Wednesday 04 – The Improv at Arlington opens its doors on a Wednesday evening for the G-Spook comedy benefit. A bevy of standup comics and DJs will be on hand to help out the Dallas radio DJ who suffered a heart attack last month and whose health remains precarious. Proceeds will go toward him and his family. The show is at 7pm at 309 Curtis Mathes Way, Arlington. Admission is $10. Call 817-877-LAFF.
Thursday 05 – It’s tough picking a favorite out of Hayao Miyazaki’s animated films, but we might just go with Princess Mononoke, a fable that takes a nuanced look at environmental concerns and the attempt to balance these with human needs. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the movie’s release, though it didn’t play in America until 1999, so local movie theaters will broadcast both the Japanese- and English-language versions. The movie plays 7pm today and Mon at various locations; check Calendar for addresses. Tickets are $10.50-12.50. Call 818-761-6100.
Friday 06 – If you’ve ever been to the Chinese city of Xi’an, you probably went there to see the life-size terracotta statues of soldiers that were buried along with the emperors who once made that city the empire’s capital. Those statues were unknown to the world until they were dug up in the 1970s, but now you can see them in Mysteries of China, the IMAX film that’s playing at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. It will take less time than a flight to Xi’an. The film runs thru Mon at 1600 Gendy St, FW. Tickets are $7-8. Call 817-255-9300.
Saturday 07 – The Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth begins the new year by welcoming the Borromeo String Quartet, which is celebrating its 25th year in residence at the New England Conservatory of Music. They’ll play Mozart’s “Dissonance” String Quartet, nicknamed for an opening that sounds startlingly modern, as well as music by Haydn, Ravel, and a student work by a 21-year-old George Gershwin. The concert is at 2pm at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 3200 Darnell St, FW. Tickets are $30-35. Call 817-877-3003.
Sunday 08 – Sight-reading is the ability to perform a piece of music by reading the score off a printed page. If you want to improve your sight-reading skills or simply play a chamber-music instrument with TCU students and faculty, come to the school’s 1st roundup sight-reading chamber music party. It’s open to all ages and levels of musical proficiency. The event is 2-6pm at Walsh Performing Arts Center, 2800 S University Dr, FW. Admission is free. Call 817-257-7602.
Monday 09 – In the more than 30 years since its debut, Nunsense has taken in more than half a billion dollars with more than 25,000 women taking part in productions and adaptations of Dan Goggin’s musical all over the world. Artisan Center Theatre begins 2017 with a production of this doughty show about the travails of Mother Superior Mary Regina and her charges. The show runs Fri thru Jan 28 at Belaire Theater, 420 E Pipeline Rd, Hurst. Tickets are $11-18. Call 817-284-1200.
Tuesday 10 – 2017 marks the 150th anniversary of the Chisholm Trail, and Sid Richardson Museum is marking the occasion with Hide and Horn on the Chisholm Trail, an exhibit devoted to items that were either taken on this historic cattle trail or related to it. A fair number of items come from the Rees-Jones Collection in Dallas. The exhibit runs Fri thru May 28 at 309 Main St, FW. Admission is free. Call 817-332-6554.
