Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2008 > April > 08
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Sissy Spacek in Smithville with other Oscar winners, nominees
Fisk is working on Terrence Malick’s “Tree of Life” after previously contributing to Malick’s “Days of Heaven” and “The New World,” as well as Spacek’s “Carrie.” She also appeared in Malick’s “Badlands.” (The sometime Austinite was twice nominated for Oscars.)
Spacek, of course, is cousin to Taylor-raised, University of Texas-trained Rip Torn (nominated for an Oscar for “Cross Creek”), who was married to Oscar winner Geraldine Page (“The Trip to Bountiful”), herself nominated seven times before winning. Torn and Page helped Spacek in her early career after she left Quitman.
“Tree of Life” stars, as everyone in Central Texas knows by now, Oscar-nominated Brad Pitt (“Twelve Monkeys”), domestically allied to Oscar winner Angelina Jolie (“Girl Interrupted”), now a regular at the Bastrop Wal-Mart (she’s also daughter of four-time Oscar nominee Jon Voight, winner for “Coming Home”). Pitt acts with Oscar winner Sean Penn (“Mystic River”), although local sightings of Madonna’s ex are rarer. He was twice nominated before winning. No Oscars for Madonna, I fear.
But that’s closer than six degrees of separation from more than 25 Oscar bids in our little Smithville band.
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Hoofing it to Kathleen Battle at the Long Center
Door to door, the Long Center for the Performing Arts is 15 minutes on foot from our house. Allow a cushion of 5 minutes to pick up tickets, 5 minutes to find seats and 5 minutes for possible snafus, and the count is 30 pedestrian minutes from central Bouldin on a balmy night, free from entanglements with the center’s problematic garage.
Ticket retrieval went smoothly at the new center, since the box office is centralized and staff monitors quickly pick up the slack of long lines (something we hope is fixed at the renovated Bass Concert Hall, and remains an irritant at the Paramount Theatre).
Like other arts lovers, I’ve been testing the main hall, and the only dampened spots appear to be in the orchestra right next to the boxes (not enough bounce?). The sound, in many cases, appears to improve as one rises to the mezzanine and balcony, but my main spot on Monday for the Kathleen Battle recital was perfectly fine on Orchestra Right F 126 (bright on the high notes).
My accidental seatmate was Austin Shakespeare’s Ann Ciccolella, who agreed that Battle’s sketchy Purcell section was redeemed by a single, spinning note. She warmed up half way through the Schubert, and the audience began to respond eagerly by the time she reached the stirring Mendelssohn.
The break included much discussion in the lobby about the comparative acoustics around the house, plus, of course, the short waits at the restrooms. (Can we put that subject to rest?) Look for detailed arts reviews elsewhere, but Battle, 59, finally reached the peak of vocal recovery during the Spanish songs and spirituals at the finale, plus a lovely, strangely elongated version of “O mio babbino caro.”
Photo by Larry Kolvoord
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