JFK News

New JFK exhibit at Dallas' Sixth Floor Museum includes never-before-seen video

Rare photo of JFK on his way to downtown Dallas.

Photo courtesy of Richard Clark Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza will commemorate the 60th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination with a special exhibition, "Two Days in Texas," which revisits his November 1963 trip to Texas through eyewitness accounts and his own words.

Opening November 8, the exhibitiontakes a new approach by tracing the President’s footsteps through each of the cities on his last presidential tour, giving greater insight into the purpose and impact of his visit.

The exhibition will include original film footage, photographs, news articles, personal items, and new acquisitions, including the original Air Force One passenger manifest detailing the President’s trip throughout Texas, and a newly produced video of the Kennedy motorcade in Dealey Plaza incorporating amateur footage.

President Kennedy opened his Texas visit on November 21, 1963, with speeches in San Antonio and Houston that focused on Texas' role in medical research, space exploration, and national security.

The next morning, on November 22, he delivered an impromptu speech for a crowd of several thousand that waited in the rain to see him at his Fort Worth hotel, before giving what would be his final speech at a breakfast hosted by the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce.

He then traveled to Dallas, where he was assassinated in a motorcade at 12:30 pm on the way to a luncheon. A planned visit to Austin would go unrealized.

Drawn from the museum’s collection of more than 95,000 artifacts relating to the assassination, highlights include:

The original Air Force One passenger manifest with details of the President’s trip to Texas and back to Dulles International Airport (VA)
A photograph from The Dallas Morning News depicting a crowd chasing after the presidential motorcade in San Antonio on November 21, 1963
A trombone played by Eastern Hills High School band member, William Cravens, at the Fort WorthChamber of Commerce breakfast, which marked the last time “Hail to the Chief” was performed for President Kennedy
A newly produced sequential video of the Kennedy motorcade in Dealey Plaza, using amateur home movies to fully document the turns from Main Street to Houston Street to Elm Street, the assassination, and the limousine speeding beneath the Triple Underpass on its way to Parkland Memorial Hospital. This innovative video showcases the Museum’s extensive holdings of eyewitness films, including the recent acquisitions of the Mark Bell and Jack Daniel 8mm home movies.
The bloodied shirt of Dr. Robert McClelland, who was among the physicians inside Trauma Room One in Parkland’s Emergency Room during the resuscitation efforts for President Kennedy following the shooting. Juxtaposing what was planned with what had happened, the shirt is paired with an image of the table setting for the Dallas Trade Mart luncheon that President Kennedy was expected to attend.
The record album sent to Texas Welcome Dinner ticketholders by the State Democratic Executive Committee featuring the President’s three delivered speeches on the trip to Texas and text of the undelivered speeches in Dallas and Austin

“In commemorating 60 years since this American tragedy, we wanted to reflect more deeply on President Kennedy’s time in Texas through his words, and the words and experiences of everyday Texans who he encountered, from the vantage point of today,” said Nicola Longford, Chief Executive Officer of The Sixth Floor Museum, in a statement. “In them, we can find truths that resonate with the current political moment, and the very ideals and struggles that continue to shape the public discourse.”

Designed to preserve the memory of the national tragedy, "Two Days in Texas" will also convey the turbulence felt by Texans who witnessed the events of November 21 and 22, 1963.

The exhibition, on view through June 16, 2024, is part of a series of 60th anniversary programming organized by The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza; additional initiatives will be announced in the coming months.

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Movie Review

Long-awaited Wicked movie adaptation lives up to the hype

Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande-Butera in Wicked.

The musical Wicked is indisputably the biggest Broadway smash of the 21st century, having grossed more $1.6 billion in New York alone and achieving the rare feat of running for over 20 years. All of which is to say that the long-awaited movie adaptation of The Wizard of Oz prequel will most likely be a massive success whether it lives up to what longtime fans envisioned or not.

Part one — yes, this 2 hour and 40 minute film is merely the first act of the musical; part two arrives a year from now — introduces Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), the green-skinned witch who goes on to become Dorothy’s nemesis, and G(a)linda (Ariana Grande-Butera), the pink-garbed “good” witch, as they meet at Shiz University in Oz. Glinda is the ultra-popular one with sycophantic hangers-on, while Elphaba is shunned by almost everyone, sometimes including her disabled sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode), who’s desperate to make her own space away from Elphaba.

Her mistreatment by others leads Elphaba to get angry, which manifests itself in uncontrollable magic. Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) notices this and takes a personal interest in her, giving her one-on-one instruction in hopes of harnessing her power. In the meantime, Elphaba and Glinda attempt to go from forced roommates to actual friends, although Glinda’s entitled personality is more of an obstacle than anything else they encounter.

Directed by Jon M. Chu and written by original book writer Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, the film does a great job of distinguishing itself from the stage version while still remaining true to what made it so beloved. As Chu showed in his last film, In the Heights, he has an innate feel for how to tap into the essence of the source material while expanding it into something befitting the scope of a blockbuster movie.

In this case, he finds a way to give even greater emphasis to the bigotry that Elphaba faces simply because of her green skin; the fact that she is being played by a Black woman drives home the point even more. The story remains light and fluffy for the most part, but the ostracization/otherness that Elphaba feels is delivered in a powerful way, as is her empathy for talking animals like Dr. Dillamond (voiced by Peter Dinklage), who are facing their own persecution.

Of course, the highlight of the film is Stephen Schwartz’s music, and while not all of the songs are equal in impact, they still make for a cohesive whole. The number of songs and order they appear in the first act is identical to the stage musical, with the standouts remaining “The Wizard and I,” “Popular,” and “Defying Gravity.” While there is some superfluous action and cutaways added to certain numbers, it’s not enough to distract from what makes the songs effective.

Oddly, the progression of the friendship between Elphaba and Glinda works better on stage when the timeline is accelerated, but Erivo and Grande-Butera make up for this slight lack with their fantastic performances. The emotion each brings to their characters fits them almost perfectly, and there’s simply no denying the strength of each of their voices. Bode, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, and more make for a solid supporting cast.

The well-known ending of the first act of Wicked is a huge high point that is so good that it almost makes up for the fact that audiences won’t see the second film for a long time. But if part one is any indication, part two should turn out to be another great musical theater adaptation in a decade that has already seen its fair share.

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Wicked opens in theaters on November 22.

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