Arts Alive San Antonio

Yesterday we wrote a News Roundup about a few events that were going to proceed as planned. But then, email after email flooded our inbox with announcements of closing and postponing shows, exhibits and concerts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and follow the directives issued by the authorities. The Tobin Center is rescheduling all its shows, the folk-dance festival and the Tejano Music Awards Fan Fair have been canceled, and even the St. Patrick’s Day Parade has been called off. The city’s museums have closed their doors.

As far as we know, The Public Theater of San Antonio is one of the few arts institutions that is not closing though it’s taking extra measures to keep its facilities clean and sanitized. It is also limiting the number of audience members allowed.

Since its smaller space, The Cellar Theater, accommodates around 65 people max – well below the 250 allowed- we want to tell you about the current show there which we enjoyed very much. Called “Admissions,” the play by Joshua Harmon deals with a family of liberal educators whose commitment to liberal principles and diversity fly out the window when their son is rejected by the Ivy League school he hoped to attend while his partially-black friend is accepted. It’s a strong script and the cast is terrific. (Cellar Theater, Public Theater of San Antonio, in San Pedro Park; Thursday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. through March 22. www.thepublicsa.org)

And here’s something you can enjoy without leaving your home. The Agarita Chamber Players are putting their inaugural concert on their website for several days. It features North and South American composers, including John Cage, Hector Villa-Lobos, Ginastera, Piazzolla, and others. To stream, go to www.agarita.org, click on “Media” and enjoy! We plan to do it.

And here’s news for poets, established and “emerging” – and it doesn’t involve crowds: VOICES DE LA LUNA, the region’s premier literary magazine, has just announced its inaugural Harold Rodinsky Poetry Contest, open to all adults. Deadline is April 8. You can submit up to five poems. A reading fee of $10 is required. No identifying information should appear on the poems themselves (blind entry). Contact info and poem titles should be included in a cover letter. To submit, mail the combo to VOICES DE LA LUNA, Attn: Carla, 5150 Broadway #149, San Antonio, TX 78209. Winners will get small monetary prizes and will be published in VOICES.

Luminaria is also inviting submissions, in this case, from artists who would like to participate in the 2020 outdoor festival. Here, too, you have to pay $10 application fee and the deadline is April 20. You can apply on AnyArtist.org. Information sessions for artists are scheduled for March 15 at 12 noon and March 24 at 5:30 p.m.

The 2020 fest will have a smaller footprint and it will start earlier in the evening, probably to accommodate families with younger children. Also, all Sunday post-fest events have been scratched. One thing will remain the same, however – the Hemisfair location. The 13th Luminaria festival will take place from 6 to 11 p.m. on Nov. 14.