Wednesday 18 – Leon Panetta has had a glittering career as White House chief of staff, CIA director, and U.S. Secretary of Defense, during which time he was in charge of the operation that took down Osama bin Laden. The public servant has just published his memoirs, and, courtesy of the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth, he will appear at a luncheon at 11:30am at Fort Worth Club, 306 W 7th St, FW. Tickets are $65-80. Call 214-965-8413.
Thursday 19 – An increasing number of composers brought up in the classical concert hall tradition have been writing songs and pieces meant to be performed in a cabaret setting, recognizing the vitality of jazz and other forms that flourish there. As part of Cliburn Sessions, four singers from the Fort Worth Opera Studio will perform a program of such pieces at 8pm at The Live Oak Music Hall & Lounge, 1311 Lipscomb St, FW. Tickets are $20. Call 817-926-0698.
Friday 20 – For one night only, Dallas Black Dance Theatre makes the trek across the county line. Dancing Beyond Borders –– consisting of Nycole Ray’s lyrical Memory of a Memory Lost, Troy Powell’s highly geometrical Lambarena, and Sean J. Smith’s Doll House –– is at 7:30pm at Scott Theater, 3505 W Lancaster Av, FW. Tickets are $25. Call 214-871-2390.
Saturday 21 – Now that winter has at last released us from its icy grip, it’s a good time for the eighth annual Squirrel Run and Health Fair, a 5K and 10K run to benefit the institution where it’s taking place, the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens. The event also includes a health fair and a maze run for kids. The run starts at 8am at 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd, FW. Registration is $35-45. Call 817-871-7686.
Sunday 22 – Selma, Ala., is suddenly on all our minds, and DVA Productions marks the occasion with Driving Miss Sadie, a new play by Sheran Goodspeed Keyton about a 75-year-old woman who passes on her memories of the civil rights movement to a 19-year-old who suddenly enters her life. The play runs Fri thru Mar 29 at Fort Worth Community Arts Center, 1300 Gendy St, FW. Tickets are $10. Call 817-313-3052.
Monday 23 – The strange creatures that live at the deepest parts of the ocean vie with James Cameron for screen time in Deepsea Challenge 3D, in which the Avatar director journeys in a specially built submersible vehicle to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, more than 20,000 feet below the surface. The film plays thru Sep 7 at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, 2201 N Field St, Dallas. Tickets are $10-15. Call 214-428-5555.
Tuesday 24 – Artist Armando Díaz Rivera, a.k.a. Ologwagdi, has devoted his career to furthering the rights of working people and indigenous peoples in Panama. Tonight, TCU professor Peter Szok delivers a lecture on this social justice crusader. Ologwagdi and the Art of Protest is at 5pm at Brown-Lupton University Union, 2901 Stadium Dr, FW. Admission is free.
