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) and Jason 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 Night March 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 Candy June 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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Dance Off

Texas ballet company turns Timothée Chalamet dig into genius promotion

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It was a shot fired from Austin that rang out around the art world: In a recent CNN/Variety Town Hall featuring actors Timothée Chalamet and Matthew McConaughey, Chalamet offered an assessment of ballet and opera that immediately went viral.

During the onstage conversation at the University of Texas at Austin, Chalamet said, "I don't want to be working in ballet or opera, or you know, things where it's like, 'hey, keep this thing alive, even though like no one cares about this anymore.' All respect to the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewership."

Chalamet immediately seemed to experience a twinge of regret, awkwardly adding, "But um...damn, I just took shots for no reason." He also sang a note and hid his face behind the cards he was holding.

Stars of the art forms, from Andrea Bocelli to Misty Copeland, immediately began to leap (jeté, if you will) to the the defense of opera and ballet.

In a genius marketing move, Austin's hometown ballet company is taking the unique opportunity to turn a hot topic into a promotion for its next production: Ballet Austin is inviting anyone named Timothée, Timothee, or Timothy to claim a free ticket to its upcoming world premiere of Marie Antoinette: Vampire Queen of Versailles, running March 27-29 at the Long Center for the Performing Arts.

"Timothée… you were in Austin? We were literally down the street," a Ballet Austin post says. "Austin has brisket. Austin has music. Austin also has ballet."

All Timothées and folks with similar names will have to do to claim a ticket is send a message to Ballet Austin on social media and show identification. Everyone else who wants to see the supernatural show where "the line between victim and villain blurs" will have to purchase a ticket ($25-$125) at balletaustin.org.

Ballet Austin Marie Antoinette: Vampire Queen of Versailles Ballet Austin isn't afraid to add some edge to classic stories. Photo courtesy of Ballet Austin

Even if Chalamet's words were dismissive, he's obviously not wrong about the relative distribution of public interest between the classical arts and major films like Marty Supreme, the late 2025 film he stars in and is busy promoting. The film's commercially successful release set a record for A24, an already renowned studio.

Chalamet brought up ballet and opera in service of a larger point about pacing in movies. He said he exists in a middle ground as a consumer between wanting to be drawn in early and being more patient as a film progresses. Ultimately, he juxtaposed Barbie and Oppenheimer with the classical arts, pointing out that if the masses want to go see a film, they will "be loud and proud about it" organically, without needing performers to advocate for the seriousness of the art form.

Coincidentally, there couldn't be a better counterpoint to this argument than Marie Antoinette: Vampire Queen of Versailles.

As the title suggests, the story follows historical figure Marie Antoinette as she chooses to become a vampire, seeking "power, immortality, and vengeance," according to a press release. It takes a somewhat silly premise and gives it dramatic gravitas, with an original score by Austin composer Graham Reynolds, who is known outside of classical circles and sometimes composes for movie soundtracks.

"For Ballet Austin, the moment is an opportunity to remind audiences that ballet isn’t fading away," says a release about the new promotion. "It’s evolving, drawing new audiences and continuing to thrive in creative cities like Austin."

If Chalamet really does fall in the middle of instant and delayed artistic gratification, this sounds like the perfect production to draw him in.

And perhaps Ballet Austin should add people named Matthew to their promotion, since McConaughey threw the younger star a bone after his momentary walk-back, saying, "That's not a shot — I hear what you're saying."

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Stephanie Allmon Merry contributed to this story.

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