| 06/03/2001 Scott Cantrell: Learning Cliburn's lessons
FORT WORTH – The quality of the playing at this year's 11th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition is higher than ever, say veterans of the quadrennial contest. And the choice of music is more varied – and more interesting. Al Brumley: KRLD's host Jones goes honorably into the good night
He gave it a valiant effort, but in the end Charley Jones couldn't scale Mount Davis. 05/30/2001 Alan Peppard: Keys to Cliburn survival
By the time the winner of the 11th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition is announced, outgoing gold medalist Jon Nakamatsu should have psyched himself up enough to relinquish his title. Tom Sime: Arts out there
Fair Park's restoration in the spotlight this week 05/29/2001 Nancy Churnin: Barn sets the stage for Plano's 'Babe, the Sheep Pig'
The Plano Repertory Theatre staff doesn't mind if you call their children's summer playhouse space an old barn. It is an old barn. It's the Heritage Farmstead Museum barn in Plano, and they're proud of it. 05/28/2001 Alan Peppard: Wilson reeling in work
With the threat of a Hollywood strike passed, Dallas-raised actor and screenwriter Owen Wilson is set to begin work on his next two buddy pictures. At the end of summer, he'll start working with co-star Eddie Murphy on the big-screen version of the TV show I Spy. Then it's back to work with Jackie Chan, his co-star in the film Shanghai Noon. Jackie and Owen are planning to begin a second picture together in the fall. 05/27/2001 Alan Peppard: Cuban's traveling call costly
When word gets out about billionaire Mark Cuban's latest purchase for his Dallas Mavericks, NBA officials may not be the only people who have him on their blacklist. Mark's fellow NBA owners might soon have to face angry pro hoopsters wanting to know where their ultra-luxury jets are. Al Brumley: Satellite radio prices inch slowly skyward
Not one note of music has beamed down yet, but already satellite radio's price has risen. 05/25/2001 Alan Peppard: Wilson designs grand trip
Under- neath the mild- mannered finishing school exterior of Dallas interior designer Trisha Wilson is a heart that thumps to the rhythm of "Viva Las Vegas." Those who've been there know that in Vegas, money talks and $100 doesn't say very much. That's why someone with Trisha's connections comes in handy. 05/23/2001 Alan Peppard: Banfield heads waiters
Rep. Pete Sessions gave a new meaning to the term public service
during his Saturday night debut as a server at the Celebrity Waiter Gala
benefiting the Exchange Club Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse. Pete brought along a gavel used in the House of Representatives to be auctioned. It brought in $5,000. Tom Sime: Arts out there
"Clyde Connell: Daughter of the Bayou" runs through July 22. 05/21/2001 Alan Peppard: Leaders' fitness is a gamble
Remember folks, gambling legal tender on sports is illegal in this town and you should never do it - especially in front of a basketball court full of police officers. But I'd bet my best shooting marbles that Mayor Ron Kirk and Police Chief Terrell Bolton will be dragging their shoelaces by halftime of Monday night's shootout between the Dallas policemen's basketball team and the Guaranty Basketball Association's 2000 boys champions, the Thurgood Marshall Jaguars. Ed Bark: Voyages' end
One crew's been stuck in the Delta Quadrant, the other in Rutherford, Ohio. Now it's time for both to finally get back, get back to where they once belonged. Series finales are upon us for NBC's always loopy 3rd Rock From the Sun and UPN's oft-droopy Star Trek: Voyager. 05/18/2001 Alan Peppard: Villa's décor for sale
After former Braniff International Airways Chairman and CEO Harding Lawrence and his wife, advertising powerhouse Mary Wells Lawrence, sold their walled-in estate on Highland Park's Lakeside Drive, they spent more time at their showplace home on the Riviera. Now you can own interior pieces from the famous pad. 05/16/2001 Alan Peppard: Nash smitten by Brits
OK, so the Mavericks lost to the Spurs in Game 5, but man did they play great in Game 4 or what? What can we attribute this to? Tom Sime: Check out a plethora of one-act plays
The Bath House Cultural Center has announced the lineup for its 2001
Festival of Independent Theatres, which takes place in July. 05/14/2001 Alan Peppard: Villard's titan tale passed on
United Press International CEO Arnaud de Borchgrave isn't the only family member with a flair for the written word. His wife, Washington, D.C., doyenne Alexandra Villard de Borchgrave, came through Dallas during the weekend with her new book, Villard: The Life and Times of an American Titan. 05/11/2001 Alan Peppard: Peers put adman on the spot
The speakers were licking their chops before this week's Dallas Advertising League roast of Dallas advertising titan Liener Temerlin. The only solace for the co-founder of the Temerlin-McClain ad agency was that his good pal Marvin Hamlisch not only flew in to emcee, but also gave a piano concert Tuesday for Liener's employees. 05/10/2001 Ed Bark: Texan deserved 'Survivor' gold, viewers say
The buzz goes on. Post-Survivor II, more than 5,000 readers have voted in a DallasNews.com/EXTRA survey that asked: "Do you agree with the verdict?" Sixty-two percent don't, saying that Christoval, Texas, native Colby Donaldson should have won the $1 million grand prize instead of Tennessee's Tina Wesson. 05/09/2001 Alan Peppard: Swinging a peek at tee zone
The wise men of golf are making pilgrimages to Dallas to witness the miracle of the Dallas National Golf Club as it is cut out of rugged cliffs and trees near I-30 and Loop 12. Tom Sime: Festivals honoring Asia, the Americas begin this week
The Asian Festival returns for the 11th year Saturday at Annette Strauss
Artist Square, with arts and crafts, music, dance, martial arts and
children's activities from many different countries.
05/08/2001 Darla Atlas: Pull the plug on TV? Wah!
I hear there are people out there who don't have a television. To me, this would be akin to not having, say, indoor plumbing – a condition too harsh to imagine. Nancy Churnin: From spooks to ducks
Dallas Children's Theater will widen the age range of its family productions next season. The 10 shows will range from Honk! The Ugly Duckling, a London musical aimed at ages 3 and up, to Deadly Weapons, an American premiere about a teenage crime, which targets ages 13 and up. 05/07/2001 Alan Peppard: Fairchild, sister off the hook
After decades of professional acting, Morgan Fairchild and her sister, Cathryn Hartt, have learned the motto of Blanche DuBois from A Streetcar Named Desire: You can always depend on the kindness of strangers. Otherwise, the Dallas-raised beauties would have been up the proverbial creek last week when their car broke down on I-45 outside of Conroe. 05/06/2001 Al Brumley: KYNG's talk is starting to rock, ratings show
The Talk That Rocks" is doing just that. In the recently released winter Arbitron ratings, KYNG-FM (105.3) finally performed the way Infinity believed it would. And the effects are being felt, up and down the dial. 05/05/2001 Alan Peppard: Simon wined, dined
Never let it be said that singer and composer Paul Simon is not a good son-in-law. While in town for his concert at Smirnoff Music Centre, Paul hit Lower Greenville Avenue with Larry Linden, mother of his wife, Dallas-reared singer Edie Brickell, and grandmother to the couple's children. Tom Maurstad: Bad boys, bad boys - now they're on the Web
Web sites are spun off from movies and TV shows all the time; it's become
a standard part of the promotional parade. But with Crime.com that
process has been reversed. Manuel Mendoza: TV's odd rules for naughty words
David Letterman had a bleepin' good time on his show the other night.
His network, CBS, had just aired a new, live version of On Golden Pond during which one of the characters used a profanity. And, the censors didn't bleep it. 05/02/2001 Ed Bark: Colby is lone star of show
Twenty-five pounds lighter but in all other ways a Big Tex, Colby Donaldson's star shines bright on Survivor: The Australian Outback. Tom Sime: Details changed for speech by Jewish Museum architect
The Dallas Architecture Forum has announced a new date and venue for its lecture by Daniel Libeskind, designer of the Jewish Museum in Berlin. The talk, which had been scheduled for February, will take place Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Hall of State in Fair Park.
05/01/2001 Nancy Churnin: Life of Ennis Cosby inspires documentary
The lives of James Earl Jones, Henry Winkler, Charles Schwab and Bruce Jenner all prove that learning differences don't have to keep people from fulfilling lives. But they can cause frustration, despair and hopelessness - and that's the tragedy that Ennis' Gift wants to prevent. 04/30/2001 Alan Peppard: Marcus' Hummer of a b-day
What does one give to Stanley Marcus, the king of gift giving, for his birthday? This year, it was Mr. Stanley's protégé, car dealer Carl Sewell, who remembered that the Neiman Marcus chairman emeritus can't get in and out of his Park Cities home without traveling on the bumpy stretch of Lovers Lane currently under construction. 04/29/2001 Al Brumley: ESPN Radio breezes onto the field
Now that the winds have finally died down, ESPN Radio is ready to blow into town. Inclement weather and high winds delayed the station's debut by stalling antenna installation and other technical work on the tower. But as of deadline, ABC Inc. was planning to have "ESPN Radio" KESN-FM (103.3) up and running by Monday. 04/28/2001 Alan Peppard: Dubya dubbed by dad
The current president of the United States hands out nicknames faster than President Reagan gave out jellybeans. But who would dare give a nickname to the president of the United States? How about his dad, the 41st president? Tom Maurstad: All the news that's fit for nerds
A trendy Web genre – Plastic.com being the most hyped example – includes sites that gather and organize news stories and hot gossip, thereby saving browsers the bother of actually having to browse. It's one-click shopping. Manuel Mendoza: Real life told with integrity
During his one-of-a-kind documentary Just, Melvin: Just Evil, James Ronald Whitney promises that by the time he's done, his sexually abusive grandfather will be in jail – or dead. 04/25/2001 Tom Sime: All artistic visions are welcome at annual show
The 20th annual Open Show at 500X Gallery is truly open. Any work in any medium by an artist who pays the $15-per-piece fee goes into the show, regardless of style or experience. 04/24/2001 Hickman: Mother of invention
Sometimes art springs from inspiration, sometimes from desperation. Sara Hickman, mother and songwriter, knows both feelings. Burnett vs. the Internet: Who's telling the truth?
Mark Burnett, lord and master of Survivor: The Australian Outback, suddenly is acting clueless these days. 04/23/2001 Alan Peppard: Proceeds on Nicks' shoulders
At Saturday night's American Airlines Yellow Rose Gala, former Fleetwood Mac lead singer Stevie Nicks learned the rule of finders keepers, losers weepers. As part of the gala's stellar lineup of entertainment, Stevie performed a set wearing one of her trademark black lacy outfits, stopping only to change shawls between songs. Ed Bark: Theme player
As a struggling guitarist, he played mood music in Houston strip clubs. Now he's setting the tone for The West Wing and other prime-time notables. 04/22/2001 Al Brumley: Here's another dip into streaming
Last week you got a radio columnist's perspective on the streaming controversy. This week, let's look at the issue from an actor's point of view. 04/21/2001 Alan Peppard: City goes all out for Bush
Tuesday, former President George Bush will dine with two presidents at the white house and never leave the state of Texas. The presidents in question are Jerry Jones, president and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys, and Gerald Turner, president of Southern Methodist University. The white house is Jerry's mansion at his sprawling Highland Park estate on the banks of Turtle Creek. Tom Maurstad: A teen hangout in cyberspace
For kids, the Web may be one big virtual playground, but for parents, it's a deep, dark forest full of porno and gambling and white supremacists – Oh, my. What's a parent to do? 04/17/2001 Ed Bark: 'Chains of Love' sinks low in sincerity
Poor, put-upon Western civilization. Somehow, it hasn't fallen yet, but will be on the ropes again after the premiere of Chains of Love. 04/16/2001 Alan Peppard: Headed for tax remedy
Good morning, fellow taxpayers. Wondering what that achy, nauseous feeling in the pit of your stomach is? It's the remorse of the Nasdaq junkie. Today is judgment day for all of our speculative sins of the recently euthanized tech rally. Ed Bark: 'When Billie Beat Bobby' movie captures 'Battle of the Sexes' passion
LOS ANGELES – Their center court is long adjourned, but Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs will always be in play. Their storied "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match remains a watershed cultural event in which a chauvinist met his Waterloo under the big top of the Houston Astrodome. 04/15/2001 Thor Christensen: Fans' fire for rock 'n' roll can burn
Hell hath no fury like a rock fan scorned. Especially a U2 fan. I've opened lots of hate mail in my 16 years as a full-time music critic, but I've never been besieged with as many furious responses as I've gotten to my review of U2's April 3 show at Reunion Arena. Al Brumley: Streaming running dry on the Web
The once-unsullied frontier paradise that was the World Wide Web has taken another giant step toward becoming just as commercially screwed up as every other form of mass media. Now taking a hit is radio streaming. Suddenly last week, owners started pulling their stations off the Web because of noise from the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists concerning royalties. 04/12/2001 Curtains for Colby?
Is it time for him to go?
Internet intelligence, sometimes an oxymoron, for the first time is pointing toward Texan Colby Donaldson as the next Survivor II evictee. 04/11/2001 Arts out there: A taste of Broadway at the Obelisks
The Dallas Business Committee for the Arts has announced the main attraction for the 13th annual Obelisk Awards ceremony, to be held next month. 04/10/2001 Nancy Churnin: Carrot on a shtick
He's been Frosty the Snowman, Bram Bones and Grandpa Joe. And he will be seen as a magician in Jack and the Beanstalk in May. 04/09/2001 Alan Peppard: Jones set to honor lifesavers
The wreckage of Jerry Jones' Lear 60 has been cleared from the Troy, Ala., airport, and he's back in the air with a new jet. But the Dallas Cowboys owner hasn't forgotten the people on the ground who saved the lives of the pilots after the plane hit two deer and broke apart in flames while landing on Jan. 14. No passengers were aboard. 04/08/2001 Al Brumley: Arbitron faces scary numbers of its own
It's been a bad week for Arbitron. The radio ratings giant went public Monday, the same day reports emerged that Clear Channel Communications would no longer subscribe to the service. 04/07/2001 Ed Bark: Jerri: At times I'm not evil
Outwit, outplay, outlast. And if you're a failure at all three, by all means out-kvetch. 04/03/2001 Nancy Churnin: 'Time to Sing' helps speech-impaired kids sing along
You might notice that the words to "The Wheels on the Bus" are sung a little slower than usual on Time to Sing!, a new CD of children's favorites. Then again, you may not notice at all. 04/02/2001 Jeanne Spreier: Drawing raves
BURBANK, Calif. – From the outside, Nickelodeon's animation studio looks like a dressed-up warehouse. Inside, it's an explosion of color – first and foremost, that distinctive Nick green and orange. But also yellow, purple, red, blue. Everywhere. On the ceilings, walls, furniture, floors. 04/01/2001 Ed Bark: First family of comedy
Presidents and their handlers increasingly are intent on setting an agenda, staying "on message," minimizing news conferences, maximizing photo ops. But all the king's horses and all the king's men can't begin to control the comedy flow. Once largely confined to the benign jokes of Bob Hope, humor aimed at presidents has become the nation's biggest growth industry. Laughing stocks are booming, with no recession in sight. Al Brumley: Pantoja lands a drive-time shift
Fans of former KYNG-FM (105.3) jock A.W. Pantoja will be happy to learn that he's landed a job at country station WRBQ-FM in Tampa Bay, Fla. He'll start on the morning-drive shift this week, he says. Mr. Pantoja was dropped from KYNG's talk lineup when the station took on Howard Stern's morning show. Back when the station was Young Country, he worked the afternoon and morning-drive shifts. 03/30/2001 Alan Peppard's column
Columnist Alan Peppard has the day off. Manuel Mendoza: Differences go beyond spelling in British 'Traffik'
Movies rarely lead to public-policy debates. It's one of the factors distinguishing Traffic, the war-on-drugs film that won Oscars on Sunday for director Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Stephen Gaghan. 03/29/2001 Ed Bark: keeps us guessing on final four
Hop to it. Pick a Final Four for Survivor: The Australian Outback, which resumes vote-offs Thursday after a two-week respite. It's trickier than it might seem, namely because she-devil Jerri Manthey is so loathed that it's in everyone's best interests to keep her around. 03/28/2001 Ed Bark: Wayans clicks in dad role
My Wife and Kids, his amusing new ABC sitcom, finds him ditching his outrageous persona and taking a page from Bill Cosby's playbook. It works surprisingly well for him. Co-starring Tisha Campbell-Martin (Martin), this is a show with considerable appeal and heart. Tom Sime: Comic comes home for one night of 'Dishing'
Paul J. Williams, popular comedian and former Dallasite, returns to his
old haunt Wednesday. The Pocket Sandwich Theatre gig is only his second
Dallas appearance since moving to New York three years ago. 03/27/2001 Nancy Churnin: Quan gets her shot with 'Rugrats'
Dionne Quan, 22, has wanted to act for as long as she can remember. She put a hold on her first love – musical theater – when too many casting directors discouraged her because she was Asian. And blind. Then she discovered animation. 03/25/2001 Charles Ealy: Reeling
Every year, the producers of the Academy Awards show say they're taking steps to keep the running time in check, but every year, the telecast runs well past four hours. Then we ask, as if surprised, "What went wrong?" Al Brumley: KEGL program director to surf California airwaves
It tells you something about Greg Stevens that even when he's being transferred from Dallas to San Jose, Calif., to take charge of three stations, he's still not sure whether to call it a promotion. Mr. Stevens, the soft-spoken program director at "The Eagle" KEGL-FM (97.1), personifies "laid-back." Scott Cantrell: John Ardoin had a way with words, life
John Ardoin was a big man with a big voice and a big laugh. And he certainly reinforced the cliché of the Southerner – his roots were Cajun – as the consummate storyteller. He had a million stories, most of them funny, and quite a few of them downright outrageous. 03/24/2001 Manuel Mendoza: Slavery report leaves unanswered questions
Cinemax's latest Reel Life documentary is built around a bold claim: There are now more people enslaved worldwide than at any time in human history.
But rather than setting out to prove this sweeping statement, British filmmakers Brian Woods and Kate Blewett focus on one region – India's "carpet belt," 500 miles east of New Delhi. 03/23/2001 Bottom feeder: Lesson 1: No psychotic strangers in the home
Any thriller that hinges on a gun exchange – A has drop on B ... scuffle ... B has drop on A – labors in the cliché zone. Al Brumley: Epic proportions: DVD version of Ben-Hur is strong to the finish
You know you've wondered about it.
There's just something about the reunion between Judah Ben-Hur and his boyhood pal Messala that makes you think they once did more than romp through the bulrushes together. 03/22/2001 Correction 03/21/2001 Alan Peppard: McClure reports on operation
TV personality and former Good Morning Texas host Paula McClure is at home recovering from surgery to remove a brain tumor. 03/20/2001 Nancy Churnin: Shows can turn fantasy into reality
Kids love to see favorite fantasy characters up close and personal. They'll get plenty of opportunities with the arrival of these shows: 03/19/2001 Alan Peppard: Museum gets royal treatment
This month's International Festival of Opening Events for the new Meadows Museum will get the royal seal of approval. King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain will visit Dallas on March 29-31 to help open the new museum building at Southern Methodist University. The Meadows houses one of the largest collections of Spanish art outside of Spain. Manuel Mendoza: This American life: NBC's 'First Years' puts U.S. accent on British series
First Years, a new American drama based loosely – very loosely – on This Life. It opens with Samantha Mathis hyperbolically worrying about the size of her backside and wondering when and how she's going to find a man. Kerplunk! 03/18/2001 Mario Tarradell: Whatever happened to little LeAnn Rimes?
Today, the photo looks like a time-capsule relic: LeAnn Rimes on the cover of her 1996 national debut, Blue. She's fresh-faced,dreamy even in her simple red dress. Her blond hair cascades down her lightly blushed cheeks. At 13, the sparkle of youth mingles with impending adulthood. Al Brumley: After 32 years, it's farewell to the Midnight Cowboy
An amazing 32-year ride will come to an end March 31. Bill Mack, the Midnight Cowboy, will broadcast his overnight country-music show for the last time that day on WBAP-AM (820). 03/17/2001 Ed Bark: Kathie Lee tries 'Spinning' out of nice-gal mode
It's been a full two months now since Howie Mandel sat next to Kathie Lee Gifford and memorably trilled, "I smell Emmy."
He referred to her performance as a drug-addled, egomaniacal sitcom star in Spinning Out of Control. Take a whiff Sunday night. At best you'll smell desperation.
Ms. Gifford, Regis Philbin-less since last July, yearns to reinvent herself as a stand-alone starship enterprise. 03/14/2001 Alan Peppard: Estates' planning is vast
Considering the prices being asked and paid in the Dallas residential real-estate market, you'd think there was no tech wreck on Wall Street. Mining exec Jean Boulle and his wife, Natalie, have hung a for-sale sign on their Xanadu on Strait Lane. Considering that the 10-acre property boasts the largest house in Dallas, the elephantine asking price of $44.9 million might be right. 03/13/2001 Nancy Churnin: Kids Club shares magic of musicals with children
Tevye the milkman survived poverty, anti-Semitism and life as a once-obscure fictional character to become the star of the popular, multi-Tony Award-winning Fiddler on the Roof. But will the 1964 Fiddler survive the graying of America? 03/12/2001 Alan Peppard: Mackie fashions full night
Glamour-and-glitz fashion designer Bob Mackie was the surprise guest at Saturday night's black-tie DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS) auction. He flew in to present the DIFFA Legend Award to his longtime pal, model Jan Strimple. 03/11/2001 Al Brumley: Confusing election numbers
Debates continue to rage over what effect – if any – last fall's presidential election had on talk radio. You'd think it would be an easy enough question to answer: Just look at the numbers. 03/09/2001 Alan Peppard: Henley taps star guidance
With all the big-name talent that musician Don Henley has lined up for the April 21 Yellow Rose Gala, someone has to be ringmaster and keep the show on schedule. That someone is Don's pal, actor and former St. Elsewhere star Ed Begley Jr. Ed Bark: For Rather, it's been a wild 20-year ride
He supplanted Walter Cronkite in the month President Reagan was shot and just five months after Dallas answered, "Who Shot J.R.?" 03/07/2001 Alan Peppard: 'Royal' treatment for duo
Texan filmmakers Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson have a new project that shows just how high they rank on the film-world food chain. Tom Sime: Photo exhibit examines the history of Oak Cliff
If you've ever enjoyed the historic photos of Oak Cliff at Norma's Cafe on Davis, you can see many more at the Ice House Cultural Center in the free exhibit "Oak Cliff: The City That Once Was." 03/06/2001 Lawson Taitte: The game of the name
What's in a name? Not a whole lot of enlightenment, in the case of Twelfth Night – and a surprising number of other important plays. 03/05/2001 Alan Peppard: Weaver bares all for art
Actress Sigourney Weaver surprised herself more than anyone when she accidentally flashed the crowd at Saturday night's Two by Two for AIDS and Art benefit. The guest of honor was artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel whose new movie, Before Night Falls, was recently shown at the Dallas Museum of Art. Ed Bark: Winners and losers
All of the great big bets, including Bette, have failed to pay off. But Survivor II, Temptation Island and even The Mole have made their respective investors happy. Which opens the door even more for cost-efficient "reality" TV as a hedge against likely writers and actors strikes in the next several months. |
