DFW THEATER CRITICS HAND OUT AWARDS – The Dallas-Fort Worth Theater Critics announced their annual awards (pay wall, but here’s FrontRow’s take and Mixmaster’s and TheaterJones’). While the Dallas Theater Center’s actors, designers and directors earned 13 nods total — the most for the DTC in years — one DTC production, Horton Foote’s Dividing the Estate, really shone, with best directing (Joel Ferrell, plus Cabaret), best ensemble and best set design (John Arnone, plus two other shows). We can even throw in the best-all-round-contribution special award, too, which went to everyone in the DFW theater community who had anything to do with the Foote Festival. Other achievements which I saw (and the ones I approve of, natch) were Stephen Walters in Second Thought’s Thom Pain, Justin Locklear who’s currently in the Ochre House’s Morphing (which also got a special nod for Matt Posey), Regan Adair’s direction of Second Thought’s Red Light Winter, Tina Parker’s performance in Kitchen Dog’s Charm and Katherine Owens’ direction of The Dog Problem at the Undermain. Congrats,  folks, you earned them.

DALLAS OPERA CALLING – Frontburner reports that the Dallas Opera is scrambling to get the last $2 mill in cash to snag an anonymous $10 mill challenge grant. It’s got until Oct. 31, it could really use the money (the DO canceled one of its mainstage shows next season, remember), but it’s looking better on the asking front than it did in early summer.

NEW DALLAS DANCE BLOGGER – A few months back, we noted that our former colleague Manny Mendoza had started North Texas’ first real dance blog. But only a week after the Dallas Morning News cut an arts critic and longtime Guide staffer, the DMN arts blog announced it’s got a new guest blogger on dance, Emilie DesJardins. Welcome.

GIVING AND GIVING – Tomorrow, Thursday, is North Texas Giving Day, when your donations to any of 700 local nonprofits will be matched. We noted yesterday that the pool of matching funds has now reached $1 mill, thanks to Hunt Consolidated. Coincidentally, the online arts fundraising effort, USA Projects, based in LA, also just reached $1 mill in the amount it’s awarded arts groups — in its first nine months.