By Chip Chandler — Producer
Here's a quick take on your 10 best entertainment bets in the next 10 days.
Click here for ALL of your January options.
1. Sesame Street Live: Let's Party!
Join Sesame Street faves Elmo, Big Bird, Abby Cadabby, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster and more in this new stage production. (2:30 and 6:30 p.m. Jan. 3, Amarillo Civic Center Complex Auditorium, 401 S. Buchanan St. Tickets $20 to $50, plus fees; preshow experience tickets $20. 806-378-3096)
2. A Vulture Wake
The touring rock band (featuring members from ALL, Lagwagon, Good Riddance and The Mag Seven) will perform with power rockers Bobgoblin. (10 p.m. Jan. 3, Golden Light Cantina, 2908 S.W. Sixth Ave. Cover. 806-374-9237)
3. Mary Queen of Scots
Oscar nominees Saorise Ronan and Margot Robbie headline this period drama, screening exclusively at Cinemark Hollywood 16, 9100 Canyon Drive), about the friendship-turned-rivalry of the titular Mary (Ronan) and Queen Eliabeth I (Robbie). Also opening is horror flick Escape Room. Still playing and worth catching are Aquaman, The Favourite, Mary Poppins Returns, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Ralph Breaks the Internet.
4. First Friday Art Walk
The monthly stroll through the Arts in the Sunset will include a Footwear Fashion and Art Show, featuring models carrying art from all of the center's galleries, music from Kim & The Crash, a cash bar and food from Cowboy Gelato. (5 to 8 p.m. Jan. 4, Arts in the Sunset, 3701 Plains Blvd. Free. 806-352-2706)
5. Amarillo Bulls
Amarillo's hockey team will continue its season with a triple-header against the Corpus Christi IceRays on Jan. 4, 5 and 6, plus a two-night stand against the Odessa Jackalopes on Jan. 11 and 12. (7:05 p.m. Jan. 4, 5, 11 and 12; 4:05 p.m. Jan. 6. Amarillo Civic Center Complex Coliseum, 401 S. Buchanan St. Tickets $13 to $23 adults, $9 to $23 children, plus fees. 806-242-1122)
6. Jonathan Tyler
The Fort Worth rocker gives one of the best live shows in the state. (10 p.m. Jan. 4, Hoots Pub, 2424 Hobbs Road. Cover $10 advance, $15 day of show.)
7. AMoA Open
Artists of all ages and experience levels can exhibit one work salon-style at Amarillo Museum of Art. Installation hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 4 and 1 to 4 p.m. Jan. 5. Following the opening reception, the exhibition will hang through Jan. 13. (7 to 9 p.m. Jan. 5 opening reception; exhibition on view through Jan. 13. Amarillo Museum of Art, 2200 S. Van Buren St. Reception admission $10; museum admission free. 806-371-5050)
8. Kristin Key
The Amarillo-born touring comic will return for her annual Home for the Holidays show at 8:30 p.m. Jan. 6 at MJ's Saloon, 3705 Olsen Blvd., Suite A. Tickets are $13; $3 per ticket will benefit Type One Area Diabetic Support. Other stand-up comedy options in the next 10 days will include the Broken Resolutions Comedy Show at 9 p.m. Jan. 4 at Zombiez Bar & Grill, 711 S.W. 10th Ave., and Yellow City Comedy & Productions's Open Mic Night at 9 p.m. Jan. 8 at House Bar, 1219 S.W. 10th Ave.
9. Texas Blues Rangers
This Amarillo band makes the blues feel oh so good. (9 p.m. Jan. 11, Esquire Jazz Club, 626 S. Polk St. Cover $10 from 8 p.m. to midnight. 806-584-9571)
10. Concerto Extraordinaire
This blow-out Chamber Music Amarillo concert will feature trombonist John Shanks on Leopold Mozart's Trombone Concerto, Annie Chalex-Boyle on Sergei Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2 and Amarillo Master Chorale on Ludwig van Beethoven's Choral Fantasy and a new piece by AMC director Nathan Fryml. (8 p.m. Jan. 12, Amarillo Botanical Gardens, 1400 Streit Drive. Tickets $35. 806-235-3545)
Chip Chandler is a producer for Panhandle PBS and a member of GALECA. He can be contacted at Chip.Chandler@actx.edu, at @chipchandler1 on Twitter and on Facebook.
