CHIP’S CORNER

from Amarillo Magazine | October 2020

BETTER BREATHING

As fall arrives and temperatures cool, we’ll see what’s actually in store for the entertainment scene. You can probably forget about any major Halloween parties; costume masks probably aren’t too effective at keeping Miss Rona at bay. Amarillo arts groups are still hoping to start rolling out their seasons in the weeks ahead, and movie theaters are (at least at press time) tentatively open again. What used to be called the fall television season is now just coming out in fits and starts. The book industry’s biggest releases should still come out, though they’re still feeling the COVID-19 punch, too. And this all assumes that the arrival of colder weather and fewer opportunities to move activities outdoors won’t cause another explosion of cases and put us in another shutdown situation. (We’re either 10 months or 10 years into 2020, your call.) Remember, all dates are subject to change.

Amarillo Arts and Entertainment AMARILLO MUSEUM OF ART’S 12 X 12 ART EXHIBITION AND ONLINE AUCTION: The 15th annual fundraiser is going big in response to the big challenges of the year. Artists, who normally make artwork that’s 12 inches all around, will make 20 x 20 works instead. The viewing party and silent auction is typically the most boisterous night of the year at the museum, but such nights are out of the picture still. Instead, the exhibition will be on view from Oct. 2 to 4 at the museum, 2200 S. Van Buren St., and each piece may also be viewed (and bid upon) on the museum’s website. Bidding runs Oct. 2 to 8. (806-371-5050, amoa.org)

AMARILLO LITTLE THEATRE ACADEMY’S “THE TEN (THOUSAND) PROBLEMS OF A TEENAGE GIRL)”: Carrie Huckabay, one of ALT’s most popular actors and a well-regarded Academy instructor, pens what she bills “an honest look at a teen girl’s life.” A series of monologues and vignettes will explore some of the biggest headaches in a teenager’s world. It’s set to be staged Oct. 9 to 11 on the ALT Main Stage, 2019 Civic Circle. (806-355-9991, amarillolittletheatre.org)

JAZZTOBER: Center City of Amarillo had to cancel the summer tradition High Noon on the Square thanks to pandemic restrictions, but they’re hoping to bring back outdoor music with this annual fall concert series. Four of Amarillo’s top jazz bands will swing and bop in weekly Tuesday night concerts, beginning at 6:30 p.m. weekly on the grounds of the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce, 1000 S. Polk St. Concerts are free, and picnic baskets and blankets (as well as social distancing) are encouraged. (806-372-6744, centercity.org)

CHAMBER MUSIC AMARILLO’S “BRIDGING THE ATLANTIC”: Violinist Evgeny Zvonnikov and pianist Diego Caetano will team up for an intimate evening of sonatas. On the bill are works by Claude Debussy, Joaquin Turina, Heitor Villa-Lobos and John Corigliano. The concert is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 9 in the Amarillo Botanical Gardens, 1400 Streit Drive. (806-236-3545, cmama.org)

AMARILLO LITTLE THEATRE’S “THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME”: After a successful late-summer run of Stephen Karam’s “The Humans,” ALT took a break and will resume its season with a Mainstage performance of this acclaimed play. It’s an adaptation of Mark Haddon’s acclaimed novel about a teen boy with autism who plays detective in an attempt to figure out who killed his neighbor’s pet. It’s a remarkably insightful work about the attempt to impose order on what the New York Times’ Ben Brantley called “the bewildering world outside” in his review of the 2014 Broadway production of the drama. The play will run Oct. 22 to Nov. 1 on the ALT Mainstage, 2019 Civic Circle. (806-355-9991, amarillolittletheatre.org)

AMARILLO SYMPHONY: The orchestra will continue the first half of conductor Jacomo Bairos’ final season with its second digital-only concert on Oct. 22. Bairos will lead the symphony in Aaron Copland’s beloved “Appalachian Spring” and Igor Stravinsky’s “L’Histoire du soldat.” The performances will be recorded and released in full to season subscribers via a private link in their email. Nonsubscribers can still enjoy the artistry on the symphony’s social media channels. (806-376-8782, amarillosymphony.org)

LONE STAR BALLET’S “WOLF”: The dance company is ready to howl with this revival of its spooky show about leaping, pirouetting werewolves. The show is set for Oct. 23 and 24 in the Amarillo Civic Center Complex Auditorium, 401 S. Buchanan St. (806-372-2463, lonestarballet.org)

CHAMBER MUSIC AMARILLO’S FAZIOLI CONCERT SERIES: CMA has another concert on the books for October – a special spotlight on its magnificent Fazioli piano on Oct. 24 in a location yet to be announced. Pianist Andrey Ponochevney will tackle Frédéric Chopin’s “24 Preludes” and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Sonata No. 1 in D Minor, a darkly resounding work that’s somewhat infrequently performed, making this a potentially rare treat. (806-376-8782, cmama.org)

Movies “THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7”: Aaron Sorkin returns to the political arena in this timely look back at the tumultuous Democratic National Convention of 1968 and a trial, a year later, of demonstrators charged with conspiracy and inciting riots. Stars include Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Mark Rylance. (Oct. 16, Netflix)

“CANDYMAN”: The iconic Black-centric horror film gets a contemporary makeover from director Nia DaCosta, stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Teyonah Parris and producer Jordan Peele (“Get Out”). (Oct. 16, in theaters)

“REBECCA”: Director Ben Wheatley (“Free Fire”) and stars Armie Hammer, Lily James and Kristin Scott Thomas go back to Daphne du Maurier’s original novel for this new film version of a story belovedly told by Alfred Hitchcock in 1940. (Oct. 21, Netflix)

“DEATH ON THE NILE”: Kenneth Branagh returns as Hercule Poirot (as well as the film’s director) in another star-studded Agatha Christie adaptation, this time featuring Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Rose Leslie, Annette Bening, Jennifer Saunders and Letitia Wright, among others. Plus a death. On the Nile. (Oct. 23, in theaters)

Books “LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND”: Rumaan Alam’s third novel (already optioned for a Netflix movie reuniting Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington) is a thriller about a wealthy white family and an even wealthier Black couple who are trapped together as civilization, perhaps, is falling apart out in the wider world. (Oct. 6)

“PLAIN BAD HEROINES”: Emily M. Danforth (“The Miseducation of Cameron Post”) makes her adult fiction debut with a horror-comedy revolving around a cursed New England boarding school for girls. More than 100 years after some students are found dead, a bestselling book becomes a controversial film. The buzz is high for this story within a story within a story. (Oct. 20)

Television “EMILY IN PARIS”: Prepare to swoon when Lily Collins stars in the latest romantic series from creator Darren Star (“Sex and the City,” “Younger”). (Oct. 2, Netflix)

“THE MANDALORIAN”: The “Star Wars”-universe space Western returns for a second season with the tight-lipped bounty hunter, a black lightsaber-wielding warlord and, of course, Baby Yoda. (Oct. 30, Disney+)