Category: Arts & Culture
Baptists and Bourbon
We moved to Texarkana from New Orleans in March 1947, and that first Christmas Eve my parents gave a little party for their new friends, serving eggnog in punch cups. In the rush to get Santa out for me afterwards (I was six), Mama did not take time to wash…
Nous Sommes Tous Les Parisiens
We are all Parisians I am a Francophile. I love all things French–the arts and architecture, the food, the land, the people. My love affair probably began at birth…in New Orleans, that most French of all American cities. In college I concentrated on France in my history major and studied…
Throwback Thursday: Elvis Discovered in Texarkana
Sixty years ago, Elvis Presley was a 20-year-old rockabilly singer performing in small-town auditoriums throughout the south. He was often featured at the Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport’s answer to the Grand Ole Opry, and Texarkana—75 miles north—was a frequent showplace for Hayride stars. Elvis sang (and gyrated) at the Texarkana, Arkansas, Municipal…
Living Life in Gratitude Mode
If I have learned anything as a widow, it is the importance of living life in gratitude mode—being thankful for all that was and is and is to come. Generosity flows from a grateful heart. My mother-in-law and my husband were the two most generous people I have ever known….
Defying Stereotype, Mixing Genre
As I scanned the crowd in the Wylie Theatre lobby, looking for a place where I could eat my box lunch, an attractive blonde on a nearby bench made eye contact and gestured that I could squeeze in beside her. I’m not good at striking up conversations with strangers, but…
Great Scott! Opera Meets Football
Great Scott! Opera meets football at The Dallas Opera this fall, in a new work by top contemporary opera composer Jake Heggie and Corpus Christi native and playwright Terrance McNally. And if that isn’t good enough, Joyce DiDonato, regularly starring in Metropolitan Opera productions, is the diva. Having never lived…