Your Free Copy: TheatreAustin at YahooGroups

Received directly on March 11 from the webmaster at TheatreAustin, Yahoo! Groups, a weekly e-mail sent out on Thursdays:

TELL A FRIEND: I want more readers! Ego is a wonderful thing. It encourages us to achieve. It led me to share my knowledge of local theatre and blog about it weekly. I know what the show is, where it is, and more importantly, the quality of the company producing. Even with everyone else out there on the Inter-web, I think my point of view is singular and worthwhile. I’d just like more people reading in the hopes that what I write affects actual theatre-going decisions; helping people navigate the stages to find a good show for them. But, even with all the times I’ve written out the address (www.groups.yahoo.com/group/theatreaustin) and printed it on a card; few have subscribed. Discounting myself (‘…I am large, I contain multitudes’ Whitman), and friends out of town, my followers number just over two dozen. Please send this to someone interested in theatre. I really want to share, help, and enlighten. Thanks. Still thinking of moving to Google so I can be searchable.

CURTAIN UP:

Query: Is a show considered historical just because it’s old? ‘Raison’ is celebrating its golden anniversary, and it’s set in the 50’s. Doesn’t that make it contemporary? ‘An Inspector Calls’ is that old, but set in the 1910’s, truly a period piece. ‘Misalliance’ is a hundred years old but set in the same period (I think). Many lazy writers now will place mystery novels, thrillers, and movies in 1985 to avoid the nasty complication of cell phones and the Internet. Are these modern pieces historicals because they are set in a significantly different time? Another thing: What do we call shows set in a post-apocalyptic period? Are they historical if the world ended in 1958? Or futuristic if in 2020? What if the world ended now? Is it period or contemporary?

OPENING:

I MARRIED A HOBBIT – Solo artist at City Theatre

Alex Garza’s latest one-man show: stories of characters dealing with romance, heartbreak, desire, and commitment. He’s good and engaging with his autobiographical material. In ’04 he was in FronteraFest’s Short Fringe, and later expanded the piece to full length at Play! Theatre. I remember him spinning around in a spaceman outfit until he was dizzy and telling how hucksters make it appear that water drains in different directions a foot or two on either side of the equator.

Read full text at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .