March
Amarillo Symphony: The orchestra’s conductor search continues with candidate Conner Covington offering up Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate and Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 on March 25 and 26 in the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts, 500 S. Buchanan St. Other scheduled arts events include Lone Star Ballet’s educational production of Remember the Alamo on March 3 in the Globe-News Center; Chamber Music Amarillo’s Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra on March 5 in Mary Moody Northen Recital Hall at West Texas A&M University; Broadway Spotlight Series’ presentation of the musical version of An Officer and a Gentleman on March 15 and 16 in the Amarillo Civic Center Complex Auditorium, 401 S. Buchanan St.; the musical Tuck Everlasting from March 25 to April 3 in the ALT Allen Shankles Main Stage, 2019 Civic Circle; Amarillo Museum of Art’s annual 20×20 art exhibition and online auction March 30 and 31 (with online viewing March 25 to 31) at the museum, 2200 S. Van Buren St.; WT Dance’s Portraits of Dance on March 31 to April 3 in the Happy State Bank Studio Theatre; and WT Opera’s Gallantry: A Soap Opera Opera on March 31 to April 2 in the Fine Arts Complex Recital Hall.
Chicago: The iconic jazz-pop band returns to the city for a March 7 concert in the Civic Center Auditorium, but that’s only one of the big concerts on tap this month. Rocking Texas country band Giovannie and The Hired Guns comes back March 3 to Hoots, 2424 Hobbs Road; beloved Amarillo rockers The Blue Johnnies hit the stage March 5 at Golden Light Cantina, 2906 SW Sixth Ave., for one of their too-infrequent reunion shows; contemporary Christian star Jeremy Camp offers his I Still Believe tour on March 10 at Church at Quail Creek, 801 Tascosa Road; Red Dirt giant Mike McClure returns March 13 to The Golden Light for an intimate Sunday show; Mexican pop star Marisela brings her La Dama de Hierro tour to the Civic Center Auditorium on March 18; and Perryton native and nationally renowned singer-songwriter Ryan Culwell will celebrate the release of his latest album at a March 26 show at Golden Light.
Restaurant Roundup: A few dozen of the city’s top eateries will offer their best bites in this beloved annual fundraiser for the Panhandle chapter of the Texas Restaurant Association’s work with local culinary students. Wear your stretchy pants March 3 and head out to the Rex Baxter Building at the Amarillo Tri-State Fairgrounds, 3301 SE 10th Ave. Other top events include the Make-a-Wish Car Show from March 4 to 6 in the Civic Center Complex; Kicker Monster Trucks on March 4 and 5 in the Amarillo National Center at the Tri-State Fairgrounds; Amarillo Botanical Gardens’ Mad Hatter’s Ball on March 26 at the gardens, 1400 Streit Drive; and The Bridge’s Heroes and Legends Banquet featuring former Dallas Cowboys Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Danny White and Randy White on March 29 in the Civic Center Complex Grand Plaza.
The Batman: Robert Pattinson dons the cowl March 4 in director Matt Reeves’ emo-inflected take on the caped crusader, with Zoë Kravitz, Colin Farrell, Paul Dano and Jeffrey Wright along for the ride. Also heading to theaters: horror film X and family drama The Unbreakable Boy on March 18; and action comedy The Lost City on March 25. Plus, revisit the classic romance The Quiet Man in special screenings March 13 and 17.
April
ART: April is always the busiest month for arts events, but the one you absolutely can’t miss is ALT’s revival of this wickedly funny, scabrously brilliant comedy, the first performance staged when the ALT Adventure Space opened in 2001. It returns, directed again by Allen Shankles, for performances April 7 to 16, again in the Adventure Space, 2751 Civic Circle. Also lighting up the arts scene this month: Amarillo Opera’s gala concert and dinner on April 2; Broadway Spotlight Series’ touring production of the legendary South Pacific on April 5 and 6 in the Civic Center Complex Auditorium; Amarillo Museum of Art’s annual Amarillo College/West Texas A&M University exhibition from April 8 to 24; Lone Star Ballet’s revival of the iconic Coppelia on April 8 and 9 in the Globe-News Center; Chamber Music Amarillo’s salute to the cello on April 8 at the Amarillo Botanical Gardens, 1400 Streit Drive; WT’s fifth-annual Russian Music Festival featuring WT Symphony Orchestra, WT Chorale, Oklahoma Christian University Chorale and mezzo-soprano Mariya Kaganskaya on April 9 in Northen Recital Hall; WT Theatre’s The SpongeBob Musical from April 14 to 24 in the Branding Iron Theatre; Amarillo Symphony’s take on Elgar’s Enigma Variations with conductor finalist George Jackson on April 22 and 23 in the Globe-News Center; and Harrington String Quartet on April 29 in Northen Recital Hall.
Yellow City Comic Convention: The city’s biggest celebration of pop culture returns April 22 to 24 in the Civic Center Complex with—in addition to all things anime, comics and more—an impressive lineup of celebrity guests: Denise Crosby (Star Trek: The Next Generation), David Dastmalchian (The Suicide Squad, Ant-Man, Dune); Doug Jones (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth, Star Trek: Discovery) and others. Other events include Amarillo Angels’ first Mom Prom on April 2 in the Civic Center Complex Grand Plaza; and National Reined Cow Horse Association competition April 26 to May 1 in the Amarillo National Center.
Bob Wills Day: Two-step on down to Turkey from April 28 to 30 for the 50th annual celebration of the King of Western Swing, truly one of the most iconic musicians to ever have come from this area of the state. I haven’t seen the artist line-up yet, but I can guarantee some boot-scootin’ good times. Turkey’s love for Wills hasn’t faded one bit. Other area
concerts are still being added to the schedule, but don’t miss red-hot Lubbock band Flatland Cavalry’s April 8 return to La Hacienda, 10695 U.S. Highway 287, and Texas party boys The Tejas Bros on April 9 and 10 at The Golden Light Cantina.
Morbius: Jared Leto goes all out (as usual) as the titular vampiric anti-hero in this new film set in Sony’s Spider-verse (a la Venom, though Spider-Man’s villainous Michael Keaton is also on tap), opening April 1. Also coming to theaters: action thriller The Contractor on April 1; actioner Ambulance, video-game sequel Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and the exceedingly trippy-looking Everything Everywhere All at Once on April 8; fantasy sequel Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore on April 15; meta-thriller The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and Viking epic The Northman on April 22; and thrillers Memory and 65 on April 29. Plus, my all-time favorite movie Singin’ in the Rain gets 70th-anniversary screenings on April 10 and 13.
