A weekend with Sir Elton, Andy Roddick and moviemakers

A stray tourist cutting through the sixth floor of the Austin Hilton on Sunday could be forgiven for thinking out loud: "That party hired a pretty darn good Elton John impersonator."

It was the real Sir Elton, performing gratis for the Andy Roddick Foundation fundraiser, which, in just a few years, has become a heavy charity hitter. Pounding an amplified piano that sounded like an entire band, John donated, by my count, a dozen songs, which is 11 more than Norah Jones did for "The Hottest State" premiere last month.

Deirdre Eitel
ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Elton John helped Andy Roddick's fundraiser.

As we reported Monday, three groups of as-of-yet-unidentified bidders pooled $428,000 to dine at one of John's homes, a surprise — and seemingly improvised — final auction item.

Celebrities, including Lance Armstrong, soccer whiz Mia Hamm and Boyd Tinsley (from the Dave Matthews Band), cheered as Gov. Rick Perry thanked Roddick for making Austin home and invited Sir Elton to settle here. Maybe the guv didn't realize that the musician's marriage to David Furnish wouldn't be valid in Texas.

We spent a chunk of Friday with Roddick at the Westwood Country Club near his Mount Bonnell-area lakefront house. For the first hour, Andy practiced at top intensity, as if returning to the finals of the U.S. Open, with brother John, his touring coach, and lanky University of Georgia rising star John Isner. He grunted with each deadly swing, and when he missed his mark, which was rare, Roddick swore (mildly) at himself.

Over Andy's "best chicken salad in the world," we talked about books (he's reading the last "Harry Potter"), movies (he likes anything with Will Ferrell), restaurants (his favorite: Moonshine), festivals (it steams him that he must miss South by Southwest and the Austin City Limits Music Festival every year), shopping for jeans with his dimensions (enormous thighs and glutes, tiny waist), golf (a new obsession, mostly at Spanish Oaks or Barton Creek), the Davis Cup (he's one of the few American tennis stars who take it so seriously), Austin as a tennis town (surprise: UT dominates sports here), his blog (where he zings his friends regularly) and his 10 years of youth in Austin.

"It's like a singles bar," said the well-established producer.

"Without the hierarchies," said the Ph.D. in psychology.

The Austin Film Festival brings out the anthropologist in the screenwriters, producers and fans who crush into the openings and panels, mingle over big drinks at the Driskill Hotel bar and contribute to the early-fall buzz on downtown streets. We spent time conversing with filmmakers, documentarians and techies about the looming writers' strike (key issues: webcasts and writing for reality shows), Flash solutions to encrypting personal entertainment products, the differences in the body language at SXSW and AFF (the latter appears more collegial), and sharing a coach cabin with Jenna Bush and her Secret Service agents en route to Austin. Some of our conversants: Herschel Weingrod, writer or co-writer of "Trading Places" and "Kindergarten Cop," documentary maker Carrie Amestoy and fellow Georgian screenwriter/journalist Phillip Ramati, quarter-finalist last year for "Nightstrike," Juan Conchas, co-founder of Movies in a Flash, and Holly Wonder, psychologist /screenwriter.

Some annual Austin shindigs have built reputations that get more elaborate with each incarnation, and the food and film party that kicks off the Austin Film Festival is a guaranteed guest magnet. Spreading out through the ballrooms and upper lobbies of the palatial Driskill Hotel, it offers samples of chefly artistry as well as drinks from distributors eager to push the next Tito's Handmade Vodka.

But the one event everyone attending the Austin Film Festival refuses to miss is the Friday afternoon barbecue. Formerly held at the Governor's Mansion, this year the cue-and-brew party spilled out over the lawns of the French Legation. We caught up with production designer Cary White from "Friday Night Lights," who informed me that the TV show has banked only a few scripts, with a writer's strike looming, and producer Elizabeth Avellan, whose "Queen of the South" and her break-up with director Robert Rodriguez were the subjects of a recent New York Times story; Michael Bartlett and Hiram Bleetman from England, promoting "The Zombie Diaries"; and Terry George, Academy Award-winner for "Hotel Rwanda" who is pushing his latest, "Reservation Road" (off the record, we discussed the campfire that is "Elizabeth: The Golden Age").

You can tell a party hits the spot when the newspaper's social columnist stays much later than planned. That's what happened at the Caswell House during a 25th anniversary salute to Lowell Lebermann's chef Donald Wertzon Saturday. Word of Mouth provided the grub, with some assistance from Wertz, who beamed like a daddy throughout. One appetizer — spiced quail — was a particular hit, which was appropriate, since Wertz reports that's the Centex Beverage kingpin and philanthropist's favorite dishes.

"He's old-fashioned," says Wertz. "And so am I." The chef recalls his audition meal 25 years ago: mint smoked leg of lamb.

The party also served as a reunion for Lebermann's clean-cut aides, who escort and read to the man who lost part of his vision in a childhood accident before losing the rest of his sight, starting businesses and supporting Democratic causes. Almost all — if not all — of the aides were brothers at Kappa Alpha, Lebermann's own fraternity, and, because of their preppie looks, were affectionately called "seeing Izods."

Every club seems to need a water element these days, and Qua, the $2.5 million venue on Fourth Street that opened last week, invites the passerby with a bountiful flow of liquid tumbling over stones. The eye is drawn, however, inextricably downward to the bluish glow of water deeper in the club. Past massive, jeweled columns — plus more bars and niches — one finally glimpses Qua's aquatic marquee act: Sharks and rays making cursive figures beneath the transparent dance floor.

We chatted with club designer Benny Siegert, who also contributed the distinctive looks for Vicci, Treasure Island and Pure, and owner Mike Yassine, who has put together a club empire to rival Matt Lucky's or Michael Girard's.

Tromping through preparations for the Symphony Jewel Ball at the Austin Hilton on Saturday was like researching an exotic tribe on an isolated island. The Symphony Guild has been throwing these royally themed events for 53 years. The cast of characters is startling in our egalitarian age: princesses, queens, kings, escorts, etc. This year's Diamond, who reigns as queen during the ball, is Chandler Jones. Coincidentally, King Brio was her father, Bass family lobbyist Buddy Jones.

The Diamond's old robe was retired after 31 years of service, replaced by a Victorian dazzler designed by Guild member Missy Harris with help from Bill Shoop. It's a creamy brocade embroidered with musical instruments in silver thread.

As always, scads of photos online at austin360.com/outandabout.