Wednesday 13 – You may have seen Melanie Brook in commercials for Kohl’s or Arm & Hammer kitty litter. Now you can see her one-woman show at Casa Mañana’s Reid Theatre, where she’ll display her formidable vocal chops, singing everything from classic Broadway to Ariana Grande, today thru Sat at 3101 W Lancaster Av, FW. Tickets are $35-45. Call 817-332-2272.
Thursday 14 – Camille Saint-Saëns had an enduring 19th-century white-guy fascination with Africa and Asia, which sometimes had regrettable consequences, like his Japanese-set opera called The Yellow Princess. Symphony Arlington will play the overture to that opera as part of a color-themed concert with Blue Tango and music from The Red Violin. (Why not Madeleine Dring’s Colour Suite?) The music starts at 7:30pm at Arlington Music Hall, 224 N Center St, Arlington. Tickets are $16.50-46.50. Call 817-385-4084.
Friday 15 – Strange things can happen when literature and politics meet. That’s the subject of Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been …, Carlyle Brown’s dramatization of Langston Hughes’ 1953 testimony before a Senate committee on un-American activities. The 2012 play, which includes some musical interludes set to Hughes’ poetry, has its regional premiere today thru Mar 10 at Stage West, 821 W Vickery Blvd, FW. Tickets are $17-35. Call 817-784-9378.
Saturday 16 – Stolen Shakespeare Guild puts on two plays this week that cover the same period of English history: Henry VIII is a rare collaboration between Shakespeare and another playwright (John Fletcher) that leads up to the birth of England’s then-Queen Elizabeth I, while Wolf Hall is a dramatization of Hilary Mantel’s novel about Henry VIII’s right-hand man, Thomas Cromwell. The shows run Fri thru Mar 3 at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center, 1300 Gendy St, FW. Tickets are $15-19. Call 866-811-4111.
Sunday 17 – Southlake Women’s Club is holding their 20th annual Strokes of Art in the Square wing-ding, inaugurating a new season of public art displays with a popular vote to determine the best entry. Besides entries from the previous 20 years, the event also features live music by Tanner Deters and food from some of the local restaurants at 5:30pm at Southlake Town Hall, 1400 Main St, Southlake. Admission is free. Call 817-748-8400.
Monday 18 – Josef Labor was an Austrian composer who went blind at age 3 but became a keyboardist to the imperial court as well as Arnold Schoenberg’s teacher. He’s best known for his organ works, but Spectrum Chamber Music Series will play his Piano Quintet this evening, as well as pieces by Beethoven and Osvaldo Golijov, at 7pm at First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1959 Sandy Ln, FW. A $10-15 donation is suggested. Call 817-377-0688.
Tuesday 19 – February means it’s time once again for Fort Worth Museum of Science and History’s Engineers Week. You and your kids can build better paper airplanes or mechanical flying machines to be tested in a wind tunnel, as well as talk to working engineers about careers in the industry. The activities run today thru Feb 23 at 1600 Gendy St, FW. Admission is free with the price of museum entry. Call 817-255-9300.
