The title of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena tells all: one of the most fascinating, contradictory, and unintentionally influential figures in British history, Anne Boleyn, serves as the inspiration for a nineteenth-century opera that provides acres and acres of territory for vocal showmanship, at the same time weaving a tale of betrayal, lust, power, and love that ranks among the greatest in the operatic repertoire. Although this may sound like the blurb for a historical romance novel, that’s what opera, ultimately, is ..read more

You need to see Gasland if, like me, before seeing the film the word natural gas conjured up the image of Tommy Lee Jones before it did visions of water catching on fire, horses losing their hair, or brain lesions. Gasland is a documentary road movie that begins in Pennsylvania after the filmmaker, Josh Fox, receives an offer of around $100,000 for the mineral rights to his family’s land. He admits to not knowing much about natural gas production, so ..read more

“What we have here is a failure to communicate,” a frustrated imaginary bystander might say, interrupting the action of Mademoiselle Chambon by quoting Cool Hand Luke. The question, then, in this restrained romance about a musty marriage interrupted by a violin-playing school teacher that in no way resembles Paul Newman’s movie, is just why these longing, lonely, and muted hearts unintentionally collide in the romantic stratosphere. The mum man at the center of the love triangle is Jean (Vincent Lindon), ..read more

The writing commences on Monday, and there are currently 14 of us signed up to undertake the foolhardy task of completing a novel in a month. So far, we have been promised a young adult mystery set in small town Texas, a historical romance novel set in Dallas in the 1960s, a story set in a Texas nail salon in the 1980s, and a “steampunk fantasy novel set in the dark woods beneath the light of the moon.” In other words, this is going to be darn good fun. There have also been plenty of jitters expressed, so if you are holding out on your decision to go all in, we’re here to help. Join our support group as we set out like mariners hunting the albatross of our literary ambition.

The charm and visual satisfaction of the trio of films based on Swedish writer Stieg Larsson’s books about the girl with the dragon tattoo climaxes in a courtroom scene in the last film in the series, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest. “The girl,” Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) enters the stuffy, wood-paned room in a shining black leather outfit fitted with studs and spikes, and chains. She wears two earrings in her nose, a Mohawk on her head, and ..read more

The month-long Art in October celebrations wind up this weekend. Here’s a schedule of closing day events, including  tours, opera, and outdoor performances. Over on Sidedish, the excitement is over promised food trucks complete with a closed street.

1. Medical developments are often soulless monoliths, writes Scott Cantrell in the Morning News, but Parkland’s new expansion is a welcome exertion of quality design:

The design is a bold essay in geometry, crisscrossing slabs alternately horizontal and vertical in thrust. A four-story base, including main and emergency entrances, will be capped by a nine-story tower oriented one way and a 17-story tower at a right angle. Imagine a big blowup of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, covered over in curtain walls.

Meanwhile, ..read more

Here are this weekend’s art openings.

Photo: Work from “Indig-Nation: Agency and the Hegemonic State” at the Visual Arts Building at University Of Texas at Dallas.

“Inside Art” by Gabriel Dawe, Ruben Nieto, and Jen Rose at the Dallas Contemporary – October 27 : 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM; 161 Glass Street, Dallas, Tx 75207.

“Magical, Mystical, Masterful: Alluring alternative fine photographic prints” by Jill Skupin Burkholder at Sun to Moon Gallery – October 28 : 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM; 1515 Levee ..read more

One of the major sticks that gets shaken at Dallas is that it doesn’t have much of a college scene. Most of the universities in the area are on the periphery of the city center, and collegiate life tends to keep to itself in those places or nearby. If new talent happens to spring up out of those schools, it often flees to other talent-magnet cities where a kid can chase a dream with romance and what feels like courage. ..read more

It started yesterday: The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art began gathering “players” to create a lineup of museums in support of the San Francisco Giants, posting updates, rally calls, cheers, and jibes on a new Twitter feed. Now, the Kimbell Museum has responded to the call, gathering Dallas-Fort Worth museums to create a lineup of institutions standing strong in support of your Texas Rangers. You can follow action on the new #MuseumRangers feed. What this all means, I have no idea, but in a bold show of intimidation, the Kimbell linked to Michelangelo Buonarroti’s painting, “The Torment of St. Anthony,” warning, perhaps, that St. Francis By the Bay could be in store for a similar fate.