“The Fortress of Solitude” opens March 7 at the Dallas Theater Center. (Credit: Dallas Theater Center)

Five stories that have North Texas talking: More on the gay marriage ruling; the Meadows Museum is handing out cupcakes; KERA holds a One Crisis Away public forum tonight; and more.

• A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Texas’ gay marriage ban is unconstitutional, but he’s leaving the ban in place for now. U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia issued a preliminary injunction on the ban after two gay couples, one from North Texas, challenged a state constitutional amendment and a decade-old law. The state will appeal the ruling, said Greg Abbott, the Texas attorney general. Get caught up on what happened Wednesday – including reaction from one of the two couples. Also, what are the political implications following the ruling? We have reaction from a variety of elected officials and special interest groups. Meanwhile, State Sen. Dan Patrick sent out a note on Twitter about same-sex marriage that he quickly deleted. Learn more about what happened. Finally, Royal Ferguson, dean of the new University of North Texas law school and retired federal district judge, will discuss the ruling on “Think” with Krys Boyd today at 1 p.m. on KERA 90.1 FM. NPR has been covering the ruling, too. So has The Texas Tribune. And The Dallas Morning News.

• After 53 years, Jack Evans will marry his life partner, George Harris, on Saturday. It’s believed to be the first public same-sex wedding in Dallas officiated by a United Methodist minister, The Dallas Morning News reports. Evans is 84; Harris is 80. The minister celebrating the wedding says “love over law” is what matters. While a federal judge on Wednesday overturned Texas’ same-sex marriage ban, he kept the ban in place for now. “So civil unions won’t be legal in time for the Evans and Harris wedding,” The News reports, which explores the couple’s history. They both lost jobs after they were told they’d be blackmail targets. “They said they witnessed police harassment of Dallas gay bars. They buried dozens of friends during the AIDS crisis. They started Dallas’ first gay and lesbian chamber of commerce. And they are co-founders of a historical archive project now housed at the University of North Texas.”

• The Fortress of Solitude is a new musical that opens March 7 at the Dallas Theater Center. The center describes it as “a story of 1970s Brooklyn and beyond — of black and white, soul and rap, block parties and blackouts, friendship and betrayal, comic books and 45s. And the story of what would happen if two teenagers obsessed with superheroes believed that maybe, just maybe, they could fly.” Composer and lyricist Michael Friedman, director Daniel Aukin and writer Itamar Moses talked about bringing Jonathan Lethem’s novel to the stage at Dallas Theater Center. Catch a sneak peek here:

• The Meadows Museum at SMU will give out free mini cupcakes on Thursday to the first 151 people who buy an admission ticket to see the world premiere of the new exhibition Sorolla and America. Thursday marks the 151st birthday of Spanish master artist Joaquín Sorolla. The museum opens at 10 a.m. The Meadows is celebrating Sorolla’s birthday in conjunction with Sorolla and America, which runs through April 19. Dallas is the first stop of a worldwide tour for the exhibition, which will travel to The San Diego Museum of Art and Fundación MAPFRE in Madrid. The Meadows says that Sorolla was the most internationally-known Spanish artist until the arrival of Picasso. Sorolla and America explores for the first time the unique relationship between the U.S. and the artist with more 150 beach scenes, landscapes and portraits.

• Imagine being so close to the financial edge that a single life event could push you and your family over — a layoff, a health emergency or an educational setback. Thousands of North Texans face these life-changing circumstances every day. KERA has been covering this issue in an ongoing series called One Crisis Away. Tonight at 7 at the Dallas City Performance Hall, KERA will hold a free public forum that explores the issue of asset poverty. A few tickets are still available – register here. KERANews.org will provide a livestream of tonight’s event – tweet your questions @KERANews and use #OneCrisisAway. The program will be taped and aired on KERA-13 in March. Meet the four families that KERA has been following.