DO BOOSTS T&I: When the Dallas Opera announced it would perform Tristan and Isolde this season, the idea was to do a stripped-down, cost-saving concert staging of the opera. But the more thought that was put into the scaled-back version, the more the creative folks working on the show thought they could actually pull off a full staging. And that’s what we’ll see when the show opens at the Winspear on Feb. 16. “It is a minimalist production, with moving panels and brilliant projections, but it isn’t a compromise,” DO Artistic Director Jonathan Pell tells theaterjones.com. “Once the concept was established, the production has been put together in a world-class manner. If you didn’t know the background, you would never suspect that this is a rescue production. In many ways, it has turned out to be quite spectacular.”

MUSIC BITS: Denton’s Whiskey Folk Ramblers have recorded a four-song set for Daytrotter. (DC9 at Night) … Denton’s Bad Design shoots straight for the nerds with its second album. (Front Row) … Fort Worth rapper Killa MC looks to boost his hometown’s hip-hop scene while also keeping things clean. (fwweekly.com)

CASHING IN: This is a story that’s too good to pass up.  Graffiti artist David Choe was asked to paint murals for the first headquarters of an upstart tech company. The company offered to pay him cash for his time, but he elected to take stock instead. A risky move on his part. And one that’s about to pay off BIG as that company was Facebook and Choe’s stock is about to be worth $200 mil.