Arts Alive San Antonio

Misic, music, everywhere!

To celebrate Diez y Seis de Septiembre, The San Antonio Philharmonic will present a special concert featuring several artists from other art disciplines. Legendary flamenco dancer, Teresa Champion, will perform with her daughters, Elsa Champion and Annette Champion Flores, and actor Jesse Borrego will act as emcee of the event. The concert will take place at Lanier High School, where Teresa Champion first learned to dance. She later established the Theresa Champion Dance Academy. She was also the artistic director of the Ballet Folklorico de San Antonio. Many San Antonio dancers learned their steps from her.

Borrego is also well-known here and beyond. He got his start in the TV show “Fame” in the 1980s, and more recently appeared in the film “Blood In, Blood Out” that was shown during the recent Cine Festival. For this concert, the orchestra will be conducted by Troy Peters of YOSA.

Dies y Seis commemorates the night of Sept. 15, 1810 which ultimately led to Mexico’s independence from Spain.

The concert will include both the “Star-Spangled Banner” and the Mexican national anthem, classical music from Mexican composers and some popular favorites, such as “Star Wars Suite. (Sept. 15, at 4 p.m.; Lanier High School, 1514 W. Cesar Chavez Blvd, 78207; free)

A musical show you may not want to miss is “Les Grandes Dames” produced and directed by Corina Davis, the founder of The Corina Davis Productions.  For this show, she has assembled an amazing cast of ten musical theater’s stars who will perform songs from musicals, jazz hits, pop songs and arias from operettas. The ten are: Anna Gangai, Sherry Houston, Cassandra Small, Melissa Gonzalez, Kim Bianco, Nicole Erwin, Beth Erwin, Paige Berry, Michelle Burnett, and Davis, herself. Though Tom Masinter serves as music director, the songs were chosen by the performers themselves. (Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m.; Josephine Theater, 339 W. Josephine St., 78212; $45 general admission via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/grandes-dames-tickets; You can read more about it in our article published Sept. 13 on this site)

The “Jagged Little Pill” musical at the Tobin Center has been postponed. No new date given.

On Sept 19, you can see one of the best known and influential bands in rock history– In fact, it is described as “one of the most important bands in music since the dawn of rock-and-roll – Chicago – at the Majestic Theater. (Sept. 19 at 7:30 p.m.; tickets are $119-$125+, via Ticketmaster.)

In pop/rock music, we’ll also mention Maluma whose Don Juan Tour stops at the AT&T Center this weekend. The Colombian rapper and singer performs in a range of genres, from pop and Latin Urbano to reggaeton and rock. Maybe you know his song “Magik” that made him famous. His real name, BTW, is Juan Luis Londono Arias. (Sept. 21 at 8 p.m., AT&T Center, 1 AT&T Parkway, 78219; 210-444-5140; tickets via Ticketmaster, $45-$175+)

The Lonestar Live in Concert band, winner of multiple Country Music awards, is taking a fresh look at all of its chart-topping songs these days, says the promotional material. (Sept. 16 at 8 p.m.; Charline McCombs Empire Theater, 226 N. St. Mary’s St.; $29-$148, vis Ticketmaster)

Mexican singer and actress, Paulina Rubio will be at the Espee this weekend. She became a global pop idol and released a number of successful albums, such as “Pau-Latina,” “Ananda” “Gran City Pop” and “Border Girl.” According to publicity material, she is known as the “Madonna of America.” (Sept. 15 at 8 p.m., doors open at 7 p.m., The Espee Pavilion at St. Paul Square, 1174 E. Commerce, 78205; 210-474-7640; tickets are $39.50 – $$99.50; www.theespee.com)

For yet another music style, you may want to listen the Dirty River Jazz Band, a San Antonio group that invites listeners to dance if they want to. They will be entertaining for free at the King William Park. These guys believe that the roaring 20s are coming back around, and their band is the future of traditional jazz in Texas. (Sept. 17, at 5:30 p.m., King William Park, sponsored by the King William Association; 210-227-8786, free)

So, what’s going on, on our stages? We already told you about the musical show at the Josephine Theater. The Public Theater of San Antonio is still working on raising the money they need to prosper in 2024. The fund-raising campaign is still going on, with more than $100,000 raised so far. The goal is $500,000. To donate – and remember every little bit counts – go to www.thepublicsa.org/savetheplayhouse. A fundraising event is planned for Oct. 20.

The Teatro Audaz’s original new play, “Somewhere Over the Border” is still playing through Sept. 17. It’s about a young woman from Mexico who is pursuing her American dream but at the cost of leaving her baby boy back home. (Friday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday at 2:30 p.m., McAllister Auditorium, 1300 San Pedro; 78212, 210-820-3400; tickets@balletconservatory.org)

The musical “Into the Woods” is still playing at the Wonder Theater, still housed in the Woodlawn Theater. These folks know how to stage musicals! The show closes Sept. 24; https://www.wondertheatre.org.

As you know from reading ARTS ALIVE SAN ANTONIO, the Tobin Center will be producing musicals, too. We’ll tell you more about that soon.

And there’s good news from Kerrville and its Schreiner University. The school has a student theater company and they are tackling a difficult play: Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” no less! The theater series was started by Professor Claudia Sullivan, but is now directed by Jeff Cunningham, Instructor of Theater. This show is one of six free public performances offered by the theater program. (Sept. 22-24 at the Hanszen Fine Arts Studio Theater on campus; Friday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday at 2:30 p.m. For more info, visit www.schreiner.edu/theatre or call 830-792-7472.)

The Magik Theater, which focuses on “young audiences” – also known as children – Is having a big fundraiser this Saturday: “A Night of Magik: Cabaret de Nuit” featuring all the elements of such events: dinner, raffle, entertainment, etc. (Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m.; tickets are $125; Majik Theater, 420- S. Alamo St., 78205; 210-227-2751, www.magiktheatre.org)

Visual Arts are always alive and well in San Antonio, or almost always. So, here’s what’s going on:

A beautiful fiber arts exhibit: TEXtiles: A Celebration of Texas Fiber Art is open to visitors through Oct. 20, at the Kelso Art Center on the University of the Incarnate Word campus. You’ll be amazed by the creativity of these artists. (UIW, 4301 Broadway; free and open to the public; 210-829-6000 to make sure that the Kelso Center is open when you are planning to visit.)

SALA DIAZ is presenting “Hills Snyder – Twenty-four Balls and the Truth,” a one-week pop-up that involves 24 faux-leather baseballs. They will be signed by a series of famous and non-famous namesand pitched onto baseball diamonds in the city where they may be found by people passing by. If we understood correctly, this is more an experiment in human behavior than an art project. What happens to the balls will be documented. On Sept 16 at a public gathering at the gallery, photos of what happened to the balls will be collected into a notebook; 6-9 p.m.

The King William Association is presenting the work of Doerte Weber: “A German Connection to King William.” She describes herself as a self-taught artist who weaves with diverse quotidian materials. The exhibit’s theme explores the interwoven history of Germans in Texas. (On view through Dec.14; King William Association, 122 Madison At.; 210-227-8786; https://www.ourkwa.org/)

The interest in the “Dreamland” exhibit at the McNay Art Museum was so big that the museum decided to have timed-entry reservations from now on. The full name of the show is “Dreamland/ Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas,” It displays maquettes made for the famed film with art from the museum’s collection that somehow resonates with the themes of the movie. From our experience there, we concluded that kids like the 3D scary models, and the adults pay more attention to the art. (McNay Museum, 6000 N. New Braunfels, 78209; 210-824-5368, www.mcnayart.org)

At the Briscoe Museum they are planning a Storytime Stampede. The series kicks off on Sept 16 and runs on the third Saturday of each month, featuring stories told and acted out, books read aloud, movement activities, songs and “bushels of artsy fun.” Kids under 12 are free and the parents will pay ½ price of normal admission. The program is designed for young children five and younger. And there’s a lot more at the Briscoe for both kids and adults (Briscoe Museum. 210 W. Market St., 210-299-4499, www.brisciemuseum.org)

Artpace is inviting artists to apply to the Texas Open Call. The Texas Open Call is the organization’s primary resource for identifying artists who are interested and eligible for participation in Artpace’s International Artist-in-Residence program and exbitions, as well as studio visits by curators. Currently, only Texas artists can participate. Next week you’ll be able to see the work of the fall 2023 International Artists-in-Residence. (Sept. 21, 6-8 p.m.’ presentations at 6:30 p.m.)

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