Pretend Prison

Nancy Wozny·
When Jenji Kohan's Orange is the New Black popped up on my Netflix menu, it just screamed A + N. Based on Piper Kerman's best selling book of the same name, the show chronicles the life of Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), while she completes a 14-month prison sentence for a decade old crime.
Film

MIRÓ QUARTET: A Texas Beethoven Cycle & More

Chris Johnson·
When violinist William Fedkenheuer steps onto the stage this month with his colleagues in the Austin-based Miró Quartet for a series of six concerts at the Butler School of Music at UT-Austin (Sept. 6-8 & 27-29), he will achieve a distinction that few other professionals can claim. He will be one of the few living violinists who have performed all sixteen of Ludwig van Beethoven's string quartets for two violins, viola and cello as both a first and second violinist.
AustinMusic

Playing With Words

JOHN DeMERS·
For lovers of Shakespeare and Molière, Ibsen and Chekhov, Miller and Williams, declaring our time a new Golden Age of the playwright might seem delusional, or at best, a flourish of hyperbole from some theater’s marketing department. But if you ask the artistic directors of some of the most respected ensembles in Texas, they’ll assure you such claims are hardly ridiculous.
Theater

The Lone Star State en Pointe

Nichelle Suzanne·
No, ballet wasn’t born in Texas. But, in accord with the proverbial Law of Attraction, it got here as fast as it could. Since the arrival of a troupe of traveling Russians during a time when even Hollywood movies were still, literally, finding their voice, the art and practice of ballet has been nurtured by Texans, who support not one, but three multi-million-dollar-budget ballet companies, and a host of smaller, but no less notable, organizations.
DanceLone Star Stories

Undermain at 30

Lauren Smart·
The logo of the Undermain Theatre adorns a sandwich board at the edge of the Deep Ellum neighborhood in Dallas. The lone black and yellow marker beckons curious theatergoers to venture below Main Street for shows they can't see anywhere else. Undermain Theatre celebrates its 30th year with a lineup of three brand new plays, continuing its lifelong commitment to presenting original plays that challenge audiences. Whether it's an edgy new work by David Rabe or a scintillating production of August Strindberg or Harold Pinter, the consistently high quality of work at the Undermain Theatre is unrivaled in the local scene.
Dallas/Ft WorthTheater

No Limits in the Book of Mormon

Lauren Smart·
A centerpiece of the first act of The Book of Mormon is the song, "Hasa Diga Eebowai." This Ugandan phrase punctuates the show's irreverent version of "Hakuna Matata," in which a tribe sings about AIDS, Africa, and telling God where he can stick his lightning bolts.
Theater

Space Painting

DANIELLE GEORGIOU·
Jessica Lang paints movements in broad strokes, making her one of the most visually exciting choreographers in the dance world. Houston's Society of Performing Arts presents Jessica Lang Dance (JLD) on Sept. 20, following the TITAS presentation in Dallas on Sept. 14.
Dallas/Ft WorthDanceHouston