When he was at the Water Tower Theatre, monologist Mike Daisey moderated a panel on “How Theater Failed America” — and with the recent announcement of the Brierleys’ $1 million gift to the Dallas Theater Center, the debate goes on: Is there some other financial path theaters can follow?

Last weekend at a reception at the  Candleroom,  organizer Scott Trent introduced the eight artists whose sculptures are now installed along Henderson Avenue. Those folks were chosen by a very large cast of local arts types.  Now it’s your turn: Take a look at the works that have been installed and then vote (up to [...]

In a recent column, Terry Teachout — Wall Street Journal theater critic and biographer of  Louis Armstrong — asked, ‘What went wrong with PBS’ cultural offerings?’ He goes over the 2009 roster of the network’s flagship arts show, Great Performances – including a pair of Christmas concerts by Andrea Bocelli and Sting — and declares [...]

Over at Unfair Park, Jim Schutze reports that Scott Carroll, a history professor at the interdenominational Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Mich., and Don Shipman, the son of a Cleburne pastor, have been busily buying up millions and millions of dollars’ worth of rare Bibles and manuscripts for a planned museum in Dallas — not [...]

Arts patrons Diane and Hal Brierley have donated $1 million to the Dallas Theater Center, which has now named its nine-member ensemble of actors the Diane and Hal Brierley Resident Acting Company. Says the press release: The Brierley’s generosity will support DTC’s artistic programming, which includes its commitment to productions of classics, new plays and [...]

Bob Hess and Doug Miller adapted the classic trashy movie Valley of the Dolls for the Uptown Players in 2007. Now they’re going to New York for a staged reading by the Actors Fund — with a cast that includes Martha Plimpton and Charles Busch. UPDATED story — with a response from a representative of Jacqueline Susann’s estate.

STOP SITTING ON YOUR HANDS: When to applaud? Theatergoers freely clap when a star first walks onstage, at the end of acts or even after musical numbers. And people at pop music concerts are free to hoot and holler whenever the spirit moves them. But classical music concerts are a whole different affair. And Alex [...]

Torey Harrah is one of three kids followed in the remarkably moving, Texas-made documentary Torey’s Distraction. Each child has Apert Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. But how the film got made also makes it noteworthy. Jerome Weeks reports on ‘filmanthropy.’

Addison’s Out of the Loop Festival presents comic monologist Mike Daisey tonight in perhaps his best-known stage show: How Theater Failed America. It’s Daisey’s rebuke to the corporatized state of the stage. After the show, he’ll be joined in a panel discussion by a group of area directors and actors — and KERA’s Jerome Weeks.

Henderson Avenue in Dallas is once again a vibrant area after years of redevelopment. And later this month, a series of sculptures will line the street and add to the rejuvenation. KERA’s Stephen Becker reports on the contest that lead to those pieces of public art.