The Big Easy has cast its spell over David Garcia with all its magical charms and has rendered him a soul enchanted with the bewitching city. Is it the madness of Mardi Gras? The allure of black magic and the dark voodoo shops scattered throughout the French Quarter? Or something as sugary and sweet as…
Arts & Culture
Alyson Alonzo Sheds Light on Her Musical Roots and Her Debut EP The Romantic
It’s not exactly a surprise that Alyson Alonzo names Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald as some of her main musical influences. With a voice as big as the legends that inspired her, the 30-year-old, openly gay musician has become a well-known name in San Antonio’s indie-music circuit. From killing her set at Maverick Music Festival…
Local Musician and Poet Lourdes Pérez Doesn’t Hold Back
It all started when she declared, “I have to sing” following a Mercedes Sosa concert at Bass Concert Hall in Austin in 1992. Lourdes Pérez, out poet, musician and activist, made the declaration to her now-wife and manager, Annette D’Armata. Now married for 27 years, they said they would give the music venture 100 percent…
Idina Menzel on Touring, Motherhood and Transitioning from Broadway to Pop
Idina Menzel rose to prominence in 1996 when she originated the role of Maureen in Jonathan Larson’s Tony- and Pulitzer-winning Broadway musical RENT. She cemented her status as one of today’s preeminent Broadway actresses with further roles in Wicked (2003) and If/Then (2014). In 2013, Menzel hit the stratosphere voicing the role of Elsa the…
McNay Sets Fall Opening for Chuck Ramirez Retrospective
San Antonio’s McNay Art Museum announced this week that it will mount the first major retrospective featuring the work of renowned local artist Chuck Ramirez who died in 2010 in a bicycle accident. The exhibit, titled “All This and Heaven Too,” is being organized by McNay curator René Paul Barilleaux and is set to open…
Activist and Artist Dan Guerrero in SA for Lecture and One-Man Show
In 1962, Dan Guerrero arrived in New York City eager to break into the world of show business. Decades before Latinos were projected to become the largest minority group in the US and during a time when Liberace was “just flamboyant,” Guerrero often found himself the sole Mexican American at auditions. The son of Chicano…
‘The Bodyguard’ to Kick-Off New Season at Majestic
The Majestic Theatre will kick-off the 2017 – 2018 season of its North Park Lexus Broadway in San Antonio series with the hit musical The Bodyguard beginning on September 19. Based on the 1992 Lawrence Kasdan film starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner, The Bodyguard made its world premiere in December 2012 at London’s Adelphi…
Local Theatres to Broadcast Live Production of ‘Angels in America’
For those of us who can’t cross the globe to catch the London revival of Tony Kushner’s landmark play Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, it comes as a pleasant surprise that the National Theatre plans to broadcast its production to cinemas worldwide this summer. Starring Andrew Garfield (Spiderman), Nathan Lane (Birdcage), and Russell Tovey…
Rey Lopez Birthday Bash Returns for Sixth Year
Since its 2012 premiere at the Bonham Exchange, the annual Rey Lopez Birthday Bash has featured appearances by some of the top performers from RuPaul’s Drag Race. With the reality show’s increasing popularity and its recent jump to VH1, there seems to be no end in sight for these gender-bending, boundary-pushing queens. Before last year’s bash…
Curator David Rubin Reflects on His San Antonio Years
David Rubin came to San Antonio in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. He had made the decision to leave New Orleans in 2006 with a heavy heart. He had been the curator of visual arts at Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) since 2000, and still thinks of this tenure as his favorite. Rubin refers to the…