Wednesday 07 – Before The Godfather, gangster films were thought of as quickly made, low-budget, disreputable works that were occasionally enlivened by tough-guy performances by James Cagney or George Raft. Francis Ford Coppola’s three-hour epic changed that as a sumptuous, large-scale domestic tragedy and indictment of capitalist society. For its 45th anniversary, the film screens at 2pm & 7pm at various movie theaters; check Calendar for locations. Tickets are $5.50-7.50. Call 818-761-6100.
Thursday 08 – Now that our idiot president has proposed doing away with the National Endowment for the Arts, agency director Ann Meier Baker (who specializes in distributing grants to music and opera troupes) comes to the Van Cliburn Competition to explain why that’s a stupid thing to do. The talk is at 10am at McDavid Studio, 301 E 5th Av, FW. Admission is free. Call 817-212-4280.
Friday 09 – The movie theaters showing the Van Cliburn Competition may all be in Dallas, but never fear, because the final-round performances tonight will be simulcast on the big screen in Sundance Square, so you can bring the kids, wear your T-shirt and shorts, and settle in for an evening of concertos with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. The broadcast is at 7:15pm at 420 Main St, FW. Admission is free. Call 817-212-4280.
Saturday 10 – Our own Trinity Shakespeare Festival doesn’t start until Tuesday, but you can get a jump on the Bard by traveling down to Cleburne and catching Shakespeare in the Park’s production of The Taming of the Shrew, detailing the battle of the sexes between a determined fortune hunter and a difficult woman. The play runs Fri thru today at Winston Patrick McGregory Park, 1628 W Henderson Rd, Cleburne. Tickets are $5-15.
Sunday 11 – Dan Brown may have made the Illuminati into popular villains of shady world-engulfing conspiracies, but Larry Larson and Levi Lee had him beat by several decades when they wrote Some Things You Need to Know Before the End of the World (A Final Evening With the Illuminati) in 1981. The madcap comedy plays thru today at Arts Fifth Avenue, 1628 5th Av, FW. Tickets are $15. Call 817-923-9500.
Monday 12 – This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of Sepia magazine, an African-American photojournalism magazine that was based here in Fort Worth. This month at the Fort Worth Central Public Library, you can see some of the photographs that this publication printed, documenting the textures of African-American life in our city through the decades. The Sepia photo exhibit runs thru Jul 6 at 500 W 3rd St, FW. Admission is free. Call 817-871-7701.
Tuesday 13 – Maybe it’s clever or maybe it’s just coincidence, but the Modern is showing Paris, Texas a few days after it shows Paris Can Wait. Wim Wenders’ 1984 American road film is part of a series of films showing at the museum as a summer extension of its Tuesday Evenings at the Modern series. The film screens at 7pm at 3200 Darnell St, FW. Admission is free. Call 817-738-9215.
