This Week on FrontRow

Ahead of your weekend planning, catch up on everything that has been going down on FrontRow this week.  In the world of theater, we have reviews of Undermain’s brilliant race-study, The Shipment, Broken Gears’ acting switcheroo, The Hand, and the lackluster Broadway musical, Billy Elliot, which landed at the Winspear this week. Also, The Shipment is directed by SMU’s Stan Wojewodski, and our own Liz Johnstone has the story of the former head of Yale’s drama school’s long relationship with the wonderful little theater downstairs on Main Street. And this summer we’ll be looking at the characters behind the local theater beginning with Lee Trull, the starving actor who landed his dream job. Oh, and have we told you about the dancer from Fort Worth who trained Natalie Portman and the boys in Billy Elliot?

In the art world, we have a review of Marcelyn McNeil’s lovely abstracts at Conduit, as well as this week’s gallery openings. Also, we’ve launched a new series this week that looks at a work from our local museums’ permanent collections. For the first installment, Courbet’s The Fox in the Snow.

Big happenings in the local dance scene this weekend with the debut of Bruce Wood’s latest project. But can the acclaimed choreographer fill the void for real employment for Dallas-Fort Worth dancers?

And, of course, we have reviews of the latest films to hit movie theaters, including Super 8, Beginners, Submarine, Blank City, and the seductive French historical drama, The Princess of Montpensier.

Finally, a couple of plugs: join us at D Magazine’s office on June 20 for a conversation about the local theater scene with a panel of local critics, as well as Veletta Lill and Stan Wojewodski. And don’t forget, next week we kick off the first installment of our latest film series, “Dallas, Outlaws, and the American Dream,” and we will screen Bonnie and Clyde at the Kessler Theater on June 16. More info on the series, including the ideas behind its theme, here.

Catching Up With FrontRow

Liz will surely be around to give you the full weekend rundown, but here’s an update on what has been going on on FrontRow this week:

There’s some good theater out there, including WaterTower’s Shooting Star and Ochre House’s macabre comedy The Butcher. The Fort Worth Opera Festival is still in full swing. Verdi’s Il Trovatore closes tonight. Handel’s Julius Caesar does Baroque opera justice. And  don’t miss Philip Glass’s Hydrogen Jukebox.

We also have your gallery openings covered, but of what’s already open, check out the offerings at Conduit (more on their current shows next week), as well as Marty Walker, The Mac, and The Reading Room (by the way, Joyce-lovers keep your eyes open for The Reading Room’s Bloomsday celebration June 16). Oh, and Vicente at the Meadows is rather nice as well.

But if you were me, I’d say spend the next few hot days locked in a movie theater. X-Men: First Class, Paris in Midnight, and The Tree of Life are all well worth your time.

That is all.

Go Mavs.