Tag Archives: Turtle Creek Chorale

This week’s takeaways: Life+Style

Posted on

IMG_6695The Turtle Creek Chorale tips its hat to Broadway this weekend with its Kander & Ebb concert, a show featuring two dozen of the songwriting teams’ most memorable hits. It’s at the City Performance Hall through Sunday. Right next door, you can check out Val Kilmer in his one-man show, Citizen Twain, playing at the Wyly. And across the street, the Dallas Opera’s season winds up with alternating performances of Turandot and The Aspern Papers at the Winspear.

On Saturday, you can get the energy to go get all your other chores done by popping by Deep Ellum for the inaugural North Texas Taco Festival, sponsored by our good friend Jose Ralat-Maldonado of the Taco Trail blog. That evening, hop over to the Hilton Anatole for the annual Bloomin’ Ball fundraiser for AIN.

On Saturday and Sunday, there are plenty of activities (in Fair Park and in Oak Cliff) leading up to Earth Day, which is officially on Monday. Then later in the week, two film festival get going: The USA Film Festival kicks off Wednesday, and runs through the following Sunday. And over in Fort Worth, QCinema returns with its spring series with the one-night-only screening of Lesbian Shorts: The Best of the Fest.

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

This week’s takeaways: Life+Style

Posted on

Tomlin-BPatterson03Now that January is behind us, and it seems we don’t have to expect icy weather any time soon (though in Texas, ya never know), a lot of events are springing up for your entertainment calendar.

This is a busy weekend for limited-run events, many with gay appeal. Tonight and twice on Saturday, the Turtle Creek Chorale and Uptown Players co-present a concert version of the Terrence McNally-penned musical Ragtime at the City Performance Hall. I saw it last night, and, while long, it has some terrific singing — and acting — especially from Markus Lloyd and Tyce Green.

On Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m. and again a 2 p.m., Susan Nicely performs a free mini-opera, portraying Julia Child in Bon Appetit! at the Demonstration Kitchen inside the Farmers Market. To RSVP, go to DallasOpera.org. That evening, the Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet performs … and that’s a company that’s truly inventive. (We have a preview of it here.)

You can go to the ballet and still get out in time to see dance diva Kristine W headline the Carnivale celebration at Station 4 — she goes on at midnight.

On Sunday, Lily Tomlin, pictured, brings her one-woman show to the Winspear, performing her classic characters. She’s one of the legends of American comedy — you don’t want to miss it.

In addition, Mardi Gras is on Tuesday, Valentine’s Day is on Thursday, and next week welcomes to major touring productions — Catch Me If You Can at Fair Park (remember: DSM’s shows now begin a half-hour earlier than before — that’s 7:30 p.m. at nighttime performances!) and Anything Goes at the Winspear.

Don’t say you’re bored — there’s too frickin’ much to do!

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

This week’s takeaways: Life+Style

Posted on

The most important thing you need to know this weekend is that there are only a few chances left to see On the Eve, and all shows are currently sold out. So if you can’t get on the waiting list, look for a reprise of this show next year. In other theater news, there are still numerous holiday-themed plays to choose from (A Christmas Carol, It’s a Wonderful Life, Mother Goose, Bur-Less-Q Nutcracker, Cirque Dreams: Holidaze opening Tuesday at the Winspear), as well as a real Nutcracker over in Fort Worth.

The Turtle Creek Chorale continues its concert season, with another performance of Comfort & Joy in McKinney and the new show, Naughty & Nice, opening Thursday at the new City Performance Hall. You can also check out the CPH earlier, with the Women’s Chorus of Dallas doing their holiday show, Believe, there on Saturday.

On Wednesday, the Cathedral of Hope gets a jump-start on Christmas as well with their “Travelers’ Silent Night,” a worship service for congregants who won’t be in town on Dec. 24.

And of course there’s sad news, as well: Monica Greene is no longer owner of her eponymous restaurant at the ilume, which seems to be shuttered for the time being.

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

This week’s takeaways: Life+Style

Posted on

It’s a little of the calm before the storm.

Few big movies are opening this weekend. That’s because starting next week through Christmas, there will be roughly 2 billion new films vying for your attention (give or take) — many with gay content or appeal: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Hyde Park on Hudson, Any Day Now, The Guilt Trip, This Is 40, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Jack Reacher and Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Apart. Try catching up on gooduns like Skyfall, Hitchock and The Sessions before the onslaught. (In the Dec. 21 edition of Dallas Voice, we’ll have a complete rundown of holiday movies as part of our Hollywood Issue.)

‘Til then, catch up on theater: Jekyll & Hyde has been rejiggered to appeal to a demographic that is more about The Voice and The X Factor that Patti and Babs, but Deborah Cox and Constantine Maroulis, pictured, sure know how to sing. So does Janis Ian, who takes over the smaller Hamon Hall venue at the Winspear on Saturday.

For Christmas themed shows, you have a choice between two local Nutty Award nominees — Texas Ballet Theater’s The Nutcracker and MBS’s Bur-Less-Q Nutcracker — as well as DTC’s annual Christmas Carol — which, once again, delivers. And the Turtle Creek Chorale offers six more opportunities to see them perform — their Comfort & Joy show at the Meyerson (and again in McKinney) this week, then the campy Naughty & Nice show the following week, leading right up to Christmas Eve.

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

Turtle Creek Chorale members attacked, called gay slurs in apparent hate crime

Posted on

Two members of the Turtle Creek Chorale gay men’s chorus were assaulted last weekend in an attack Dallas police have classified as a hate crime.

Ryan Short and Tri Truong went to a friend’s house Saturday, Oct. 27, for a game night. The two drove back to Short’s residence on Rawlins Street between 1:30 and 2 a.m. when suddenly two Hispanic men came up from behind them as they walked form the car to the apartment.

“They just kind of came up and started hitting us,” Short said.

Truong said he saw the men attack Short first and jumped in.

“It happened so fast because we were literally walking like 20 feet,” Truong said. “It started so quick we really had no chance to kind of process what’s going on.”

Truong said one of the guys hit him and pushed him against the wall of Short’s apartment. He said he remembers them both laughing during the assault. He said they fought the attackers off after a few minutes and they fled.

No words were exchanged before the attack, but both of them remember the men calling them “fags” and laughing. They said they think the men came from the Halloween Street Party because they were walking on Throckmorton Street toward Lemmon Avenue and may have been intoxicated. Neither of the men was in costume.

Short said both of them were hit in the head and his hip was sore from falling. He also had a scraped hand. Truong also had a bruises on his head, a swollen jaw and a small black eye.

Short said he called 911 after the suspects left and told the dispatcher he and Truong didn’t need medical attention. They said they told the dispatcher that the two Hispanic men were in their mid-20s or 30s with medium builds and around 5 feet, 10 inches tall. They didn’t take pictures of their injuries and said they were not serious enough to go to the hospital.

Short filed a police report Thursday, Nov. 1, which lists the assault as a hate crime and describes the attack as the men being punched multiple times while being called gay slurs.

While both men are glad their injuries aren’t more serious, they still wonder why the assault happened because the men never demanded money from them, only attacking them and running off.

“They were not trying to rob us. They didn’t ask us for a phone or wallet or keys, nothing,” Truong said. “That’s what’s so mind-boggling. It was just laughing, gay slurs and after a minute they just bailed out.”

—  Anna Waugh

Razzle Dazzle Dallas distributes proceeds

Posted on

Greg Dollgener Memorial AIDS Fund board, from left, D’wayne Teague, Tony Rox, David Hearn, Greg Wallace and John Cooper Lara

John Cooper Lara, chair of the Razzle Dazzle Dallas board, presented checks to beneficiaries of the June events at Sue Ellen’s on Monday evening.

The Metro Ball, which took place at S4 on June 8 and featured Taylor Dayne, raised $31,500 for the Greg Dollgener Memorial AIDS Fund. GDMAF provides financial assistance for critical needs through local organizations when other sources are exhausted.

Funds from the Saturday night street party were split among nine beneficiaries. Those organizations were Resource Center Dallas, AIDS Arms, AIDS Interfaith Network, Turtle Creek Chorale, Cedar Springs Beautification Fund, Legacy Counseling Center and Founders Cottage, GLBT Leap, Uptown Players and Legal Hospice of Texas. That party raised $25,000.

Razzle Dazzle Dallas board, from left, Jimmy Bartlett, Johnny Humphrey, Chris Bengston, Thom Dance, John Cooper Lara, Kris Martin, Ron Adams and Howard Okon

—  David Taffet

Dallas wraps up June Pride series

Posted on

The panel, from left: Roger Poindexter, Lorie Burch, Scott Whittall, the Rev. Dawson Taylor, Harold Steward, Cece Cox, Pastor Jon Haack and David Fisher. (John Wright/Dallas Voice)

The city of Dallas wrapped up its LGBT Pride Month celebration Wednesday with a discussion of how the LGBT community has enriched the city.

A seven-member panel moderated by Fahari Arts Institute founder Harold Steward discussed the contributions their LGBT organizations have made to Dallas over the years and where they envision Dallas in the future. They then took questions from the handful of people in attendance.

The event in the City Hall Flag Room was the last event in the city’s Pride series “Honor, Educate and Celebrate.”

Panelists included Resource Center Dallas CEO and Executive Director Cece Cox, Cedar Springs Merchants Association Executive Director Scott Whittall, Turtle Creek Chorale Executive Director David Fisher, GBLT Chamber of Commerce board member Lorie Burch, Lambda Legal South Central Region Executive Director Roger Poindexter, Cathedral of Hope Executive Minister the Rev. Dawson Taylor and Promise Metropolitan Community Church senior Pastor Jon Haack.

City Council was in executive session so members could not attend, but Councilwoman Delia Jasso stepped out to speak briefly about her pride in the LGBT Task Force for planning great events over the last four weeks. Councilman Scott Griggs also stopped by the Flag Room and spoke briefly. The series began with a kickoff followed by conversations about city services and out officials. Jasso expressed a desire to have another celebration next June and promised it would be “bigger and better.”

While many of the organizations began as a way of welcoming the LGBT community with safe havens to worship, gain access to HIV/AIDS care and enjoy a safe evening out or unbiased legal council, the panel focused on how far Dallas has grown over the decades and how spread out the LGBT community has become. The days have passed where members of the LGBT community only live near Cedar Springs and the only bar patrons along the entertainment strip are gay.

Instead, the LGBT community and its businesses have integrated into Dallas while still maintaining a focus on their original customers, Whittall said. Even religious organizations have grown in attendance with allies who no longer find a barrier between spirituality and sexuality, but Taylor added that the next step is working from being a community that is tolerated to one that is accepted and celebrated.

Task Force member Pam Gerber closed the event by expressing how proud she was to have a June Pride celebration and welcomed input for next year’s events. She said that while the community is working toward acceptance, she “just wants to be.”

“I want to be nothing extraordinary, nothing out of the ordinary,” she said. “I just want to be.”

Suggestions for next year’s Pride can be made to Councilwoman Delia Jasso at 214-670-4052.

—  Anna Waugh

Longtime TCC member Michael Bradley dies

Posted on

From March 20, 2008 Dallas Voice Reader's Voice Award

Michael Bradley, 43, a longtime member and officer of the Turtle Creek Chorale, died from cancer on Sunday, June 3.

“Michael was a true representation of the heart of this organization,” TCC spokesman Joe Rattan said Monday. “He was always ready to help, to lead and care for anyone in need. He will be missed by his fellow Turtles more than any words can express.”

In 2008, Bradley was chosen in the Reader’s Voice Awards as Best Wait Person. He was a longtime employee of Hector Garcia’s and was working at Hector’s on Henderson. Because his service was so good, every new waiter trained under Bradley.

“The key thing that makes him stand out is he totally wants that client to have a magic carpet ride and will do whatever that takes,” Garcia told Dallas Voice for the article on Bradley’s award.

“Michael’s a rock star,” agreed chef Blythe Beck. “As a chef, service is your Achilles heel, but he’s great at what he does — he goes above and beyond.”

Chorale member Zachary Gillespie posted a tribute to Bradley on his Facebook page.

“The first time I met Michael was when I joined Turtle Creek Chorale in 2008,” Gillespie wrote. “We were all sitting in the room upstairs for new member orientation and I think we were all a bit nervous because we were starting something new or whatever the reason. In walks our VP, Michael Bradley his bright smile and personality lit up the room; so handsome and charming! He always had a way of making people feel welcome and loved. Michael you will be missed, but I know the God has a crown of diamonds waiting for you up there. May the Lord Bless You and Keep You.”

Bradley was originally from River Forest, Ill. Funeral services are pending. A full obituary including memorial arrangements will appear in Friday’s Dallas Voice.

—  David Taffet

This weekend’s takeaways: Life+Style

Posted on

If you weren’t at the Meyerson last night, you missed the historic appearance by former First Lady Laura Bush, appearing with her home town’s gay men’s chorus, the Turtle Creek Chorale, for a program that also featured the Army chorus. It marked the final concert of the TCC’s season, and the first since interim conductor Trey Jacobs was officially named the new permanent artistic director.

Dallas Theater Center’s production of God of Carnage at the Kalita provides a juicy bit of social commentary amid 75 minutes of serious belly laughs. And there’s still time to catch Memphis at Fair Park, an entertaining and occasionally moving musical about the history of rock ‘n’ roll on the radio with some radiant singing. (It was written by Tony winner Joe DiPietro.) The Dallas Children’s Theater wraps up its production of Diary of a Worm, a Spider and a Fly soon with this family-friendly hip-hop musical about embracing differences in one another. And different it is — B.J. Cleveland does drag as a lady fly and Adam Garst cleverly James-Deans his way through the role of an angsty spider.

Mansome is still playing at the Angelika, and you’s be better off catching that — or even The Avengers again — rather than Men in Black 3, although it’s better than the last two. Or kick off summer’s first three-day weekend with some beach reading, especially In One Person, the new one by John Irving with a bisexual hero at its center. The is also Ye Fynall Week-End to enjoy Scarborough Faire, pictured.

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

Laura Bush to appear with Turtle Creek Chorale

Posted on

Former first lady Laura Bush

On Thursday night, former first lady Laura Bush will join the U.S. Army Chorus, the Lone Star Wind Symphony Orchestra and the Turtle Creek Chorale on stage at the Meyerson Symphony Center for Made in America: The Best of American Composers. Bush is serving as the honorary chair for the evening celebrating those who serve to protect our freedom.

The U.S. Army Chorus first performed with the Chorale in 2009 in Dallas. They are the only remaining military service chorus in the U.S. The group of singing soldiers has made hundreds of appearances at the White House and has performed for every president since Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The first half of the concert will focus on popular American composers and music from Broadway, jazz standards, traditional and pop music. The second half will feature American folk songs and showcase American patriotic music classics like “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” “God Bless America” and “America the Beautiful,” as well as modern patriotic songs like “American Anthem” and “I Was There.”

The finale of the concert will be a “service medley” where the anthems from each branch of the Armed Forces will be sung and members and veterans of those branches will be honored.

This is the first TCC concert conducted by Trey Jacobs since he was appointed permanent artistic director of the Chorale.

The concert takes place on May 24 at 8 p.m. at the Meyerson Symphony Center, 2301 Flora St. Tickets are $20–65.

—  David Taffet