Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2009 > January > 05
Monday, January 5, 2009
A Russian Christmas in Aldridge Place
The Spanish colonial house would look absolutely at home in Hollywood. Instead, the Hugo Kuehne-designed abode stands on a corner in Aldridge Place, that genteel sliver of a north-campus neighborhood.
Who would have guessed that inside waits a veritable shrine to Imperial Russian art and architecture. Rob Moshein, the Austin Wine Guy, and his partner Bob Atchison, a painter and Web site designer, have long been fascinated with pre-revolutionary Russia. They traditionally threw Russian Orthodox Easter parties and more recently added a Christmas counterpart.
Sunday, I briefly enjoyed the bounty of their table and toured the two-story wonder, examining room after room of graceful antiques and art. Atchison, who has painted portraits of Prince Charles and Rudolf Nureyev, told me about his early attachments to Russian palaces. Moshein talked about his relations who studied with artist Francois Leger and introduced me to the holiday open house. Also, rose specialist Cher Groody shared some of her adventures touring American arboretums.
Hope a book comes out of her journeys. And out of this house, where I hope to return for a more leisurely stay.
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Last minute Fiesta Bowl party options
The Orange tourist crush may not have pounded the Phoenix area, but there’s still plenty of interest in the Fiesta Bowl in Austin. Here are some party spots to catch the game — socially. Should be cozy in this weather!
El Arroyo. 1624 W. Fifth St. Official gathering point for Texas Exes Austin Network.
Doc’s Motorworks, 1123 S Congress Ave; Doc’s Backyard, 5207 Brodie Lane. Huddle for warmth.
Headhunters. 720 Red River St. Chad Holt provides the play-by-play commentary, simulcast on KAOS pirate radio.
The Tavern. 922 W. 12th St. Site of the watch party hosted by AM 1300 The Zone (KVET AM).
Third Base. 1717 W. Sixth St., Austin, and 3107 S. Interstate 35, Round Rock. Central Texas’ red-hot sports bars will include an inflatable screen in the parking lot of the downtown location.
219 West. 219 W. Fourth St. No cover, happy hour prices until 9 p.m. Very large screen.
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Chatting with Carol Burnett 4
For Parts 1, 2 & 3, see posts below…
So why not more theater for Carol Burnett?
“I had the best of both worlds,” she says, since her variety show, which ran for 278 episodes. “I find that I love the rehearsal period. I love the first few months of doing a (theatrical) show. After a while, I have to psych myself up — At 9:05 p.m. I walk over to the desk and say this line.”
She admits to being spoiled by TV variety shows.
But what about losing Burnett as a potential Mama Rose in “Gyspy” or Annie Oakley in “Annie Get Your Gun,” among the big Broadway roles she could have played in her prime?
“I was lucky enough to sing those songs on my show,” she says with quiet satisfaction. “And I had Ethel Merman on as a guest for a whole hour.”
Yet, because of royalties contracted to accompanying musicians, those songs didn’t make it into the show’s first syndication, comprised solely of the comic sketches. Luckily, most of the intact episodes are now available on DVD.
To another generation, Burnett is best known for playing Helen Hunt’s mother in “Mad About You.”
“It was so cleverly written,” she says. “Helen and Paul so great. And I loved doing ‘Desperate Housewives,’ too. It’s always about how good is the writing.”
OK, so back to the unscripted question sessions: How does she think so quickly on her feet?
“I count on people asking some of the same questions,” she says. “But that’s not all. Someone will request the Tarzan yell. I’ll say ‘yes, but I have a story first’ …”
And Burnett’s memory for stories is prodigious. For someone past 70, she’s able to recall comic anecdotes in incisive detail.
She sticks by a motto for keeping the creative juices — and memory — flowing: “The more you do the more you can.”
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Chatting with Carol Burnett 3
For Parts 1 & 2, see posts below…
Carol Burnett’s conversational nimbleness started early. Her parents suffered from acute alcoholism, so she was raised by a movie-mad grandmother, first in San Antonio, then Hollywood, and later quipped her way through high school and college.
Her Texas connections are now scattered. But her house in San Antonio — where she lived in the 1930s — was rescued, moved to a different district and repurposed as a school.
“And they are naming it for me! I’m going down there for that.”
Visiting the house recently brought back long-out-of-reach memories.
“I used to skate in the house,” she says. “The sidewalk was buckled out front and the hallway was on a slant. I’d roll myself down and stop myself on the screen with my hand. The skate marks are still there.”
Later, she’d skate to school in California, and even later, she used the experience to land a juicy entertainment assignment.
“They wanted me for a Dinah Shore replacement show. They asked, ‘Can you ice-skate?’” Like the periodically hungry young performer that she was, Burnett said “Oh sure.”
“I took myself to the ice palace,” she says laughing contagiously. “I couldn’t even stand up. I hung on the railing forever. Then I pictured myself roller-skating and skated as if I were roller-skating. I didn’t fall after that.”
Though she shot to fame in the mid-1950s, Burnett’s career wasn’t settled for a long time. She made a minor name in cabarets singing “I Made a Fool of Myself Over John Foster Dulles,” then won supporting roles on a morning children’s show and a quickly canceled sitcom. She also became a favored guest during the first golden age of game shows, when actual talents were an expected part of the gig.
She really caught fire doing quick-study variety on “The Garry Moore Show,” then conquered Broadway in the riotous fairy tale “Once Upon a Mattress” in 1959. She returned to the stage rarely, playing in Sondheim concerts or revues, for instance, until she committed to the Broadway run of “Moon Over Buffalo” in 1995.
More to come…
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Chatting with Carol Burnett 2
See post below for Part 1…
Carol Burnett’s current traveling questionnaire now starts with a collage of clips from her show and, especially, previous question sessions. Then, almost daring the comic gods, she’ll repeat: “Let’s bump up the lights,” revealing, in this case, a thousand or more potential comedy-killing clunkers in the house.
“I never know what they are going to ask,” she says by phone from California. “It keeps me on my toes. Some people think we put plants in the audience, but I’d never do that. It’s all very spontaneous.”
“Who could write that stuff?” Burnett says of her audiences’ off-the-wall questions and requests. “I wouldn’t want that. It wouldn’t be truthful. The fun is in the interplay with the audience.”
Of course, she encounters the same sort of rattlers and village explainers familiar to anyone who has opened up a public appearance to questions.
“They’re nervous,” she says. “And the audience gets nervous. So I’ll jump in and say: ‘That reminds me of a story!’ You can’t say: ‘Please be quiet!’ Do it gracefully without hurting their feelings.”
She also gets the kidders and the pranksters. Also the big surprises. Last year, during a live show, a man asked if he could have a 25th birthday hug.
“Cute little guy,” Burnett remembers. “I gave him a hug and the audience sang ‘Happy Birthday.’ He went back to his seat. Then a man stood up — nice looking in a suit and tie. ‘I’m not 25. But it’s my birthday. I’m 40.’ The audience started to giggle. ‘I always thought you were very attractive,’ he said.
“So I had fun with it. He started coming for me. I said, ‘But we don’t really know each other.’ The audience laughed. He told me his name. ‘Hi Bob. So you’re 40 today. Have you thought in terms of an older woman?’ He starts to back off. The audience laughs at his discomfort. ‘What’s the problem,” I ask. ‘Are you involved with somebody else.’ ‘Sort of.’ ‘What do you mean?’ ‘I’m a priest.’
“I said, ‘Forgive me father for I have sinned.’ Nuns in the audience were doubled over with laughter.’”
More to come…
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Chatting with Carol Burnett 1
Carol Burnett can sing. Carol Burnett can dance. Carol Burnett can act.
Yet one thing Carol Burnett can do better than almost anyone else — talk, at length, impromptu and before a vast audience.
That’s when it sinks in. Burnett’s not just the star of a long-ago TV variety series bearing her name. She belongs up there with the most versatile and prolific comedians of the past 50 years.
Burnett no longer sings, dances or acts as often as she formerly did. She’ll take a recurring part in a sitcom, stage a reunion special, or perform in a studio or concert version of a musical. Or she’ll accept a plum role in a movie, like voicing Kangaroo in “Horton Hears a Who.”
But she still talks. A lot.
In fact, she’ll engage Austin audiences in public conversations at the Paramount Theatre on Friday and Saturday. The mass-talk format grew out of the question-and-answer sessions she portioned out to audiences in CBS’ Studio 33 during the 11-season run of “The Carol Burnett Show.”
“Let’s bump up the lights,” she’d memorably chirp before tapings, allowing fans freedom for three or four minutes to interact with the Texas-born performer however they pleased.
More to come…
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