by Chip Chandler — Digital Content Producer
Art exhibitions, classical music, a world-class theatrical performance, a celebration of Amarillo vets and more are among the events waiting for you this weekend and beyond. Here’s a look at some highlights:
Love and Marriage: Performances continue through Sunday for Amarillo Little Theatre’s staging of the Edward Albee classic “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” I caught the show on opening night and walked away feeling absolutely exhilarated. Heather Manderson – who has previously blown me away in “August: Osage County” and “The Mercy Seat” – gives another phenomenal performance as the voraciously needy, incredibly bitter Martha. She’s well matched by Don Washburn as George; Washburn maintains a sense of silky menace throughout, even when his character is wounded to the core. Ably supporting them are Michael Froschheiser and Marlee Wall as the young couple unknowingly drawn into the older duo’s mind games. I can’t recommend the show highly enough; as imposing as a three-hour-plus deep dive into the world’s worst marriage sounds, the show (marvelously directed by Stephen Crandall) is an invigorating thrill ride. Performances continue at 8 p.m. today through Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the ALT Adventure Space, 2751 Civic Circle. Call 806-355-9991 or visit www.amarillolittletheatre.org.
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Come Fly With Me: Lone Star Ballet reaches for the stars in its latest original production. The ballet’s adaptation of “Peter Pan” will be staged at 8 p.m. Friday and 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday in the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts, 500 S. Buchanan St. Peter (danced by Christopher Flores) faces off against Captain Hook (Caleb Summers) and gambols about Neverland, with dancers soaring up to 30 feet over the stage. Tickets are $14 to $44, plus fees. Call 806-378-3096 or visit www.panhandletickets.com.
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Passionate Music:Harrington String Quartet will close out its season at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Amarillo Botanical Gardens, 1400 Streit Drive. The concert, the last in quartet’s “Passionate Journeys” series, will feature Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet in G Major, Robert Schumann’s String Quintet in F Major and Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major. Tickets are $20. Call 806-651-2840.
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Street Art, Off the Street:“Outside In: Graffiti Works by Rachael Edwards” opens Saturday at Palace Coffee Co., 420 15th St. in Canyon. The show features Amarillo artist Edwards’ exploration of street art methods in the confines of a gallery. “I have a real love of street art, of guerrilla art,” Edwards told me. “It doesn’t have a long life, and that’s the spirit of it – it’s here, it’s gone. You have to experience it right then. … The reason to pull it into a gallery is so you can keep some of that spirit of that style of art.” The show, a pop-up exhibition by Process Art House, will hang through June 30 at the coffee shop. Call 806-731-1481 or 806-476-0111.
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Pinhole Pictures: Visiting artist Robin Dru Germany of Texas Tech University will discuss pinhole photography at an artist talk at 6:30 p.m. today in Room 131 of Russell Hall on the Amarillo College Washington Street campus. Germany, a renowned photographer, is using her latest work as “an exploration of the waters in Texas as a border between the human and natural worlds,” AC photography assistant professor Rene West said. Germany, who is working with AC photo majors today, will return April 24 for the Fifth Annual Worldwide Pinhole Day Workshop, a free event from noon to 4 p.m. for the public to learn more about pinhole photography, in which photos are taken with a light-proof box with a small hole in one side. Materials are provided, and aspiring photographers will spend at least two hours working on their project. Call West at 806-345-5654.
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Bodies in Artistic Motion: Artist Kevin Miller will celebrate the opening of his new exhibition, “Visage,” at a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. today in the Mary Moody Northen Hall Formal Gallery at West Texas A&M University. The show, featuring multiple works in glass and ceramics, deals with themes of the body and motion and is the culmination of Miller’s work in attaining a master of fine arts degree. It will hang through April 30. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and by appointment on weekends. Email Jon Revett at jrevett@wtamu.edu for information or appointments.
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Earth Day Every Day: Panhandle PBS is back at the Amarillo Zoo, 2401 Dumas Drive, from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday to continue celebrating Earth Month. This week’s activities focus on vanishing prairie wildlife, including a viewing of a live black-footed ferret, considered the most endangered mammal in North America; a live animal show on prairie wildlife at 10:30 a.m.; a zookeeper chat on North American bison at 11:15 a.m.; making a horned lizard mask; meeting Blaze, the Zoo’s costumed bison mascot at 11:15 a.m.; taking home a live ladybug for a backyard habitat; planting a miniature prairie to take home; testing accuracy in a bison chip throwing contest; watching episodes of PBS Kids’ Nature Cat and Wild Kratts; and receiving free Wonderland Park passes at the Panhandle PBS booth. Call the Zoo at 806-381-7911 or visit AmarilloZoo.org or panhandlePBS.org.
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Lone Star Celebration: Tickets are still on sale for Friday’s Best of Texas bash, a fundraiser for Junior League of Amarillo. Texas country star Wade Bowen will headline, with on-the-rise Lubbock songwriter Dalton Domino performing during happy hour. Virdinski’s Rub Shack will provide a steak dinner. The party begins at 6 p.m. Friday in the Rex Baxter Building on the Amarillo Tri-State Fairgrounds, 3301 S.E. 10th Ave. Tickets are $75. Call 806-374-0802.
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Veterans’ Salute: Amarillo Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1475 will honor vets at “We Salute You,” a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War and the 25th anniversary of Operation Desert Storm. The party runs from 4 to 11 p.m. at the post, 1401 S.W. Eighth Ave., and will feature live music from Jack C’Ryver & The Rock ’n’ Roll Cowboys and Lindi Willis along with free food. Call 806-373-3521.
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Collegiate Collaboration: This weekend is your last chance to see this year’s AC/WT Student/Faculty Exhibition at Amarillo Museum of Art, 2200 S. Van Buren St. The exhibition features work from student artists and their instructors from Amarillo College and West Texas A&M University. It hangs through Sunday. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 1 to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Call 806-371-5050 or visit www.amarilloart.org.
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Beyond the weekend: West Texas A&M University will stage the musical adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre” beginning April 21 – coincidentally, Brontë’s 200th birthday. I’ll have a full preview of the musical next week. … Taya Kyle, widow of U.S. Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, will be featured speaker at this year’s Power of the Purse luncheon on April 22 in the Amarillo Civic Center Complex Heritage Ballroom, 401 S. Buchanan St. Tickets are $100; sponsorships start at $1,500 for eight seats. Kyle, author of “American Wife,” will discuss her family’s story of war and sacrifice as well as the Pay It Forward concept. The luncheon raises funds for the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health. Call 806-414-9949 or visit https://give2tech.ejoinme.org/pop to buy tickets. … Tickets go on sale at noon Friday for WWE Live, returning to Amarillo at 1 p.m. June 5 in the Amarillo Civic Center Complex Cal Farley Coliseum, 401 S. Buchanan St. Scheduled to appear are Roman Reigns, A.J. Styles, The Miz, Charlotte, Sheamus, Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler. Tickets are $15 to $100, plus fees. Call 806-378-3096 or visit www.panhandletickets.com.
* Chip Chandler is a digital content producer for Panhandle PBS. He can be contacted at Chip.Chandler@actx.edu, at @chipchandler1 on Twitter and at www.facebook.com/chipchandlerwriter on Facebook.
