Arts Alive San Antonio

This weekend is huge for Opera San Antonio! It’s finally returning to the stage at the Tobin Center for live in-person performances starring internationally celebrated singers in Gaetano Donizetti’s famed opera “Lucia de Lammermoor.” Grand arias, high-intensity drama, tragic family conflicts, and above all, beautiful voices – this opera has it all! (May 6 & 8, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle; for tickets, go to tickets@tobincenter.org or call 210-223-8624. To read more about the production, see our feature story from May 3, on this site.)

This weekend is also important for many musicians and artists who have suffered loss of income during the pandemic year. To help them, several organizations have teamed up to organize another fundraising effort similar to last year’s live telethon, sponsored by Texas Public Radio. Called VIVA! – A Live Telethon, it will take place on Saturday, May 9, from 6 p.m. to midnight. And It will be hosted by the same person as last year, musician and Lonesome Rose co-owner Garrett T. Capps. 

“Viva! Uno Mas, is going to better than Fiesta,” promised Capps, in a statement.

The proceeds from the telethon will go into the Working Artist Fund managed by the Luminaria organization and will be dedicated to assisting local artists on a year-round basis.

“The need for virtual presentations requires costly software, upgrades, and better equipment while costs for traditional expenses have risen due to demand,” noted Luminaria’s executive director Yadhira Lozano. “Though the Working Artist Fund, we hope to address some of those needs.”

What will be shown during the 6-hour telethon are videos of performances from Bexar County artists, live interviews, special appearances by dancers, artists and filmmakers, plus “surprise co-hosts,” games, and more. Viewers will be able to vote to elect three artists who will then be featured during the 2021 Luminaria Contemporary Arts Festival in November.

The telethon will be livestreamed on TPR’s Facebook page from the Malu & Carlos Alvarez Theater & Studio, which is part of TPR’s new downtown headquarters. You can also watch the proceedings on YouTube and TPR.org, as well as in-person during a watch-party at The Lonesome Rose club. For more info go to viva@tpr.com.

For a different kind of music and a different (intimate) setting, you can visit San Antonio’s premier jazz club, Jazz TX, located in the Pearl complex. The owner, Doc Watkins, a distinguished jazz pro himself will entertain guests with his quartet Thursday, May 6, Friday, May 7 and Saturday May 8. The May 6 show starts at 7:30; the other two at 7. Watkins promises “a brand-new show” with jazz, blues, original tunes and even a bit of classical piano. Sounds wonderful! (Jazz TX, 312 Pearl Parkway, 210-332-9386; dinner service is available.)

If country music is your cup of tea, you can’t do better than singer/songwriter Dale Watson’s live concert Thursday. May 6 at St. Paul Square. It starts at 8 p.m. and it’s free.

More country music to enjoy: Robert Earl Keene and Clint Black will perform at the Whitewater Amphitheater in New Braunfels this weekend, Keene on Saturday, May 8, and Black on Sunday, May 9. (Whitewater Amphitheater, 11860 FM 306, New Braunfels, 78132; 830-964-3800; www.whitewaterrocks.com/events/)

More music, albeit of the musical-theater kind, will be showcased at the Best of Woodlawn Theater Revue, starting May 7. The Woodlawn is known for its musicals and the revue will celebrate nine years of musical productions that have graced the theater’s stage and entertained lots of grateful theatergoers. The cast includes Anna Gangai, Ashley Markgraf, DuWayne Greene, Edward Burkley, John Berring, Danielle King, Michael Parisi, Nora Martinez-Rodriguez and Max Peters. The show is directed by Christopher Rodriguez and Darrin Newhardt is in charge of the music. (May 7- May 23, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m.; tickets $18-$30, must be purchased online; go to www.woodlawntheatre.org/experience.)

The Classic Theater of San Antonio is opening “Our Town” Thursday May 13, at the San Antonio Botanical Garden, its new outdoor venue that’s quite cozy and comfortable. In fact, it can even enhance the performances. www.classictheatre.org. (more about that next week.)

At the San Antonio Botanical Garden, you’ll also find an exhibition about the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo focusing on her “deep connection with plants and the natural world.” Called the “Frida Kahlo Oasis,” the exhibit, developed in partnership with the Frida Kahlo Foundation, features a stylized version of her home, known as Casa Azul, and the “green sanctuary” that surrounded the house. (San Antonio Botanical Garden, 555 Funston Place, 210-536-1400; open every day.)

A very different exhibit just opened at AnArte Gallery on Broadway@Sunset. “Between Worlds” is an exhibit of intriguing and gorgeous canvases by San Antonio artist Steven DaLuz who explores the notion “of transitioning between states of being.” Most paintings have already been sold but the exhibit will be on view through May 31. (AnArte Gallery, 7959 Broadway, Suite 202, 78209; www.anartegallery09.com.)

Poetry Month may be over, but literary events continue. Three authors will be discussing “Navigating Craft and the Writing Life” this Friday, May 7, via Zoom. The three are Reginald Gibbons, Urayoan Noel and Jasminne Mendez. An audience Q&A will be part of the event. (May 7, 6:30 -8 p.m., free and open to the public. To register go to www.geminiink.org/calendar. The date for the next Big Texas Read is May 12. Participants will discuss poet Jenny Browne’s book “Fellow Travelers: New and Selected Poems.” Browne was the third San Antonio poet laureate.

The literary organization Voices De La Luna will sponsor a writing workshop on May 20: “Points of Departure – Drafting New Poems” led by Octavio Quintanilla, the 2018-20 poet laureate of San Antonio. The emphasis will be on generating new work. (for info contact  voicesdelaluna@outlook.com.

Artpace San Antonio wants you to know that it is now open by appointment. On view in the galleries is the latest International Artists in Residence exhibit showing the work of Adrian Aguilera (Austin), Nazafarin Lotfi (from Iran but U.S.-based), and the husband & wife team, Angel Nevarez and Valerie Tevere (Brooklyn, New York). Other exhibits can be seen in the Main Space Gallery and the Hudson Showroom. (Artpace, 445 N. Main Ave., 78205; 210-212-4900; info@artpace.org.)

And here’s happy news for moviegoers: Regal has just announced the re-opening of five of the chain’s local theaters:  Alamo Quarry, Cielo Vista, Huebner Oaks, Northwoods, and Live Oak & RPX. Guy Ritchie’s “Wrath of Man” will headline new movies, including “Mortal Kombat” and “Godzilla vs. Kong,” and a bunch of other titles. Health and safety measure will be in place. To explore Regal’s offerings, go to www.REGmovies.com.