Wednesday 08 – This year’s Modern Kids festival pays tribute to the late Japanese anime filmmaker Isao Takahata with a screening of Rainy Day Circus, a 38-minute short film he made in 1973 with his younger artistic and business partner, Hayao Miyazaki. The film is then followed by a screening of Kubo and the Two Strings, which is also at the Harkins Southlake today. The program starts at 11am at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 3200 Darnell St, FW. Admission is free. Call 817-738-9215.
Thursday 09 – The Toadies are on hand to help kick off the grand opening of Texas Live! The new development that Arlington hopes will be an entertainment destination before and after Rangers and Cowboys games will feature various live music venues and restaurants, including a Lockhart Smokehouse, a pizza joint developed by Pudge Rodriguez, and, uh, a Guy Fieri taco place. The festivities are today thru Sun at 1650 E Randol Mill Rd, Arlington. Admission is free. Call 817-852-6688.
Friday 10 – Table tennis fans have a new venue to observe this fast-paced sport or work on their own game. Panther City Pong is a bimonthly event that features a tournament with prizes and free samples of whiskey and beer, though the entry fee means you’re better off not turning this game into beer pong. The event is at 7:30pm at Common Desk Fort Worth, 2833 Crockett St, FW. Admission is free, entry is $10.
Saturday 11 – Mid-August always brings us performances by SceneShop that leave us wanting more. This year’s show is entitled after (with a lowercase “a”), and it focuses on both comic and dramatic consequences of people’s actions in playlets by old hands Rob Bosquez, Joshua Eguia, Natalie Gaupp, Kyle Irion, and Steven Alan McGaw. The performances run thru today at Arts Fifth Avenue, 1628 5th Av, FW. Tickets are $15. Call 817-923-9500.
Sunday 12 – Love Never Dies is the motto of every romantic stalker, so perhaps it’s fitting that it’s also the title of a sequel to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, with a new lyricist, a new setting (Coney Island in the 1890s), and new writers after an initial version of the show was heavily panned in the U.K. The show now comes to Fort Worth thru today at Bass Performance Hall, 555 Commerce St, FW. Tickets are $44-115. Call 817-212-4280.
Monday 13 – The Modern’s not the only one paying tribute to Isao Takahata (see Wednesday blurb). Fathom Events brings his searing 1988 masterpiece Grave of the Fireflies to your local movie theater on the occasion of its 30th anniversary. The story of two Japanese siblings’ doomed struggle to survive in the dying days of World War II is showing three times, but tonight is the only screening in the original language. The film shows Aug 12-15 at various locations. Check Calendar for showtimes. Tickets are $12.50. Call 818-761-6100.
Tuesday 14 – Artisan Center Theater’s Second Stage series continues with The Lion King Jr., a kids’ version of the celebrated Broadway adaptation of the Disney movie. It’s only running for one week, but the good news is, it will be on stage every night through the week, so you’ll have chances to take it in. The show runs Fri thru Aug 18 at Belaire Theater, 444 E Pipeline Rd, Hurst. Tickets are $15. Call 817-284-1200.
