TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS: School districts across Texas have had to slash their budgets during the economic downturn. And those cuts have an affect on more than just the kids in the classes. Arts organizations rely on money they get from schools for field trips and performances, and nytimes.com reports that a lot of that money has dried up.  One place feeling the pinch is the Museum of Nature and Science, which has had to rely on donations to subsidize field trips. “We’re still reaching students,” the museum’s Linda Murdock tells The Times. “But we’re reaching a few less than we did last year.”

DIAL H FOR HARRY: Pegasus Theatre is back with another of its “Living Black & White” productions featuring bumbling detective Harry Hunsacker. The current show is called The Frequency of Death, in which Harry is trying to stop a mad scientist. And this entry in the series may be the best yet. “After 25 years of practice, Pegasus Theatre has finally arrived at the perfect performance style for its beloved black-and-white shows,” Lawson Taitte writes on dallasnews.com. “This zany romp, replete with elements of Marx Brothers mayhem and Thin Man references, dishes up a laugh a minute with grand style and buckets-full of derring-do,” Alexandra Bonifield writes on criticalrant.com. Catch it through Jan. 22 at the Eisemann Center.

OFF THE CUFF: Dallas Opera general director Keith Cerny is writing a new column called Off the Cuff on theaterjones.com. In his first entry, he writes about how opera, like Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, allows audiences to take a trip through time. “Opera, because of its unique creative process, usually sits at the intersection of three, and sometimes four, distinct time periods. It, too, draws on many layers of history —some real, some imagined—to generate its artistic impact,” he writes.