Images: Xephyra, Ethos at the Vortex, February 26 - March 14

Images received directly and taken from the Vortex Repertory website:

View more images at AustinLiveTheatre.com. . . .

Upcoming: Xephyra by Chad Salvata, Vortex Repertory, February 26 - March 14

Found on-line:

ethos presents

Xephyra
An Alternative World Music and Video Mythos

by Chad Salvata & Jo Beth Henderson
February 26 - 28 (Friday - Sunday), March 04 - 14 (Thursdays - Sundays), 8 p.m.

Click to listen to a sound clip from Xephyra

Award-winning artists Chad Salvata and Jo Beth Henderson have created the newest ethos adventure, Xephyra, An Alternative World Music and Video Mythos. This non-traditional performance is presented with video images and live music. The extraordinary vocals are performed in an imaginary language of a mythic tribal island world.

Xephyra, a warrior of the Blue Orchid tribe, journeys on her quest to find her husband Warrior, who has not returned from the Island Wars. Along the way, she is joined by Terra, a sea siren. They are hunted by monster birds, battle shark mermaids, and slay the kaleidoscope octopus. Will they find Warrior and return safely home?

Xephyra features the vocal and performance talents of Jo Beth Henderson and Kira Parra. With live music performed by Chad Salvata, Tyler Mabry, and Rachel Fuhrer. Live video creation and mixing by Sergio R. Samayoa. Lighting design by Patrick Anthony. Sound design by Roy Taylor.

Tickets: $30-$25 Priority Seating, $20-$15 General Admission. $10 Starving Artists.
2-for-1 Admission on Thursdays and Sundays with 2 non-perishable food items for SafePlace. Feed the Tribes of the World.

Friday, February 26 — Opening Night and CD Release Party of the Xephyra CD with free champagne and food.

Friday March 12 -- Performance free with SxSW Interactive Badge (Party after the show. Cash bar and drink specials.)

Produced in association with VORTEX Repertory Company. Xephyra is funded and supported in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division.

The Secret Lives of the InBetweeners, Vortex Repertory, February 6 - March 7

Aaron Brown's musical at the Vortex benefits from a strong cast, Bonnie Cullum's assured direction, and a bouncy score, well executed by a five-piece band including piano, keyboard, guitar/bass, drums and a cello. You can relax and laugh, sympathize with the dilemmas of poor Joe (Jonathan G. Itchon, below) and his acquaintances, and generally have a good time.

But as for those Inbetweeners -- they seem to be the target audience for this piece, folks of university age or just beyond, who are likely to sympathize with an aspiring artist suffocated by the selfish embrace of his horrible mother (Jennifer Coy, seen only in silhouette, even during the curtain call).

This is plotting by the numbers. Central character Joe is frustrated artist who flees vulnerable woman photographer Tina (Sarah Gay) who's powerfully attracted to him ; comic relief is hairy geek Waldo (!) (Trey Deason) who lives in a computer game dream world but falls for a sassy, self-assured blonde, Charlotte (Jo Beth Henderson). Joe is putting on a play featuring Charlotte, so geek Waldo insinuates himself into rehearsals as the prop manager. Tender Tina obsesses over Joe, asks Charlotte for advice, has her telephone messages to Joe erased by the wicked Mom.

Okay, we could probably work with that. But what comes along then? A mephistophelian figure Fear (Rudy Ramirez) in black clothing, mascara, and black lipstick, balanced by Hope, a sort of happy urban gypsy played by Betsy McCann.

Let's review the Greatest Writing Clichés once again: #1, "It Was All Just A Dream"; #2, "He Dies and Goes to the Afterlife and Gets Another Chance"; and now this one: #3, "Indecisive Human Has a Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on the Other, and the Supernatural Guys Make A Bet on Temptation and Salvation."

In all this mess, the most interesting character is None of the Above.

Errich Petersen (right) as Harry is probably meant to be the real-life devil. In a coffee shop he overhears the girls dramatizing Tina's plight and he intrudes, coming on to Tina with the casual assertion that she should pay attention to a real man. They expostulate and leave, but Tina comes back for her forgotten cell phone, and she's hooked. Harry is rich, or he pretends to be; he is out for a good time; and when Tina gets knocked up, bad old Harry urges her to turn to "a doctor that my parents have."

One problem with this stereotype is the actor. Errich Petersen is simply too credible for the character. He doesn't camp it up, so we can hiss him; he has good control over himself, his emotions, and his singing. I wound up thinking that the whole musical would have been a lot more interesting if it had been written about Harry. Oh, sure, give him a tough love lesson; but that would be a better dénouement than the one we get -- Joe finally storms out of Mommy's house to seek his fortune and Tina finds him for Instant Happiness.

Okay, maybe that's too cranky a summary of these goings on. I will confess that I'm far beyond the age of the Inbetweeners, so maybe that's why a predator is more attractive than a martyr.

Every one of these actors is talented and they give their all. Never mind me. Go and have a good time, cut 'em some slack. Especially if you're an Inbetweener!

Joey Seiler's review on the Statesman Austin360 blog, February 9.

Pre-production interviews by Priscilla Totiyapungprasert of the Daily Texan, published February 12

KUT.org audio piece published February 16

Review by Ryan E. Johnson on Austin.com, February 18