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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2009 > July
July 2009
Review: ‘Sweeney Todd’ by Summer Stock Austin
Early in the musical “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” Sweeney sings to the innocent sailor Anthony, “You are young. You will learn.”
Sweeney believes Anthony’s naivety will pass away with time, and he, too, will see the social depravity of their London home. The line rang a little different Thursday in the Long Center’s Rollins Theatre as Summer Stock Austin opened a week of performances.
Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney” is a difficult musical. It’s an almost sung-through opera and a dark comedy with complicated characters. Yet the local cast of high school and college students proved to be an able ensemble. They will learn more, but they have already learned a great deal.
Under the direction of Michael McKelvey, Summer Stock Austin is an annual affair, bringing together talented young actors for a month at St. Edwards University. (Zilker Theatre is a co-producer.) The group rehearses for three weeks, and then presents two shows. “Sweeney Todd” alternates with “Little Shop of Horrors” at the Rollins through Aug. 9.
Watching the show with the cast’s friends and families added warmth to Thursday night’s show. It was enjoyable to hear the clusters of audience members laugh as the cast member they came to see appeared with a fake beard or a wild wig. Many of “Sweeney’s” roles required the actors to play older characters. As Todd, Jacob Trussell captured the murderous barber’s entanglement of wrath and pain, especially in the show’s second half. Trussell also had a little Johnny Depp thrown in. Last year’s movie version of the musical definitely affected the production.
Kathleen Fletcher, performing as the hilarious Mrs. Lovett, best understood the range of the show’s emotions. She could move from cackle to sobriety within a single line of song. Fletcher also did an excellent job of blending movement and music. She drew tons of laughter from the audience with a fantastic rendering of the bemusing song “By the Sea.”
Lighting challenges often left the remainder of the cast in the dark — literally. Several other actors deserve note: as the couple in love (Anthony and Johanna), Ben Mayne and Mikayla Agrella, performed well, as did Nathan Brockett (Beadle), Reno Bostick (Toby), and Aaron Moten (Judge Turpin).
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Live Beethoven and ‘A Clockwork Orange’
Who thought live chamber music combined with movies would ever be the crowd-pleasing entertainment attraction that it is?
Well, it is. And PKWproductions’ ‘Music and a Movie’ series —led by Austin bassist and composer P. Kellach Waddle — is reviving one its most popular programs: A screening of Kubrick’s sci-fi cult classic ‘A Clockwork Orange’ and live music either by or inspired by Beethoven.
Why Beethoven?
Well the film’s teenage miscreant Alex DeLarge is fond of unbridled violence and Beethoven, particularly the Ninth Symphony. Waddle and his colleagues will play some rarely-heard Beethoven chamber works and premiere new Beethoven-inspired compositions by Waddle and composers Graham Reynold and Peter Stopschinski.
Music and a Movie: ‘A Clockwork Orange”
Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek, 13729 Research Blvd.
8 p.m. August 2
$15; www.alamodrafthouse.com
PRE-MOVIE CONCERT: ALL MUSIC BY LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Sonata in G for Bass and Piano (transcribed from the Sonata for French Horn and Piano) — First Movement: Allegro Moderato
Duo for Violin and Bass in D Major (transcribed from Duo for Flute and Bassoon): Allegro Commodo
Ah! Perfido! : Concert Aria for Soprano and Piano
INTERMISSION CONCERT
Piece on Beethoven theme by P. Stopchinski
Piece on Beethoven theme by G. Reynolds
Waddle’s Slumbering With Beethoven; Berceuse-Fanatsiesatz on Beethoven’s Klaviersonate in F Minor-2nd Movement for Violin, Cello, Bass and Piano
Waddle’s Fantasy-Aria-Distillation on Beethoven’s Piano Concerto #5 -2nd Movement for Cello and Bass
Musicians: Helen Bravenec, violin;Hector Moreno, cello; P. K. Waddle, bass; Nikki Birdsong, piano; Emily Breedlove, soprano
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An ‘Orestes’ for the new millennium
Director Will Hollis Snider — who was recently nominated for an Austin Critics’ Table Award for his production of ‘The Nina Variations’ — takes Euripides classic tragedy and tweaks it for our modern sensibilities. The result is a darker and more intimate version of the story of Orestes’ murder of his own mother, Klytaimenstra in revenge for the killing of his father.
‘Orestes’ plays 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays through Aug. 15 at the Off Center, 2211 Hidalgo St. www.cambiareproductions.com
Q: Of all the classical tragedies, why chose Orestes to tinker with?
Will Hollis Snider: Orestes’ story has resonated with my personally since I first it read years ago. Here is a young man, Orestes, who grew up away from his family, and is commanded by the God Apollo to kill his mother in revenge for murdering his father. He commits the deed, and is immediately tormented by Furies for doing so. His eyes are then immediately opened to the consequences of that action. He begins to question his faith and wonder if it really was God that commanded him to do this.
For millenia, people have committed heinous acts in the name of God, and these people have truly believed they were doing the right thing. But what happens when they stop believing and see the consequences of the actions committed by their own hands?
Also, it has daggers and killing and stuff.
Q: Explain how you’ve adapted the original play and why you made the choices you did.
Snider: I first boiled the play down to it’s basic elements. What is the story I want to tell? What are the themes I want to explore? Once I had that figured out, I gathered up as much material as I could that touched on this story and these themes. I ended up pulling bits and pieces from Eurpides’ Orestes, Iphigenia at Aulis, Iphigenia Among the Taurians; Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides; and Sophokles’ Elektra. I used Euripides’ Orestes as my framework, and began playing with structure, rhythm and timelines. I figured out the arc for each character and came up with a a very detailed outline of what I wanted the adaptation to look like. I marked the scenes I wanted to pull from all of the plays, what needed to rewrite, and what new scenes I needed to add myself.
Then, I locked myself in a room with this outline for about month, and came out with a script that was almost completely different than the outline I went in with.
The play still begins six days after Orestes murders his mother, just as Euripides’ version does, but it now moves back and forth through time as Orestes tries to figure out what led him here. Instead of monologuing about his situation, Orestes is now much more active in his quest for the truth.
Gone is the Deus ex Machina that populates many Greek tragedies. At the end of Euripides’ version, Apollo magically appears before Orestes and fixes everything. In a nutshell, he says, “Orestes, this girl, which you just kidnapped and are threatening to kill, I want you to marry her. Also, when you killed Helen earlier, you didn’t actually. I snatched her up ‘cause, well… I think she’s pretty. She’s going to come live with me now.”
It really didn’t feel like the proper way to end the story. So, there has been some major tinkering, and I hope that I have enhanced Orestes story by the changes that were made.
Q: Besides shifting the focus to Orestes, what other aspects of the production have you built into the show to give the story new direction?
Snider: With the play now moving back and forth through time, I no longer have Aristotles’ Unities to inform the technical elements, which in turn has given my designers much more freedom to play. It no longer takes place in just one location or just one day, but spans many years and multiple locations. The play is now much more fantastical. Orestes is constantly questioning his reality, and isn’t sure himself what time or location he is in at any given moment. The technical elements are now informed by Orestes psychological state, the costume design pulls from many different times and locations, and the language plays with classic as well as modern colloquialisms.
All characters but one appear in other Greek tragedies. To better relate the events of Orestes to today, I wanted to give the ordinary citizens a voice. Typically in Greek tragedy, only characters of noble birth are allowed stage time. If someone is not of noble birth and they get to say something, typically they are giving us a three page monologue about what those noble characters did while they were off stage. So, I simply created the role: The Voice of the People. After decades of tyranny and bloodshed, the ordinary citizens had to have been fed up with the actions of their leaders. So they attempt to take justice into their own hands.
To tease the new direction, I’d like to share the opening moment of the play:
The interior of a war ravaged church. The doors fly open. ORESTES enters, his hands are caked with dried blood, a dagger in one hand, and dragging his kidnapped victim behind him with the other.
The church hasn’t been inhabited in years. Everything is grey… Concrete, wood, stone. The wood is rotting, the walls are crumbling. He walks swiftly to the altar, and throws his victim down beside him. He gently places the dagger on the altar. He kneels. Silence. In the silence there are whispers, we hear the wind blowing through the church. It is night. Then…
Image: Gabriel Luna in ‘Orestes’ Courtesy Cambiare Productions.
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Weekend Arts Pix
Thursday through Sunday
‘Sweeney Todd’ and ‘Little Shop of Horrors.’
Call it the summer of blood. Summer Stock Austin presents two chilling but charming musicals in repertoire. Stephen Sondheim’s masterpiece ‘Sweeney Todd’ finds London barber Benjamin Barker seeking revenge in a bloody, meat pie fashion. ‘Little Shop’ is an affectionate spoof on 1950s horror films complete with a man-eating plant. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Sundays, 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Aug. 9. See www.thelongcenter.org for specifics. Rollins Studio Theater, Long Center, 701 W. Riverside Dr. $12-$20. www.summerstock.org
Thursday through Saturday
‘Orestes.’
Director Will Hollis Snider takes Euripides classic tragedy and tweaks it for our modern sensibilities for a darker and more intimate version of the story of Orestes’ murder of his own mother, Klytaimenstra in revenge for the killing of his father. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays through Aug. 15. Off Center, 2211 Hidalgo St. $12-$15. www.cambiareproductions.com
Friday and Saturday
‘Epidemic of Fear: The Influenzical.’
How timely. As health care reform is debated in Washington D.C. and fear of the H1N1 flu still percolates around the world, Crank Collective presents an original musical comedy that satirizes the health care system, politic campaigns, panic and pandemics. What would happen if a major political campaign hinged on which candidate could deal with a flu epidemic? 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Aug. 8. Salvage Vanguard Theater, 2803 Manor Road. $15. www.epidemicoffear.com
Friday through Sunday
‘Stop the World, I Want to Get Off.’
Wimberley Players present the classic musical about a circus clown who is too busy dreaming of what life could be to actually live life. Includes the songs ‘What Kind of Fool Am I? and ‘Once in a Lifetime.’ 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sundays, July 31-Aug. 23 Wimberley Playhouse, 450 Old Kyle Road, Wimberley. $15. 847-0575, www.wimberleyplayers.org.
Saturday
‘A Day in the Life of Nero: Life in the Ancient World.’
Legend has it that Nero — the fifth and final emperor of Rome — fiddled while Rome burned and his extravagant empire came to a crashing halt. But do we really know that? Examine life in ancient Greece and Rome by delving into the Blanton Museum’s collection of Greek vases, Roman coins and casts of classical sculpture. 2 p.m. Saturday Blanton Museum of Art, Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and Congress Ave. Free with museum admission ($3-$7). 471-7324. www.blantonmuseum.org
Image: Gabriel Luna and Steffanie Ngo-Hatchie in ‘Orestes’ Courtesy Cambiare Productions.
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Film installation doesn’t Mickey Mouse around, curator says
In case you missed it, we wrote about Austin artist Amy Grappell and her compelling video installation, ‘Quadrangle,’ that’s now on view at Arthouse as part of the exhibit ‘NAT 24: New American Talent, The Twenty-Fourth Exhibition.’
You can read that story here.
Hamza Walker, this year’s guest curator for Arthouse’s ‘New American Talent’ and director of education at the University of Chicago’s Renaissance Society, sifted through the work of nearly 700 artists from 44 states who submitted to the show. From that massive pool, Walker selected 26 artists including eight from Austin.
Walker really, really liked Grappell’s ‘Quadrangle.’ Here’s what he told us:
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It is a superb piece, really first rate work. I can’t remember how many videos I watched in jurying NAT; a few dozen at minimum. Amy’s was one of the first and it set a very very high bar. It is the only video piece in the show for precisely that reason. Nothing else compared. Not only does the work stand out within the pool of applicants, that piece stands out in any context. I live for work of that caliber. It’s the real deal, meat and potatoes kinda work—substantial, serious, compelling, deeply moving and formally beautiful. In short, mature work. No Mickey Mousing around. In addition to the story, it is an outstanding piece of portraiture where the genre is not defined by medium, but whether or not you are good at working with people in soliciting aspects of their personality that speak beyond what they may be telling us verbally.
- Amy’s skill as a seasoned documentary filmmaker serves her well in making the transition to an art context. Although many artists flirt with documentary strategies, they are often unwilling to engage their subject directly. The result is dilettantism especially when it comes to an autobiographical work let alone one with Quadrangle’s complexity. One’s parents are the ultimate subject matter, meaning you really have to have the chops to pull off a work exploring their personal lives.
‘NAT 24: New American Talent, the Twenty-fourth Exhibition’ continues 1 through Sept. 6 Arthouse, 700 Congress Ave. www.arthousetexas.org
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Getting close to Chuck Close
Chuck Close redefined the way we consider portraiture. Beginning in the 1960s Close started creating massive painted portraits with a distinctive photorealistic style, typically using photographs as source material.
The super-large scale and hyper detail of Close’s portraits — many are of his artist friends such as Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, Andres Serrano and Cindy Sherman — forces a reconsideration of our assumptions of what a painted portrait should, or can, be. Sometimes, people are all too human up close.
Close’s use of photographic source material led to his experimentations with photography as an artistic medium, something the artist has deeply explored in the last decade.
‘A Couple of Ways of Doing Something’ an exhibit coming to the Austin Museum of Art. The exhibit opens Aug. 22 and runs through Nov. 8. Among the programs offered is a Sept. 10 screening of ‘Portrait of Close’s Creative Circle,’ a film that examines the artist and his circle of creative friends, including Glass, Robert Rauschenberg and Kiki Smith.
The exhibit features 15 daguerreotypes — which Close used as the basis to create the other works in the show — 20 digital pigment prints, seven 8-by-6-foot digital Jacquard portrait tapestries and two photogravures measuring over 47 x 40 inches. Lyrical praise poems by New York School poet Bob Holman accompany many of the portraits. Holman, a celebrated poet originated the now famous Poetry Slams at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. He now runs the Bowery Poetry Club.
The exhibit is organized by Aperture, the New York-based not-for-profit organization devoted to photography. See www.amoa.org for details.
Image: Philip Glass, 2006 digital orint. ©Chuck Close
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Review: Jorge Caballero
Sometimes, some concerts just strike a note of perfection from the top.
Such was the case Friday night at the Mexican American Cultural Center ‘Strings, Rhythm and Lyrics’ featuring Peruvian guitarist Jorge Caballero along with violinist Maria Conti, cellist Douglas Harvey and mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Cass.
A combination of vivid programming and superb musicianship dovetailed to produce a sparkling concert that spotlighted Caballero smart and sensitive arrangements on an eclectic range of music.
Caballero’s version of Falla’s Danza from ‘La Vida Breve’ let the piece remain the virtuosic violin showpiece that is, but gave it lustrous color with a guitar accompaniment.
A charismatic performer, Cass brought charming emotion to Falla’s ‘Siete Canciones Populares Espanolas,’ an enchanting song cycle packed with melodic beauty and rhythmic energy that swooped through moods from tenderness to playfulness to nostalgia.
Caballero and Conti brought plenty of panache to Piazzolla’s ‘L’Historia du Tango,’ the composer’s musical telling of the tango from its earliest folk-inspired days to the modernist angles of nuevo tango.
Fronting the program was Jorge Morel’s ‘Rapsodia Latina’ a rich, striking composition for violin, cello and guitar with melodies that chased from instrument to instrument.
To finish the concert, Caballero paid tribute to his mother, noted Peruvian singer Maria Obregon, with instrumental arrangements of a trio of classic Latin American songs his mother recorded. It’s was a charming flourish to an utterly charming concert.
‘Strings, Rhythm and Lyrics’ continues at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. See www.austinclassicalguitar.org for more info.
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UT grad wins $50,000 Keene Prize
Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, a 2009 graduate of the James A. Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin has won the $50,000 Keene Prize for Literature for her play ‘Lidless.’
The annual award, one of the largest student literary prizes, is open to all UT undergraduate and graduate students. Poetry, plays and fiction or non-fiction prose is considered.
An additional $50,000 will be divided among three finalists” Malachi Black for the collection of sonnets “Cantos from Insomnia,” Sarah Cornwell for her short stories “Mr. Legs,” “Champlain” and “Other Wolves on Other Mountains” and Sarah Smith for her collection of poetry, “Enormous Sleeping Women.”
Cowhig’s “Lidless” is a poetic treatment of the issue of torture at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and was staged last spring at UT as part of the ‘UT New Theatre’ festival.
In addition to the Keene Prize “Lidless” has been selected by playwright David Hare as the winner of the 2009 Yale Emerging Playwrights Prize. It will be published by Yale University Press. “Lidless” will also be given staged readings at Houston’s Alley Theatre, Ojai Playwrights Conference and Yale Repertory Theatre.
Elizabeth Butler Cullingford, chair of the Department of English and chair of the award selection committee said of Cowhig’s play “(it is) political without being propagandistic, moving without being sentimental, ‘Lidless’ uses theatrical space, physical bodies and talismanic objects to create a bold imaginative intervention into the debate about torture.”
Established in 2006 in the College of Liberal Arts, the Keene Prize is named after E.L. Keene, a 1942 graduate of the university, who envisioned an award that would enhance and enrich the university’s prestige and reputation in the international market of American writers. The competition is open to all university undergraduate and graduate students, and the prize is awarded annually to the student who creates the most vivid and vital portrayal of the American experience in microcosm. Students submit poetry, plays and fiction or non-fiction prose.
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The ranch gate considered as art and design
In case you missed it, check out our story about ‘Ranch Gates of the Southwest’ (Trinity University Press), a new book by UT design professor and artist Daniel M. Olsen and designer Hank van Assen.
You can read it here.
Van Assen and Olsen traveled the Southwest photographing and contemplating the ranch gate as a work of design, a visual surrogate for ranch owners. What they found surprised, intrigues and delighted them.
As van Asssen writes, the project made him”realize once more that design is something innate to human beings and, whether created at a fancy studio in New York City or in the barren landscape of the Southwest, impossible to ignore.”
The gate to Rancho Cuatro Hermanas (Ranch of the Four Sisters) near Blanco. Photo by Daniel M. Olsen
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Rome, to be built (and destroyed) in day (and a night)
With its impending renovation coming up, Arthouse is staging what promises to be an utterly intriguing all-out art extravaganza with Liz Glynn’s ‘24 Hour Roman Reconstruction Project.’
The super-performance of live installation art takes place Sept. 26. Beginning at midnight, and over the course of 24 hours, more than a millennium of Roman history will be reconstructed through the building of a mini Rome. Using salvaged building materials, found wood, cardboard and other odd stuff will be used, Glynn will direct collaborators and volunteers in the building of Rome which, once it’s completed, will then destroyed.
During the project performers will enact climatic moments of Roman history. Let’s hope they have an Empero Nero fiddling while the Roman Empire collapses.
Also on the schedule are musical performances, poetry readings, scholarly lectures, architectural tours of the historic Arthouse building and, in appropriately Roman Empire fashion, athletic competitions and feasts.
Glynn debuted ‘24 Hour Roman Reconstruction Project’ in Los Angeles.
Glynn’s use of classical antiquity merges with her response to the re-building of post-Katrina New Orleans and war-ravaged Iraq, both situation where the phrase “Rome wasn’t built in a day” is used as an excuse for the lack of progress.
Architecture reflects life and politics so what better way to tour an entire empire and its people than to try to re-create at 21st-century hype-speed?
And really, what better send-off before Arthouse closes for its $6.5 million renovation? The former theater turned department store turned contemporary arts place will be re-vamped by architects Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis. Read more about the exciting project here.
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Q-and-A with Mary Ellen Butler, artistic director of Georgetown Palace Theatre
With today’s austin360 cover story, ‘Prosceniums on the Perimeter,’ we focus on theaters that are far outside Austin’s downtown core or East Austin warehouses. Our surrounding towns and suburbs are busy with community theater.
One the busiest is Georgetown’s Palace Theatre Housed in an historic Art Deco former movie house, the community group stages up to nine shows during its year-long season.
We caught up with Georgetown Palace Theatre artistic director Mary Ellen Butler.
austin360: How long have you been with Georgetown Palace Theatre?
Mary Ellen Butler: We are currently ending my sixth season as the Palace artistic airector with “Big River” and we will be opening our seventh season with “Driving Miss Daisy.”
Prior to being contracted as the artistic director I had volunteered for about 1-1/2 years, assisting with technical support or directing productions.
My theater resume includes an undergrad degree in education with a minor in speech and drama. I have graduate work in musical theater and Shakespeare. I have been involved with theater for 36 years now either directing or producing shows in America or in Europe. I ran the American Musical Theater Co. in Germany for 4 years touring such shows as “Cabaret”, “Little Shop of Horrors” and “The Fantastics.”
What is your goal as artistic director?
Butler: I have a dual focus;
the first part is to produce the best possible theatrical experience for our audiences with the people and materials available.
The second focus is to create a community event center that offers not just theatricals but also events of community interest such as jazz and rock concerts, a fully developed children’s workshop program and education classes for teens and adults who have an interest in furthering their acting and/or technical skills.
What show are you looking forward to presenting soon?
Butler: I am looking forward to a nine-show season next year with “Driving Miss Daisy” kicking it of on Aug. 28th, “Man of La Mancha’ next which brings us to our holiday offering “Annie” which will run for 27 performances from Nov. 20 through Dec. 30.
What’s your favorite moment in this production of ‘Big River’?
Butler: My favorite is when Huckelberry Finn realizes that Jim, the escaped slave, is a human being. Both actors create a wonderful moment that expresses itself in dialogue and song. The complete show is both uplifting and highly enjoyable.
‘Big River’ plays 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays through Aug. 16. See www.georgetownpalace.com for more information.
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Weekend Arts Pix
Thursday
Jana Swec and Jared Theis.
Co-founder of the East Austin Studio Tour and one-third of the artist collaborative Sodalitas, Jana Swec shows her delicate, highly detailed ink drawings. Musician and artist Jared Theis crafts slabs of clay that mimic music with their intricate designs. Opening reception: 6 to 8 p.m. today. Regular hours: noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. D Berman Gallery, 1701 Guadalupe St. Free. www.dbermangallery.com.
Thursday through Sunday
‘Windows.’
Performance poet Zell Miller III offers a challenging new high-energy movement-filled theater piece in which 10 archetypal characters navigate violence, racism and oppression. 8 p.m. today-Sunday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Salvage Vanguard Theater, 2803 Manor Road. $10-$30. www.upriseproductions.org.
Friday and Saturday
Jorge Caballero.
Famed guitarist Caballero returns to Austin and joins New York violinist Maria Conti as well as local talents, mezzo-soprano Liz Cass and cellist Douglas Harvey. The program ranges from Bach to Piazolla to Peruvian songs. 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Mexican American Cultural Center, 600 River St. $25-$50. www.austinclassicalguitar.org.
Friday-Sunday
‘See the Music, Hear the Dance.’
American Repertory Ensemble brings intimately scaled ballet and live chamber music to the stage. Among the short pieces on the program is Lar Lubovitch’s pas de deux ‘My Funny Valentine’ and a new piece by Austin composer Stephen Barber. Favorite re-stagings of dances by artistic director David Justin include ‘Just a Regular Joe.’ 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. McCullough Theatre, University of Texas campus, 2350 Robert Dedman Drive. $20-$38. www.americanrepensemble.org.
Saturday
‘Public Art Crawl.’
Join the City of Austin’s Art in Public Places staff for a tour of studios and working spaces of artists who are in the process of making public art. Participants will be shuttled to various studios. Artists are Jill Bedgood, James Talbot, Stephanie Strange, Hawkeye Glen and Lizzie Martinez. 10 a.m. Tour leaves from City Hall, 301 W. Second St. Free (reservations necessary). 512-974-9308.
‘Half & Half: Part One.’
The annual summer love fest between the artists and art historians of UT’s Department of Art and Art History brings the artwork from 15 graduate students in two exhibitions curated by art and art history graduates. ‘Part One’ includes artists Kate Abercrombie, Sonya Berg, Sam Dahl, Scott Eastwood, Santiago Forero, Robert Melton, Marya Spont, and Jeff Stanley. Curated by Kara Carmack, Ariel Evans, Bonnie Gammill, and Lauren Hanson. Opening: 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday with a life performance by guest artist Jennifer Remenchik at 7 p.m. Gallery hours: noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays through Aug. 8. Creative Research Laboratory, 2832 East Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Free. uts.cc.utexas.edu/~crlab
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Recent arts coverage:
Filmmaker creates a quiet installation of a tumultuous past | Iconic artist revealed: Blanton’s masterly Francisco Matto show | Critic Lori Waxman critiqued 39 local artists in 3 days | Mexic-Arte Museum celebrates 25 years | |Follow @artsinaustin on Twitter
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Review: ‘Dear Fraility’
No one is normal in ‘Dear Fraility’ Arthur Simone’s oddly compelling darkly humorous one-man, multi-character show playing Fridays through August at Coldtowne Theater.
But it is nevertheless easy to sympathize with the eight not-normal characters Simone presents on Coldtowne’s miniscule stage no matter how absurd and grotesque the details of the lives may be. Perhaps that because Simone has carefully crafted each to be remotely believable. Forget the flat character parody. Instead, Simone delivers little jewel-like stories of strange but absorbing characters whose stories you want to hear.
There’s the barely recovered pyromaniac fresh from rehab, an old woman with nary a fond memory of the past, a man still suffering from the bullying he was victim to in his childhood and a single woman unlucky in love even if she doesn’t quite realize it.
With only minimal props, Simone performs each of their stories in short, neatly-paced monologues. And for good measure, Simone throws in a few absurdist presentations of his own, most humorously a rambling and ridiculous slide presentation on the future of capitalism. (The show clocks in a little less than one hour.)
The lanky Simone is something of a naturally jittery performer but that only gives his characters more of a manic edge that grabs the attention. What sets ‘Dear Fraility’ apart from most other monologue line-ups is the quality of Simone’s story-telling. There’s no ad-libbing or improv here. Rather, the writing has a tight, literary quality that unfolds thoughtfully.
Simone, one third of the trio of improvisational actors that founded Coldtowne Theater, delivers an odd odyssey that in the end remains sweet.
“Dear Fraility” continues at 9 p.m. on Fridays through Aug. 28 at Coldtowne Theater, Airport Blvd. www.coldtownetheater.com
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The Longs give UT’s Butler School of Music $1 million
Austin philanthropists Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long have donated $1 million to the University of Texas Butler School of Music to create a chaired professorship in piano performance.
The new gift follows the Longs’ $500,000 donation in March that created a piano scholarship endowment.
The Long Chair in Piano will be recommended by B. Glenn Chandler, director of the Butler School of Music, and approved by the board of regents. An appointment is expected to be announced at the end of the summer.
“We hope to accomplish two things with both of these gifts,” said Joe Long in statement released by the university. “One is to always have a professor of piano of national and international stature who will attract very talented students, we hope among the best in the nation. Secondly, with the gift for scholarships for piano students, we hope to further this goal and enable an outstanding professor in piano to offer scholarships to the very best students they can find.”
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Review: ‘Music Man,’ parades into Zilker Park
It is the summer of music men from Gary, Indiana. While the world remains focused on Michael Jackson, Austin has shifted interest to another former Gary Indiana resident, Harold Hill. Hill is the central character in “The Music Man,” the annual summer musical from Zilker Park Theatre. On Sunday a dip in heat and an enthusiastic cast made ‘The Music Man’ one of Austin’s more enjoyable ways to spend time outside.
“The Music Man” follows Hill’s invasion of sleepy River City, Iowa. Zilker’s staging, from director Rod Caspers, displays Hill’s ability to enliven the complacent town. Hill may not bring them musical know-how, but he can give them heart. Casper builds kinetically charged crowd scenes, well constructed for Zilker’s large amphitheater. Even if seated far in the back, you’ll be able to follow the musical thanks to snappy gestures that create tiny snapshots amongst a sea of people. Upbeat choreography by Judy Thompson-Price helps keeps the long musical (three hours) from growing tedious.
Hill is a demanding role: a mesmerizing Pied Piper who barely leaves the stage. As Hill, Eric Ferguson dos not quite have the pizzazz the seductive character needs, but Ferguson carries the gargantuan role serviceably. Kara Bliss, as librarian love interest Marian Paroo, also lacks shine when singing. She does construct Paroo’s guarded, but caring sensibility through details that build throughout the show. Scott Shipman as Mayor Shinn, Emily Bem as the mayor’s wife, and Christina Gilmore as Mrs. Paroo have smaller, but sharper performances.
Among the cast’s many adorable children, Ben Roberts as the endearing, lisping Winthrop Paroo is a standout. Musical performances, led by music director and conductor Austin Haller, work well, particularly the men’s quartet, whose voices seemed to float up the hillside, courtesy of rare Austin summer breezes.
‘The Music Man’ continues at 8:30 Thursdays-Sundays through Aug. 15. Sheffield Hillside Theater, Zilker Park. Free ($3 parking). www.zilker.org.
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MET Opera HD screenings
Cool summer getaway option: ‘The Met: Live in HD’ is returning to theaters with two encore performances from this past season.
‘Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Barber of Seville)’ screens 7 p.m. July 29 and Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’ screens 7 p.m. Aug. 5.
Screenings are at the Regal Metropolitan 14 in South Austin. Tickets are $15. See here for more information.
Met Opera production of ‘The Magic Flute.’
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Plans for new Zach theater forge on: Architect chosen, new donations announced
Recession? Sure, but that hasn’t stopped the folks at Zach Theatre from forging on with their plans to build a new 500-seat venue as part of its plans to expand its campus at S. Lamar Blvd. and W. Riverside Dr.
Theater officials have announced that they have selected the Austin firm of Andersson-Wise Architects as the design architect for the new venue. Among the firm’s projects are the W Hotel on Austin’s Block 21, St. Edward’s University Fleck Hall, the Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State University and the Chihuly Bridge of Glass in Tacoma, Washington. Principal Arthur W. Andersson was one-time professional partners with noted architect and theorist Charles W. Moore. Moore and Andersson collaborated on the residential compound in West Austin now home to The Charles Moore Foundation.
Zach officials have also announced that Austin philanthropists Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long have donated $250,000 towards the theater $20 million capital campaign.
The Shubert Foundation has also donated $25,000.
In June, Zach opened its Production and Creativity Center — aka the Z-PACC — a rehearsal studio and production facility. Architectural designer Michael Hsu transformed a former bicycle workshop adjacent to Zach’s Whisenhunt Theatre into the Z-PACC which will also accommodate Zach’s youth programs.
Finally, commercial real estate developer Tom Terkel has been appointed the chairman of Zach’s capital campaign committee.
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Weekend Arts Pix
THURSDAY
‘Texas Treasures.’
Join Austin Museum of Art director Dana Friis-Hansen for an informal gallery talk on ‘Texas Treasures,’ the first collective exhibition of important early Texas artworks from the collections of the University of Texas Blanton Museum, the University of Texas Harry Ransom Center, the Austin Museum of Art and the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum. 7 p.m. Thursday. Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum,
605 Robert E. Lee Road. Free.
FRIDAY
‘Facing East.’
For the third year, the nonprofit organization Diverse Arts put out a challenge to photographers and videographers to capture the identity of East Austin over the course of one weekend. This year, it was Juneteenth weekend. And the jury selected artists Kaleema H. Al-Nur, Ann Armstrong, Martha Grenon, Adolfo Isassi and Neesha Thakkar. Opening reception: 7 to 10 p.m. Friday. Regular gallery hours: noon to 6 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays. New East Gallery, 1601 E. Fifth St. Free. 477-9438. www.diversearts.org.
‘A Tribute to Billie Holiday.’
Conductor David Stevens and the Morris Nelms Quartet along with Alex Coke on woodwinds will celebrate the songs of Billie Holiday, the seminal jazz singer whose inimitable style influenced generations of vocalists. Proceeds benefit the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians. Cash bar will be available. 7:30 p.m. Friday. Sumners Hall, St. David’s Episcopal Church, 301 E. Eighth St. $25. 610-3550.
SATURDAY
‘Annual Book and Dance Affair.’
Reading and dancing — of course they go together. Once again, Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company presents its annual mini-fest of dance and books. Choreographers from Austin and beyond show their work in the close-up, informal setting of Cafe Dance. During intermission, guests can mingle with the dancers and browse a sale of new and used books and CDs. 5:30 p.m. Cafe Dance, 3307 Hancock Drive. Free (donations accepted). www.kdhdance.com
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
‘Culmination Space 2009 : Margaret McInroe.’
What if future cities were built from bamboo, cotton and concrete blocks? Artist Margaret McInroe creates an installation of her proposal for an ‘optimal urban living scenario.’ Reception: 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday (presentation at 8:30 p.m.) Open house hours 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. Co-Lab, 613 Allen St. Free. www.colabspace.org
Image: “Untitled #4” by Adolfo Isa from ‘Facing East.’
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Happy 25th Mexic-Arte Museum
It started as a tiny space carved out of a long-gone downtown Austin warehouse.
Now, Mexic-Arte Museum is one of longest-standing Latino art museums in the country. Currently the museum is celebrating its 25th anniversary with an exhibit culled from its rather eclectic permanent collection.
The exhibit features ceremonial costumes and masks, 19th-century paintings, political cartoons, fine art prints and etchings, folk art figurines, documentary photographs, edgy contemporary prints and video art.
“Mexic-Arte is notable for being one of the first Latino museums founded in this country. Twenty-five years of providing first-voice opportunities to Chicano and Latino artists and providing educational opportunities for a diverse public is a major and wondrous achievement,” said Eduardo Díaz, director of the Smithsonian Latino Center in Washington, D.C. “I think we can count on Mexic-Arte to continue exploring a wide range of themes addressing fundamental cultural and artistic development and identity issues that directly impact our communities and this country for a long time to come.”
Read more here.
Check out a slide show of the exhibit.
‘A Legacy of Change: Mexic-Arte’s 25th Anniversary Exhibition’
When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m. Sundays through Aug. 2
Admission: $5 ($4 students and seniors, $1 children 12 and younger). Free on Sundays during `A Legacy of Change.’
Information: 480-9373, www.mexic-artemuseum.org
`History of Mexic-Arte Museum’
What: A talk by Sylvia Orozco, museum co-founder and executive director
When: 2 p.m. Saturday
Admission: Free
Image: ‘Ya Basta EZLN 1994, Anti-globalization, Zapata Vuve Demandas del Pueblo, Alimentacion.’
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Recent arts coverage:
Iconic artist revealed: Blanton’s masterly Francisco Matto show | Critic Lori Waxman critiqued 39 local artists in 3 days | Mexic-Arte Museum celebrates 25 years | |Follow @artsinaustin on Twitter
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Zach Theatre unrolls its 2009-2010 season
Zach Theatre has unrolled its 2009-2010 season. Favorites ‘The Santaland Diaries’ and ‘Rockin Christmas Party’ will return over the holidays, but a lively mix of musicals and dramas unfolded throughout the season.
For more info see www.zachtheatre.org.
‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’
September 17-October 25, 2009
Nominated for six Broadway Tony Awards, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ is an offbeat musical that each night challenges audience members and Austin celebrities to a bona fide spell-off.
The Flaming Idiots
Created by Jon O’Connor, Kevin Hunt and Rob Williams
January 28-March 7, 2010
The juggling, joking, flame throwing Flaming Idiots return to the Austin stage for the kind of theater circus antics that brought them to audience acclaim — and got them kicked out of Williamson County.
‘Our Town’
April 15-May 23, 2010
The American classic with an Austin touch.
‘Becky’s New Car’
Written & Directed by Steven Dietz • Starring Lauren Lane
June 3-July 11, 2010
Lauren Lane stars in this life-affirming comedy about an eccentric millionaire who offers Becky the keys to a brand new life. This romantic farce by acclaimed Austin playwright Steven Dietz (playwright of last season’s hit Shooting Star) offers a fantastically funny exploration about class, wealth and selling out.
‘The Drowsy Chaperone’
June 24-August 1, 2010
Favorite Austin actor Martin Burke stars as ‘The Man in the Chair,’ a die-hard musical fan who plays his favorite cast album — a 1928 hit called
“The Drowsy Chaperone,” — to lift his spirits. But then his dream musical becomes real.
‘Metamorphoses’
By Mary Zimmerman
August 5-September 12, 2010
The audience sits intimately around a circular swimming pool, in this visually-arresting production of Ovid’s beautiful myths about miraculous transformations.
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What kind of Pops do you want?
The Austin Symphony Orchestra wants your opinion. What kind of Pops concerts do you want to see ASO present?
Take the survey here:
www.austinsymphony.org/news/pops-artists-survey
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P. Kellach Waddle celebrates the violin with Jessica Mathaes
One instrument at a time, award-winning Austin composer P. Kellach Waddle has been offering concerts of his compositions.
Now, it’s the violin’s turn and Waddle has enlisted the considerable talents of Jessica Mathaes, concert mistress for the Austin Symphony Orchestra, to play the premiere of several new pieces this Sunday.
True to his penchant for long titles, the always colorful ever-prolific Waddle again delights. Here’s the program:
• Two Lyric Pieces for Solo Violin:
— The Mist in the September Wine: Aria-Bagatelle for Solo Violin
— On Passing Texas Churches At Mystic Sunset: Hymn for Solo Violin
• Bottled Dreams in Liquid Oak: Sonata-Ballade in One Movement for Bass and Violin
• Staring At the Unremembering Moonlight: Elegy for Violin and Piano
• The Attack and Reign of the Broken Stained Glass Angels: Trio Gloratio for Violin, Viola and Piano
• The Flowers of Darkness: Sonata in forma di 4 Legendes for Solo Violin
Joining Waddle and Mathaes on the program is pianist Nikki Birdsong along with guest composer and violist Lawrence Wheeler. Wheeler will play two of his own works.
‘The Violin According to PKW’
3 p.m. Sunday
Hyde Park United Methodist Church, 4001 Speedway
Free, with a suggested offering of $15 for adults and $7 for students.
Wait — here’s more:
- Read a recent Q-and-A with Waddle here.
- Read a recent Q-and-A with Mathaes here.
Photo: P. Kellach Waddle by Benjamin Sklar.
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Your A-List: Time to vote for Best Art Gallery
This week the A-List, austin360.com’s reader poll, is taking votes for Austin’s Best Art Gallery (with a few art museums thrown in for good measure).
Go to Your A-List and cast your vote.
Voting ends Tuesday July 14 at 11 p.m. You can vote once per hour.
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NEA awards grants via American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; Austin receives $325,000
The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded grants to arts organizations around the country through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The grants go “to support the preservation of jobs that are threatened by declines in philanthropic and other support during the current economic downturn,” according to the NEA news release.
The NEA awarded 631 grants, totaling $29,775,000,a s part of the $50 million allotted to the agency from the federal economic stimulus package.
Some 20 nonprofit arts groups in Texas are receiving grants totaling $825,000. See the list here.
In Austin, six groups received a total of $325,000.
Women & Their Work is receiving $25,000 while the Fund for Folk Culture. Motion Media Arts Center, Rude Mechanicals theater collective and Texas Folklife Resources will each receive $50,000. The University of Texas is receiving two $50,000 grants.
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Weekend Arts Pix
FRIDAY
Eroica Piano Trio.
They’re simply one of the best chamber trios on the scene. Eroica Piano Trio anchors the last weekend of the Austin Chamber Music Festival with a program including Dvorak’s legendary ‘Dumky’ Piano Trio, Gershwin’s ‘Porgy and Bess’ Fantasy and Bachianes Brasileras by Brazilian great Heitor Villa-Lobos. 7:30 p.m. Friday. Bates Recital Hall, 2350 Robert Dedman Drive. UT campus. $25. www.austinchambermusic.org.
SATURDAY
‘Art Ride.’
Looking for a different way to tour public art? How about a docent-guided bike tour of the University of Texas’ Landmarks public art projects, mid-century sculpture on loan from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Join the tour at one of two starting places: 8:30 a.m. at Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop, 400 Nueces St., or 9 a.m. at the Blanton Museum Café, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Congress Avenue. The distance of the ride is 6 miles from Mellow Johnny’s and 3 miles on campus. The tour will be conducted at a novice-friendly pace. Free. 473-0222. www.mellowjohnnys.com, www.landmarks.utexas.edu.
‘Mark Making: Dots, Lines and Curves.’
The fundamental act of artistic creation? Making a mark. An intimate show with a stunning lineup of international contemporary artists — Ed Ruscha, Teresita Fernández, Ewan Gibbs, Fred Sandback, Tony Smith and Jim Torok, among others — reveals the primacy of how artists make their mark. Opening reception: 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday. Regular gallery hours: noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturday. Exhibit continues through Sept. 5. Lora Reynolds Gallery, 360 Nueces St. Free. 215-4965 www.lorareynolds.com.
SUNDAY
‘The Juche Idea.’
Juche is the official philosophy/religion of North Korea imposed by dictator Kim Jong-il. In a trenchant look at the troublesome convergence of art and propaganda, filmmaker Jim Finn documents the experience of a South Korean video artist who takes an artist’s residency in North Korea and becomes inspired by Kim’s austere philosophy of self-reliance. Co-sponsored by the Austin Film Festival. 3 p.m. Sunday. Blanton Museum of Art, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Congress Ave. $3-$5. www.blantonmuseum.org,
Image: Tony Smith, Untitled, 1962. Ink on paper. Courtesy Lora Reynolds Gallery.
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Michael Jackson: As a dancer, he rode the boogie
In Michael Jackson’s 1979 hit “Rock with You,” he croons, “We can
ride the boogie.” Michael Jackson absolutely knew how to “ride the
boogie” to stardom.
Though best known for his music, Jackson’s enormous success had much
to do with his dancing, an absolute asset in the early 1980s as pop
music listeners became music video watchers. A trip through the best
of MJ — in music videos and footage from live appearances — reveals
a figure that, yes, could grab his crotch like no other. But
Jackson’s boogie included so much more.
Every dancer needs a signature move. Jackson found his in the
moonwalk. One of Jackson’s most famous moonwalks came in 1983 during
Motown’s 25th anniversary show (also broadcast on TV). Jackson was an
excellent dancer—capable of nuanced timing and subtle body shifts.
But he really was a showman. He told his audience how to watch his
dancing. Just before moonwalking while singing “Billie Jean” on the
NBC telecast, his pulls up his pant legs. His white socks contrast
with his black shoes and black pants. “Look at my feet!” his costume
says. And then he glides backwards, looking almost inhuman.
The Motown formula that produced the Jackson 5, Michael’s musical and
familial home, relied on unison dancing, a group of four or five
performers dancing absolutely together in fashionable outfits. Clips
from Jackson 5 appearances on “Soul Train” in the early ’70s
illustrate how the Jackson 5’s syncronicity resembled earlier acts
like the tuxedo-clad Four Tops or the bedazzled Supremes, but
Jackson, like Diana Ross, emerges from the group. As the five
brothers spin backwards at the start of “I Want You Back,” Michael
goes a little lower and squeezes a bit more time out of the turn.
Even at 13, Jackson knew how to play with musicality and movement,
separating himself from a crowd. And, wow, could Jackson work a
striped, lycra pantsuit.
Jackson was a true child of ’70s. The nimble James Brown was
Jackson’s artistic father. Several videos record the mutual
admiration between Jackson and Brown, including footage from a 1983
concert where Brown invited Jackson to the stage. Michael joined him,
singing “I Love You” and then busting out a few Brown moves, like the
weak-kneed, slipping, sliding boogaloo that made Brown look like a
man possessed. Jackson builds on Brown’s choreography, adding quick
spins and the lightning flash knee kick, refitting ’70s funk for the
slick ’80s.
Jackson could never be described as a b-boy, but he still managed to
borrow breakdancing’s timing and attitude. In “Thriller’s” epic 1983
video, Jackson stands out among another group of dancers, but this
time it’s zombies rather than his brothers. Jackson works
“Thriller’s” well-known dance moves against the music, snapping his
shoulders or pelvis so quickly, he has time to pause, mimicking the
robotic pulsing of b-boy styles like popping and locking.
Jackson led another dancing ensemble of bad boys in the 1987 video
for “Bad.” Choreographed by Jeffrey Daniels, who, like “Thriller”
choreographer Michael Peters, had worked primarily in musical
theater, the video couples camera angles with unison choreography to
build aggression and anger. Jackson and his crew seem to attack their
audience, making direct references to American dance’s best known
battle, Jerome Robbins’ choreography for “West Side Story.” Although
in the ’80s the dance battle had much more in common with standoffs
between break dance crews than leaps with pointed toes on Broadway.
Recommended Videography: The best of Michael Jackson on YouTube
- “Michael Jackson performs Billie Jean live at Motown 25th Anniversary Special (1983)”
- “Michael Jackson with the Jackson 5 on Soul Train ‘I Want You Back’” Broadcast in 1972; Jackson is 13.
- “James Brown and Michael Jackson RIP”
- “Michael Jackson-Thriller”
- “Michael Jackson-Bad”
Clare Croft is the freelance dance critic of the American-Statesman.
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Recent arts coverage:
Iconic artist revealed: Blanton’s masterly Francisco Matto show | Art criticism live: Critic Lori Waxman sets up shop at Arthouse | The word from the ‘Artful Manager’ to Austin’s cultural community | |Follow @artsinaustin on Twitter
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Channeling ‘Henry V’
For almost two decades actor and Austin Chronicle arts editor Robert Faire has wanted to take Shakespeare’s history play about England’s most storied warrior king and re-imagine it as a one-man play.
Now, Faires’ dream — or is it an obsession? — has come true. Following Shakespeare’s instructions that the audience just imagine the courts, Faires takes the audience from Henry’s throne across the English Channel into the French court, through a fearful war and into one of the most charming courtship scenes in Shakespeare’s oeuvre.
Faires will perform ‘Henry V’ at 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, and 5 p.m. Sundays through July 25 at the Off Center, 2211 Hidalgo St. $15. www.rudemechs.com.
And there’s a special July 4th performance at 5 p.m. with sparklers and champagne
Q: Of all the Bard’s plays, why choose Henry V?
Robert Faires: Ever since I saw Laurence Olivier’s film of Henry V when I was in college, I’ve been drawn to the play. Part of it is just the character of Henry, who’s like the Errol Flynn of Shakespearean kings — dashing, heroic, good with a sword, gets the girl in the end. Who wouldn’t have fun playing that guy?
But mostly, I just love that the play is so unabashedly theatrical. Right from the get-go, you have the Chorus telling the audience that there’s no way this huge story can be presented the way it really happened, but you know what, these actors are going to do it anyway, and the audience will just have to use its imagination to bring it to life. And he keeps coming back with that message again and again, setting the scene with these beautifully descriptive speeches that are my favorite parts of the play.
And Henry himself, I discovered, is very much an actor. He puts on a number of different roles in the course of the play, pretending to be something that he isn’t to get what he wants. And seeing that made me think about how we all do that. I know Henry V is typically seen as a play about war, and you certainly can’t get away from the war in it, but it also feels very much to me like a play about how we play different parts in life and what it takes to find our authentic self.
Q: How did you distill the story (stories) down for one actor? What kind of creative choices did you make?
Faires: The more I studied the individual scenes, the more I saw them in two voices, usually Henry’s and that of some person or group he was facing off against: the bishop of Canterbury, a French ambassador, the three lords who betray him, his soldiers, the princess of France. So I pared lines and scenes that would help highlight the essence of those conflicts and how they affected Henry. Unfortunately, that meant ditching almost all the low comic characters and most of the French scenes, and with them went a lot of the play’s scope. But what you get in return, I feel, is a heightened intimacy, particularly with Henry, which seems fitting for a version of his story that’s just one actor and the audience.
Q: Why use Shakespeare’s instructions for the audience to use their imagination to conjure the scenes?
Faires: Well, it’s a great way to short-circuit criticism about a lame set and costumes, for one thing. But the real reason I love it is the way it throws an arm around the audience’s shoulder, pulls them in close, and whispers, “You’re in this, too. You’re making it happen.” It’s wonderfully conspiratorial. So if audience members are at all engaged with the show, it raises the stakes for them and makes the experience very personal. I’m very much relying on the audience to be my collaborators here, to be the English lords and soldiers that Henry speaks to, to fill out the French court. This Henry V is a one-man show only in the sense that my name is the only one on the poster. But the truth is, I’ll be sharing the stage with every person who comes to see it.
Photo courtesy Red Then Productions.
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A ‘Project Runway’ for visual artists? Bravo TV is now casting
It was just a matter of time.
Building on the success of ‘Project Runway,’ ‘Top Chef’ and other creative competion reality shows, Bravo TV has announced the creation of a yet-to-be-titled show (right now, it’s listed on the Bravo site at Untitled Art Project which could actually work as real title) that will pit contemporary artists against each other is some kind of undefined competition.
Casting begins soon in four cities across the country. See the casting notice.
The new series is being produced by Magical Elves (producers of ‘Project Runway’ and ‘Top Chef’) and Sarah Jessica Parker and her production company, Pretty Matches.
Wonder who will be plucked to handle the Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum roles?
The Bravo project isn’t technically the first reality competition series for contemporary artists. Art dealer and impressairo Jeffrey Deitch launched ‘Artstar’ in 2006 that followed eight artists who were selected for a group exhibit at Deitsch’s New York gallery and documented their work readying for the show. The series was screened at a few museums, but never broadcast on a television network.
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Celebrating pride with chamber music
Inclusive, accessible, celebratory — and FREE — a new addition to the line-up of the Austin Chamber Music Festival offers a fresh and much-needed way of considering classical music.
Thursday night it’s ‘Pride Concert: Celebrating Music by Gay and Lesbian Composers.’
Organized by Austin composer Russell Reed and pianist Jim James, the free concert features the work of gay and lesbian composers. ‘I think it is important for people to know about gay artists, both living and dead, who have helped to shape our artistic and cultural heritage,’ says Reed. ‘I wanted to do this for my community because I am constantly dismayed about how little gay people know about their own history.’
On the program are works by well-known composers such as Aaron Copland (Duo for Flute and Piano), Benjamin Britten (Lachrymae), John Cage (‘In a Landscape’) and Reynaldo Hahn (Sonata for Violin and Piano). And representing today’s new music by living composers is Reed’s own ‘Princess Songs,’ William Lackey’s ‘Twisted Tension’ and Pauline Oliveros’ ‘To Valerie Solaneas and Marilyn Monroe.’
Reed, by the way, was most recently nominated for Best Original Composition from the Austin Critics Table for ‘Light the Lovely Candles,’ a song cycle he wrote for soprano Elizabeth Petillot and violist Aurelien Petillot.
Aurelien Petillot is one of the musicians on the roster for Thursday’s concert. Also performing is Kim Pollini, soprano; Joseph Smith, violin; Seeth Shivaswamy, flute and Adam Bedell, percussion. Both Reed and James will play piano.
‘Pride Concert: Celebrating Music by Gay and Lesbian Composers’
7:30 p.m July 2
St. James Episcopal Church, 1941 Webberville Road
www.austinchambermusic.org
Photo: Russell Reed
