Today in the roundup: Whatever happened to the Arts Center of North Texas? Plus, birthday wishes and big money to spend on the arts.

A chocolatier, a puppeteer, choreographer Bruce Wood, novelist Matt Bondurant (Lawless), the guy behind the move for affordable housing for area artists – and more. And they’re all speaking and performing at the new City Performance Hall Wednesday evening.

Its ambitious plans include several world premieres – and al fundraising goal of $165 million. Did we mention one premiere is an opera version of a Horton Foote play? Did we mention Dallas classical groups cutting back their schedules?

The city’s hosting a listening and information session about Artspace, a non-profit initiative to create affordable live/work space for artists later this month. You can get a sneak peak next Wednesday.

And an additional 300 nonprofit groups benefited — making the total more than 900 — with donations coming from 14 countries.

Dallas’ small arts groups are finally getting a spot on the big stage in the city’s Arts District. The $40 million publicly-funded City Performance Hall opened Thursday with a ribbon cutting and a marching-band soundtrack. Now, the city’s small arts groups are trying to figure out how the new space suits their needs.

Today in the roundup: Fort Worthians fight for the arts, reviewing Lyric Stage’s ‘The Most Happy Fella’ and the Dallas Opera needs eye candy.

Today in the roundup: Reviewing Kitchen Dog’s ‘Becky Shaw,’ the Undermain’s new blog and a big donation for the Perot Museum.

Today in the roundup: The City of Forth Worth’s public forum on arts funding, local music bits and a preview of fall’s best visual art shows.

Dallas City Council took a long time to consider how to spend a relatively little amount of money today. KERA’s B.J. Austin reports.