Author Archives: Rich Lopez

DTC’s “Joseph” continues at the Wyly

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Work that coat

The Dallas Theater Center is gonna bring some religion to the stage. But, you know, the fun kind. DTC opens the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat retelling the Old Testament story of Joseph and that fabulous coat of his. You won’t see it until you see the show. Through songs and a children’s chorus, Joseph goes from slave to ruler in the classic tale. But in this version, DTC incorporates music from rock to country and western in the mix. They even add in a Charleston from the 1920s. But you know when ol’ Joseph finally gets that coat on, he is gonna work it! Snap!

DEETS: Wyly Theatre, 2400 Flora St. Through Aug. 12. $15–$90. DallasTheaterCenter.org

—  Rich Lopez

WATCH: Murs’ pro-gay “Animal Style”

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Internet buzz is ramping up for L.A. rapper Murs’ newest video. Well, it’s a week old officially, but the gay blogs are just catching wind of the pro-gay stance of “Animal Style” taken by the indie hip-hop artist. Much like Texas rapper Adair Lion, Murs, who is straight, pushes queer issues into the hip-hop arena. Huffy Po’s Gay Voices blog analyzes the video while Out talks to Murs about his gay kiss and what his wife thinks about it.

Murs has a healthy stance on the issue and his chat with Out reveals some insight to why he’s gay friendly. The video and song play a bit roughly with both graphic imagery and language, but also in structure. While I appreciate what he’s doing, dang it’s hard to vibe with his flow. But with Lion, Frank Ocean Y-Love and A-list musicians either supporting LGBT rights or coming out, queer identity and big and small ways looks to be changing the face of hip-hop.

Watch “Animal Style” after the jump.

Continue reading “WATCH: Murs’ pro-gay “Animal Style”” »

—  Rich Lopez

Movie Monday: LGBT action at the Asian Film Fest tonight

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Gay movie night

The Asian Film Festival of Dallas continues at the Magnolia with tonight giving big focus to the LGBT community. Two gay films screen tonight: The Thai lesbian feature Yes or No,  at 7:30 p.m., and the horror thriller I Am a Ghost from queer director H.P. Mendoza, screening at 9:45. In between the festival fit in an LGBT mixer (with Mendoza in attendance) at Malai Kitchen in the West Village. And FYI: We are giving away tickets to both show and the mixer, so stay tuned!

DEETS: Magnolia Theater, 3699 McKinney Ave. $10. AFFD.org.

—  Rich Lopez

Taste of Dallas concludes today at Fair Park

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Bite this

Taste of Dallas satisfies all appetites this weekend with its 26th annual event. Whether your noshing from food trucks, sampling a selection of wines or putting your tongues to the test in the Taste of Olympics, you’re likely to walk away with a favorite new dish — or several. Live music, chef demonstrations and visual arts fill out this feast for the eyes, nose and definitely, tummy.

DEETS: Fair Park, 3600 Grand Ave. Ends today. $8.  TasteofDallas.org.

—  Rich Lopez

DV Lifewalk team the Elizabeth Trail’rs host benefit car wash

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Suds in the bucket

We got no shame. Especially when it comes to good causes. The Dallas Voice LifeWalk team, the Elizabeth Trail’rs holds a fundraising car wash and bake sale and you will just hurt our feelings if you don’t stop by. You might even see our own Miss Lifewalk contestant there.

DEETS: Round-Up Saloon lot, 3912 Cedar Springs Road. 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Lifewalk.org/ElizabethTrailers

 

—  Rich Lopez

WATCH: Brandi Carlile’s “A Promise to Keep”

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It’s a Brandi Carlile type of week for us here at the Voice. We posted this interview with her on Wednesday, my review of Bear Creek hit newsstands (and our website) today and now we have a video to add to the mix.

The Americana Music Association posted this video of Brandi Carlile performing one of my favorite songs from the album, “A Promise to Keep.” She intros it a bit with some words on the meaning behind the song and I love how she’s giving sexy eyes at the very end.

The AMA also posted that Carlile will be part of their festival and conference this September in Nashville. And although she was here back in February, she hasn’t announced any dates back in Dallas on her current tour for Bear Creek. At least not yet.

Watch “A Promise to Keep” after the jump.

Continue reading “WATCH: Brandi Carlile’s “A Promise to Keep”” »

—  Rich Lopez

Festival of Independent Theatres opens today

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The right FIT

Summer time brings back the 14th Annual Festival of Independent Theatres (or FIT) with four weeks of both innovative and classic works. From Edward Albee’s Counting the Ways, pictured,  by WingSpan’s Susan Sargeant to Kurt Kleinmann’s suspenseful Dead of Night, FIT has the right show for all tastes.

DEETS: Bath House Cultural Center, 521 E. Lawther Dr. Through Aug. 4. $18 per show. Festival passes available. FestivalofIndependentTheatres.org.

—  Rich Lopez

Online voting underway for this year’s 29th Annual Pride Parade grand marshals

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2011 Pride Parade.

The buzz for this year’s 29th Annual Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade is that the Dallas LGBT community gets to choose who the grand marshals will be. When the Dallas Tavern Guild put the word out for nominations, they came flowing in and so they guild has narrowed it to five male nominees and five female nominees. Now it’s in your hands. Literally. Click to vote who this year’s parade grand marshals will be by going here.

And the nominees are (in alphabetical order):

MALE
Robert L. Camina — Camina Entertainment – Director, Producer, Writer
Chris-James Cognetta —Youth First Texas
Rafael McDonnell — Resource Center Dallas; Dallas Bears
Jeffrey Payne — Leather Knights; NLA Dallas; Sharon St. Cyr Fund; Dallas Eagle
Dr. Gene Voskuhl — AIDS Arms, Inc.

FEMALE
Lorie L. Burch — Burch Law; American Business Women’s Association; GLBT Chamber
Rebecca Covell — Covell, PC; HRC; GLBT Chamber
Rev. Jo Hudson — Cathedral of Hope
Pauline Medrano — City of Dallas
Anton Shaw — Organization(s): Local Singer / Entertainer

Voting is open until July 27. The grand marshals will be announced on August 1.

—  Rich Lopez

Cathey Miller’s “Texas Lady Singers” opens at The Kessler

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Women in tune

Cathey Miller isn’t just good with a paintbrush. She’s damn good. The out artist knows how to create interesting and fresh work that makes you want to jump up to go see. In Texas Lady Singers, she paints Texas-born women with musical flair from honky tonk to rock ‘n’ roll. And we’re so there.

DEETS: Kessler Theater, 1230 West Davis St. Reception at 7 p.m. CatheyMiller.com.

—  Rich Lopez

WATCH: Bloc Party’s “Octopus”

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Pretty nice to hear from Bloc Party again. Yesterday, they released the video for “Octopus” from their upcoming album Four (not to be confused with this album). The band has been off the radar since the 2008 album Intimacy, but the break seems like its done them some good. “Octopus” screeches and rocks the way the band did when it first came out in 2005 with Silent Alarm.

The band has tried to buzz the album with radio announcements, Twitter updates and even a trailer, but this video finally gives us something to look forward to; Four is scheduled for an August release. While the band was working to finish this album, gay frontman Kele Okereke recorded and released his 2011 EP The Hunter which fueled some rumors that he was breaking away from the band. Bloc Party dispelled such notions which are disproven by the guys coming back together for their latest release.

As for the video, well, it has some major kickassery to it thanks to some simple but clever editing. Watch “Octopus” after the jump.

Continue reading “WATCH: Bloc Party’s “Octopus”” »

—  Rich Lopez