Can’t Miss with Chip Chandler, Sept. 1

A beloved Amarillo tradition that’s been in hibernation for years returns this Labor Day weekend.

As part of its continuing 50th anniversary celebrations, the Don Harrington Discovery Center will bring back its Labor Day weekend concert, Discover!

Dubbed Discover 5.0!, the revived event will run from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday at and around the Center, 1200 Streit Drive. Attendees can enjoy food trucks, live music, hands-on demonstrations and one last look at the Dinosaurs Around the World traveling exhibition.

“It is truly an honor to bring something so beloved back for the community to enjoy one more time especially on such an important anniversary,” said Daniella Mendoza, DHDC director of advancement. “The Discovery Center has been able to serve over three generations, and it’s so special to commemorate 50 years of service through a collaborative effort of this scale.”

The event will culminate in an Amarillo Symphony pops concert and choreographed drone show. The orchestra will perform pieces from Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Sunday in the Park with George and patriotic classics and marches, as well as Route 66 by composer Michael Daugherty, who also wrote Cadillac Ranch for the Symphony’s 100th-anniversary season.

“I know in planning the program, we wanted to have a piece highlighting the Discovery Center and their dinosaur exhibit with Jurassic Park, and then also celebrate the 250th anniversary of the USA and the centennial of Route 66, so there are some local connections as well as patriotic classics,” said Sammy Carter, the Symphony’s marketing director.

Admission is $5 for general admission, with VIP tables starting at $400.

Call 806-355-9547.

This weekend also sees the opening of Amarillo Little Theatre’s Come from Away, a heartwarming musical about an extraordinary display of kindness in the days following the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

I know: A musical about 9/11 sounds  …  dicey. But in telling the story of the amazingly open-hearted townsfolk of Gander, Newfoundland, who went above and beyond in welcoming travelers displaced by the closing of U.S. airspace after the attacks, Come from Away manages something magical.

To be sure, I’m not unbiased. I’m serving as the dramaturg for the show, which essentially is a fancy word for researcher (it’s more than that, but that’s the basic remit of my job, at least). Before auditions were held, I pulled together a packet of articles on the history of the attacks, contemporaneous accounts of the plane people’s visit to Gander, the development of the musical and more. I’ve sat in on most rehearsals and tried to be a resource for the actors as they’ve built their characters (a dozen actors play about 40 or so distinct characters across the run of the show).

I love this work because it combines my love of theater with my passion for history and my fondness for random trivia. (The Newfoundland delicacy cod tongue isn’t, actually, the tongue of a fish; it’s the throat meat, should you ever need to know that.)

Working on this show has been particularly special. I may have an abiding affection for a cynical look at the dark side of humanity, but I’m also a sucker for a story that shows common decency and the way strangers come together to help one another.

Performances on the Allen Shankles Mainstage, 2019 Civic Circle, are set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; 7:30 p.m. Sept. 11 and 12; and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17 to 19; plus 2:30 p.m. Sept. 13 and 20. 

Ticket prices vary. Call 806-355-9991.