Amarillo area entertainment briefs for the week of June 12
Ethical dilemma in classic sci-fi story in spotlight for WT’s Great Books Series in June
CANYON — A profound ethical quandary pitting the life of many versus the life of one child will be up for discussion in the next installment of West Texas A&M University’s Great Books Series.
Dr. Patricia Tyrer, WT’s Jenny Lind Porter Professor of English, will lead the discussion of Tom Godwin’s “The Cold Equations” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 14, via Zoom.
The discussion series, which sponsored by the Department of English, Philosophy and Modern Languages, is open to those who either have or haven’t read the book, said Dr. Daniel Bloom, Great Books organizer and associate professor of philosophy.
The series began in 2011 and is traditionally held in person on the second Tuesday of the month at Burrowing Owl Books, 7406 S.W. 34th Ave., Suite 2B, in Amarillo. It shifted to Zoom during the COVID -19 pandemic; a return to in-person meetings is expected to occur in September.
To register for the June discussion, email Tyrer at ptyrer@wtamu.edu.
High Noon on the Square concerts held Wednesday at courthouse during summer
Center City Amarillo is presenting High Noon on the Square again this summer. The weekly free entertainment event is held at the Potter County Courthouse at Sixth Street and Taylor Avenue.
Lunch will be available for listeners with a $10 fee. Weekly, the city of Amarillo will also be giving away free popsicles to attendees as a part of its Every Drop Counts program. Limited seating and tables will be provided, but guests are encouraged to bring a chair or a blanket for lawn seating.
Each week will host different lunch sponsors and artists singing songs from all genres, from jazz to country and everything in between. Sponsors will begin serving lunch around 11:45 a.m.; each week, music will begin around noon and end around 1 p.m.
The June lineup includes:
June 15 - Music by Buster Bledsoe. Lunch will be a Chick-Fil-A sack lunch, sponsored by Sprouse Shrader Smith.
June 22 - Performers of “TEXAS” the outdoor musical. Lunch will be barbecue from Mitch’s Barbecue, sponsored by the Park Central Community.
June 29 - Music provided by the Amarillo Opera. Lunch will be jalapeno turkey sandwiches from Crush, sponsored by Brown & Fortunato.
For a complete list of upcoming entertainment, visit centercity.org/high-noon-on-the-square/ .
City Parks and Recreation hosting live music, movie screenings
Starlight Theater, an outdoor concert series with performances by local entertainers,
is underway for the summer every Tuesday night at Sam Houston Park, 4101 Line Ave.
Concerts run from 7 to 9 p.m. and are free and open to the public, with music, food trucks and family fun. Grab your friends, family, blanket, a picnic dinner and come enjoy live music and summer evenings and talent in Amarillo.
The lineup includes:
June 14 - Lindsey Lane, progressive country;
June 21 - Noah Jenda, classic rock;
June 28 - Mike Fuller & The Repeat Offenders, acoustic rock, blues and folk;
July 5 - Jonathon Guidi & Touching Voodoo, blues and classic rock;
July 12 - The Tweeks, variety;
July 19 - The Martinis, jazz;
July 26 - The Prairie Dogs, Texas Americana; and
Aug. 2 - Insufficient Funds, variety.
In addition, Starlight Cinema is offering free, family-friendly movies in the park all summer long. Screenings begin at dark, and include "The Sandlot" on June 11 at Southwest Softball Complex, "The Goonies" on June 24 at Memorial Park, and "The Little Rascals" on July 22 at Memorial Park.
Amarillo Public Library hosting summer reading program, 'Oceans of Possibilities'
The Amarillo Public Library's summer reading club, AMARILLO READS, has begun for the summer with "Oceans of Possibilities."
Read at least 15 minutes a day for 30 hours to earn a prize, and visit any Amarillo Public Library location to sign up. You’ll receive a complete calendar of events and a reading log to help you develop a habit of daily reading. Color in one sea creature every day when you read at least 15 minutes. Kids can choose their prize-a brand-new book from a wide variety of titles selected by our youth staff. Adults receive a voucher for a free bag of books from the Friends of the Amarillo Public Library Book Sale, and teens can choose between the voucher and a new book. You have June and July to complete your 30 days of reading.
There is a lot going on at APL during the summer, with many opportunities to learn, enjoy, and create. Programs include the Rubber Ducky Club, where participants from birth through age 3 receive a rubber ducky of their choice when they sign up, along with an early literacy log of activities for children and caregivers to do together each week of the program; a narwhal hiding in the seascape at the Northwest Branch Library throughout June; a Wall of Fish at the East Branch Library, where patrons can pick up a fish any time they stop by, decorate it any way they like and bring it back to be added to their wall; and a Sea Horse Hunt at the Southwest Branch Library.
Other offerings include the chance to pick up a blackout card from the Downtown Library and use it to improve your close reading skills — find at least ten of the story elements in your reading and pull a prize from our Pirate Treasure Chest; and a pirate scavenger hunt at the Downtown Library in June.
For more, visit the library or go online to https://www.amarillolibrary.org/ .
New exhibit, "Quinceañera Traditions," opens at PPHM
CANYON — Experience the historic and symbolic meaning of the quinceañera at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum during "Quinceañera Traditions," the newest textile exhibit on display at PPHM now until February 2023. It will feature stories from those in the Panhandle region about the tradition and three generations of ‘quince’ celebrations.
"As a rite of passage, a quinceañera, is a celebration of food, family, and faith that encompasses both the old and the new. Quinceañera Traditions celebrates the traditions surrounding a fifteen year old’s journey from girl to woman," a news release says.
“PPHM is excited to celebrate the quinceañera and its unique importance to the people of our area.” said Deana Craighead, Curator of Art. “Quinceañera Traditions tells stories from our community and has been met with tremendous enthusiasm. Over these many months of planning, I have been overwhelmed by the people I have met and their incredible openness and generosity. We would especially like to thank our exhibit sponsors Dean Boyd, Los Barrios de Amarillo, Telemundo and Amarillo National Bank. I encourage the public to visit the museum to experience it for themselves.”
Located on the campus of West Texas A&M University, PPHM features more than 285,000 square feet and over 2 million artifacts dedicated to preserving this area’s past.
To learn more about the exhibit, tours, upcoming movie nights, and other summer events at the museum, visit panhandleplains.org.
'Fantastic Visions' exhibit opens at AMoA
The exhibit, "Fantastic Visions: Surreal and Constructed Images," is on display at the Amarillo Museum of Art (AMoA) now through Sept. 4.
Drawn from private collections, this exhibition showcases the work of artists and photographers who embrace the surreal and challenge reality through creatively constructed images and unique perspectives. Real and imaginary figures inhabit worlds that hover between the sublime and visceral, according to a news release.
"Shana and Robert ParkeHarrison’s images offer a mysterious narrative filled with constructed mechanical devices and architecture that investigate human interactions with nature. Israeli artist Michal Rovner pushes her ethereal images of anonymous individuals and non-specific locations to the point of near abstraction that are saturated with emotional resonance," the release says. "The works from Dutch photographer Teun Hocks exist between photography and painting. His large-scale, hand-colored gelatin silver prints are humorous and surreal scenes that are staged self-portraits. The artist often portrays himself in tragic, but comic situations resigned to acceptance and defeat within the constructed narrative. Photographs from Vik Muniz’s series’ Pictures of Junk and Pictures of Chocolate are compositions of ordinary materials transformed and reconfigured into an image that is then photographed by the artist."
Additional artworks by artists such as Matthew Brandt, Nick Simpson, German photographer Elger Esser, and Russian-born American artists Rimma Gerlovina and Valeriy Gerlovinj, among others, are included in this exhibition.
AMoA is located at 2200 South Van Buren on the Washington Street campus of Amarillo College. Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. For additional information, visit www.amoa.org, email amoa@actx.edu, or
call 806-371-5050 or 806-371-5392 (weekends).
Parking is available in the #5 (north) and #6 (east) lots. Handicap parking is available in both lots.
Celtic Throne coming to G-N Center
Celtic Throne: The Royal Journey of Irish Dance comes to the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 16.
Created by Herbert W. Armstrong College and Armstrong Dance, with original new music from Golden Globe-nominated composer Brian Byrne ("Heartbeat of Home"), Celtic Throne celebrates the dramatic and mysterious origins of Irish dance.
Infused with innovative choreography, dazzling costumes and spectacular lighting and projection, Celtic Throne follows the millennia-long journey of a music-and-dance-loving people as they migrate from the ancient Near East to Ireland, Scotland, England and the United States.
Tickets for this performance range from $35 to $45 (plus taxes and fees) depending on seating, and are available at panhandletickets.com
Starlight Ranch hosting Amarillo Crawfish Festival
Get ready to enjoy fresh-boiled Louisiana Crawfish and food trucks from around the panhandle at the Amarillo Crawfish Festival 2022 set for Saturday, June 18, at Starlight Ranch.
They'll be serving up all your favorite Cajun foods with entertainment. There will be live music, a bounce house park for the kids, and plenty of crawfish.
Music will be provided by Bad Moon Rising, a Creedence Clearwater Revival Tribute; and Touching Voodoo.
New this year:
• 2 pounds of crawfish included with GA ticket
• Bad Moon Rising playing all your favorite CCR hits
• Touching Voodoo kicks off the festival
• Food trucks from around the Panhandle serving up Cajun fare
• Lawn chairs encouraged
• Bounce House park for the kids (included with General Admission ticket)
• Automatic entry to win a trip to New Orleans
• Photobooth with complimentary prints
• Face painting
Raffle tickets for the New Orleans trip are $5; general admission tickets are $30 (plus taxes and fees); general admission without crawfish tasting are $15 (plus taxes and fees); and VIP tickets are $65 (plus taxes and fees).
Tickets are available at prekindle.com. For more information on the festival, visit www.bigtexan.com/starlight-ranch-event-center/
ASO presents Dvořák’s New World Symphony
Amarillo Symphony presents Dvořák’s New World Symphony at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, June 24-25, at the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts, 500 S. Buchanan St.
Music Director Finalist Stilian Kirov returns to close the season with Dvořák’s powerful New World Symphony and George Walker’s poignant Lyric for Strings.
Guest violinist William Hagen performs Barber’s virtuosic violin concerto.
Tickets for this performance range from $21 to $71 (plus taxes and fees) depending on seating and are available online at panhandletickets.com
WWE experience coming to the Amarillo Civic Center Complex Coliseum
WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event is coming to the Amarillo Civic Center Complex Coliseum at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 25.
See your favorite superstars from Monday Night Raw for one night only. The lineup includes Amarillo Street Fight, Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Freakin' Rollins; and Triple Threat For The Raw Women's Championship, Bianca Belair vs. Asuka vs. Becky Lynch.
Tickets are available online at panhandletickets.com, by phone at (806) 378-3096 and in person at the Civic Center Complex Box Office and participating United Supermarkets in Amarillo, Canyon, Borger, Dumas, Dalhart, Hereford and Pampa. For more information, including details about souvenir ticket replicas and superstar packages, visit the Panhandle Tickets website.
WWE is hosting than 30 additional live events as part of the company’s summer touring schedule for 2022. Tickets went on sale May 13 and marked the largest number of WWE events to go on sale in a single day since WWE’s return to touring last year.
WWE is committed to family-friendly entertainment on its television programming, premium live event, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE’s TVPG programming can be seen in more than 1 billion homes worldwide in 30 languages through world-class distribution partners including NBCUniversal, FOX Sports, BT Sport, Sony India and Rogers. Additional information on WWE can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com.
Charley Crockett to perform at G-N Center in July
Charley Crockett is scheduled to perform at 7:30 p.m. July 5 at the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts.
Crockett has endured the collapse of the recording industry, no money, petty crime, societal ennui, the COVID-19 pandemic, open heart surgery, one-night stands, long distance rides in a van, loud truck stops and diners serving stale lukewarm coffee to get to where he is now.
His reward – and the audience's – is a collection of Charley Crockett originals. Sad, uplifting, hard, and sweet, complex and delicate all at once, the artist's songs are like life its ownself, just like the songs’ creator: like nothing you’ve heard or seen before, a genuine Texas original.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit panhandletickets.com.
Tickets on sale for 2nd annual 'Love, Laughter & Friends Festival' in September
Nfinity Entertainment & Live Capital proudly announce their 2nd Annual "Love, Laughter & Friends Festival," which will take place Sept. 17, starting at 6:30 p.m. in Amarillo’s Azteca Music Hall.
Tickets start at $55 and went on sale to the public June 6. There will be comedy, food and live performances from multiple Grammy nominated artists such as Frankie J, Twista, Pleasure P, Bobby V. and also Yung Joc from VH1's "Love and Hip Hop" — all five artists on one stage for one special night.
Last year’s festival showcased musical artists Ginuwine, Baby Bash and R&B group Dru Hill and drew an energetic diverse audience of more than 1,000 strong, and this year's event will be even bigger.
Keep up with news about the festival on Facebook and Instagram, and also by following @Nfinity Entertainment and @LiveCapitalTX. For additional information on tickets/VIP sections, call (806) 779-6360.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Amarillo area entertainment briefs for the week of June 12
