Thursday, June 30, 2011

Auditions for Staged Reading of new play 'Gods and Idols,' Punchkin Repertory, July 11 and 18

Received directly:






will be holding auditions on July 11 and 18 for a staged reading of

Gods and Idols

a new play by Austin playwright Jason Rainey

Roles available:


Harris - Early 30s. A writer, studious and disheveled
Joan - Early 30s. Attractive, modest
Man on Bike - Late 20s. Sikh; wears turban but otherwise modernly dressed
Carmen - Late 20s. Tense but not afraid to speak openly
Miller - 50s or older. A left-wing minister, she is thoughtful but vigilant
Trista - Mid-20s or older. Rock star


Auditions will take place at Austin Creative Alliance, 701 Tillery St., Austin, TX 78702 on July 11th & 18th, 6-9pm.

July 11th - Auditioning the roles of Harris, Joan, and Miller
July 18th - Auditioning the roles of Man on Bike, Carmen, and Trista

Please email headshot and resume to info@punchkinrep.org prior to audition and include role auditioning for and preferred audition time. Auditions will consist of cold readings from the script. For more information about Punchkin Repertory Theatre, please visit www.punchkinrep.org

Anything Goes, Lee Colee's Broadway Bound Theatre Camp at Wimberley Playhouse, June 17 - 26


Anything Goes, Lee Colee


The 'Broadway Bound' theatre boot camps run in Wimberley each summer by Lee Colée have become so popular that for the just-completed production of Cole Porter's 1934 musical comedy Anything Goes, she was instructing and directing a cast of 39 young persons ranging in age from 8 to 18. The turnout was so strong that she took the initiative of organizing the players into different configurations for "odd" performance dates (with the older players in the principal roles) and for "even" performance dates (with the younger members taking the leads). I attended a performance of the "even" cast, which had an extraordinary feel, very similar to that of Alan Parker's Buggsy Malone, the 1976 film in which a star cast of children including Jodie Foster and Michael Jackson did a gangster musical.

Cole Porter put a gangster or two on board the cruise ship U.S.S. American, but they were harmless or inept. The story is straight out of the Depression-era dreams of glamor and glitter, as earnest and underpaid Billy seeks to court heiress Hope Harcourt, prying her from the surveillance of her mother and from the attentions of her stuffy English presumptive fiancé Sir Evelyn Oakleigh. Mix in a missionary bishop back from China with a trio of Chinese converts, assorted pretty girls, woman evangelist-turned-nightclub-singer Reno Sweeney, and a whole lot of white-clad sailors, and you can keep the decks full of silliness and celebration.

Click to read more and view images at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: The Wolf and the Witch, Wondrous Strange Players at Community Renaissance Market, July 8 - August 21

Received directly:

Wondrous Strange Players




present a play more grim than Grimm...Rottkaepchen (via www.ijb.de)

The Wolf and the Witch

by Steven Brandt

July 8 - 10, 15 - 17

August 12-14 and 19 - 21

6800 Westgate Blvd at William Cannon, Austin, TX 78741 (click for map)

Tickets are $10.00 at the door, Show starts at 8:00PM, Seating begins at

7:30PM

Show is not suitable for children

What happens when Little Red Riding Hood's mother marries Hansel and
Gretel's father? They have more to worry about than "The Wolf and The
Witch."

For any questions please call Sabrina at
832-492-8031
www.wondrousstrange.org

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Upcoming: The Red Shoes, Sky Candy Austin at ND at 501 Studios, August 19 - 21

nd on line: plans for a reprise performance and a Kickstarter logo adjustedappeal for $1500 :

Sky Candy Austin Texas




recreatesThe Red Shoes, Sky Candy, Austin

The Red Shoes

Back by popular demand!

Saturday - Sunday, August 19 - 21 at 8 p.m.; 3 p.m. matinees on Saturday and Sunday

Tickets $15 and $20 at eventbrite (click to purchase)

Join us on a journey to the depths of sin with Sky Candy's first full length production. We're bringing you a cirque noir-style adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale, THE RED SHOES, back for ONE WEEKEND ONLY. Our first run sold out every single show and we're expecting the same for the reprise!

Conceived and directed by Sky Candy co-founder Chelsea, THE RED SHOES follows the story of a young girl seduced by a pair of red shoes fit for a princess as she descends through the ranks of hell. Aerial acrobats, dancers and puppeteers interpret the classic story through a blend of traditional circus acts like trapeze and aerial silks, dozens of shadow puppets and a single giant marionette.

Featured performers & collaborators: Chelsea Laumen, Andy Agne, Xochitl Sosa, Chad Davis, Amy Hayes, Winnie Hsia, Courtney Brock, Chris Lundberg, Michelle Stuckey, Celeste Bliss, Brynn Route.

The Red Shoes Reprise plays at the ND 501 Studios (E. 5th & Brushy - click for map) on Friday, August 19 - Sunday, August 21. Evening shows start at 8pm and matinees (on both Saturday and Sunday) start at 3pm.


Click to go to the Kickstarter appeal page.

Upcoming: Skype and Performance, a discussion, Salvage Vanguard, July 7

Found on-line:

Skype and Performance

Skype in Performance

a discussion facilitated by Robert Matney and Kelli Bland

organized by the Exchange Artists

Thursday, July 7, 7 - 9 p.m.

Salvage Vanguard Theatre, 2803 Manor Rd. (click for map)

[Click image to view Facebook event page]

You are cordially invited to attend a sweet little affair highlighting the role of Skype in Performance. We will begin with introductions from two local groups engaged in international performance via Skype. Robert Matney, of The Hidden Room's production of "You Wouldn't Know her she lives in London", and
Kelli Bland, of the U.S. contribution to Imploding Fictions "You are Invited" will share their experiences in the creation and performance of theatrical productions utilizing Skype to connect to international audiences.

This free to the public event will include refreshments and an opportunity for questions and discussion about this new vehicle for performance.

Hope to see you there!

Upcoming: LiveLoveLife, Renaissance Guild Summer Theatre Camp, Carver Civic Center, San Antonio, July 1

Received directly:


Renaissance Guild San Antonio
Theatre Summer Camp for Youth

presents




Live!Love!Life!



A Musical Revue


Directed by Steve Wire



The Carver Community Cultural Center and The Renaissance Guild, San Antonio's Premiere Black Theatre Company, will proudly culminate their second Summer Theatre Camp for Youth with the performance of the musical revue, "Live!Love!Life!"



2011 Summer Campers!

LiveLoveLife 2011 Summer Camp Renaissance Guild


Enjoy songs from the Lion King, Annie, Dream Girls, Aladdin, Sister Act 2, and Chicago!

Solo and duet acting scenes also presented.


The camp consists of theatre training program structured to aid middle to high school aged students in developing and strengthening primary critical theatre skills-acting, set design, and technical support.

Steve Wire was the Camp Facilitator along with the supporting staff of Facilitator Assistant-Adele Sewell, Choreographer-Anthony Hall, Jr. and Vocal Instructor- Kim Callis-Jenkins.


Carver Community Cultural Center
(click for map)

July 1, 2011 - 7PM

Tickets are just $11!


DD Group w/frame

Click here to purchase tickets!

For more information contact the Carver at (210)207-2234




or visit www.therenaissanceguild.org

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Auditions: The Humming Woods by Lindsey Greer Sikes asnd Paul Marbach, July 10

Received directly:


Announcing auditions on July 10 for

The Humming Woods: a new story for the stageEisley Room Noises

written & directed by Lindsey Greer Sikes with original music Composed by Paul Marbach.

Inspired by Eisley’s 2005 album on Reprise Records “Room Noises”, The Humming Woods tells the story of Winnie, a young girl full of life, and Hunter, the boy who loves her. But as their wedding day draws closer Winnie becomes unable to distinguish the world in which she is living from the marvelous things she imagines. Amongst this and the desires of Winnie's best childhood friend, the violent urges of her beau, the haunting memories of an Old Man and Old Woman, the whispers of bees and the coming arrival of the Dragon, Hunter and Winnie must find a way to hold on for fear of losing each other, or losing themselves. Using an entirely live a capella score to be sung by actors planted in the audience, the play deals with the conventions of theatrical reality and aims to challenge the role of the audience as not only spectator, but participant.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

I Love You Because, Penfold Theatre, June 9 - 26


I Love You Because, Penfold Theatre

by Michael Meigs


Michael McKelvey set up his collaboration with Penfold Theatre and Andrew Cannata six months or more in advance, long before the announcement that he will be leaving Austin for Pennsylvania this coming fall.


Haley Smith, Andrew Cannata (image: Will Hollis Sider)Remembering their previous successes Five Years and Three Days of Rain, I arranged specially to return early from a family celebration in Houston in order to catch the show on Sunday, June 19. When we turned up at the Hyde Park Theatre, we discovered the show had had a success beyond administrative expectations: we and many others received no programs for the production.


That was an inconvenience for a journalist but it probably made little difference to the crowd. I Love You Because was a cheerful, cute and ironical-sentimental-comedic-up-tempo-muscial on a shoestring, the perfect "date movie" -- but even better, because it was live theatre.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Putting It Together, a Stephen Sondheim musical presentation, Austin Community College, June 24 - July 3


Putting It All Together Austin Community College



This is Sondheim song season. Not just because 81-year-old master incarnates the tunesmanship of Broadway of the last 50 years, but because his tunes and music so deftly capture the dreams of those sophisticates who have populated his audiences. Yes, his breakthrough was as the lyricist for West Side Story, but as this compendium song performance illustrates, Stephen Sondheim portrayed with wit and acumen the sentimental lives of Americans.


Dr. Jimmy Shepherd of Austin Community College has assembled a bright and attractive ensemble of six talented and confident students to perform with him and an eight-piece orchestra in Putting It Together, two hours of music that pauses only for a ten-minute intermission.


Christina Ortiz, Putting It All Together, Austin Community College

Sondheim cognoscenti will certainly place each of the 31 numbers in the appropriate theatre musical. The rest of us can treat this performance as a trove of unpredictable amusements and delights. The man knows the American heart and the full scale of gradations of love.

[image: Christina Ortiz]

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: Children of Eden, musical by Theater at the J, July 30 - August 7

Found on-line:

Theater at the J summer youth production workshop

presentsChildren of Eden, Theater at the J

CHILDREN OF EDEN

Saturday, July 30 - 8 pm
Sunday, July 31 - 7 pm
Tuesday, August 2 - 7 pm
Thursday, August 4 - 7 pm
Sunday, August 7 - 2 pm


All performances in the JCC Community Hall Stage, 7400 Hart Lane (click for map)
Tickets $10 JCC Members/ $13 Non-members
Box office opens an hour before show time / Doors open at half hour.
Seating is on a first come first served basis

From Stephen Schwartz ("Godspell" and "Pippin") and John Caird of "Les Miserables" comes a joyous and inspirational musical about parents, children and faith... not to mention centuries of unresolved family business!

Freely based on the story of Genesis, "Children Of Eden" is a frank, heartfelt and often humorous examination of the age-old conflict between parents and children. Adam, Eve, Noah and the "Father" who created them deal with the headstrong, cataclysmic actions of their respective children. The show ultimately delivers a bittersweet but inspiring message: that "the hardest part of love... is letting go."


Upcoming: Once Upon A Mattress, Theatre at the J, July 31 - August 6

Found on-line:

Once Upon A Mattress, Theatre at the JTheatre at the J summer youth production workshop

presents


ONCE UPON A MATTRESS

with a cast of 5- to 11-year olds

Sunday, July 31 - 2 pm
Monday, August 1 - 7 pm
Wednesday, August 3 - 7 pm
Saturday, August 6 - 8 pm

Dell Jewish Community Center Hall, 7300 Hart Lane

Tickets $10/$13/$15

information at www.shalomaustin.org/theateratthejj

If you thought you knew the story of "The Princess and The Pea," you may be in for a walloping surprise! Did you know, for instance, that Princess Winnifred actually swam the moat to reach Prince Dauntless the Drab? Or that it may not have been the pea at all that caused the princess a sleepless night? Carried on a wave of beguiling songs, by turns hilarious and raucous, romantic and melodic, this rollicking spin on the familiar classic of royal courtship and comeuppance provides for some side-splitting shenanigans. Chances are, you'll never look at fairy tales quite the same way again. In this adaptation for pre-high school students, the content has been edited to better suit younger actors and audiences, but all the magic, hilarity and fun of the original are still in place.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Upcoming: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), Silver Spur, Salado, July 8-16

Received directly:

Silver Spur Theatre Salado Texas




presents Grainger Esch, Tony Blackman and Stetson Gilchrest Silver Spur Theatre, Salado

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)

by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield

July 8 - 16, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Saturday matinees at 2 p.m.

Silver Spur Theatre, 108 Royal Street, Salado (click for map)

Evening shows are $15 for adults; $12 for senior citizens, military personnel and students with ID; and $8 for children aged 12 and under. Matinees admission is $12, $10 and $8, respectively. Group rates also are available. For reservations, call, 254-947-3456.

Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield may be the riotous trio of playwrights for “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)” or (TCWOWS), but veteran actors Grainger Esch, Tony Blackman and Stetson Gilchrest are the rowdy trio of actors who will revive the comedic send-up of the Bard’s many works.

“TCWOWS,” which has had healthy runs previously at the Silver Spur Theatre, (108 Royal Street, in Downtown Salado, blocks of IH 35), is a bit like ice cream: sometimes a second or third helping is even more enjoyable. The fast-paced, laugh-filled show is at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays with 2 p.m. matinees on Saturdays for two weekends only: July 8-9 and 15-16.

For more info, visit www.SaladoSilverSpurTheater.com. Wine, beer, cider and expanded food choices will be available at evening shows only through The Spuradicals Social Club in the lobby: SpuradicalsSocialClub.net

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: The Physicists by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Vortex Summer Youth Production, July 22 - 30


Found on-line:


VORTEX Repertory Company Summer Youth Theatre presents


The Physicists

by Friedrich DürrenmattAlbert Einstein (via www.iconicphotos.wordpress.com)

directed by Rudy Ramirez

Vortex Repertory, 2307 Manor Road (click for map)

July 22 - 30, Thursdays - Sundays, 8 p.m.

Sliding scale, $15 - $30; tickets available on-line at the Vortex website

This summer VORTEX’s 20th annual Summer Youth Theatre presents The Physicists, a dark comedy written in 1961 by Swiss playwright, Friedrich Dürrenmatt. Three mad scientists--Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Johann Wilhelm Möbius--hold court in an insane asylum atop the Swiss Alps. As nurses begin turning up dead, a police inspector and a venerated psychiatrist join forces to find the cause. Is it the ghost of King Solomon? Is it Möbius's revolutionary theory, the Principle of Universal Discovery? Or is it the simple truth that what has been thought can never be unthought? Written under the threat of nuclear war and now produced in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, The Physicists provides an opportunity for the students of SYT to tackle science, politics, and ethics while telling a story that will make audiences laugh out loud before it chills them to the bone.

The Physicists is directed by Rudy Ramirez, VORTEX director, actor, and performance artist. Mr. Ramirez recently directed VORTEX’s production of Lear. He has directed numerous other projects including Wheels of Wonderland for the Austin Bike Zoo and Trey Deason’s play Cardigan. His one-man shows and writing have received accolades around town. He recently received his MA from the University of Texas in Performance as Public Practice and additionally holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.

Scenic Design by Ann Marie Gordon. Costume Design by Talena Martinez. Lighting Design by Patrick Anthony. Sound Design by Sergio R. Samayoa.

The Physicists features an outstanding young cast including VORTEX SYT veterans Xander Slay-Tamkin , Anissa McVea, Cassidy Timms, Josh Braun, Hannah Lyllith Newcomer, Rio Esquivel, Felipe Ramirez, and Martin Ramirez. Introducing Hunter Archield-Cupit, Molly Bentley, Emma Blaw, Taylor Cruse, Lois Durant, Sean Eure, O’tavian Fitzgerald, Maria Leuzinger, Nikaela Valentina Roe Sainz, Harley Jacob Schmalz, and Eric Spears.

The Vortex Summer Youth Theatre has mentored hundreds of Central Texas students, teaming them with adult professionals to create many award-winning productions of great world literature including You Can’t Take It With You, R.U.R., Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, The Visit, Vitriol and Violets: Tales from the Algonquin Round Table, Machinal, The Frogs, and Moby Dick.

SYT 2010 provides students with experiences in all aspects of theatre including acting, technical theatre, and publicity. Rehearsals and workshops are free to all participants. Summer Youth Theatre is funded in part by VORTEX Repertory Company, the City of Austin under the auspices of the Austin Arts Commission, and the Texas Commission on the Arts.

Images by Will Hollis Snider: Uncle Vanya, Breaking String Theatre Company, June - July 3


Performance photos taken by Will Hollis Snider forLiz Fisher as Yelena, Robert Matney as Vanya (image: Will Holllis Snider)

Breaking String Theatre

Anton Chekhov’s

Uncle Vanya

directed by Graham Schmidt

June 16th - July 2nd

Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 5 p.m., Monday, June 27 at 8 p.m.

at the Off-Center, 2211-A Hidalgo Street (click for map)

Chekhov's meditation on hope and environmental stewardship speaks with increasing urgency a century after its first performance.

Dr. Astrov (Matt Radford) explains the disappearance of the forests to Yelena (Liz Fisher)(image: Will Hollis Snider)









Tickets available at breakingstring.com/tickets and 512-784-1465

General Admission: $15 - 25, Sliding scale;Monday, July 27th is a Pay-What-You-Will Industry Night


Click to view additional images by Will Hollis Snider at AustinLiveTheatre.com. . . .

Friday, June 24, 2011

The Book of Grace by Suzan-Lori Parks, Zach Theatre, June 2 - July 20



The Book of Grace, Suzan-Lori Parks, Zach Theatre



The marketing strategy of putting the playwright on the poster bothers me. It's a feeling made all the sharper by the Zach Theatre's importing of MacArthur 'Genius Grantee' Suzan-Lori Parks twice over the past six months for sessions entitled "Watch Me Work." The public was invited to watch Parks write -- at a desk? on a computer? on a yellow legal pad? -- for most of an hour, following which she had an exchange with the spectators. Now, that does not at all fit my concept or my requirements for writing; I find that I have to assume something of a hypnotic trance before the computer screen, capturing thoughts and words as if I were hunting elusive butterflies with a keyboard. I may well be wrong, for I didn't attend, but "Watch Me Work" seemed a bit too glam or too cult, the equivalent of displaying the playwright in the shop window.

The Zach has continued that "See The Playwright" marketing, even including in the program an insert with Dave Steakley's interview of Parks.

I didn't read it. Parks seems in Kirk Tuck's rehearsal pictures and in the Zach's videos to be a pleasant and intelligent person, but the identity of the playwright is not what lures me into the theatre. In similar fashion, David Mamet's newly celebrated political conversion from leftish to glowering rightish is frankly irrelevant in my mind to the performance of his work.

Parks' play The Book of Grace first went on stage at the Public Theatre in New York in April, 2010. The Zach Theatre recruited Parks herself to direct the play in this "definitive" version, playing now until July 20. The published play script will be the text used in this production. Parks was evidently still adjusting it during rehearsal . The program advised that there would be no intermission but the Steakley insert informed us correctly that there were two acts with a fifteen-minute intermission.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: Henry VI, parts 2 and 3, Shakespeare at Winedale tour at University of Texas Student Activities Center, August 15 -16

Received directly:


Shakespeare at Winedale 41st Season’s Summer Tour

presentsShakespeare at Winedale

Henry VI parts 2 and 3

by William Shakespeare

August 15 - 16, 7:30 p.m.; tickets $15 General Admission, $10 Student/UT ID Holder

Student Activities Center Black Box Theater; University of Texas at Austin (click for map)

Tickets available at www.shakespeare-winedale.org or (512) 471-4726


Hamlet

by Willam Shakespeare

Friday, August 12, 7:30 p.m.

McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas; tickets: $20 General Admission, $10 Student/UT ID Holder


As You Like It

by William Shakespeare

August 22, 7:30 p.m. (free admission)

American Shakespeare Center’s Blackfriars Playhouse; Staunton, VA


Like Shakespeare’s occasionally itinerant players, the 2011 Shakespeare at Winedale summer class will take their performances on the road as part of the final piece of their study of Shakespeare through performance. After concluding four weekends of public performances at the Winedale Historic Center near Round Top, TX, the troupe will perform Hamlet in Dallas, Henry VI Parts 1 and 2 at UT in Austin and As You Like It at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia. Tickets for these events may be ordered online through the Shakespeare at Winedale website: www.shakespeare-winedale.org or by contacting Liz Fisher at (512) 471-4726 or lfisher@mail.utexas.edu.

The Flair of Sam Bass: The Tempest Project, May 20 - June 11


The Tempest Project Sam Bass Community Theatre



How much magic can you pack into the box?

The Sam Bass Community Theatre has seats for 52 in that modest structure on Lee Street in Round Rock, north of Austin. The building once served as the Union Pacific depot in town, and one assumes that there wasn't need to serve a lot of passengers. So this theatre can entertain a maximum of just a few more than 200 persons during each week, Susan Poe Dickson as Prospera (image: Kevin Scholtes)or about 800 during the course of the usual run. That will be the equivalent of two nights' capacity at the Zach's new Topfer Theatre, or just about 2½ nights at Travis High School performing arts center, where The Mikado has been playing.

Writing recently about the current remarkable season of Shakespeare in Austin, I called the Sam Bass "the little theatre that could," echoing the children's book about the little engine that huffed and puffed and made it to the very tip top of the mountain.Frank Benge's steam punk adaptation of The Tempest ran from May 20 to June 11. It was a triumph of concept and design, bringing into focus the astonishing talent on display at this modest but long-running theatre.

[image: Susan Poe Dickson as Prospera, by Kevin Scholtes]


Click to read more and view additional images at AustinLiveTheatre.com

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Upcoming: Encryption by Stephen Pruitt, Salvage Vanguard Theatre, July 15 - 30

Received directly:

Encryption by Stephen Pruitt (image from www.projectcode.com)

Encryption

a performance by Stephen Pruitt

Salvage Vanguard Theater, Studio Theater.

Friday and Saturday nights, July 15 - 30

Tickets:$12 in advance, $15 at the door

Ticket reservations: http://encryption.eventbrite.com

Every moment you exist your brain is filtering out thousands of bits of information it deems unnecessary to your survival. At all moments of your life, you are surrounded by wildly fluctuating electrical currents floating through the air, each one of them carrying things like music, ideas, secret codes, pictures, love letters - all of it flowing right through you. We perceive most of the world around us only when a tiny piece - the smell of coffee, the sound of an air conditioner kicking on, a glint of light offa window - draws our attention to it, but there is an enormous amount of information that we never perceive, but that surfaces anyway - in dreams, myths, distractions.

Encryption is an exploration of what lies on the edges when we’re not paying attention, and what happens when nothing is expected. It involves stories about late night DJs, flying monsters and ufos, secret codes, short wave radios, and yes, death.

Encryption was originally created as an experiment in live radio performance for the 2009 Fronterafest Short Fringe, under the title TBA. There will be six performances in the Studio Theater and Salvage Vanguard from July 15 - 30, 8 p.m., on Friday and Saturday nights.

Stephen Pruitt: In 1967, the town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia was possessed by one of the strangest widespread paranormal events ever documented, as hundreds of people saw UFOs, were visited by Men in Black, and reported seeing a huge flying creature with red eyes, dubbed Mothman. Stephen Pruitt was born shortly thereafter, just forty miles South of Point Pleasant, in Huntington, WV.

After slacking through the initial few years, he has been a seedsalesman, an aerospace engineer, a photographer, a film projectionist, a writer, and most often and recently, a lighting and scenic designer. In Austin, Stephen has worked with the Rude Mechanicals, Trouble Puppet Theater, St Edward’s University, Tapestry, Forklift, and Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance, among many others. His scenic and lighting designs have been nominated for numerous awards in both the scenic and lighting design categories, and he won the Outstanding Lighting Design award from the 2010 Austin Critics’ Table. Encryption is his first full solo performance since 2006.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Upcoming: Side by Side by Sondheim, Actors Coop at Dougherty Arts Center, July 8 - 10

Found on-line:

The Actors Coop, Austin Texas




presentsSide by Side by Sondheim, Actors Coop

Side by Side by Sondheim

July 8 @ 7:30pm, July 9 @ 7:30 pm and July 10 @ 2 pm

Dougherty Arts Center , 1100 Barton Springs Road Austin, TX

The sophistication, wit, insight, heart and genius of Broadway’s most innovative and influential artist is at the center of this tribute to composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim.

This dazzling array of some of Sondheim’s best-known songs features numbers from landmark shows that revolutionized the musical theatre with their masterful craft and astounding creativity: COMPANY, FOLLIES, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, ANYONE CAN WHISTLE and PACIFIC OVERTURES, not to mention the classics written with musical theatre giants Leonard Bernstein, Jule Styne and Richard Rodgers, WEST SIDE STORY, GYPSY, and DO I HEAR A WALTZ? Also included are delectable rarities from the television musical Evening Primrose, the film The Seven Percent Solution and the hit revue The Mad Show.

Tickets are $20 for general admission and are available on-line at Brown Paper Tickets or by calling 1-800-838-3006.

Starring Joe Penrod, Cathie Sheridan, Angela Davis, Rodnesha Green, Daryn Eslinger, Glenn Bagley and Melita McAtee. Directed by Barbara Schuler. Music direction by David Blackburn. Choreography by Michelle Stuckey.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

The Creative Fund Launches, June 28

Found on-line at Twitter and at www.Tribeza.com:


The Creative Fund Creative Fund
Tuesday, June 28
6-8pm
Malverde Restaurant


A group of like-minded, passionate individuals decided to launch the Creative Fund so they could fund performing arts programs all over Austin. Attend this public launch event and help this project reach its goals by becoming new members. Light bites and drink specials will be provided by the lovely Malverde. To RSVP, email thecreativefund@gmail.com.

Future website of The Creative Fund: www.thecreativefundatx.org/

The Creative Fund will start making breakthrough works of art happen in any venue in Austin. Launching June 28th, 2011.
From Facebook:
Founded
June 2011
Location
Company Overview
The Creative Fund is a collective group of like-minded, arts-focused, passionate individuals coming together to support emerging and innovative arts organizations and individuals.

The Creative Fund was born out of a love to support local arts.
Description
Board Members:
Scott Lawrence, Board Chair
KD Hausenfluck, Vice Chair
Michael McGill, Treasurer
Emily Torgerson, Secretary
Amy Holloway, Austin Creative Alliance Board Appointee
Dave Floyd, Membership Chair
Michelle Alvarez-Olson, Membership Chair
Pat Butcha, Program Chair
Ariel Zarate-Carmona, Program Chair
Reed Arnos, Fundraising Chair
Katie Osbourne
Dustin Little
General Information
The Creative Fund operates under the umbrella of the Austin Creative Alliance (ACA), a 501c3 corporation. All cash and in-kind donations collected by The Creative Fund are processed through ACA and are considered tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Mission
Our mission is to fund new and innovative performing arts at any venue in Austin.
Email
TheCreativeFund@gmail.com
Website

Video Retro: Twelfth Night, The Baron's Men at the Curtain Theatre, May, 2011

Trailer by Chris Eckert for his DVD version of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, done by the Baron's Men at the Curtain Theatre, Austin, May 6 - 28, 2011:

The Baron's Men - 12th Night Trailer from Chris Eckert on Vimeo.

[APPLE users: can't see the video? Click to go to VIMEO.]

Upcoming: The Jungle Book, Academy of Acting at the Dell Jewish Community Center, June 22 - 23

Found on-line:

Academy of Acting

presentsThe Jungle Book Theatre at the J

The Jungle Book

June 22 - 23, 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.

JCC Community Hall Stage
Dell Jewish Community Campus, 7300 Hart Lane (click for map)
Driving Directions: From Mo-Pac North, exit Far West Boulevard. Take Far West Blvd. west and take a right on Hart Lane. The Dell Jewish Community Campus is 1/2-block down on the left.

The lush and lively jungle comes alive on the JCC stage in this exciting adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, an epic story of Mowgli, the jungle boy, who is raised by wolves. In this enchanting tale of tails, Mowgli finds himself captured by the monkeys and taken to the abandoned city where all the jungle animals come to his rescue. He then is hunted by Shere Khan, the ferocious tiger, where a battle ensues. Finally, Mowgli must make the choice of becoming a man or staying a cub.

This classic adventure has specifically been created for the JCC and is filled with numerous characters, both big and small, and is sure to entice audiences of all ages!
The Jungle Book performances are in the Community Hall Stage. Box Office opens at 6pm (tickets only sold at door) and seating is a first come first served basis. Concessions will be sold.

Contact: Trisha Baughman, (512) 735-8058, Email: trisha.baughman@shalomaustin.org

Monday, June 20, 2011

Arts Reporting: Texas Commission on the Arts Budget Confirmed at 50%

Received via a non-profit arts organization:

Texas Commission on the Arts

TCA Legislative Update

On Friday June 17th, Governor Rick Perry signed the General Appropriations bill for the next two years. He did not veto the funding for the Texas Commission on the Arts. The agency will have a budget of $3.7 million for each of the next two years, which reflects a 50 percent reduction to the grants budget and a 30 percent reduction in staff.

Shakespeare at Winedale Receives Outreach Grant from RBC Wealth Management

Received directly:

Shakespeare at Winedale, University of Texas

Shakespeare at Winedale Receives Grant from RBC Wealth Management

Shakespeare at Winedale recently received a generous $5,000 grant from the RBC Foundation- USA to fund the program’s Shakespeare Outreach program, which brings Shakespeare into the lives of deserving children in and around central Texas. Shakespeare at Winedale Outreach, housed in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas, is a Language Arts enrichment program that provides opportunities for meaningful learning and academic excellence for Texas schoolchildren in grades K-12, with a special focus on both emerging and advanced readers in grades 3 through 8, and on students in low-income communities.

“We are extremely grateful for the support that RBC has given to our program over several years,” said Shakespeare at Winedale director James Loehlin, “Shakespeare at Winedale Outreach depends on grant support to carry out our educational mission.”

The mission of the RBC Foundation- USA is to improve the quality of life in the communities where RBC Wealth Management has a business presence by supporting non-profit organizations that make a positive difference. The foundation focuses on three core areas: arts and culture, human services and youth education. The culture at RBC Wealth Management is deeply rooted in being a trusted partner of its clients and to communities the firm serves.

Shakespeare at Winedale Outreach Upcoming events include summer workshops with Austin and Gonzales youth, both culminating at Winedale. Students will explore Shakespeare with the help of the Winedale summer class. The students will have the special opportunity to perform on the barn stage as well as enjoy Winedale performances of Hamlet and As You Like It.

About RBC Wealth Management In the United States, RBC Wealth Management operates as a division of RBC Capital Markets Corporation. Founded in 1909, RBC Capital Markets, LLC. is a member of the New York Stock Exchange, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, and other major securities exchanges. RBC Wealth Management has over $183 billion of assets under administration and nearly 2,100 financial consultants operating in nearly 199 locations in 42 states. Through RBC Foundation – USA grants, charitable sponsorships, civic involvement and employee volunteerism, RBC Wealth Management gave $3.2 million to charitable causes in local communities in 2010.

Uncle Vanya, Breaking String Theatre Company at the Off-Center, June 23 - July 2


ALTcom welcomes Brian Paul Scipione as a contributor to its coverage of live theatre in Austin. Scipione went to the Rude Mechs' Off Center on Friday night for the second performance of Breaking String Theatre Company's Uncle Vanya, but the failure of an Austin Energy transformer shut off power to the neighborhood just at curtain time. Nothing daunted, he returned for the Saturday performance.


Robert Matney as Uncle Vanya (www.breakingstring.org)

by Brian Paul Scipione


The Tragedy of the Individual

“Why am I old?” shouts Uncle Vanya about mid-way through the play bearing his name. He doesn’t ask anyone in particular and he doesn’t expect an answer. It is a statement, a question, an interjection as well as a plea. Perhaps he’s speaking to himself, perhaps to his family and perhaps to God. He is forlorn, lost, meandering and, at best, seeking answers to questions he’s always wanted to ask.

Anton Chekov’s Uncle Vanya is as timeless as anything by Shakespeare or Homer and it is the latest venture of Austin’s own Breaking String theater troupe. The group led by Co-Producing Artistic Directors Liz Fisher, Robert Matney, Matt Radford, and Graham Schmidt, concentrates on Russian drama both classic and contemporary. They have already tackled Chekov’s The Seagull and The Cherry Orchard. Director Graham Schmidt crafted a new translation into English for each of the three.

Why re-translate works that have been translated many times before? Schmidt believes retranslating during the performance process lends a certain immediacy to the actor’s performance. “In this way, they feel they can take a new work approach to a classic play.”

Allow me to illustrate. An earlier translation contains the following line:

“This wonderful feeling of mine will be wasted and lost as a ray of sunlight is lost that falls into a dark chasm, and my life will go with it.”

In the Breaking String production, the same line is fired off with greater clarity and poignancy:

“My feelings are fading away like sunbeams into a pit.”

The emotive plea of the character rings out quickly and sharply, stripping away unnecessary diction and poetic prose.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Independence by Lee Blessing, Paradox Palyers, June 3 - 19

Independence by Lee Blessing, Paradox Players, Austin, Texas


Independence, first staged in 1983, is one of the earliest of Lee Blessing's theatre works. It's a tidy, well constructed box-set play that announces its theme open-faced with the very title.


The fact that the setting is Independence, Iowa, misleads no one. That speck on the map, population of about 5,500, stands for AnyTown, USA, or at least, AnySmallTown, USA.


Blessing probably started with a schematic diagram: small town, an intermittently crazy mother, three daughters born ten years apart; in the forced circumstances of a reunion, he has the opportunity to portray the Stages of Womankind. Evelyn Briggs is the mom, a tenuous survivor of life in Independence; Kess, the oldest, is the Mature Woman who escaped, now a university professor in Minneapolis and only incidentally a lesbian; Jo the Stay-at-home Daughter sees the prospect of dutiful daughterdom and, probably, spilnsterhood before her; and Sherry is a Luscious Good-time Girl in high school, itching to hit adulthood and the road that leads the hell out of Independence, Iowa.


The little world of women created here by Blessing, director Lisa Foster, and the well chosen Paradox Players cast is one of warmth, humor and jousting for personal space.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Friday, June 17, 2011

Arts Reporting: Austin City Council Honors Theatre Trades Union upon Centenary, June 23


Received directly:


City Council to Honor Local Union

for 100 Years of Quality Professional Service to Austin Theatre Community

IATSE 205 logoOn June 23 the Austin City Council will issue an official City of Austin proclamation recognizing IATSE Local 205 for 100 years of service to the Austin theatre community. During the event at the Austin City Council Chambers at 301 W. 2nd Street, Local 205 President Rachel Magee will say a few words regarding Local 205’s centennial anniversary. Afterwards President Magee and other Local 205 members will be on hand for photo opportunities.

Since 1911, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 205 has been serving the Austin area as the labor union representing technicians, artisans and crafts persons in the entertainment industry, including live theater, concert, and convention events. IATSE Local 205 has members working in many well-known venues including the Paramount and State Theatres, The Long Center for the Performing Arts, Texas Performing Arts, and various Convention Center and Hotel venues in Austin and the surrounding communities.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Upcoming: No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre, Chaotic Theatre Company at the Blue Theatre, July 1 - 17

Found on-line, from

Chaotic Theatre, Austin, Texas

No Exit, Chaotic Theatre, Austin, Texas

Video: Dress Rehearsal for The Mikado, Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Austin, June 9 - 19


An ALTcom glimpse of the company's first dress rehearsal with the orchestra of The Mikado, a four-minute compendium of scenes from Act I:









Apple users: can't see the video? Click to go to YouTube!






presents its summer 2011 grand production



The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu


by Sir W. S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan

directed by Ralph MacPhail, Jr., with musical direction by Jeffrey Jones-Ragona

June 9-19 -- 9 Performances

Evening performances Thursdays, Fridays, & Saturdays at 8 p.m.

Matinees at 3 p.m., June 12, 18 & 19.

Travis High School Performing Arts Center / 1211 E. Oltorf (click for Google map)

For information, visit www.gilbertsullivan.org or call (512) 472-4772

Click here to purchase tickets on-line

Upcoming: di[verge], Vestige Group, July 15 - 31

Received directly:

The Vestige Group, Austin



presents

(image by Will Hollis Photography)

di[verge]: an original play with songs

by Suzy Gidseg


July 15-31, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 5pm.
Dougherty Arts Center, 1110 Barton Springs Road (click for map)
Tickets $15 - $25 (pick your price); all Sunday shows are Pay-What-You-Can.
Opening night: Free drinks and bites!
Puchase tickets at www.nowplayingaustin.com/page/austix
WEB: thevestigegroup.tumblr.com www.vestigegroup.org

The Vestige Group, known for its continued ability to create new work, ends their season with "di[verge]: an original play with songs," a new production written and directed by vestige group's co-artistic director, Susie Gidseg.

One woman, two paths. When our lives di[verge] do we ever really accept our present, or do we continue to dream about our past and what might have been? What hold do our choices have on our future. Do they define us, or do we define them? One woman is making her choice. What happens next will change her life forever.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Auditions for Buzz Productions, a youth company, July 18

Found on-line:

Buzz Productions, Austin Texas

JULY 2011 AUDITIONS

General Auditions for 2011-2012 Season

at the stage at the Dougherty Arts Center, 11110 Barton Springs Rd (click for map)

Monday, July 18, 6:30 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Who: Children age 7-17


What to bring:

· A picture and resume (if you have one)

· A 1min monologue or nursery rhyme

· 16 bars of a song or you can sing Happy Birthday

Tuition cost for the year can be found on our website at www.buzzproductions.weebly.com , some scholarships are available.

You can contact Katie Brock (producer/director) at kaytea71@gmail.com


Buzz Productions is a team of professionals dedicated to producing a higher level of performing arts programming for young actors. Our productions are open to all children ages 7 -18, who normally would not have the opportunity to be involved in musical theater due to either their school environment, social environment, and/or academic challenges. We strive to provide quality theater performances to you: our audience, donors and supporters.