Editor's note: This year was a smash hit for arts and entertainment in Dallas. As the year comes to a close, we look back at the 10 most popular A&E stories of 2019. These are the show reviews, concert announcements, event roundups, and newsy developments that earned applause from our CultureMap audience.
1. Hamilton blows Dallas away with magnificent national tour. It took four years for Hamilton to get from Broadway to Dallas, but the city didn't seem to mind having to wait for it — it still blew us all away. The Philip cast, as this company was known, stormed into the Music Hall at Fair Park in April like it was the Battle of Yorktown, and audiences seemed more than happy to surrender to the phenomenon. Yes, wrote our theater critic Lindsey Wilson, the show really was that good.
2. How to do the DMA Dior exhibition like a proper Dallas fashionista. Unless you were living an Insta-free lifestyle, you probably knew that the Dallas Museum of Art was unveiling "Dior: From Paris to the World" — a blockbuster retrospective that surveyed more than 70 years of the House of Dior’s legacy — in May. We offered a guide to making the most of the exhibition — a handful of viewing tips, highlights, and one very important trick — how to get tickets.
3. Horror Museum in Deep Ellum shuts down early on opening night. The so-called Horror Museum & Chocolate Bar, a new place in Deep Ellum that advertised itself as "the scariest Horror Museum in the world," had what would have to be called a difficult opening night on September 27, with such scathing reviews that the owners shut it down early. Despite the complaints, the owners said a few days later that that the show would go on.
4. How to get every possible discount at the 2019 State Fair of Texas. The State Fair of Texas, which had its 24-day run at Fair Park starting September 27, is a fall tradition for many around the Lone Star State. With deals being offered by the State Fair and other entities, there's no reason you should ever pay full price. In August, we rounded up all the ways for fair-goers to save money on tickets.
5. Longtime rock club in Dallas' Deep Ellum to close after 20 years. One of the oldest and longest-running live-music clubs in Deep Ellum pulled the plug over the summer. Curtain Club, which had been open at 2800 Main St. for more than 20 years, closed on June 30. The club's tradition of painting its monthly schedule of bands on its exterior wall in bold letters, impossible to miss, had become part of the familiar landscape of Deep Ellum.
6. Art installation unleashes blinking musical seesaws on downtown Dallas. In March, it was announced that a dozen giant glowing seesaws would be coming to Dallas via an interactive art installation from Montreal called "Impulse." It landed in downtown Dallas from April 13-May 6 as an installation of 12 seesaws, wired with LED lights and speakers. By playing on the seesaws, visitors could create dynamic light and sound waves.
7. Dallas Symphony Orchestra bands together for concert to benefit its struggling members. When the Dallas Symphony Orchestra played its June 9 concert, it would be personal. A special concert, announced in late April, would support the recently created Hardship Fund, which helps orchestra and staff members manage unforeseen hardships.
8. The official list of top 4th of July events and fireworks around Dallas-Fort Worth. With the Fourth of July falling on a Thursday this year, Independence Day celebrations around Dallas-Fort Worth lasted for almost a week, as different cities in the area held events nearly every day between June 29 and July 5. In June, we rounded up the biggest and best ones for readers' oohing — er, viewing — pleasure.
9. 2 Dallas couples join Lifetime reality show on marrying millionaires. Two couples in Dallas became the latest locals to air their personal lives on reality TV, via a new docuseries on Lifetime. Called Marrying Millions, the show premiered on July 10, with 10 episodes on order. The show followed six couples who were in relationships in which one is wealthy, and the other is not.
10. Elton John brings surprise return of farewell tour to Dallas. Elton John decided to take the long road to goodbye. Almost two years after announcing The Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, John booked two more concerts in Dallas. It was announced on October 24 that the superstar would play again at American Airlines Center, on June 26 and 27, 2020.
Joseph Morales and the Hamilton national tour cast, which played to sold-out audiences in Dallas.
