The penultimate performance of Fort Worth Opera’s 2008 Festival — Saturday’s performance of Lucia di Lammermoor at Bass Hall — really captured everything I have come to appreciate about this company. Start with perfect staging, add in established stars, then bring in lots of young talent.

Donizetti’s retelling of Sir Walter Scott’s novel about the worst wedding night ever is plenty dark and moody, thanks to director David Gately. Most of the scenes come up with a spotlight on a main character who appears to be this white presence floating in a sea of darkness. Things don’t get much brighter than that for most of the characters.

The audience is much more fortunate. Elizabeth Futral — an international star and one leading sopranos in opera today, really demonstrated what a talent of her magnitude can accomplish.
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This week Fort Worth plays host to the 10th annual QCinema Festival.

Todd Camp and his crew (including friend of W&C James Johnston) have put together 10 days worth of activities highlighting the incredible work coming out of the gay and lesbian film scene.

And before you say “That’s not for me, I’m not gay!” You don’t have to be gay to enjoy these films. (I know, that point was kind of obvious, but bear with me.) From reading through the descriptions of the films being programmed, they all deal with the same things that everyone deals with; life, death, love and relationships, family, kids, etc. etc. The only difference is that the male/female ratio among the cast members is not even close to even.

When I take people who’ve never been to Spiral Diner there for lunch or dinner, I tell them not to get too wrapped up in the whole “vegan thing.” It’s just a meal; the only difference is that instead of meat on your sandwich (or in your taco salad) you’re getting a plant-based product that’s finagled to look and sorta taste like meat. It’s still lunch, just with a different presentation.

This theory also applies to “gay cinema.” Don’t get all flustered by the “gay” aspect of it. The stories are just like “mainstream cinema,” except that you get two hunky male love interests instead of just one. It’s the same thing, just with a slightly different presentation.

Take a look at the schedule — events run for 10 days starting yesterday (oops!), and during the week they’re scheduled conveniently for us worker bees to make it to the screenings in time. Get out there and broaden your horizons and support one of the longest running film festivals in our city!

You know your business trip has gone really wrong when you end up living in an homeless shelter. The what happened to the Guanhua Acrobats from Shanghai, who came to Texas expecting a national tour and instead found themselves cooling their heels in the Union Gospel Mission when their tour promoter bailed out on them.

“They said the accommodations weren’t that great, but at least they fed them,” said Kurt Howard, Director of Production at the Fort Worth Opera.

Howard and the Fort Worth Opera got involved when they contracted the troupe to perform in Turandot as palace performers. They’re also co-sponsoring a benefit performance featuring the troupe tonight at 7 at the Scott Theatre. Tickets are $25 each and available by calling 817.731.0726 or online at www.fwopera.org.

The Fort Worth Opera is providing the Scott Theatre for free in conjunction with the Fort Worth Arts Council. The Opera is also handling ticket sales, and the proceeds go to the acrobats.

“They’re not trying to raise money and get back home,” Howard said. “They’re more interested in continuing to work here in the U.S.”

These acrobats were spectacular on Saturday night during Turandot. See for yourself tonight and do a good turn for this troupe.

I had a chance to sit down with General Director Darren Woods of the Fort Worth Opera last week for a preview of this year’s festival, which kicks off Friday night at the Scott Theatre with Angels in America. Tickets are still available for all four operas. Hope to see you there.

 

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Enjoy cocktails, Cafe Modern cuisine, and the sweet sounds of the Tom Reynolds Trio from 5 to 8 p.m. at this month’s First Friday at The Modern. A docent-led, 20-minute spotlight tour of the galleries starts at 6:30 p.m. The tour is free for Modern members and Star-Telegram Press Pass Holders.

Dinner will be served from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and includes featured specials created by Executive Chef Dena Peterson. For reservations, call 817.840.2174.

In case you missed the ad that’s been running in our sidebar for the last few days, there’s a new independent film series starting up at The Modern tonight.

The series is has been put together by Kinetiq HD, a local production company. One of the guiding forces of the series is local filmmaker Andrew Disney, who screened his short “Frank’s Last Shot” at the Lone Star International Film Festival back in November.

The show starts at 7:30 tonight at The Modern. Get your tickets here, then get your butt out there!

If you’re looking for a respite from the nuttery that is Main Street Arts Festival, here are a couple of options:

Fort Worth Public Art is holding a symposium at McDavid Studio with Cliff Garten and Christopher Janney, two of the people who will be creating the sound and lightscape around and along Lancaster Ave. (Ok, so it’s still art-related, but at least it’s air-conditioned, and it doesn’t cost 13 tickets.)

If you want to get out of downtown altogether, there’s still one more day of University Christian Church’s Earth Day celebration. Jenna and I went over there yesterday, and they’ve got a great setup, with tons of vendors and presentations planned.

I hope to see you out and about!

Don’t forget - tonight is Modern ‘Til Midnight, from 6:00 PM to, well, midnight (hence the name). Music will be many and varied - Yellow Fever, The Theater Fire, Trimble Tech High School Marching Band (directed by Earnest Colvin playing a composition by Patrick Grant), PPT, and Strange Fruit Project. Food and drinks. Admission is $15, or FREE for Modern members.

I’ll be there from about 7:30 or so onwards. Look for the guy in the hat, as usual. Say hi!

Since I know you’re starting to make plans for the weekend, now is the time to clue you in to a couple of cool events around the city.

On Saturday, there’ll be a fundraiser for some folks participating in the BP Houston to Austin MS150 Bike Ride (I don’t know which one, exactly) at the Rahr Brewery from 7-10 PM.

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They’ve got a ton of raffle giveaways, and you get free beer! All you have to pony up is $10 at the door, all of which goes to the Lone Star Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Update: (Ryan does a better job selling it than I have in the comments…)

The Fort Worth Community Arts Center will be hosting a reception for their current and incoming batch of local artists on Friday from 6-9PM.

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Update (2): Herb e-mailed to let us know that Wayne Horvitz’ Gravitas Quartet will be playing this Friday and Saturday at the Van Cliburn Recital Hall. For tickets and showtimes, hop on over Bass Hall’s website. Looking for more info on Wayne Horvitz’ Gravitas Quartet? Check them out on iTunes.

Update (3):The Texas Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture (the ORIGINAL professional treehuggers) is hosting its Tree Climbing Championship in Trinity Park Friday and Saturday. This looks like a really fun and interesting event! (Fair warning — these guys and gals get up EARLY! All events are scheduled to be finished and the get-together adjourned by 4PM, so don’t be late!)

I’m sure there are a TON more things going on. Is there something I missed? Something you’d like to add? Are you planning an event and want us to mention it here? Send me an e-mail!

Arts Goggle in the Near Southside just gets better every time. This time around, yours truly was situated in both Panther City Bicycles on Magnolia and the Texana Townhomes at Adams & Oleander. I’d intended to bike back and forth between the two all night, but it was so crazy busy at the bike shop that I stayed there all night.

As you can see in the photo above, Panther City Bicycles was jam-packed with people out enjoying a free night of art, photography, sculpture, and music in the Near Southside. Bernie and Jason kept things running smoothly all night as crowd after crowd came through to check out the art (and to enjoy some free Rahr beer). As for myself, I did well, selling three of my photos (thanks, y’all!).

It was also great just to see so many people out walking around the Near Southside. As can be seen in the photo below, the crowds were everywhere. It’s something I look forward to becoming the norm, not the exception, as the Near Southside redevelops with new urban infill and “critical mass” is reached in places like Magnolia Village.