By Chip Chandler — Digital Content Producer
Art, drama and monster trucks: Here's your at-a-glance roundup of activities and events through Feb. 9:
- First Friday Art Walk: Stroll through galleries featuring about 100 artists at this monthly event from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Galleries at Sunset Center, 3701 Plains Blvd. Admission is free. Among the new exhibitions is Rachel Edwards' Buggernaught 2: Photos by a Painter at The Object Gallery.
- A comedy show featuring Darly Comanche is set for 7 p.m. Friday at Rebekah's Lodge, 600 S. Seventh Ave., and a Sweetheart Ball is set for 7 p.m. Saturday at In This Moment, 707 S. Polk St. Admission is $30 for singles and $45 for couples for both events. Proceeds benefit the disability scholarship fund for Fresh Start of Monroe. Call 806-626-8866.
- Kicker Monster Trucks: The growling, take-no-prisoners trucks are back in action at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the Amarillo National Center on the Tri-State Fairgrounds, 3301 S.E. 10th Ave. Tickets are $19 for adults and $15 for children for general admission, or $27 for reserved seating, plus fees. Call 806-378-3096.
- Winter Night Ceremonials: The Kwahadi Dancers will continue its 52nd season of Winter Night shows at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at the Kwahadi Kiva Museum of the American Indian, 9151 E. Interstate 40. The show, presented in the adobe-style museum amphitheater, will be presented each Friday and Saturday through Feb. 17. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $6 for students and free for children 14 and younger. Call 806-654-4890.
- First Saturday Kids Programming: Young visitors can participate in a special monthly activity from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Wildcat Bluff Nature Center, 2301 S. Soncy Road. The event is free with admission ($3 for adults, $2 for children and seniors). Call 806-352-6007.
- Dream of the Pacific: Amarillo Opera's Family Chamber Opera series goes west with Stephen Mager and Elkhanah Pulitzer's opera about the Lewis and Clark expedition. (Here's my preview.) Following performances for schoolchildren on Friday, the opera will be staged for the public at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts, 500 S. Buchanan St. Tickets are $20, plus fees. Call 806-372-7464 or 806-378-3096.
- Cirque Eloize Saloon — A Musical Acrobatic Adventure: Civic Amarillo's Broadway Spotlight Series continues with this high-flying, Western-themed musical and circus show. (Here's my preview.) Performances are set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday in the Amarillo Civic Center Complex Auditorium, 401 S. Buchanan St. Tickets are $20 to $55, plus fees. Call 806-378-3096.
- The Laura W. Bush Institute for Women's Health will celebrate the Day of the Woman with a dinner and presentation at 6 p.m. Feb. 9 at Polk Street United Methodist Church, 1401 S. Polk St. "Wake Up to a Better You" will feature discussion by James B. Maas, Sleep for Success CEO, and Joanna Wilson, internal medicice physician for Amarillo Diagnostic Clinic's HerCare. Cost is $10. Call 806-414-9949 or email angela.knapp@ttuhsc.edu.
- It's Only a Play: Amarillo Little Theatre roasts Broadway in this comedy by Terrence McNally starring Jo Smith, Jacqueline Llewellyn, Jason Crespin, J.T. Sherrer, Don Washburn and others. The comedy opens at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 9 in the Adventure Space, 2751 Civic Circle, and continues for two weekends. Ticket prices vary. 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'll have a preview of all of the action posted Monday. Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 9 to 11 and 16 to 18, and 2:30 p.m. Feb. 19. Tickets for each production are $12 for adults, $8 for seniors and students, and free for WT faculty, students and staff. Call 806-651-2804.
- March of Babies Kickoff Luncheon: The March of Dimes fundraising drive gets its annual start at this free luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 9 in the Civic Center Grand Plaza. Call 806-553-2391.
- The Collection of Montgomery H.W. Ritchie lecture: Richard Brettell of the University of Texas — Dallas, among the foremost authorities on Impressionism and French painting, will discuss the Ritchie collection, the subject of Amarillo Museum of Art's Achievement in Art exhibition. The free lecture begins at 7 p.m. Feb. 9 at the museum, 2200 S. Van Buren St. Call 806-371-5050.
- Secret Tunnel Warfare screening and roundtable discussion: Panhandle PBS and Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, as part of the museum's year-long focus on World War I, will screen Secret Tunnel Warfare, a Nova episode about the Allied tunneling operations beneath the German frontlines. The free screening is set for 6 p.m. Feb. 9 in the Hazlewood Lecture Hall at the museum, 2503 Fourth Ave. in Canyon. Call 806-651-2244.
- 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.
