The pool isn’t the only cool place to spend a hot Texas summer day. From toe-tapping musicals to immersive art exhibitions and beautiful music, the North Texas area is filled with air-conditioned artsy adventures for the whole family.
**AMON CARTER MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART**
“Moving Pictures: Karl Struss and the Rise of Hollywood” celebrates photographer and cinematographer Karl Struss’ storied career and influence on American filmmaking during Hollywood’s Golden Age. Featuring archival materials, films, and over 100 photographs from the Carter’s extensive Struss Artist Archive, the multimedia exhibition highlights Struss’s innovations in image-making and unique contributions to the film industry in the early 20th century. The exhibition is on view at the Fort Worth museum through Aug. 25.
**BROADWAY AT THE BASS SERIES**
“Sister Act” is the feel-good musical comedy smash based on the hit 1992 film that has audiences jumping to their feet. Filled with powerful gospel music, outrageous dancing, and a truly moving story, “Sister Act” will leave audiences breathless. The musical runs at Bass Hall in Fort Worth Aug. 15-18.
**BROADWAY DALLAS**
“Funny Girl,” the beloved musical with a score by Jule Styne, lyrics by Bob Merrill, and a book by Isobel Lennart, runs at the Music Hall at Fair Park Aug. 6-18. Featuring one of the greatest musical scores of all time, including classic songs “Don’t Rain On My Parade,” “I’m the Greatest Star,” and “People,” this bittersweet comedy tells the story of the indomitable Fanny Brice, a girl from the Lower East Side who dreamed of a life on stage. Despite being told she’d never be a star, she became one of the most beloved performers in history, shining brighter than the brightest lights of Broadway.
**CIRCLE THEATRE**
Circle Theatre is reinventing a French classic comedy with “Imposter! Hypocrite! TARTUFFE!” Wit, cunning, and hypocrisy are on full display in this punk-rock remake of Moliere’s classic farce. Circle Theatre’s Artistic Director Ashley H. White pens a new approach to the iconic play, reintroducing the timeless tale of a man who deploys his charm and feigned piety to disrupt a household. However, his clever scheme is no match for the astute women of the family who decide to beat him at his own game. The show runs at the Fort Worth theater Aug. 1-24.
**CROW MUSEUM OF ASIAN ART OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS**
As the museum prepares to open its second location at the University of Texas at Dallas, its Dallas Arts District home is dedicated to the art of Japan. “Japan, Form & Function: The Montgomery Collection” features more than 240 works, subdivided into themes and categories throughout the galleries. For the first time, the Crow Museum will dedicate the entire museum to one sole presentation over an extended period. The landmark exhibition, based on the collection of Jeffrey Montgomery, is on view through April 13, 2025.
**DALLAS CHAMBER SYMPHONY**
You don’t have to leave the comfort of your own home’s air conditioning to enjoy the sounds of one of Dallas’ most acclaimed orchestras. The Dallas Chamber Symphony recently released its first album, “Chasing Home.” On this recording by Richard McKay and the Dallas Chamber Symphony, two major works by American composers offer representative views of the migrant experience. “Chasing Home,” a ballet composed in 2017 by Joseph Thalken, is based on the plight of migrants fleeing the Syrian Civil War. Aaron Copland’s original “Appalachian Spring Suite” explores pioneer life in Pennsylvania in that time when opportunity and open space drew Americans ever farther west.
**DALLAS CONTEMPORARY**
“Who’s Afraid of Cartoony Figuration?” brings together a multigenerational and multidisciplinary cast of artists to highlight the often overlooked and underestimated artistic approach of cartoony figuration. Through a quotidian and deceivingly unserious visual language, Umar Rashid (aka Frohawk Two Feathers), Sally Saul, Karolina Jabłońska, and Tabboo! powerfully confront socio-political concerns across colonial history, feminist movements, the queer underground, and more through styles reminiscent of or directly inspired by cartoons, comics, and commercial illustration across painting, illustration, ceramic, and sculpture. The exhibition is on view through Sep. 20.
**DALLAS HOLOCAUST AND HUMAN RIGHTS MUSEUM**
This weekend is the final chance to see “Walk this Way: Footwear from the Stuart Weitzman Collection of Historic Shoes.” From silk boudoir shoes created for the 1867 Paris Exposition to leather spectator pumps signed by the 1941 New York Yankees, “Walk this Way” features more than 100 striking pairs of shoes. This exhibition, organized by The New-York Historical Society, presents footwear spanning nearly 200 years from the collection of iconic shoe designer Stuart Weitzman and businesswoman and philanthropist Jane Gershon Weitzman. Among the many highlights are historic shoes that tell stories of the past, including a pair of pumps worn by Queen Victoria in the 1860s. The exhibition closes July 14.
**DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART**
With the Paris 2024 Olympics around the corner, now is a great time for North Texans to learn more about Impressionism, one of the most cherished artistic movements in the world. “The Impressionist Revolution from Monet to Matisse,” on view at the Dallas Museum of Art through Nov. 3, reveals a surprising story about Impressionism’s origins: Claude Monet was an outcast.
**DALLAS THEATER CENTER**
Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” is the theater’s 2024 Public Works pageant production, featuring over 150 cast members from the Dallas community performing alongside members of the theater’s Diane and Hal Brierley Resident Acting Company and other professional actors. This production is based on the Disney classic, featuring unforgettable songs such as “Part of Your World,” “Under the Sea,” and “Kiss the Girl.” Presented in collaboration with AT&T Performing Arts Center, the show runs at the Wyly Theatre in the Dallas Arts District July 12 – Aug. 4.
**DALLAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA**
Spend Labor Day weekend with everyone’s favorite boy wizard with a film-in-concert event, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.” Get ready to fight a dragon, swim with merpeople, and find out just who put Harry’s name in the Goblet of Fire! For the first time ever, audiences can rediscover the magic of “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” while a live symphony orchestra performs Patrick Doyle’s unforgettable score. The concert will be presented at the Meyerson Symphony Center in the Dallas Arts District Aug. 29 – Sept. 1.
**FORT WORTH MUSEUM OF ART AND SCIENCE AND HISTORY**
There’s more to see at planetariums in North Texas than stars. “Beautifica,” a film specifically designed for domed venues, combines art and James Hood’s music to create a fantastical sensory event. The 45-minute film is running throughout the summer at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. The film is also on view at The Sky Theater at the University of North Texas in Denton.
**FORT WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA**
The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra is filling August with music. On Aug. 23 and 24 at Bass Hall, the orchestra will present the “FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH Orchestra World Tour,” a new concert based entirely on the groundbreaking game from SQUARE ENIX. With stunning, high-definition video scenes created exclusively for this production by SQUARE ENIX, audiences will be immersed in the world of one of the most visionary games of all time with this sensational multimedia concert experience.
On Aug. 30 at Bass Hall, a trio of Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra musicians take the spotlight in “Stars of the Symphony,” a special performance celebrating the skill of Cowtown’s own musicians. Principal Violist DJ Cheek will perform Bruch’s “Romance” for viola and orchestra. English horn player Tim Daniels stars as the majestic voice of the swan in Sibelius’ epic tone poem “Swan of Tuonela,” and Principal Trumpeter Kyle Sherman gives voices to Tartini’s graceful and precise “Concerto in D Major,” a testament to the splendor of Italian baroque music.
**FOUR DAY WEEKEND AT STAGE WEST THEATRE**
You can laugh or cry about the summer heat. Four Day Weekend, the critically acclaimed improvisational comedy group, hopes North Texans will laugh with them at their new home at Stage West Theatre in Fort Worth. The comedy group is moving following Sundance Square Management’s decision not to renew its lease, which runs through the end of July. Four Day Weekend’s first performance at Stage West is slated for Saturday, Aug. 3.
“When we learned Four Day Weekend was losing its downtown space, the only response was ‘come over here,’” declared Dana Schultes, Stage West Executive Producer. “Simply put: a thriving arts scene makes Fort Worth better. Plus, we have multiple performance spaces! Finally, the Near Southside Arts district is a perfect landing spot. It was a no-brainer on our part to extend a helping hand to a fellow Fort Worth arts institution.”
**KIMBELL ART MUSEUM**
“Art and War in the Renaissance: The Battle of Pavia Tapestries” marks the first time that this entire cycle of seven large-scale tapestries—some of the most awe-inspiring examples of this often-overlooked art form—has been on view in the United States. The
