Events
1The Texas Rangers Fan Fest will have all the things a fan could ask for. Batting cage? Check. Autograph signings? Check. Q&A sessions? Check. Indoor wiffle ball park? Of course. Just don't ask why they haven't won the World Series yet.
4-10:30 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday at Arlington Convention Center, 1200 Ballpark Way. $25 one day, $40 two-day pass ($15 and $25 for kids 13 and younger). texas.rangers.mlb.com/tex/fan_forum/fanfest.jsp
2The return of the Texas Home & Garden Show is a nice reminder that it's not always going to be this chilly and that things will bloom again. The first of three TH&G shows in the region hits Irving on Friday.
2-7 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m-7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday at the Irving Convention Center, 500 W. Las Colinas Blvd. $8.50-$9.50. www.texashomeandgarden.com (Repeats Feb. 8-10 at the Fort Worth Convention Center and March 1-3 at Dallas Market Hall.)
3A discussion on the Kennedy legacy led by journalist Charlie Rose is the first major local event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination. Rose will host guests Rory and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., children of late U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.
8 p.m. Friday at the Winspear Opera House, 2403 Flora St., Dallas. $25-$150. 214-880-0202; www.attpac.org
4Two acclaimed singer-songwriters, Sara Evans and Gretchen Wilson, are performing in the area. Too bad they're not on the same bill. Catch them both if you can. (If you can find a ticket to Lucinda Williams' two sold-out nights at the Kessler in Dallas -- Tuesday and Jan. 18 -- you could make it a trifecta.)
Sara Evans: 7:30 p.m. Friday at Arlington Music Hall, 224 N. Center St., Arlington. $60-$75. 817-226-4400; www.arlingtonmusichall.com
Gretchen Wilson: 10:30 p.m. Saturday at Billy Bob's Texas, 2520 Rodeo Plaza, Fort Worth. $15-$28. 817-624-7117; www.billybobstexas.com
Local arts
5The Jets will rumble with the Sharks again when the latest Broadway revival of the classic musical West Side Story, with some of the songs and dialogue performed in Spanish, comes to Bass Hall next week.
Tuesday through Jan. 20 at Bass Hall, Fort Worth. $38.50-$99. 817-212-4280; www.basshall.com
6Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth is one of many local dance companies behind the Barefoot Brigade Dance Festival, which this year has expanded to three weeks, with different programs each weekend and guests from Houston, Lubbock and elsewhere.
Through Jan. 26 at Bath House Cultural Center, 521 E. Lawther Drive, Dallas. $11-$15 per performance; $30 for three-event festival pass. www.barefootbrigadedance.com
7In "Ed Ruscha: Made in California," the Amon Carter Museum of American Art gathers some of the renowned Los Angeles-based artist's famous lithographs, including those from the "Hollywood Sign" series, for the area's first major exhibit of 2013.
Tuesday through July 21 at Amon Carter Museum of American Art, 3501 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth. Free. 817-738-1933; www.cartermuseum.org
Family
8This Saturday, enjoy a free, family-friendly movie, The Adventures of Tintin, 1 p.m. at the Fort Worth Central Library's Youth Center Discovery Theater. The Steven Spielberg/Peter Jackson film is about Tintin and his loyal dog, Snowy, who are on a journey to discover the secrets of a sunken ship. It's rated PG and is 107 minutes. The free family movie series is the second Saturday of each month. Coming up: Feb. 9, Alice in Wonderland; March 9, Mary Poppins; and April 13, The Lorax. For a complete schedule, visit the website.
1-3 p.m. Saturday and the second Saturday of each month, at the Fort Worth Central Library, 500 W. Third St., Fort Worth. Free. 817-392-7745; www.fortworthtexas.gov/library/familyfilm
9The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra will present a children's concert Thursday night in Southlake. "Picture the Music" includes a short program of music that describes things that kids can easily relate to, such as butterflies (Rimsky-Korsakov and Elgar), the elephant and swan (Saint-Saens) and "Conversations of Beauty and the Beast" (Ravel). Beginning at 6 p.m., children and parents can experience an instrument "petting zoo," where they can hold and play instruments, with the help of FWSO staff and volunteers.
Pre-show activity begins at 6 p.m.; concert at 7 p.m. Thursday at White's Chapel United Methodist Church, 185 S. White Chapel Blvd., Southlake. Tickets, at the door or online, $20-$40; $15 students, seniors and Apex members; ages 10 and under free. 817-481-4147; www.apexartsleague.org
10"Penguin Days" are here at the Dallas Zoo, through the end of February. Visitors age 3 and up, including adults and seniors, can visit the African penguins and all the other animals for a reduced price. (In March, admission returns to $12 adults, $9 ages 3-11 and seniors.) Now is a great time to enjoy the warmth of the Herpetarium, Bug U!, the Jake L. Hamon Gorilla Conservation Research Station, and the Simmons Safari Base Camp in the "Giants of the Savanna" exhibit.
Through Feb. 28 at the Dallas Zoo, 650 S. R.L. Thornton Freeway, Dallas. $5, ages 2 and under free. $8 parking. 469-554-7500; www.dallaszoo.com
-- Compiled by Mark Lowry, Kathy Hailey and Cary Darling
