Culture on the Cheap

Arts enthusiasts should plan ahead for TodayTix's Cyber Monday sale

Those who don't want to brave the crowded stores on Black Friday wait to score their deals on Cyber Monday, and now arts lovers can get in on the holiday savings.

On November 26, TodayTix is offering its best discounts of the year. You can save up to 50 percent on tickets to shows at AT&T Performing Arts Center, Dallas Theater Center, Dallas Opera, and more.

Here are the top 11 theater, opera, and classical music deals in Dallas-Fort Worth during the TodayTix Cyber Monday sale:

1. AT&T Performing Arts Center
Close out 2018 with some awesome savings on big-name musicals, namely A Christmas Story, The Musical (December 12-16, $24 or 30 percent off); Chicago (December 18-23, $24 or 30 percent off); and A Bronx Tale (December 6-January 6, 2019, $41 or 20 percent off). Non-planners can still score $25 day-of rush tickets to these shows and the rest of ATTPAC's full season by checking TodayTix.

2. Casa Mañana
Seeing a show here is like sitting inside a giant holiday ornament, which makes things even more festive for Twas the Night Before Christmas(November 23-December 23, $15 or 30 percent off). Grease is the word March 2-10, with tickets only costing $25 (50 percent off). Follow the yellow brick road April 19-May 12 when The Wizard of Oz plays, with tickets that are $15 (or 30 percent off). The reigning Tony winner for most awards, The Producers, unveils its scheme June 1-9, with $25 tickets (50 percent off). Two productions from Casa Mañana's children's theater finish off the deals: The Emperor's Groovy New Clothes (February 1-17) at $10 (or 40 percent off) andJason Bishop: The Illusionist(March 22-April7 7) for $15 (or 30 percent off).

3. Circle Theatre
The opening show of this Fort Worth theater's 2019 season is Thornton Wilder's iconic Our Town, about the importance of living in the moment. You'll have plenty of chances to see it from January 31-March 9, especially because tickets are only $15 (50 percent off).

4. Dallas Theater Center
Intrigued by DTC's latest season? Good news: you can see nearly all of it at a major discount of $30, or 40 percent off. It starts with Kevin Moriarty's adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol, which runs November 21-December 30. Running nearly simultaneously from December 5-January 13 in the Wyly's Studio Theatre is Fetch Clay, Make Man by DTC playwright-in-residence Will Power. Sarah DeLappe's Pulitzer Prize finalist The Wolves is next, March 6-April 14, followed by Shakespeare's Twelfth NightMarch 29-April 28. Real Women Have Curves by Josefina López runs April 26-May 19 at the Kalita Humphreys Theater, and local playwright Jonathan Norton debuts his new work Penny CandyJune 5-July 14. Non-planners can still score $20 day-of rush tickets to these shows and the rest of DTC's full season by checking TodayTix.

5. Stage West
Scrooge's ghostly associate gets to tell his side in Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol, a season extra that runs December 6-23. Popular playwright Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins returns with Everybody, running December 27-January 27. Both have tickets priced at $17.50, or 50 percent off.

6. The Cliburn
It exists to advance classical piano music and is considered by many to be a depository of the best talent in the world. Experience some of it for yourself, including concerts by Leonidas Kavakos (violin) and Enrico Pace (piano) from January 31-February 1 ($44, or 20 percent off); The Naughtons, twin pianists performing on March 7 ($33.75, or 25 percent off); and Broadway: My Favorite Things, an all-piano love fest of popular Broadway tunes ($10, or 50 percent off).

7. Theatre Three
Solstice, one of last season's most original holiday offerings, returns — with some retooling from Jonathan Norton, Cherish Robinson, and Janielle Kastner — December 6-30. Another new work, The Manufactured Myth of Eveline Flynn by Ian Ferguson and Michael Federico, plays January 31-February 24, while the musical Foxfire (by Susan Cooper, Hume Cronyn, and Jonathan Holtzman) runs March 14-April 7. Each is only $10 (33 percent off).

8. Undermain Theatre
Bruce DuBose and Paul Semrad are remounting their critically acclaimed production of An Iliad from February 7-March 3, and you can see it for only $10 (50 percent off). Also be sure to catch the third and final installment of Matthew Paul Olmos' so go the ghosts of méxico when it plays April 12-May 5, because it's also only $10 (or 50 percent off).

9. Ochre House Theatre
The latest in original, avant-garde works from the creative crew at Ochre House is surrounded by secrecy, but the price for Doom McCoy & the Death Nugget is a shout-it-on-the-street-corner $10 (or 50 percent off).

10. Dallas Opera
Feel fancy at the opera without the fancy price. Manon Lescaut (March 1, 3, 6, and 9) is priced at $19 (10 percent off), La Bohème (May 15, 17, 20, 23, 29, and 31) is $28 (10 percent off), and Falstaff(April 26 and 28, May 1 and 4) is $25 (20 percent off).

11. Fort Worth Opera
The delightfully wicked world premiere opera by composer-librettist Rachel J. Peters, Companionship, follows aspiring baker named Leslie Sinclair as she sets out to bake the perfect baguette (following a nervous breakdown), when one attempt comes to life right before her eyes. Tickets are $37.50, or 17 percent off.

Dallas Theater Center's A Christmas Carol returns this holiday season.

Dallas Theater Center presents A Christmas Carol

Photo by Paxton Maroney

Dallas Theater Center's A Christmas Carol returns this holiday season.

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Elon News

Dallas bookstore and publisher gets federal arts funding axed

Deep Vellum

Stack of books at Deep Vellum

A Dallas arts organization got its budget chopped by the federal government: Deep Vellum, the bookstore and publisher at 3000 Commerce St., lost a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant due to federal government budget cuts.

According to owner Will Evans, the award, which is granted annually, has been terminated as of May 31. The bookstore had received $20,000 for the past six years.

Deep Ellum started as a publisher in 2013 and opened their bookstore in Deep Ellum in 2015. Since then, they have become a center for literature lovers. Evans is a translator whose mission has been to translate the world’s best novels into English for American audiences.

Evans was notified on May 2 via an email that was reportedly sent to grant recipients nationwide. The note read:

"The NEA is updating its grantmaking policy priorities to focus funding on projects that reflect the nation's rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the President. Consequently, we are terminating awards that fall outside these new priorities."

The new priorities included projects that elevate the Nation's HBCUs and Hispanic Serving Institutions, celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, foster AI competency, empower houses of worship to serve communities, assist with disaster recovery, foster skilled trade jobs, make America healthy again, support military and veterans, support Tribal communities, make the District of Columbia safe and beautiful, and support the economic development of Asian American communities.

The Grants and Public Affairs departments at NEA did not respond to a request for comment. On Monday May 5, the Literary Staff was laid off, and the agency is facing possible elimination entirely, as part of the 2026 Discretionary Budget Request presented to Congress on May 2.

This year's grant to Deep Vellum was earmarked to fund the translation, publishing, and marketing costs of four books:

Carapace Dancer by Natalia Toledo, translated from Zapotec, published trilingually with Spanish and English translations alongside the original, translated by Clare Sullivan
Juvenilia by Hera Lindsay Bird of New Zealand, making her US debut, illustrated by Dallas artist Gino Dal Cin
Schattenfroh by Michael Lentz, translated from the German by Max Lawton, a 1001-page masterpiece and English-language debut
The Ruins by Ye Hui, translated from Chinese by Dong Li, the English-language debut from one of China's most distinguished and independent poets

The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency established by Congress in 1965 as a funder of the arts and arts education in communities nationwide anxd a catalyst of public and private support for the arts with the goal of advancing opportunities for arts participation and practice, according to their website.

In their last stats document updated in November 2024, their FY’24 budget was outlined as $207M (representing 0.03 percent of the total federal budget), with 80 percent of their budget supporting grants and awards to organizations and individuals across the country. They typically offer over 2,000 grants each year.

"It’s been a strange few days for us, and for countless other nonprofit publishers, magazines, and arts organizations," Evans said.

Despite the cut, Deep Vellum plans to continue to promote literacy through unique books translated to the English language.

“This is not going to imperil our future but it’s something we need to consider as we move forward. These books are extraordinary, and they add so much for readers and culture. We just need to find additional revenue to fund them," Evans said.

Evans was first to reveal the funding cut but a number of organizations across Dallas and Texas have seen similar cuts including Ballet North Texas, Flamenco Fever, Dallas Theater Center, and Bishop Arts Theatre Center, as well as a number of groups in Austin.

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