By Chip Chandler — Digital Content Producer
Tons of great theater, burlesque and comedy options in the week ahead, plus Ink Life Tattoo & Music Festival and more. Here's your quick guide to all the fun.
- It's Only a Play: Amarillo Little Theatre's latest is an occasionally hysterically funny comedy that skewers the egos and foibles of theater people. I laughed uproariously at a few scenes in particular, especially one in which Jason Crespin's enfant terrible director reverts back to his childhood. Jo Smith, Jacqueline Llewellyn, J.T. Sherrer and Richie Garza also give engaging performances, as does Don Washburn, though the cliché of a critic who really wants to create is tired. The comedy slackens considerably as the play winds to a close, at least as staged here; it needed more oomph, decisiveness and commitment to the satire instead of softening on these frankly awful people. The play continues at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the Adventure Space, 2751 Civic Circle. Ticket prices vary, and here's my preview for more information. Call 806-355-9991.
- House and Garden: West Texas A&M University theater will pull double-duty for this diptych comedy by Alan Ayckbourn: Each location in the title is actually its own play, to be staged simultaneously with cast members going back and forth between WT's Branding Iron Theatre (Garden) and Happy State Bank Studio Theatre (House). You'll need to see both nights to get the full story, but each play is a complete offering in itself. I saw House last week and found it totally engaging, with strong performances especially from Kallie Scott as a scorned wife who's had enough; Dakota Brown as her philandering husband; and Sean Evan Jones as his longtime friend and all-around slimeball. Here's my preview. Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets for each production are $12 for adults, $8 for seniors and students, and free for WT faculty, students and staff; half-price tickets are available for those seeing both shows. Call 806-651-2804.
- Japanese Woodblock Prints and French Impressionism: Alex Gregory, AMoA curator of art, will discuss how the Japanese prints inspired European Impressionist painters in connection with the museum's ongoing exhibition of Impressionist works in the Achievement in Art: The Collection of Montgomery H.W. Ritchie. The free lecture begins at 7 p.m. Thursday at the museum, 2200 S. Van Buren St. Call 806-371-5050.
- Winter Night Ceremonials: The Kwahadi Dancers will conclude its 52nd season of Winter Night shows at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Kwahadi Kiva Museum of the American Indian, 9151 E. Interstate 40. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $6 for students and free for children 14 and younger. Call 806-654-4890.
- The Joker & Jester Comedy Tour: Jake Daniels and Tony Dijamco will be on stage at 8 p.m. Friday at Gerry's First Place, 208 S.E. Fourth St. in Dimmitt in a fundraiser performance. Tickets are $10. Call 806-647-5557.
- Grace Hamilton Piano Festival: WTAMU will host regional students in this competition and provide a recital from a top-notch guest pianist at this festival, named for the founder of the Amarillo Symphony. Events are scheduled through Saturday in Mary Moody Northen Recital Hall. Call 806-651-2840.
- Apocalipstick 2: The Survivors: New Orleans burlesque performer May Hemmer and Dallas performer Lady Thorn will join with local troupe Galatea Burlesk for this anti-Valentine's Day show at 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at The 806, 2812 S.W. Sixth Ave. Tickets for the 21-and-up show are $10. Call 806-322-1806.
- Ink Life Tour: The celebration of tattoos and rock music returns to the city, featuring nationally renowned tattoo artists and performances by Quiet Riot, Hatebreed, Otep and Blackfoot, all in the Amarillo Civic Center Complex North Exhibit Hall, 401 S. Buchanan St. Tickets are $25 daily or $40 for weekend passes, or $50 daily and $75 for the weekend for VIP admission. Check out my preview for more details. Watch out for major construction on Buchanan Street in downtown Amarillo — either add travel time, or seek an alternate route.
- Continental Antique Show: Browse for new-to-you gifts at this expo. Admission is $5, and shopping hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday in the Civic Center Regency Room. Watch out for that Buchanan Street construction.
- Three-Star Memorial Roping: Saddle up for this free rodeo event beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday in the Amarillo National Center on the Tri-State Fairgrounds, 3301 S.E. 10th Ave. Call 806-376-7767.
- Amarillo College's An Evening of Music and Art : Amarillo College will celebrate a new gallery space and the talents of its music department during a special collaboration beginning at 5 p.m. Saturday with the opening of the Common Lobby Gallery in the space between the Concert Hall Theatre and Amarillo Museum of Art on the Washington Street campus. The first student show hanging in the gallery space is work inspired by Jamie Ford's Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, this year's AC Common Reader selection. Winners of the juried art show will be announced at 5:15 p.m. Following that, AC music honors students will give a pre-show performance at 5:30 p.m. in the lobby before AC music faculty members will join forces for a recital at 6 p.m. inside the Concert Hall Theatre. The event is free.
- Fire & Ice Soul Connection: Oklahoma R&B singer Nita Fruit and jazz guitarist Jeffrey Smith will perform at this event, hosted by DJ Tonee Jai, at 8 p.m. Saturday at La Herradura Event Center, 5600 E. Amarillo Blvd. Tickets are $15 each or $25 for couples. Call 806-690-0981 or 806-367-3026.
- Love Drunk: Amarillo comics Derek Anderson, David Limer, Austin Ulen, Tristan Pinter and Skylar Potter will perform in a "Valentine's hangover" comedy show at 8 p.m. Saturday at Zombiez Bar & Grill, 711 S.W. 10th Ave. Cover is $5.
- Relay for Life Comedy Show: Touring comedian Daryl Felsberg will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at M.K. Brown Civic Center, 1100 Coronado Drive in Pampa, in this fundraiser for Gray County Relay for Life. Tickets are $25. Call 806-886-1248.
- Downtown Lunchtime Book Club: Discuss Mary Shelley's The Last Man in this free program for Amarillo Reads at 12:15 p.m. Feb. 23 in the Amarillo Public Library downtown branch, 413 S.E. Fourth Ave. Call 806-378-3051, and remember to watch out for road construction on Buchanan Street.
- The JA Ranch History: WT's Alex Hunt will discuss the legendary Texas Panhandle ranch, founded by Montie Ritchie's step-grandfather John George Adair and Charles Goodnight in connection with the museum's ongoing exhibition of Impressionist works in the Achievement in Art: The Collection of Montgomery H.W. Ritchie. The free lecture begins at 7 p.m. Feb. 23 at the museum, 2200 S. Van Buren St. Call 806-371-5050.
- Six Characters in Search of an Author: TheatreAC goes absurdist with a staging of this Luigi Pirandello classic opening at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 23 and continuing at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 24 and 25 and 3 p.m. Feb. 26 in the Amarillo College Experimental Theatre on the Washington Street campus. Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors, students and AC faculty, staff and students. Call 806-371-5359. I'll have a preview of the show posted Monday.
- Noises Off: ALT doesn't miss a beat with a revival of this uproarious backstage comedy just one week after the closing of its last show. It'll open at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 23 and continue at 8 p.m. Feb. 24 and 25, 7:30 p.m. March 2, 8 p.m. March 3 and 4, and 2:30 p.m. March 5 in the ALT Mainstage, 2091 Civic Circle. Ticket prices vary. Call 806-355-9991. (Note: The show was originally scheduled to open March 2 but was moved up.) I'll have a preview posted Monday.
- Crazy in Love: Broken Belts Collective, a burlesque and drag troupe, offers a night of naught fun featuring Roxxy Reckless at 10 p.m. Feb. 23 at Leftwoods, 2511 S.W. Sixth Ave. Cover is $10.
- Other ongoing exhibitions include Nacidos Charro: Born Charro at American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum, 2601 E. Interstate 40 (here's my preview); The Great War and the Panhandle-Plains Region and A Picture from Home: Snapshots of the Great War on the Plains at PPHM (here's my preview); and Little Builders, Brain Teasers 2 and Strange Matter at Don Harrington Discovery Center, 1200 Streit Drive (here's my preview).
Chip Chandler is a digital content producer for Panhandle PBS. He can be contacted at Chip.Chandler@actx.edu, at @chipchandler1 on Twitter and on Facebook.
