Now you can go to church and see a live play – or enjoy a spirited pax de duex from a 19th century ballet. Perhaps you want to attend a poetry-reading session. Or you may want to produce your own play.
St. Matthew’s Cathedral, one of East Dallas’ oldest Episcopal churches, is providing space and support for the performing arts. The church’s “Arts in the Cathedral” program, nearing its first birthday, is a three-pronged “partnership” headed by church members and staff who actively produce theater, music and dance events in the church’s Great Hall at 5001 Ross Avenue, at Henderson.
The content of the performances may be secular as well as sacred. Productions to date include a Dance Festival featuring young performers from the Dallas Black Dance Theater and the Anita Martinez Youth Ensemble; and the 11th Street Theatre productions of Steve Tesich’s “Speed of Darkness” and “Becket”.
Also, a musical evening titled “Rejoice in the Lamb”, with Benjamin Brittan’s music performed by the church’s professional choir; and Christopher Smart’s poetry read by Roma and Lucille King.
That’s the Reverend Roma King, Ph.D., Canon Theologian and interim Rector of St. Matthew’s. Says Canon King: “The drama began in the church, and one of the stated purposes of the Arts program is to restore that tradition.”
The program provides a space for performing artists – church members and non-members alike – to bring their work before a Dallas audience. Amanda Stone Smith, member and choreographer with credits in Austin and Wyoming, head the Dance Series. Her emphasis to date has been on providing a place for students associated with the city’s dance companies to dance, as well as a place for choreographers – herself included – to explore new work.
Karen Collins heads the Zoe Arts Project Inc., a guild of independent theater artists joined together to develop new projects, playwrights and directors. “Working actors in Dallas often need a forum to develop and extend their work. How will they become directors if they cannot direct? This program provides a place to do just that,” Collins says. In addition to the freshly conceived staging of “Becket,” Collins says a new play “still to be announced” will premier in March.
Ron Rice, the organist and choirmaster at St. Matthew’s heads the Music Series. The organ and choir recitals are in the church, rather than the Great Hall, says Rice. “Arts in the Cathedral is taking off. The music programs have been very well received; I have enjoyed them, and the eight-member professional choir values the opportunity to perform non-sacred music on these occasions,” Rice says. The admission charge of $5 to $7, he says, goes toward refurbishing the Great Hall.
The Great Hall itself – complete with an elevated hardwood stage backed by and exposed brick wall and equipped with a giant velvet curtain – was built in the 1950s to accommodate internal productions and church conventions. “We need a sound system and a lighting system. Ticket sales go toward making the stage a more flexible space for all the artists now working there,” Rice says.
Calendar
The Advocate will publish, at no charge on a space-available basis, information on events of cultural interest to East Dallas residents, if received by the 15th of the month prior to publication. Include name, place, date, time, prices and a phone number, and mail to Martha Heimberg, c/o the Advocate…
March 1-7 – The Dallas Puppet Theater, 3018 Commerce, presents “The Mermaid’s Gold!”, based on the opera “Das Rheingold” by Richard Wagner, is presented Saturdays at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. Tickets are $4-$5; reservations are recommended. Call 939-0004 for information.
March 1-19 – D-Art Visual Arts Center presents “Mosaics: Ceramics by Yoshiko Schranil” daily at D-Art, 2917 Swiss. Hours are 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays and noon-4 p.m. Saturdays. Call 821-2522 for information.
March 3-27: “The Castle (A Triumph)”, the regional premier of Howard Barker’s biting, funny play about knights returning from the Crusades to find their village usurped by a militant female Utopia, is onstage at Undermain Theatre, Elm and Trunk. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday and 8:15 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Tickets are $10-$14 and Wednesday is pay-what-you-can night. Call 520-ARTS.
March 5-6: “An American Cocktail”, J. Thomas Grady’s prize-winning “tragic comedy of the banal”, concerns the response of guests at a ho-hum cocktail party to a peculiar man arriving late. It’s presented by Actors’ Stock Company at the Bath House Cultural Center at White Rock Lake, 8:15 p.m. both days. Tickets are $10. Call 343-9723.
March 13 – The Dallas Puppet Theater, 3018 Commerce, presents a marionette production of “Beauty and the Beast” through April 18 Saturdays at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. Tickets are $4-$5; reservations are recommended. Call 939-0004 for information.
March 18-April 10: “Crossing Delancey”, Susan Sandler’s romantic comedy about a nice Jewish family that decides to hire a matchmaker for their marriageable daughter, is presented by Actors’ Theatre of Dallas at the Bath House Cultural Center at White Rock Lake. Showtime is 8 p.m., Thursday-Saturday. Tickets are $10, $7 for seniors or those who donate clothing or non-perishable food items. Call 520-ARTS.
March 31: SMU/Meadows Symphony Orchestra performs at SMU’s Caruth Auditorium in the SMU Community Night series at 8 p.m. Free. Call 768-ARTS.
