BEGINNING WITH BEETHOVEN: The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra gets the jump on the new season with its All-Beethoven Festival beginning Wednesday. Writing for dallasnews.com, Scott Cantrell explains why Beethoven is less expensive to stage than the previously planned Mahler. The switch will save the orchestra about $235,000. Meanwhile, dfw.com takes a different approach to previewing the festival. The idea here is that Beethoven penetrates pop culture more deeply than any of his contemporaries. It’s an interesting, if tough to prove, premise.

STAGE TO SCREEN: The eagle eyes over at theaterjones.com have discovered that  Kitchen Dog Theater co-founder Tina Parker has a role in the horror movie The Final Destination. Will Tina make it out alive for a chance to star in Final Destination 5: The Final Destination (Really,  We Mean It This Time)? You can find out on Friday when the movie opens in wide release.

ON THEIR TOES: It’s a big day in a ballerina’s life when she makes the jump to pointe shoes. But you can’t just run out to any ol’ shoe store to get them. Sandy’s Shoes and Dancewear in Dallas has been helping dancers into the right pair of shoes since 1956. So how did the store come to specialize in pointe? This video over on dallasnews.com finds the answer to that question.