GOING OUT

HOT TICKET

Pulitzer Prize winner and SMU theater grad Beth Henley brings her new play, Abundance, to the Dallas Theater Center this month. The tale of a 28-year friendship between two mail-order brides in the Wyoming territory of 1860, Abundance is described as bawdy and poetic, with Henley’s usual dose of humor and boldly drawn characters. April 16-May 5. Call the DTC at 526-8857 for ticket info.

BITING DRAMA

THEATER You’d think a classically trained actor like Joe Nemmers would be more subtle. “We want our theater to be dangerous, ” he says. “Safe theater is not what we’re about. ” Obviously there’ll be a lot of drama and little Noel Coward from Dallas’s newest theater troupe, Kitchen Dog Theater. After graduating from SMU last May, they formed the troupe in September. Now they’ll try their hands at their first professional theater gig with Mud, written by Maria Irene Fornes. Nemmers says the four of them stayed in Dallas because they wanted to give something back to the area. “And we have a chemistry that allows us to go beyond what others have done. “

-Eric Celeste

A Splendid Exhibit in San Antonio

ART After three record-breaking months at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Mexico: Splendors of Thirty Centuries is finally making its way to Texas, where it will reside from April 6 to August 4 at the San Antonio Museum of Art. The hype and related publicity surrounding this exhibit have been enormous, primarily because it’s one of the largest exhibits the Metropolitan has ever staged, but also because of its ambitious breadth of content: Splendors contains 400 visual objects representing 3, 000 years of Mexican art history. Culled from public and private collections all over the world, the exhibit creates a textural wonderland out of pre-Columbian, Colonial, and 19th and 20th century sculpture, textiles, paintings, and architecture. It’s also a fascinating look at the many influences on Mexican art, from the early Aztec and Mayan cultures to the abiding religiosity of the 19th century; from the academic European school of art to the primitive, naive realism of Mexico’s regional artists. This is an exhibit not to be missed. The San Antonio Museum of Art, 200 West Jones Avenue, (512) 829-7262. -Anne Warren

Bluebonnets and Blue Bell



GETAWAY Poets could probably make something of the fact that bluebonnets bloom in Brenham, where Blue Bell was born. Ordinary mortals will just have to go to Central Texas this month to see for themselves.

During April, the Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau, (409) 836-3695, will gladly tell all callers when and where to find profusions of bluebonnets covering the countryside. A bumper crop seems likely, thanks to abundant winter rains in this historic heartland of Texas. Nature lovers will also delight in the newly inaugurated free public tours of Ellison’s Greenhouses, (409) 836-6011, a wholesale nursery where five acres of poinsettias, lillies, chrysanthemums, and other holiday flowers bloom indoors. It’s just down Loop 577 from Blue Bell Creameries, (800) 327-8135, a Brenham institution since 1907. On weekdays only, take the public tour, a dandy one, to see part of the daily quota of 100, 000 gallons being made-and then be treated to a gratis tasting. To learn more about this pleasant small town, do the walking tour of the historic downtown area, (409) 836-3695, or book a Heritage Society home tour, (409) 836-1690.

Out and about in the rolling farmlands of Washington County, drop in at the Monastery of St. Clare on Highway 105 to meet the nuns and the miniature horses they raise, show, and sell (tours daily from 2 to 4 p. m. ). Then head north on FM 50 to the Antique Rose Emporium, (409) 836-5548, a nursery in a smashing English cottage garden setting.

-Derro Evans

Bootleg Music Makers



MUSIC No song titles. No rehearsals. And an informal roster of players. Can Bootleg really be considered a band? Actually yes, but it’s more than that, it’s also a musical fantasy trip featuring free-form jazz and rock. Nick Briscoe, who sings with the year-old phenomenon from time to time, came up with the name because Bootleg “bootlegs” musicians from other local bands.

Formed by Cafe Noir violinist Gale Hess and Beledi Ensemble drummer Jamal Mohmed as an alternative musical outlet, the lineup has included: bassist Darrell Phillips (Whild Peach), horn player and keyboardist Freddie Jones (Watusi), drummer Matt Chamberlain (New Bohemians), keyboardist Mike Merryman (Whild Peach), guitarist Jason Bucklin (Cafe Noir), bassist Dave Mousey, keyboardist Dave Palmer, singer Nick Briscoe (Fever in the Funkhouse), guitarist Ted Cruz, guitarist Tim Kobza (Carlos Guedes), guitarist Chris de Rose (Ed Hagen), guitarist Chris Clarridy (Fever in the Funkhouse), saxophonist Joe Crump, and guitarist Chris Carrington.

So far Bootleg has made Dave’s Art Pawn Shop in Deep Ellum its performing home, with an occasional stint at Club Dada. To hear them, check out Dave’s at 2544 Elm St. (748-7111). They usually drop by to jam on Tuesday evenings.

-Lisa Thylor



The Dallas Civic Garden Center Blossoms



SPRING April showers bring May flowers, but there’s no need to wait a month. The Dallas Civic Garden Center in Fair Park is blooming right now, and it’s never looked better. As a result of a five-year make-over, the Center has, well, blossomed. And a little known tidbit: The whole facility is rentable, complete with a brand new hall and stage, for parties, conferences, weddings, and bar mitzvahs.

The centerpiece glasshouse, The Btachly Conservatory, now features a stunning collection of the plants of Africa, keyed to coincide with the Dallas Zoo’s Wilds of Africa. Hundreds of species show off an array of the vast continent’s environs, and while the waterfall is still there, it’s smaller, quieter, and, according to director J. B. Johnson, a great place for a reception.

A few steps outside bring you to the Presidents’ Garden, featuring tulips, a reflecting pool, and fountains. Turn the corner and you’re in the crowning touch of the make-over, the Grand Allee du Meadows, surrounded by Savannah hollies, azaleas, and pansies. Later this month, the Faerie Blanton Kilgore Rose Garden should be a real eye-opener, with a dozen types of roses coming into bloom.

Admission is free, even for such events as the Iris Society (April 27) and Southwestern Fern Society (May 18, 19) shows. There’s a spectacular fund-raiser scheduled for April 13: A Night in Africa, with music, art, food, and wildlife-elephants included. Also, in synergy with the zoo, the Garden Center arranges four-hour guided tours of both facilities, lunch and transport provided. Call 428-7476 for more flowery information.

-David Alex Schulz

The Peace Symbol

ICONS During the mid-Sixties and early Seventies, while the Vietnam War raged half a world away, the peace sign became the single most recognizable symbol of a generation. It stood for an idealistic belief in peace-but, it also stood for opposition to the war, government, capitalism, even parents. It became an anti-establishment icon and a prevailing sign of the times.

By the end of the Eighties the peace symbol had become a faded and dated emblem-until America went to war again, and a new generation discovered it. Today, for many young adults, the peace sign is a fresh symbol of their youthful idealism as they come to grips with the reality of war. However, for the rest of us, it may be less an idea to rally around and more a new fashion accessory.

Michael Longcrier, owner of Ahab Bowen, a vintage and retro clothing store, has been selling peace signs for the past seven years. He feels the symbol’s appeal has only gotten stronger. “It’s a fashion statement, ” he says. “It is a cultural experience, an ornament for the masses. “

But Tom Hynds, owner of Millennium, a vintage clothing and furniture store, says that wearing a peace sign is a political statement, just as it was in the past. “Now there’s an interest in anything late-Sixties, ” he says. “The big surge for military-related things started after the war started. The peace symbol is being revived for its original meaning. “

Longcrier disagrees. “The peace symbol’s more ornamental than it is political. It’s fashion baby, it’s fashion. “

-Layne Morgan

RETURN OF THE NATIVES

Mark your calendars now for The Heard Museum’s Second Annual Native Plant Festival (and sale), April 20 and | 21. Route 6, Box 22 in McKinney. Call 1-214-542-5566 for info.