PRESERVING THE SONGBOOK: Have you entered yet to win this week’s Big Deal tickets to see Michael Feinstein perform at the Winspear Opera House? (If not, do that here.) Feinstein’s show is called “The American Songbook,” and if there’s anyone who knows the pages of that book, it’s him. His love of the classics developed early when he served as Ira Gershwin’s assistant. “It was quite a heady experience for a 20-year-old,” he tells theaterjones.com. “What I loved the most was his interpretation of songs. It’s where I learned that lyric and music have to have equal importance. You can’t have strong lyrics with weak music. One depends completely on the other for them to work.”

AND THE WINNERS ARE…: Matthew Posey, Joel Hester and Karen Blessen have been named the first winners of the Dallas Observer‘s first MasterMind competition. The contest awards no-strings-attached grants of $2,000 to three local artists. Posey and Blessen will be familiar to Art&Seek fans, as each has appeared on the Art&Seek segment of Think TV. (Watch those videos here and here.) We’ll have to get to work on Hester.

TROUBLE AT TEXAS DANCE THEATRE: Things aren’t looking real good at the fledgling Texas Dance Theatre. Artistic Director Wil McKnight tells dallasnews.com that the company is struggling to cover this season’s costs. That has led to canceled performances and growing debt. If you’d like to help, a silent auction runs through Friday on the company’s website.