after all) and food trucks, and music from Dark Rooms, George Quartz, and Greg Reichel. The weather is supposed to be great, which is perfect, since the other outdoor activity this weekend is Klyde Warren Park’s spring celebration. If you wander over there between noon and two, there will be live music, photos with a rather premature Easter bunny, crafts for kids, a petting zoo, and more.
Sunday
The Dallas Museum of Art opens Nur: Light in Art and Science from the Islamic World. The exhibit of Islamic art, the first of its scale at the DMA, draws from both public and private collections to demonstrate the symbolic significance and cultural importance of light in the Islamic world. As demonstrated by the expansive nature of the exhibit, light has two meanings. There is the physical—the sun, the giver of life—and the metaphysical, light as knowledge in the darkness of ignorance. There’s only one place in the United States where you can see this exhibit, and it’s here.
Peter Simek has more background on the significance of the exhibition in the March issue of D Magazine, but you can read his piece on FrontRow.
For more to do this weekend, go here.
