Smooth Sailing
Spectacle without substance can leave an audience empty, a lesson that seems lost on many current titans of theater. Think Miss Saigon’s signature helicopter or Phantom of the Opera’s moving chandelier: Spectacular as they are, spectacular is all they are. Better is the balance seen in the revival of Show…
Waltz on the Wild Side
At first glance, the new Japanese comedy Shall We Dance? appears to be an Asian remake of the Australian hit Strictly Ballroom — but, in fact, the similarities are only surface-deep (and barely that). Part of the difference is rooted in the cultural gap between the two countries, but wider…
Shtick-Up
What must those poor guys in Insane Clown Posse be thinking? After all, the sad white rap act only made a record that included profanity, and still they got drop-kicked off a panicky Disney-owned Hollywood Records, a label whose greatest catalog asset is Queen. Martin Lawrence, on the other hand,…
Holistic Touch
Before he met JoAnne Mandel, Steven Berk seemed headed toward a bad end. Berk had a fierce appetite for alcohol and drugs, suffered from depression and an eating disorder, and had almost lost the will to look after himself. Desperate to get a grip on his life, Berk entered an…
Lee Brown’s Crown Heights Problem
On Monday, August 19, 1991, a car in a motorcade escorting the “grand rebbe” of the Lubavitcher Hasidic sect careened over a curb in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York, killing a seven-year-old African-American boy and injuring his cousin. Gavin Cato’s death was the first of an exponential…
The Insider
The Horror! The Horror! For fans of classic movie matchups such as Godzilla vs. King Kong or Rodan vs. Mothra, next spring’s GOP primary for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission promises a pairing for the ages. Former congressman Steve Stockman is already in the hunt for the party’s…
Letters
A Traditionalist Writes … I note that whenever someone zaps you a letter on the Internet, you state “via Internet” after their name in the Letters column. The remaining letters are not distinguished as to mode of arrival — whether they be by post, cable, fax, hand delivery, overnight express,…
Press Picks
thursday july 17 AstroWorld Series of Dog Shows For 20 years, Pomeranians and pugs, bloodhounds and bassets, dogs of every creed and color have strutted their stuff at the AstroWorld Series of Dog Shows. More than a beauty show, this production features such kid-pleasing events as canine Frisbee exhibitions and…
Persian Paradise
In Farsi, the word “kolbeh” means a place in the country, a retreat — and one always associated with food. And while Kolbeh Persian American Grill is hardly in the country (the strip center on Hillcroft near Harwin where it’s tucked away boasts a lot more cement than waving grass),…
It’s Alright, Ma
Bob Dylan didn’t die. Apparently, his condition following his May 25 hospitalization for histoplasmosis was greatly exaggerated by the media. (“DYLAN COULD BE IN FIGHT FOR LIFE,” wailed the headline from the May 29 edition of the New York Post.) Still, the news of that hospitalization rattled me to the…
Rooting Interest
Ahmir Khalib-Thompson, a.k.a. ?uestlove, drummer and bandleader of the hip-hop combo called the Roots, has been among the few rap personalities to actively criticize certain of his peers for talking trash, endorsing anti-intellectualism and promoting a criminal lifestyle guaranteed to result in the bodies of more young men littering inner-city…
Color of the Blues
Dallas guitarist Smokin’ Joe Kubek was playing obscure, backroom blues circuit gigs before he could qualify for a driver’s license. A few years later, the ’70s reared its ugly head long enough for the musician to flirt with hard rock. But Zeppelin and Foghat aside, Kubek came to realize that…
Rotation
Brave Combo Group Dance Epidemic Rounder What Pavement said about Smashing Pumpkins was mean but true: Too much popular music is bereft of purpose. Most records coming out are neither enjoyable enough to qualify as real entertainment, nor enlightening enough to be particularly good art. So when Brave Combo advertise…
Static
Copeland remembered… True, it wasn’t much of an acceptance speech, but it meant everything. Standing by the podium at the July 7 Houston Press Music Awards ceremony, local blues legend Joe “Guitar” Hughes briefly studied the trophy he’d just been handed. Slowly, he read aloud the inscription on its base…