It’s been cyclical. Back in the day — here, there, everywhere — the fine arts would essentially shut down during the summer months only to return in the fall, winter, and spring with wall-to-wall productions and exhibits. Not too long ago, Fort Worth’s fine arts purveyors had something going on throughout the year. With the economy the way it is now, many fine-arts spaces have cut back, but with what remains, we still have a lot to see and hear because the arts humanize us, and a lot of us need humanizing now more than ever. Thank you, fine arts Fort Worth, for soldiering on through the heat in all its myriad forms.
Three musicals will occupy Bass Performance Hall (525 Commerce St, Fort Worth, 817-212-4280) this summer — Hadestown, The Notebook, and Hamilton — and they’re all marque productions. Hamilton, I’m sure you already know about, and for good reason. It’s an amazing show with catchy hip-hop/R&B songs and a sneaky history lesson. “Immigrants — we get the job done.” Kudos to Bass Hall for bringing this multiple Tony winner to the Fort again at this point in time. Same goes for Hadestown. Another Tony winner, this Depression Era-set retelling of the Greek myths of Orpheus and Eurydice, plus King Hades and his wife Persephone, experienced some controversy on Broadway in that the director and producers did not want their show to be seen as just another “white savior” story in which the magical white guy saves all the (mostly non-white) poors. There was a lawsuit and stuff, but that’s not important here. What matters is that Hadestown is a splendid sung-through folk/jazz opera full of heart and melancholy melodies. The production runs just one weekend (from Fri, Jun 5, thru Sun, Jun 7), with tickets starting at $50, while Hamiton goes from Wed, Jul 15, thru Sun, Jul 26, with tickets starting at $69.
Courtesy Bass Performance Hall
The game is afoot at Stage West (821/823 W Vickery Blvd, Fort Worth, 817-784-9378) this summer. From Wed, Jun 3, thru Sun, Jun 28, the regional premiere of Sherlock Holmes & The Adventure of the Ghost Machine will find the great English detective back in action after retiring with love Irene Adler to help retrieve devastating weapons stolen from both Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. “And at the center of it all? Professor Moriarty’s formidable daughter.” Tickets start at $59.
Running Fri, May 29 thru Sun, Jun 28, at Jubilee Theatre (506 Main St, Fort Worth, 817-338-4411), Sassy Mamas follows three successful women who approach their later years by diving back into the dating world — with an eye toward “tenders,” or young men. The award-winning play is a great conversation starter about what women of a certain age are allowed (or not allowed) to do by a society that’s held them down seemingly forever. Tickets start at $28.
Courtesy Jubilee Theatre
Out at Hip Pocket (1950 Silver Creek Rd, Fort Worth, 817-246-9775), it’s the outdoor troupe’s 50th anniversary, and to celebrate, they’re producing nonstop stage action to infinity and beyond. One show that’s sure to be a hoot is A Twisty Intergalactic Spectacle. Running from Fri, Jul 10, thru Sun, Jul 26, at 9pm, Basil Twist’s UFO-tastic tale gathers joyful live music by local legend Joe Rogers with spectacular puppetry.
Up now thru Jul 5 at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art (3501 Camp Bowie Blvd, Fort Worth, 817-738-1933), Black Photojournalism features more than 250 photographs from the groundbreaking oeuvres of more than 60 photographers across the country during the turbulent years of 1945 through the mid-1980s. Unlike most mainstream-press shutterbugs, the Black photographers working for primarily Black publications like Afro American News, Atlanta Daily World, Chicago Defender, Ebony, and Pittsburgh Courier documented not just the wider culture’s influence on the community but the community itself in all its simple, complex, gritty, refined glory. Admission is always free.
From 6 to 7pm on Thu, Jun 11, Carter Curator Charles Wylie will talk about the exhibit with Kwame Samori Brathwaite, whose father, Kwame Brathwaite, originated the “Black Is Beautiful” movement. RSVP now. Seating is first come/first served for the first 160 people.
Courtesy Amon Carter Museum of American Art
Up now at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (3200 Darnell St, Fort Worth, 817-738-9215) thru Sep 27, A Poem for Deep Thinkers is Rashid Johnson’s largest exhibit to date and his first major survey in over a decade. Through painting, sculpture, film, and installation, Johnson tackles everything from art history to philosophy and Black pop culture. The nearly 90 pieces on display include black-soap paintings, spray-painted text works, and monumental sculptures, plus film and video. There’s also a site-specific installation, an outdoor sculpture, and two live-performance activations. Tickets are free-$16.
The Kimbell Art Museum (3333 Camp Bowie Blvd, Fort Worth, 817-332-8451) is one of only two North American stops for The Holy Sepulcher: Treasures from the Terra Sancta Museum. Gathering more than 60 pieces in silver, gold, enamel, and precious jewels, the exhibit comes from the Christian pilgrimage site in Jerusalem. The objects were given by European monarchs and rulers over the centuries. Tickets are $14-18.
Instagram filters got nothing on the photos in this exhibit. Up now through Jun 6 at Artspace111 (111 Hampton St. Fort Worth, 817-692-3228), Shared Ground: Contemporary Photography of Place and Identity offers the handiwork of Texans Jon Flaming, Jill Johnson, Bob Lukeman, Dontrius Williams, and Martha Peters. Through landscapes, narratives, and more, the photogs interrogate place, identity, and community and how a sense of place comes from both the built environment and nature.
Courtesy Artspace111
