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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2008 > September > 04
Thursday, September 4, 2008
The season: Alvin Aily American Dance Theater & Paul Taylor Dance
Among the big news items coming up in 2008-2009 arts season is the re-opening in January of UT’s Bass Concert Hall. The 3000-seat theater is undergoing a much-needed $14.7 million restoration that will bring it up to code, increase the size of its lobbies and other patron service areas (i.e., restrooms) and otherwise give the 1980s-era hall some new polish.
With Bass’s re-opening, Austin will see the return of some really stellar international arts companies and individuals. We’re particularly excited that a couple companies founded by twof titans of modern dance are headed our way.
March 24 and 25 Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater along with vocal group Sweet Honey in the Rock will return. Ailey — who was born in Rogers, Texas — created 79 ballets in his lifetime (1931-1989) including the now legendary “Revelations” that draws on gospel, spirituals and African American culture.
“Revelations.”
Then on April 1, Paul Taylor Dance Company lands at the Bass. Taylor, known for a style of modern ballet characterized by a kind of grotesque beauty that reveals volumes about the human condition.
Now, these are the kind of sophisticated touring arts shows Austin deserves — and needs.
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Review: ‘A Bronx Tale’
Sweet and sharp, tender and tough Chazz Palminteri delivered an entire world in just 90 minutes Wednesday night at the Long Center when he premiered the national tour of “A Bronx Tale,” his semi-autobiographical one-man show about growing up in a Mafia-managed Bronx neighborhood.
Slipping effortlessly in and out of more than a dozen characters, sometimes impressively orchestrating a conversation between three or four of them, Palminteri unwinds his tale with tenderness — and also a master storyteller’s flare for charming, captivating and surprising.
Sure, “A Bronx Tale” story may feel like it covers little new ground in a post-Sopranos cultural landscape — a young boy caught between his fascination with a Mob boss and his upright father, the insular Italian American community cracking under the social upheavals of the 1960s. But Palminteri’s clear affection for his characters gives his tale heft and sincerity.
Indeed it was Palminteri’s earnestness that enthralled the near-capacity audience Wednesday night.
Began in 1989 as an off-Broadway play then made into a movie in 1993, Palminteri revived the stage show on Broadway last year.
Still, this isn’t some shop-worn solo show. Instead, “A Bronx Tale” is reaffirmation that good storytelling and theater thrive.
“A Bronx Tale” continues 8 p.m. tonight and Friday and 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday. Long Center, 701 W. Riverside Dr. $40-$80. 474-5664. www.thelongcenter.org.
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