Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Happy Holidays Pop-Up Market, a Unique Holiday Shopping Experience

817ArtsAlliance partnered with Downtown Arlington Management Corporation this year to bring back a unique holiday shopping experience to Downtown Arlington, the Happy Holidays Pop-Up Market. It opens this Saturday, December 8, 2018 at 11am. When you visit and shop this indoor market you will find locally made products whose sales support local artisans. Some challenges artists face when trying to monetize their talents are outlined in this recent article by O.K. Carter in the Fort Worth Business Press.

Learn more about the artists whose work fills the market by reading their bios when you visit. Whether you're looking for the perfect gift or a little something for yourself, you're always welcome to Shop Small®
at the Happy Holidays Pop-Up Market this holiday season. Grab a friend or family member and join the Shop Small Movement, proudly backed by American Express.

Don't put off your visit to the Urban Union area of Downtown Arlington too long. The Happy Holidays Pop-Up Market is an ephemeral boutique shop with many unique products that can not be restocked once sold. The market will only be open from December 8 through December 23, 2018. See the market website for shop hours and more information about the participating artisans and their wares.

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Maverick Dance Company Presents VIA DANCE, Dec. 7-9

VIA DANCE is a collection of new, entertaining, and progressive dance works running December 7th, 8th, and 9th, 2018. The concert title, VIA DANCE, is based on a perspective that, through dance, we can communicate what is often challenging to put into words and that dance can simultaneously speak many languages and connect us on a visceral level. VIA DANCE includes a variety dance styles presented by UTA's Maverick Dance Company .

VIA DANCE is presented in the UTA Mainstage Theatre (Fine Arts Building, North Section, Room 174) located at 502 South Cooper Street on the UTA campus. Performances of VIA DANCE are December 7th & 8th at 8:00 p.m. and December 9th at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for the general public and $8 for students/senior citizens/UTA faculty & staff. For tickets, please contact UTAtickets.com . For further information, contact the UTA’s Department of Theatre Arts’ box office at 817-272-2669.

Monday, November 26, 2018

Olde Town Christmas Arts and Crafts Fair 2018

Join us for the Annual Christmas Craft Fair at Dottie Lynn Recreation Center, Olde Town Christmas, November 30 & December 1. It will be a festive time filled with shopping, goodies and more!

Craft Fair Hours:
Fri. November 30 - 12:00-7:00 PM
Sat. December 1 - 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Saturday will include a performance from Arlington High School Show Choir and a special visit from Santa Claus!

Food Trucks will be on site both days!
Friday, November 30: Chicago's Taste & More & Yummy Food Truck Group - Pizza
Saturday, December 1:Connie's Louisiana Kitchen & What's Cook-N Chef

Admission is FREE.

Sunday, November 18, 2018

Amy Sedaris Honored by Dallas VideoFest with the Ernie Kovacs Award - Save the Date

Writer, actress and Second City alum Amy Sedaris will receive the Ernie Kovacs Award at Dallas Videofest on December 8. Sedaris is the first woman to receive the Kovacs Award and will accept it in person at the Alamo Drafthouse in Richardson. Reserve your seat today. Tickets are $25 and are available online.

“Amy Sedaris so firmly embodies Ernie Kovacs’ cockeyed aesthetic that she is a natural to win The Ernie Kovacs Award,” said Joshua Mills of Ediad Productions and the Estate of Ernie Kovacs. “Not only are Amy’s outrageous characters such as the Wine Lady and the Hobo very Kovacsian, but she excels in front of the camera, on radio and as a writer too just like Ernie.”

Born in Endicott, N.Y., and raised in Raleigh, N.C., Sedaris honed her natural talent for comedy at The Second City in Chicago. Sedaris met and began working with comedians Stephen Colbert and Paul Dinello at Second City; the three went on to collaborate on the short-lived Comedy Central program Exit 57 and later worked together on Strangers with Candy, a spoof of the after-school specials and that were popular in the 1970s, in which Amy played Jerri Blank.

Sedaris’ current television show is At Home with Amy Sedaris on truTV. Her long list of television credits includes appearances on Sex and the City, The Good Wife and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Her voice is heard as the pink cat talent agent, Princess Caroline on BoJack Horseman. Sedaris’ extensive movie career includes roles in STRANGERS WITH CANDY (2005) ELF (2003), SCHOOL OF ROCK (2003) and the voice of Cinderella in SHREK THE THIRD (2007).

Sedaris also authored several satirical lifestyle books, including I Like You: Hospitality, Under the Influence and Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People.

The Ernie Kovacs Award recognizes the career and talents of some of television’s greatest visionaries. Kovacs’ work in the 1950s and early 1960s summed up the spirit of innovation and the development of the language of television as art. The Dallas VideoFest and the Video Association of Dallas announced the first Ernie Kovacs Award at the 1997 festival. Comedian Joel Hodgson of Mystery Science 3000 was the first recipient and subsequent honorees have included Terry Gilliam of Monty Python; Robert Smigel, writer/performer of Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Conan O’Brien; Paul “Pee-wee Herman” Reubens; Martin Mull; Mike Judge; George Schlatter, creator of Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In; Harry Shearer, Spinal Tap and The Simpsons; Michael Nesmith; and in 2017, Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald of The Kids in the Hall. Actress Edie Adams, Kovacs’ wife, came to Dallas to host the awards program annually until her death in 2008. Today, Edie’s son, Joshua Mills, runs Ediad Productions, the video and audio archive of both Ernie Kovacs and Edie Adams.

Friday, November 2, 2018

University of Texas at Arlington's Department of Theatre Arts Presents COMPANY - Nov. 14 - 18, 2018

The University of Texas at Arlington’s Maverick Theatre Company presents its first musicalof the 2018-19 season, Stephen Sondheim’s COMPANY. From musical theatre’s most renowned composer, COMPANY is largely regarded as a trailblazer of the dark-comedy, modern-musical genre and the winner of seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score, Best Lyrics and Best Book. On the night of his 35th birthday, confirmed bachelor, Robert, contemplates his unmarried state. Over the course of a series of dinners, drinks and even a wedding, his friends – “those good and crazy people [his] married friends” – explain the pros and cons of taking on a spouse. The habitually single Robert is forced to question his adamant retention of bachelorhood during a hilarious array of interactions.

COMPANY will be presented in the UTA Mainstage Theatre (Fine Arts Building, North Section, Room 174) located at 502 South Cooper Street on the UTA campus. Performances of COMPANY are November 14th, 15th, 16th, & 17th at 8:00 p.m. and November 18th at 2:30 p.m.. Tickets are $12 for the general public and $10 for students/senior citizens/UTA faculty & staff. For further information, please contact the UTA’s Department of Theatre Arts box office at 817.272.2669.

Sunday, October 28, 2018

Timeless Concerts Presents Italy v Germany Concert


Timeless Concerts returns to the Arlington Museum of Art to present another in its long running series of classical concerts. An hour of music that spans centuries will begin at 8pm on Saturday, November 10.

The Chenoweth-Hood-Kang trio will represent Germany with some of the greatest and most famous music of all time composed in Germany: Beethoven and Brahms. Their tenor and soprano, Sergio Cepeda and Judith Rodriguez, will represent Italy with passionate Puccini and Verdi! Who is more dramatic and passionate, the Germans, or the Italians? Works by German film score composer Hans Zimmer will also be performed. Many may be surprised that although his name is not familiar, his scores certainly are, ranging from “Driving Miss Daisy” to “Pirates of the Caribbean.” The post-concert party is included in the ticket price, when you may give your requests to pianist Steve Stroud. Complimentary buffet of fruit/cheese/desserts/wine/soft drinks will be available and BYOB accepted.

Sunday, October 21, 2018

UTA’s Department of Theatre Arts presents MavLab Plays

The University of Texas at Arlington’s Maverick Theatre Company presents MavLab. Experience the exciting, thought provoking plays that make up the Maverick Theatre Company’s MavLab! This semester’s series includes THE SHOCK OF RECOGNITION by Robert Anderson, directed by UTA Theatre Arts student Coy Rubalcaba, LADIES IN WAITING by Michele Palermo, directed by Assistant Professor of Instruction Detra Payne, and the world premiere of SOME SUNNY DAY written and directed by UTA Theatre Arts student Straton Rushing.

THE SHOCK OF RECOGNITION, by Robert Anderson, breaks in on a difference of opinion between an earnest young dramatist and his matter-of-fact producer who doesn’t like the opening moment of the play. A wife is having breakfast in bed and she says something to her husband, who is in the bathroom. He comes out, jaybird naked, and yells to her, "You know I can’t hear you when the water’s running." The producer doesn’t think this confrontation is quite nice or necessary. The author insists that the scene is quite important and, after all, it lasts only an instant. A quarrel over taste develops.

LADIES IN WAITING is written by Michele Palermo. In a room at All Saints Church fifty minutes before her wedding, Julie and her bridesmaids are together for the first time in over a year. As they get dressed, do makeup and their hair, they talk about marriage, careers, dating and even death.

SOME SUNNY DAY, written by Theatre Arts student Straton Rushing, is derived from the lines of Vera Lynn’s song “We’ll Meet Again”. The play follows a year in the life of Will Kolikov, a young man living in the early 2000s, who is trying to make a career in radio when things begin to fall apart for him. This bittersweet play explores how we pick up the pieces and start over through music, poetry, and the stories that need to be told most.

THE SHOCK OF RECOGNITION and LADIES IN WAITING will be performed on the same evening with THE SHOCK OF RECOGNITION performing first, followed by a brief intermission with LADIES IN WAITING performing after. The price of admission includes both performances. Performances are presented October 31 & November 2 at 8:00 p.m. and November 3 at 2:30 p.m.. SOME SUNNY DAY will be presented November 1 & 3 at 8:00 p.m. and November 4 at 2:30 p.m.. All performances will be at 502 S. Cooper Street, The Studio Theatre, Room 137 of Fine Arts Building North. Tickets are $10 for general admission.

For further information, please contact the UT Arlington Department of Theatre Arts box office at 817.272.2669.

Arlington Community Band Fall Concert - Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018 at 7pm


Join the Arlington Community Band for a free concert at Trinity United Methodist Church in Arlington.

Enjoy the variety of music in their program:
Songs of Old Kentucky, Karrick
Australian Up-Country Tune, Grainger
Colonial Airs and Dances, Jager
Resting in the Peace of His Hands, Gibson
La Tregenda, Puccini
Down a Country Lane, Copland
Cajun Folk Songs II, Ticheli
Shadow Rituals, Markowski

Friday, October 5, 2018

UTA's Maverick Theatre Company Presents The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl

A romantic comedy about loss, love, change, and redemption, THE CLEAN HOUSE is both whimsical and touching. A serious career-oriented doctor, Lane, has hired a quirky Brazilian maid. The only problem is that the maid, Matilde, hates to clean. Instead, she longs to be a comedienne. Lane is deserted by her husband, Charles, who leaves her for his mistress, Ana, a passionate, older Brazilian woman upon whom he recently performed a mastectomy. Sarah Ruhl’s enchanting play reminds us that there is humor and beauty to be found in life’s most unlikely messes. THE CLEAN HOUSE is a 2003-2004 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Winner and a 2005 Pulitzer Prize in Drama Finalist.

THE CLEAN HOUSE features members of UT Arlington’s Maverick Theatre Company including: Alyssa Azacarate (Matilda), Darcy Doyle (Lane), Bethany Doolin (Virginia), Cody Jackson (Charles), and Emily Bulloch (Ana). This play is directed by Assistant Professor of Instruction and Playwright-in-Residence Seraphina Nova Glass. Scenic design by DJ Badon, light and sound design by Jared Land, costume design by Kris O’Brien, technical direction by DJ Badon, and stage managed by Emily Blackmon.

THE CLEAN HOUSE is presented in the UT Arlington Mainstage Theatre (Fine Arts Building, North Section, Room 174) . Performances are October 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th at 8:00 pm and October 14th at 2:30 pm. Tickets are $10 for the general public and $8 for students/senior citizens/UTA faculty & staff. For tickets please contact UTAtickets.com. For further information, please contact the UT Arlington Department of Theatre Arts box office at 817.272.2669 or uta.edu/theatre.

Thursday, October 4, 2018

Join Symphony Arlington for their 2018-19 Season Premiere


Please note: Due to building delays of the stage extension, Symphony Arlington will be unable to perform in Arlington Music Hall on October 18th. They will be performing at the Willie Pigg Auditorium in Mansfield.

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Music Concerts at the Levitt Pavilion Sept. 28-30, 2018



Three artists with their roots firmly planted in Tarrant County perform this weekend as the Levitt's 10th anniversary season begins to wind down.

Friday: The Levitt welcomes home singer/songwriter, Chris Hawkes, and his writing and singing partner, Miranda Dawn at 8 p.m. The Arlington artist met Miranda in 2012 during a chance meeting on an Austin dance floor. The first time they sang together, they found a sound Texas Monthly called "undeniably intimate." Their initial duo effort climbed to number 25 on Billboard's Folk chart and landed at number two in iTunes singer/songwriter albums. They went on to appear on season six of NBC's The Voice. Acoustic Guitar hailed the pair as having "impeccable vocal harmonies and instrumentation," and Huffington Post summarizes their music as "transcendent alternative/folk." The Dawn & Hawkes concert is presented by J. Gilligan's.

Saturday:
Grady Spencer and the Work describe themselves as "a blue collar band making blue collar music for a blue collar world." They bring their old-time blues meets classic country music to the Levitt at 8 p.m. Sept. 29, presented by RJ Construction. Grady formed his band, The Work, in Fort Worth, after he met and befriended guitarist, Trevor Powell, and drummer, Blake Sager, under the marble angels of Bass Hall. Along with their bass player, Steve Moore, they criss-cross the south in their trusty Econovan (Jean-Claude Van Dam).

Sunday: One of the turning points in Tatiana Mayfield's young life was a week at jazz camp at the University of Texas at Arlington. At the time, she was 13 and the camp's only female, only trombone player and only jazz vocalist. After graduating from Brewer High School in Fort Worth, she continued her musical education at Tarrant County College, then the University of North Texas. Now she's known as "LadyMay" and has performed with the Showtime at the Apollo tour, opened for artists like Kirk Whalum and Randy Brecker, and appears regularly at the Scatt Jazz Club in Sundance Square. LadyMay takes the stage at 8 p.m. with the UTA Jazz Orchestra for jazz on the lawn.

Click here for the remaining fall concert schedule.

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

University of Texas at Arlington’s Department of Theatre Arts presents FLIGHT 12 IMPROV

It’s the beginning of the another school year and that means... FLIGHT 12 IMPROV! Full of oh-no-you-didn't moments and steeped-in-fun, Maverick Theatre Company's FLIGHT 12 IMPROV has a style that's always outrageous and never stale! This 12-member troupe features students from University Texas Arlington and is directed by Associate Professor Joe Chapa. FLIGHT 12 IMPROV performances are September 21 & 22, 2018 at 8:00 pm at 502 South Cooper, Fine Arts Building North, Mainstage Theatre, Room 174. Tickets $10.


Photo Left to Right: Austin Hutchinson, Cody Jackson, Esther Rosenthal, Connor Stubbs, Samantha Shepherd, Zakk Shortes, Brian Hughes, Austin Bender

Into the Okavango - EarthxFilm 9-24-18

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Mid September Concerts at the Levitt Pavillion in Downtown Arlington


This Week at the Levitt Pavilion - Sept. 14-16

Friday: The Levitt's third week of free fall concerts starts at 8 p.m. with the energetic blue-eyed soul of The Nightowls. This 10-piece band took Texas by storm in 2014 when their debut album landed in the Top 10 at Austin's annual music awards, and Austin Monthly named them a Band to Watch. Their sound is an energetic blend of classic soul and modern pop with influences running the gamut from James Brown to Michael Jackson. Their sophomore recording earned them serious national attention from The Atlantic and Southern Living. Their Levitt concert is presented by the University of Texas at Arlington.

Saturday: Honky-tonk hero and country music maverick, Dale Watson, returns to the Levitt at 8 p.m. presented by the Texas Commission on the Arts. A member of the Austin Music Hall of Fame, Watson took his "Texas outlaw" sound to Los Angeles and Nashville, but found that commercial country did not fit the fiercely independent songwriter, so he returned to Texas. In addition to music, Watson has appeared in films (
The Thing Called Love, On the Borderline), on television (Friday Night Lights), and most recently, on stage in Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, a southern gothic musical by Stephen King and John Mellencamp. His rumbling baritone also has been heard on commercials for Shell, Monster.com and On the Border restaurants. Earlier this year, Watson sat in with Jimmy Kimmel's house band as a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live from SXSW.

Sunday: When you mention Texas music, the first thing that usually comes to mind is country music or honky-tonk, but country music is a staple in most southern states. Tejano music, on the other hand, was born in Texas (Tejano means "Texan" in Spanish) and remains home to Tejano music pioneers and living legends. Ramiro "Ram" Herrera is a smooth-voiced, award-winning Tejano singer and songwriter, who is not only a staple on the Texas music scene, but is considered one of its legends. He has been honored with a Tejano Music Award as Male Entertainer of the Year twice and Male Vocalist of the Year as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award from The Tejano Music Association. Ram and his band, The Outlaws, will make their Levitt Pavilion Arlington debut at 8 p.m. presented by the Dr Pepper/Snapple brands 7Up, Squirt and Clamato.

Monday, September 3, 2018

Celebrate 40 Years of Fall Gallery Night

Take in the visual arts and Tarrant County’s unique cultural richness during Fall Gallery Night, organized by FWADA, Saturday, September 8, 2018. Most participants are open from noon to nine. Come take a stroll through participating galleries, museums, retail businesses, and area restaurants, and enjoy the many artists featured during this community event. Gallery Night is free and open to the public.

817ArtsAlliance is helping BRIT (Botanical Research Institute of Texas) celebrate by providing a pop-up market in atrium II of BRIT. Also at BRIT, you will find an exhibit of metal wildflower sculptures and paintings by Ann Ekstrom as well as a pop-up exhibit by the Fort Worth Art Collective.

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Final Two Weeks of Free Music Concerts at Levitt Pavilion for the Summer Season

Yeah, it's hot outside, but sometimes you just can't help but dance, no matter how hot it is! Levitt Pavilion Arlington has only two weekends left in its summer concert season. July 13-15 musicians are serving up music guaranteed to make you move. The final weekend of free music concerts before taking a break during the heat of August is July 20-22. Check out their events calendar to see who is playing.