Out & About

Glossy 8 VIP Party at Stratford Drive Home

By Michael Barnes — 2009-11-07T13:54:52-06:00

As a general rule, daily newspapers don’t throw memorable parties …

Winners of the 2009 Glossy 8 Stylemaker Awards: Elizabeth and Benjamin Serroto (who won as a couple), Maria Groten, Nancy Scanlan, Coi Burruss, Trent Thurman, Christine Perrault Moline, Sylvia Orozco and Andrea McWilliams.

The American-Statesman is no exception (unless you count the Capitol 10,000 or some XL promotional concerts from the distant past) …

Dean and Andrea McWilliams

Other media outlets specialize in staging social events, but even their professional skeptics would agree that the Statesman’s Glossy 8 VIP party on Thursday will linger in memory

Sylvia Orozco and Melissa Segrest

The location counted. The new Dick Clark-designed, hilltop home of Jodi and Fred Zipp (Statesman editor) is a modernist stunner, every detail pristine and exacting …

John Watson, Nancy Scanlan, Laura Scanlan Cho and Ken Cho

Helping out was a refined party plan, overseen by Kevin Smothers of Pulse and executed by Elite Events, along with assistance by the Statesman’s editorial and marketing departments. …

Eric and Maria Groten

The food—creative sushi provided by Kenzo and the crew from Piranha Killer Sushi—was a knock-out. Little stands offered Dripping Springs Vodka martinis or lighter drinks. …

Crystal Conti and Rep. Mark Strama

But the real stars were the Glossy 8 — really nine sharp dressers, since one slot went to a married couple — absolutely smashing as they descending the stairs during presentations …

Kelley Shaw and Renee Sobremonte

Winners of the 2009 Glossy 8 Stylemaker Awards: Elizabeth and Benjamin Serroto (who won as a couple), Maria Groten, Nancy Scanlan, Coi Burruss, Trent Thurman, Christine Perrault Moline, Sylvia Orozco and Andrea McWilliams

Lauren Madden and Armando Zambrano

They inspired an already stylish crowd that floated from the interior spaces to the pool-cooled deck …

Graham Daly, Melissa Nicewarner-Daly, Jeff McKnight and Amber Groce

The mood continued ebulliant for the entire evening …

David Garza, Joanne Linden, Rachel Saldana and Dr. John Hogg

All this previews Linda Asaf’s Runway to Heaven charity event tonight at the unfinished Austonian …

Cherie Mathews and Sloan Foster

Where the Glossy 8 will reappear on the stage …

George and Sylvia Gutierrez with Art and Tanya Acevedo

Read the story to see why these nine fashion leaders were nominated by readers and chosen by a Glossy panel …

Mary and Rusty Tally with Linda Asaaf

Photos by Robert Godwin

L Style G Style 2nd Anniversary Party at Mercury Hall

By Michael Barnes — 2009-11-07T12:11:23-06:00

In Houston during the 1970s, one could break down the gay social scene into the Powerful, the Fashionable, the Purposeful and the Individuals.

Oliver Everette and Alisa Weldon

In Austin during the 2000s, one could discern all those attributes in a gay crowd at Mercury Hall. Here, however, everyone shares them.

Mary Coronado and Donna Miller

The occasion was the 2nd anniversary of L Style, G Style, the upscale lifestyle magazine that chronicles the lesbian and gay community.

Hedda Layne and Troy Warden

The theme was “black and white” — thanks to a pre-party note from Brenda Thompson, I was appropriately attired — and the powerful, fashionable, purposeful individuals looked impeccable.

Will Lucas and Carlos Platero

I talked to newcomers, short-timers and veterans of the social scene, as the Tasty Texans served Boy George cocktails …

James and Miryam Arosemena

A veil of enchantment fell on the graceful Mercury Hall grounds.

Brandon Lewis, Dr. John Hogg and Chey Hollowell

Stephen Sondheim: Broadway's Greatest Artist, Part 5

By Michael Barnes — 2009-11-06T13:34:19-06:00

For more of “Stephen Sondheim: Broadway’s Greatest Artist,” scroll down to previous posts, or link at Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

The Essential Stephen Sondheim

10 shows every Sondheim beginner should get to know.

‘West Side Story’ — (1957) Leondard Bernstein’s music and Jerome Robbins’ direction/choreography received more attention, but Sondheim’s colloquial lyrics for New York gangbangers anchor this Romeo and Juliet retelling on the street level.

‘Gypsy’ — (1959) The ultimate backstage musical, with music by Jule Styne and book/direction by Arthur Laurents, it has also burnished the careers of Ethel Merman, Rosalind Russell, Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly, Bette Midler, Bernadette Peters and Patti LuPone. Sondhiem’s lyrics are fresh today as when it premiered.

‘Company’ — (1970) Modern, urban singledom, dating and marriage received this up-to-the-minute treatment, later stripped down and emotionally magnified in the John Doyle revival.

‘Follies’ — (1971) The twilight of memory, marriage and show-business excess intertwine in this fantastical musical, which also gave the gift of ‘Broadway Baby’ to every belting singer.

‘A Little Night Music’ — (1973) Based on an Ingmar Bergman romantic comedy, this shifting musical belongs among Sondheim’s masterpieces, but has lacked proper revivals. Trevor Nunn’s upcoming Chekhovian transfer from London to Broadway will tell if the show has more chapters to tell.

‘Sweeney Todd’ — (1980) Almost every staging of this electrifying melodrama — Brechtian, operatic, microscopic, even Tim Burton’s eccentric movie — about a 19th-century serial killer has triumphed.

‘Merrily We Roll Along’ — (1981) The show Sondheim believes will find a wider audience. Melodic, personal, endearing, it asks what happens to youthful idealism. It must overcome a tale told backward.

‘Sunday in the Park with George’ — (1985) At first misunderstood, this Pointillistic contemplation of artistic inspiration has proved one of Sondheim’s most enduring achievements.

‘Into the Woods’ — (1987) One of Sondheim’s biggest hits reworks fairy tales with Bruno Bettelheim’s insights into personal development. (One of three collaborations with James Lapine.)

‘Assassins’ — (2004) Some Sondheim fans might think that the romping ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,’ pensive ‘Passion,’ skittery ‘Anyone Can Whistle,’ or translucent ‘Pacific Overtures’ belong in this last place. Yet John Weidman and Sondheim’s rip on presidential assassins looks deep into the American soul. Nobody ever forgets what they found.

Stephen Sondheim: Broadway's Greatest Artist, Part 4

By Michael Barnes — 2009-11-06T11:08:41-06:00

For more of “Stephen Sondheim: Broadway’s Greatest Artist,” scroll down to previous posts, or link to Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

One musical that made a definite impression in high school and college drama departments is “Merrily We Roll Along,” which deals with the fraying of youthful ideals in a tale told backward. Yet it lasted only 17 performances in its first Broadway run. Later, Sondheim and Furth tinkered with it, and Lapine revived it on the road.

“We are satisfied with it now,” Sondheim says. “The problem, and this was true in the source Kaufman and Hart play, the lead is a character you get to like. James dug into it a little more, without softening it. Just helping audiences out. It may never satisfy them. People are turned off by unsympathetic characters. I like them, when something interesting happens to them.”

Although he was pleased with the movie version of “Sweeney Todd” — and he’s in negotiations for films of “Follies” and “Into the Woods” — he’s not ready to make any generalizations about the return of the movie musical, or the success of youth-oriented shows like “Glee” and the “High School Musical” movies.

“Mine are not that kind of musical,” he says. “They are not as freewheeling, when the stories are just excuses for the numbers.”

Sondheim is also uncomfortable talking about his legacy, though he would include the composing teams of John Kander and Fred Ebb (“Cabaret,” “Chicago”), as well as Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick (“Fiddler on the Roof,” “She Loves Me”), as ones that will tend to endure beyond our time.

A notorious perfectionist, Sondheim, at 79, can look back with some pleasure on his work.

“Every now and then I see something of mine and say ‘that was good,’” he says. “It takes a long time not to be neurotic about it. Usually, I see only what’s wrong. Now I accept what’s good.”

More to come …

A Conversation with Stephen Sondheim

When: 8 p.m. Nov. 12

Where: Long Center for the Performing Arts

Information: thelongcenter.org; 474-5664

Stephen Sondheim: Broadway's Greatest Artist, Part 3

By Michael Barnes — 2009-11-05T17:01:45-06:00

For more of “Stephen Sondheim: Broadway’s Greatest Artist,” scroll down to previous posts, or link to Part 1 and Part 2.

Although he had been writing musicals for 25 years, Stephen Sondheim did not make his mark as a composer until 1970, with a string of grown-up hits: “Company,” “Folllies” and “A Little Night Music.”

“My first exposure to the fully formed Sondheim was when I bought the original cast album of ‘Follies’ in the 1970s,” says Long Center managing director Paul Beutel. “The raw yet soaring emotion of songs like ‘Too Many Mornings’ and ‘Losing My Mind’ — so perfectly captured in music and lyrics — just wiped me out.”

Although musical devotees call these “Sondheim shows,” the artist always emphasizes his collaborations with writers and directors (Harold Prince, James Lapine, etc.) and, especially, his prized orchestrator, Jonathan Tunick, whose full-orchestra sound undergirds Tim Burton’s movie adaptation of “Sweeney Todd.”

“He is a most generous man, a mentor who is always ready to lend his support — creative, emotional and intellectual — to the work of others,” critic and editor Rick Pender says.

Recently, two of Sondheim’s collaborators, George Furth and Larry Gelbart, died.

“George was an actor,” Sondheim says. “Music meant nothing to him. So writing with him was interesting. That’s one reason the songs don’t always fit into the script. They are commentary; raisins in the cake. But George’s dialogue is extremely brilliant. It’s dialogic.”

Gelbart, his collaborator in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” adapting the Roman comedies of Plautus, understood music, he says.

“In ‘Forum,’ the songs are respites from the farce,” Sondheim says. “And ‘Forum’ is a very tight farce. The songs are breathing places. Otherwise the comedy would be relentless.”

One reason Sondheim’s shows — almost never big profit machines — are regularly revived is they provide peerless opportunities for performers.

“Sondheim’s work demands that a performer be equally gifted as an actor and as a singer,” says director Dave Steakley. “Sondheim’s melodies and harmonies, as well as the speed of his complicated lyrics in passages of songs, are rigorous for a singer to master. Equal to this is the emotional investment and honesty required to convey his character’s multi-layered states of being.”

Patti LuPone, Angela Lansbury, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Raul Esparza, Audra McDonald and Elaine Stritch are among the prime Sondheim interpreters. One of Sondheim’s special muses, Lansbury, was in one of his early musicals, and she’s slated to play aged Madame Armfedlt in the upcoming Broadway revival of “A Little Night Music.” British director Trevor Nunn’s restaging of “Night Music,” transferred from London to New York, is simpler than earlier versions.

“The tone is Chekhovian,” Sondheim says. “That’s implicit in the piece anyway. It’s about shadow. But it’s still a comedy, done with chamber music in a chamber style.”

More to come …

A Conversation with Stephen Sondheim

When: 8 p.m. Nov. 12

Where: Long Center for the Performing Arts

Information: thelongcenter.org; 474-5664

Stephen Sondheim: Broadway's Greatest Artist, Part 2

By Michael Barnes — 2009-11-05T15:01:28-06:00

For Part 1 of “Stephen Sondheim: Broadway’s Greatest Artist,” scroll down to the post below or go here.

Born in 1930 in New York City, Stephen Sondheim wrote his first musical as a student whose schoolmates included the son of lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. The elder artist had collaborated with composers such as Jerome Kern and Richard Rodgers to produce classics like “Show Boat,” “Oklahoma!” and “South Pacific.” In one of the happy coincidences of theatrical history, Hammerstein became a sort of surrogate father and oversaw the development of Sondheim’s tender aesthetic.

Although he studied music seriously, it was Sondheim’s lyrics that first drew the attention of Broadway professionals. And, in the postwar period, words made an emphatic point. Hammerstein had already linked the songs closely to the action, so that audiences actually paid attention to them.

“The next big change came with the rock revolution,” Sondheim says.

“People started listening to lyrics. Nobody really listened to Cole Porter’s lyrics, except the clever, comic ones. After the pop revolution, people had a lot to say: There was anger and passion — (expletive) the establishment. Before that, lyrics were generally anodyne: ‘I love you darling,’ and all that. I’m oversimplifying, but …”

Sondheim’s lyrics were so adept, so clever, so crucial to each show’s emotional progress, he was recognized as a singular wordsmith.

“I am continually in awe of the multiple-emotional layers and thoughtfulness of Sondheim’s work,” says Zach Theatre director Dave Steakley. “The recent spate of stripped-down productions, fewer orchestrations and chorus members, have revealed new truths for his fans and have become new, meaningful works on their own, instead of feeling lesser.”

More than 60 years after penning his first lyrics, Sondheim has collected them in a two-volume book that will include recollections and commentary.

“There are a lot of lyrics and a lot of comment,” jokes Sondheim, one of the few theater artists elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Reviewing thousands of lyrical lines — all stored in the Library of Congress and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center — were there any surprises?

“Honestly no,” he says. “Every now and then, I would glow with pride and delight, or wince with shame and embarrassment. But I’m a slow writer. I worked on these things meticulously, so there are not a lot of surprises left. I really know every word.”

More to come …

A Conversation with Stephen Sondheim

When: 8 p.m. Nov. 12

Where: Long Center for the Performing Arts

Information: thelongcenter.org; 474-5664

Stephen Sondheim: Broadway's Greatest Artist, Part 1

By Michael Barnes — 2009-11-05T13:40:22-06:00

Stephen Sondheim, the creative force behind 18 major musicals, might be the greatest artist Broadway has ever produced.

Consider his music, lyrics and theatrical collaborations over the past 50 years. He transformed the way words go with music during the musical’s so-called Golden Age (“West Side Story,” “Gypsy”). He later fused music and lyrics into darker material (“Company,” “Follies” “A Little Night Music”), which led to his mature theatrical masterpieces (“Sweeney Todd,” “Into the Woods,” “Sunday in the Park with George”) and even his lesser gems (“Merrily We Roll Along,” “Assassins”).

Critics believe his work will survive for centuries, perhaps for millennia.

“Sondheim — more than any other composer or lyricist — has given us music and theater that is memorable, challenging, intelligent and inventive, yet emotionally and intellectually satisfying,” says Rick Pender, editor of the Sondheim Quarterly, a national magazine devoted to its namesake. “I do not see this kind of multifaceted genius in any other Broadway artist.”

Sondheim is not so sure about his legacy.

“I wouldn’t make any pronouncements,” he says recently in a rare telephone interview. “Who knows if musicals will be done? Who does the musicals from 100 years ago? They are ridiculous. The songs are good. Not the musicals. You want to listen to an Irving Berlin tune, but not see an Irving Berlin show.”

(“Annie Get Your Gun” might be an exception.)

Thursday, the nine-time Tony Award winner — who also earned an Academy Award and a Pulitzer Prize — will make his first Austin appearance. He will extend a cycle of public conversations started two years ago with The New York Times opinion writer and former theater critic Frank Rich. At the Long Center, his colloquy partner will be Austin Chronicle arts editor Robert Faires.

Local musical aficionados can hardly wait for the verbal exchange.

“Sondheim represents everything that is good about American musical theater,” says Austin director Michael McKelvey, who recently staged an award-winning “Sweeney Todd.” “He is always original and thought-provoking, a composer with a grasp of all that Western music can deliver.”

More to come …

A Conversation with Stephen Sondheim

When: 8 p.m. Nov. 12

Where: Long Center for the Performing Arts

Information: thelongcenter.org; 474-5664

Your A-List: Best Video Store

By Michael Barnes — 2009-11-04T19:26:05-06:00

The A-List reader’s poll produces very few exact ties. Numerically, the more votes, the less chance for a tie. Yet we are faced with one in first place this week.

For Best Video Store, voters gave exactly the same number of endorsements to Vulcan, the character-filled traditional outlet, as to Netflix, the mail-in option. Both recorded 31 percent.

Austin’s other traditional video spot, I Luv Video, came in a respectable third with 14 percent. Blockbuster and the Austin Public Library tied at 6 percent. Hastings, an older Texas chain, managed 4 percent.

Three percent or less of the voters chose Tapelenders, Encore and the Movie Store.

Your A-List: Best Shopping Center

By Michael Barnes — 2009-11-04T17:48:49-06:00

I’m serious. Twelve years ago, when we moved two blocks off South Congress Avenue, we had no idea it would become one of Austin’s top tourist attractions. The parking overflow annoys at times, but who would argue with the snappy shops, cool restaurants and sidewalks full of fellow pedestrians? (We’ll leave out any discussion of property values and tax rates.)

South Congress, otherwise known as SoCo, won the A-List reader poll for Best Shopping Center with 24 percent of the vote. Barton Creek Square Mall, built on the standard indoor formula, was not far behind with 21 percent. The Domain, which combines the street experience with amusement-park design, came in third with 14 percent.

The somewhat similar but boxier Hill Country Galleria bagged 9 percent, while the Arboretum rang up 5 percent, tying with the Second Street District. The rest — Shops at the Galleria, Lakeline Mall, Highland Mall, Prime Outlets, Tanger Outlets, La Frontera, Wolf Ranch and Capital Plaza — earned 3 percent or less.

Sweet that ol’ Capital Plaza was remembered.

Your A-List: Best Festival That's Not ACL or SXSW

By Michael Barnes — 2009-11-04T17:19:21-06:00

South by Southwest and the Austin City Limits Festival have grown so ubiquitous, it’s hard to imagine anything else happening in Austin, socially, on those March or October weekends. Yet Central hosts many other festivals. Just not staged on that monumental scale.

The A-List reader poll for Best Festival That’s Not ACL or SXSW turned into a showdown between the Old Settlers Music Festival and Kerrville Folk Festival. Both are full-saturation events, out of doors and packed with music, so related thematically to the biggest fests. Old Settler’s took 50 percent of the ballots; Kerrville 41 percent.

Pretty much everything else fell to 3 percent or less: Fun Fun Fun Fest, Texas Book Festival, Austin Kite Festival, Austin Raggae Festival, Austin Film Festival, Batfest, Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival, Keep Austin Weird Festival, Urban Music Festival, Art City Austin, Fantastic Fest, Cine Las Americas, Out of Bounds Improv Festival and Fuse Box.

I think I’ve covered all but one of these. Wanna guess which?

Your A-List: Best Happy Hour

By Michael Barnes — 2009-11-04T17:01:24-06:00

When you ask: What’s your favorite Austin happy hour, are you asking about the drinks? Or the food? Or the scene? Or the whole package?

Some of the A-List reader choices for Best Happy Hour are restaurants; some are bars. So there’s a bit of a criteria split.

The winner is an old friend: multi-sited Trudy’s, which earned just over 20 percent of the votes, while funky South Congress music venue Continental Club came close with just under 20 percent.

Downtown restaurant McCormick & Schmick’s came in third with 13 percent. Saxon Pub and Baby Acapulco tied at 10 percent. Close behind were Doc’s, Roaring Fork, Cedar Door and Kyoto, with Brown Bar bringing up the rear.

All good happy hours. Where were Trio or Maria Maria in all this? Maybe they are still too new.

Kanye West buys into Austonian?

By Michael Barnes — 2009-11-04T14:48:06-06:00

The rumor bolted around the Texas Tribune party like an errant musician at an awards ceremony:

Kanye West had purchased the top floor of the Austonian.

A building source says: “I hadn’t heard that.”

Can anyone confirm?

Texas Tribune Launch at the Belmont

By Michael Barnes — 2009-11-04T12:38:05-06:00

Now that was a mob …

John Thornton and Evan Smith

Delegates from Law, Media and Business thronged to the Belmont on Tuesday to smash a figurative champagne bottle over the Texas Tribune’s bow …

Dean and Andrea McWilliams

A nonprofit, online newspaper that covers public policy has been a years-long daydream for Austin Ventures partner John Thornton …

Kate Hersch and Richard Saja

With corporate and private donations — prompted by Thornton’s own $1 million+ ante — the Tribune is off and running …

Cynthia Baker and Whurley

As usual for major meet-ups at the Belmont, the front courtyard was shoulder-to-shoulder, but the upper decks and inside spaces promised room to breathe, nibble and sip …

Matt Waite (Hot Type Consulting), Kerri Taylor and Brandon Taylor (Tribune developer)

I talked to journalists, some formerly of the Statesman, others cherry-picked by Tribune captain Evan Smith for the new project …

Priya Nihalani and Ken Miller

Also present were publicists, lobbyists, politicians and, especially, a lot of techies …

Mark Oberholzer and Leigh Hopper

As a digital-only newspaper, the Tribune has attracted the attention and help of open-source, design and development wizards (like Mr. Whurley, already moving into alternate reality field) …

Thom Singer, Susanna Hamner and Lance Avery Morgan

News and social junkies like your columnist will keep an eye on the Tribune as it sails out into the wide, wide world of journalistic discovery.

Laura Scanlan Cho and Kenneth Cho

Ben Hine and Ximena Estrada

Steve Moakley and Natalie Bell

Notable Women at the Long Center

By Michael Barnes — 2009-11-04T11:20:25-06:00

The Notable Women movement had quietly exited the stage …

Toya Haley and Dr. Joni Wallace

As imagined by Vickie Roan, owner of the Menagerie, the group raised $1.3 million for the Long Center project, simply by setting aside the price of a latte a day for a year …

Jane Driscoll, Diane Lupsitz and Christina Hester

After the center opened, the Notables, as a group, slipped from view. Many of them reassembled, however, in the Kodosky Donor Lounge on Tuesday to catch up — and to learn details about the center’s upcoming 2nd anniversary party …

Tony Jelik, Bobbi Topfer and Beau Nutt

Slated for March 27, the party is built around the indestructible ’80s act Hall and Oates, with Asleep at the Wheel out in the tent, entertaining for the remaining festivities …

Patty Huffines and Vickie Roan

The color is purple for the party, which is a fresh twist for this gala-goer.

Why Women Have Sex, Part 3

By Michael Barnes — 2009-11-03T16:52:45-06:00

For more of “Why Women Have Sex,” scroll down to previous posts, or link to Part 1 and Part 2.

In their own words

‘I was in a nonsexual relationship for 13 years. After that ended, I needed human touch to be reminded that I could still feel. Sex and physical pleasure helped me feel human again.’ — heterosexual woman, age 42

‘I was told that if a man could dance he could perform in bed. I did not believe this and wanted to see if it was true. … We ended up having sex and yes he was as good in bed as he was on the dance floor. … He literally danced while having sex. It was wonderful.’ — heterosexual woman, age 29

‘I had sex with someone who had a great sense of humor because every time I was with him, I had a great time. I have never had so much fun with anyone else as I had with him.’ — heterosexual woman, age 27

‘The reason I had sex with my ex-husband? I was young, I was 16 years old, and I wanted him to stay with me. I thought by having sex it would ensure a committed relationship. It didn’t, but at the time you could not have made me see that. I equated sex (with) love. And the more we made love, I thought, the more he must love me. I was a fool.’ — heterosexual woman, age 41

‘My husband cheated with my best friend, so I had an affair with her husband for three months. I did not feel guilty at all.’ — heterosexual woman, age 44

‘Sometimes, it was easier to just give in and do it when he wanted rather than put up with listening to him whine and complain about how horny he was.’ — heterosexual woman, age 29

‘After I broke up with the first person that I had sex with, I wondered if sex with different people was dramatically different, so I had sex with another boy I knew and … yeah, it was definitely different.’ — predominately heterosexual woman, age 18

‘I have had sex with my boyfriend to make my sexual skills better for the both of us. I see it as each time I have sex I’m also choosing to do it to heighten my skills so we can both have an even better experience than the last.’ — heterosexual woman, age 20

‘You know the situation with your spouse where you really want to please them sexually because you want to have your own way on something. Little things like choosing (where to eat) dinner.’ — heterosexual woman, age 25

‘(Sex) is a stress reliever, and let’s face it, most of the time men don’t care why, they’re just happy to help along.’ — predominately heterosexual woman, age 22

‘I can’t really describe this experience … but pure joy and connection with another person I feel is becoming closer to the cycles of life and the underlying, palpable energy of the world … in essence, God.’ heterosexual woman, age 21