Arts and Entertainment KEEPING UP

September



School has started, but though the calendar promises fall, the thermometer still registers summer. No matter, September marks a period of rebirth after the dog: days. New seasons start for the symphony, the ballet, and for football fans. Here’s a selection of what’s in store this month.



Thursday, 1

Liv Ullmann comes Face to Face with herself in Ingmar Bergman’s film of that i name, showing tonight at the Edison Theatre, 2420 North Fitzhugh. The film deals with an attempted suicide and other grave matters. For a complete Edison schedule, call 823-9610.



Friday, 2

Phyllis Diller takes time out from cleaning her carpet to visit Granny’s Dinner Playhouse. Shows through Saturday, September 3 at 8:15, with the buffet from 6:45 to 8 p.m., plus a late show at 11 p.m.

The dinner show is $15, the late show $9.50. Call 239-0153 for reservations. The theater is at 12205 Coit.



The Texas Rangers open a series of games with the Boston Red Sox tonight at 7:35 p.m. in Arlington Stadium. Reserved seats are $5, $5.50, and $6; general admission $2 adults, $1.50 children. Call 265-3331.



Saturday, 3

Disney devotees should check out the Family Night at the Music Hall, the fifth annual display of the musical talents of the First Baptist Church’s choir. They’re performing Walt’s greatest hits at 3 and 7:30 p.m. in the State Fair Music Hall. Tickets are $3.50-$4.50 for Unca’ Scrooge; $2.50-$3.50 for Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Call 742-3111 for more information.



What’s a squeaky-clean type like Ken Berry doing in a waspish little musical like Promises, Promises? Find out at Casa Manana in Fort Worth at 2:30 this afternoon or 8:15 tonight. Tickets are $5.50 and $7.50. Call 332-6221 for reservations.



Rangers and Red Sox, 7:35 p.m.

Sunday, 4

Bet you think we’re going to make another pun about the Kimbell’s great show of Japanese Robes and Masks. Like, “This is the last day of the show, so there’ll be no mo’ No.” But the Tokugawa collection doesn’t need our help – except to urge you that this is indeed the last day. The museum is at 1101 Will Rogers Road in Fort Worth, and it’s open from 1 to 5:30 today.



Rangers and Red Sox, 6 p.m.

Monday, 5

Perky Florence Henderson, who seems to have no energy crisis, opens a week-long engagement at Casa Manana tonight at 8:15 p.m. Call 332-6221 for reservations.



On the other hand, if you don’t want to be charmed by the head cheerleader for the Brady Bunch, why not stay home and read a good book? Like the Flashman series, George Macdonald Fraser’s wonderful romps through the 19th-century with Harry Flashman, cad, bounder, coward and lecher – but a lovable one. The most recent, Flashman in the Great Game, appeared in Signet paperback a few months ago. It’s worth a trip to Half-Price Books to try to scare up the others – Flashman, Royal Flash, Flashman at the Charge, and Flash for Freedom.



Tuesday, 6

As soon as it”s Twilight Time, you could go hear The Platters as they open their week’s engagement at Granny’s Dinner Playhouse. White cotton sox, penny loafers and Butch Wax. Cool.



Some of us spent the Fifties bopping to the Platters. Others (would-be beatniks) used to go to an “art theater” (before that meant porno) to see something significant like The Bicycle Thief. Vittorio DeSica’s classic is on view tonight in Founders North Auditorium in the series of UT/Dallas films that plays throughout the year. For a schedule of their Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday series, call 690-2945.



Wednesday, 7

Equus, the Dallas Theater Center’s acclaimed production, returns for what amounts to an encore presentation, by popular demand. The special run of the play takes place Tuesday through Saturday until September 24. Tickets are $6.75 Tuesday through Thursday and for the Saturday matinee at 5 p.m., $7.75 Friday and Saturday evenings. Curtain time is 8 p.m., except Saturday at 8:30. Call 526-8857 for reservations.

If you think of “folk art” as patchwork quilts and stiff, staring portraits of someone’s grandmother, stop by the Delahunty Gallery, 2611 Cedar Springs, and look at their show. The works in this show, which closes this weekend, are by anonymous 19th and 20th century artists, and they vie in beauty with “professional” work of the period.



Thursday, 8

The man on the spot today – and for the rest of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra season – is Eduardo Mata, new music director of the orchestra. Mata’s mettle will be tested in 50 concerts with the DSO this year. He’s off to a big start tonight with guest artist Isaac Stern, performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the orchestra. Works by Gluck and Copland and the Moussorgsky/Ravel “Pictures at an Exhibition ’ will be featured. The concert starts at 8:15 in the State Fair Music Hall. For ticket information, call 692-0203.



Another Dallas institution is showing its stuff tonight, too. The Dallas Cowboys meet the Pittsburgh Steelers in a preseason game at Texas Stadium, 7:30 p.m. Tickets $6 general; $10 reserved. Call 369-3211 for information.



Friday, 9

If you want to mix with media types, drop in at Joe Miller’s new bar on Lemmon between McKinney and Cole. It’s your basic after-work convivial bar that, because of bartender par excellence Miller, just happens to attract a large portion of the Dallas journalistic community. No matter that it’s tucked in between a strip joint and a car wash – it’s the company inside that counts.



At quite another sort of night spot, former Fifth Dimension member Ron Townson and Wild Honey are winding up a two-week stay at the Venetian Room in the Fairmont Hotel. Shows at 9 and 11:30. Call 748-5454 for reservations.



Saturday, 10

Happy Birthday to us, Happy Birthday to us . . . . D Magazine celebrates its third birthday today. If you want to see what we were like in our infancy, we have a limited supply of back issues for sale. Call us at 748-9166 and specify month and year …. And many more.



If you missed Dallas from the Ground Up at the Dallas Museum last year, you’ve got one last chance to see it today at Old City Park, 1717 Gano Street. It’s a fascinating show about the architectural history of the city, with splendid photographs by Doug Tomlinson. Admission to the show is free, but tours of the park are $1, 50￠ for kids.



Dallas Symphony Orchestra, 8:15 (same concert as Thursday’s).



Sunday, 11

This one is pretty iffy. But if you think public television is a cause worth supporting, and if you want an Easter egg decorated by Chantal Westerman, and if you can stand the fact that “Masterpiece Theatre” and “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” have been preempted, then you should tune in the Channel 13 Auction tonight. There’s lots of stuff for sale besides eggs, and it does make money for the station, but frankly, we’d rather watch Government 301 – even that.



The Kimbell keeps doing splendid things in the Oriental manner. The robes and masks are gone, but in their place is an exhibition of Chinese ceramics from Japanese collections, put together by the Seattle Art Museum and Asia House Gallery in New York. It’s a stunning collection. After all, why do you think they call it china?



Monday, 12

If there’s anyone in the world who hasn’t seen Star Wars, tonight’s probably as good a night as any. NorthPark Cinema, 363-7541. Trust the Force.



The Texas Rangers start a series against the California Angels at 7:30 p.m.



Tuesday, 13

And one and two and three and stretch! If something just went snap, maybe you need Slimnastics, described as “non-calisthenic exercises for women,” a course which begins today at the First Unitarian Church. Classes are Tuesdays and Thursdays through October 6, from 5:45 to 6:45 p.m. For information call Julie Jordan, 259-0511 or 349-4791.



Despite defectors like Ron Townson (not to mention Billy Davis Jr. and the luscious Marilyn McCoo) there’s still a Fifth Dimension, and they open an engagement tonight (through September 18) at Granny’s.



Rangers vs. Angels, 7:35 p.m.

Wednesday, 14

The biggest of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts’ shows this year opens today. It’s called Calder’s Universe, and it’s a retrospective of over 200 works by Alexander Calder, who died last year at the age of 78. The show originated at the Whitney Museum in New York last spring. One of the most ambitious exhibitions in the DMFA’s history, mounting it has severely taxed the museum’s limited exhibition space. See it and find out why some people think Dallas needs a new museum building.



The second concert by the Dallas Symphony this fall should show us what Eduardo Mata can do on his own – without an Isaac Stern to share the limelight – and with three works from three distinct musical periods: Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, Brahms’ Symphony No. 2, and Bartok’s Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste. 10:30 a.m., State Fair Music Hall.



Rangers vs. Angels, 7:35 p.m.



Thursday, 15

The butler never does it, as you’ll find out if you enroll in the Richland College Community Service Film Class, Great Movie Detectives. Actually, this is the second week of the seven-week series that began September 8. Sessions are 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. and the course costs $28. Movies to be shown and discussed are The Thin Man, Charlie Chan in Egypt, Murder She Said, Murder by Death, Laura, The Falcon Strikes Back, and The Big Sleep. Call 746-4444 for further information.



Repeat of Wednesday’s Dallas Symphony concert, 8:15 p.m.



Rangers vs. Angels, 7:35 p.m.



Friday, 16

Remember Melina Mercouri as the kind-hearted hooker who thought Oedipus Rex such a sweet play because Oedipus was so nice to his mother? She’s back on view at UT/Dallas tonight at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. in Founders North Auditorium. Never on Sunday isn’t a great movie, but it’s a pleasant one.



Rangers vs. Minnesota Twins, 7:35 p.m.



Saturday, 17

There’s almost too much to do today. First, there’s Challenge ’77, an auto race sponsored by The 500, Inc. and the Sports Car Club of America. They’ve converted Great Southwest Airport into a 1.51 mile race course that provides spectators with an unobstructed view of the action.

Drivers from all over the country will compete, starting at 8:30 a.m. and going until 5 p.m. Tickets are $5 for the day, and $7 for the weekend (they’re racing tomorrow, too), and are available at all area Sears stores. The event is a fund-raising project benefiting various local arts organizations.



Or you could drop in on the Van Cliburn International Quadrennial Piano Competition in Ed Landreth Auditorium at TCU. The preliminaries today through Wednesday the 21st are free. The semifinals and finals September 25-26 and September 28 are $ 17-$29. For tickets write the competition offices at 3505 West Lancaster, Fort Worth 76107, or call (817) 738-6536.



And then there’s the opening of the Dallas Ballet season, featuring James Clouser’s rock ballet Caliban, which had a sensational premiere last year in Houston. St. Elmo’s Fire, the rock group that composed the music for the ballet, will perform, and the dancers will include the Dallas Ballet company and Clouser’s own Space/Dance/Theatre. It all takes place at Moody Coliseum at SMU tonight and tomorrow. Call the Dallas Ballet ticket office at 526-1370 for further information.



Or spend the evening dining and dancing for chanty at the Wadley Whoopee, the annual fund-raising affair for the Wadley Institute. Last year’s Whoopee raked in $107,000 from the $30 per person admission and the auction booths. This year’s event takes place at the Dallas Convention Center. For information call 661-9239.



Or, if you’re a diehard Mustang, watch SMU take on North Texas State at Texas Stadium at 7:05 p.m. Tickets are $8 from SMU Athletics, 692-2901.



And there’s still the Symphony at 8:15 and the Rangers at 6 p.m. Whew.



Sunday, 18

A fine freebie for a Sunday evening is the appearance of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in the Richland College Performance Hall. Tickets have to be picked up at the Student Development office before the concert, which takes place at 6:30 p.m.



The Rangers and Minnesota are playing a double-header this afternoon. It starts at 1:05 p.m.



Monday, 19

Nostalgia from another era holds the stage at Granny’s this week. Starting tonight, Ozzie and Harriet’s little boy, Rick Nelson, now (sigh!) 37 years old, appears with the Stone Canyon Band. Call 239-0153 for reservations.



Paul Greenberg is a Dallas doctor, but he’s also a Dallas photographer (in fact, he won first place in our photo contest last month). His photographs of the Soviet Union go on display starting today in the Terrace Room of the downtown Dallas Public Library at 1954 Commerce.



Tuesday, 20

Red Desert isn’t everybody’s idea of what movies ought to be, but if you’re up to Antonioni ennui on a fine September night like this, travel up to UT/D at 7:30 or 9:30 and watch Monica Vitti have a nervous breakdown.



Wednesday 21

Smiles of a Summer Night, on the other hand, is more like it. If you think of Ing-mar Bergman as all schizophrenia and self-torment, then this elegant film should change your attitude toward him a bit. At UT/Dallas, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.



Thursday, 22

The master of the arch and elegant put-down of all that he regards as politically and socially contemptible speaks tonight at Richland College. William F. Buckley, Jr.’s topic is “Some of the Problems of Freedom.” Admission is, appropriately, free. 8 p.m. in the gymnasium.



Friday, 23

A concert in memory of the late Gina Bachauer seems fitting, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra has programmed two works of solemn ceremony, Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms and Mozart’s C Minor Mass. The concert, conducted by Eduardo Mata, is at 8:15 p.m. in the Music Hall.



Saturday, 24

From solemnity to the sublimely ridiculous: Danny Kaye conducts the Dallas Symphony in unknown directions tonight. It’s a special benefit concert, starting at 7:15 p.m. (so you won’t have to keep the kids up too late – and by all means bring them). Regular priced tickets ranging from $5 to $15 are available, but special “host,” “patron,” and “sponsor” tickets at $200, $150, and $100 entitle one to attend a gala dinner dance at the Fairmont Hotel immediately after the concert. Call the Symphony box office, 692-0203, for reservations.



Sunday, 25

The Symphony barely has time to catch its breath after being led by the nose by Danny Kaye before it’s back for its “Eight O’Clock Pops” concert – inexplicably taking place today at 2:30 p.m. – featuring country music star Roy Clark. You can buy series tickets for the six pops concerts, $17.50 to $42.50. Then at 8:15 p.m. the Symphony repeats its Gina Bachauer memorial concert.

Actually, the Symphony probably plays second fiddle today to everyone’s favorites, the Dallas Cowboys, who open their regular season at home in Texas Stadium at 1 p.m. against the New York Giants. Call 369-3211 for tickets.



Monday, 26

Quite another kind of big band sound is filling Granny’s tonight, with one of the last of the swing generation, the Count Basie Orchestra. Tickets for the dinner show at 8:15 are $ 13.50; for the late show at 11, $7.50. It’s a one night stand, so better make reservations early.



Tuesday, 27

The Fort Worth Symphony opens its season with a performance by the Texas Little Symphony, a chamber orchestra of 30-35 members, in the Orchestra Hall, 4401 Trail Lake Drive, at 8:15 p.m. Cellist Aurora Natola Ginastera is the soloist. For tickets and information on the symphony’s season, call (817) 921-2676.



If you think your kid is creative, and you’d rather have him developing that creativity after school than sitting in front of the tube glued to the reruns of “Emergency One,” check out Learning About Me – A Child’s Introduction to the Arts, a course in drama, art and music for children 3 to 12. Sessions start today at 3:30-5 p.m. at the Park Cities Baptist Church. Classes are Tuesdays and Thursdays through November 17. Tuition is $48. For more information, call 691-3093.



Wednesday, 28

The fairest of the fairways, the top women golfers, will be playing in the Dallas Civitan Open starting today at Brook-haven Country Club. For a schedule and admission prices, call 638-6512.



Though the Cowboys are back, the Rangers haven’t left. They’ll meet the Seattle Mariners at 7:35 p.m. at Arlington Stadium.



Thursday, 29

See Clarence Darrow make a monkey of William Jennings Bryan tonight in the dramatic version of the Scopes Trial, Inherit the Wind. It’s the season opener for Theatre Onstage, the new professional repertory company inhabiting the Trinity Methodist Church building at McKinney and Pearl. The show, which runs through Saturday, starts at 8:15. Tickets are $3.75. Call 651-9766 for more information.



Rangers vs. Mariners, 7:35 p.m.



Friday, 30

Why can’t a woman be more like a man? Preposterous question, when the woman provoking the outburst is Audrey Hepburn. No matter what Julie Andrews fans say, we think Hepburn’s wonderful as Eliza Doolittle in the otherwise overdressed film version of My Fair Lady that’s showing at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. in Founders North Auditorium on the UT/ D campus.



Sibelius and Beethoven are the fare in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra concert tonight at 8:15 p.m. Itzhak Perlman is violin soloist in the Sibelius violin concerto. The orchestra, conducted by Kurt Sanderling, also performs Beethoven’s Seventh.



The Texas Rangers start a series with theOakland As at 7:35 p.m.