Captain Ahab is certainly operatic in his inner turmoil and catastrophic ambitions. But what else about ‘Moby-Dick’ would strike a librettist, ‘Hey, that scene cries out for a great aria for soprano?’ We talk to Gene Scheer, the librettist of ‘Moby-Dick,’ about how novels may be better for adapting into operas than plays are and humanizing a madman. The Dallas Opera opens its world premiere of ‘Moby-Dick’ next week.

CHILD’S PLAY: In June, Smile Smile is hitting the road with Bob Schneider for a weeklong tour of the Atlantic coast. Until then, Ryan and Jencey are busing themselves with … video-taped contests.

Tarleton State University is where a student production of the controversial play, Corpus Christi, was canceled last month. It’s also where journalism students run the Texan News Service. University officials have stated that the one-act version of Terrence McNally’s play, whose main characters are meant to recall Jesus and his disciples, was stopped before it [...]

No, the photo above was not taken at a sit-in. Instead, it’s a piece of Earth Day art created by UNT student Trayce Cochran. The piece is currently on display at the Environmental Education, Science and Technology (EESAT) Building on campus. The artist says that it is a comment on the plight of earthquake-ravaged Haitians [...]

Earlier this year, Rex Kare discussed with Art&Seek guest blogger Tina Aguilar the first phase of his sculpture project at the Lochwood Branch Library in Dallas. He recently installed the final piece and discusses the finished product in the Art&Seek Q&A:

ROLL TAPE: The local theater companies seem to be constantly engaged in a battle of who can come up with the funniest videos to promote their upcoming shows. And I think we may have a new champ.

I had the opportunity to enjoy a Conversation With local jazz legend, 92-year-old Louise Tobin at the Women’s Museum at Fair Park. It was a part of the museum’s Conversations series, and was a lovely afternoon filled with stories about Tobin’s career, personal life and a memorabilia exhibit that included the very dress that she [...]

Dark, funny, violent and Irish — that’s McDonagh territory. Stage West presents the North Texas premiere of ‘The Lonesome West,’ the last play in Martin McDonagh’s trilogy set in the town of Leenane, a place that can drive a young priest to drink. The father of the Connor brothers has died — suddenly, of course — and now the pair of them are fighting over every little thing. Jerome Weeks reviews.

FILM IN FW: For years, if you’ve wanted to see an art house film in Fort Worth, your options have been limited to waiting for the Lone Star Film Festival to roll around in the fall or heading to the Modern to check out the movie showing during Magnolia at the Modern. But those days [...]

Congratulations to Chris Bell of Dallas, the winner of the Flickr Photo of the Week contest!