(*) A Close Look at Productions, Perspectives and Theatre Facilities in San Antonio, Scott Andrews in the San Antonio Current, May 22, 2013

A lengthy, well-sourced survey by Scott Andrews in San Antonio's weekly Current, with facts and figures, covering principal companies, spaces standing vacant, costs, grants, expenses and perspectives:





San Antonio's Theatre Scene Is Long on Space, Short on Productions

by Scott Andrews

Published: May 22, 2013

If you think there is little to no serious theater in San Antonio, you’re not alone. Even business travelers dining at Bohanan’s must notice that the marquees of the venerable Majestic and Empire theaters most often announce comedy or music shows. If a play is listed, it’s likely a touring musical, such as The Addams Family, which appeared this month at the Majestic. Nearby, the opulent Aztec Theatre is shuttered; a sign on the door advertises it is available for event rentals.


If drama — other than the political sort at City Hall — ever graced downtown stages, there’s little record of it. The Charline McCombs Empire Theatre was built in 1916 as a vaudeville house, and then became a movie theater. The Majestic Theatre arrived in 1929, courtesy of the Interstate Theatres film chain. Eventually, both theaters were shuttered and since renovations brought them back to life in 1989, a variety of performances, including the San Antonio Symphony’s season at the Majestic, have been offered. But precious little serious theater, of the artistic quality demanded off Broadway, has been seen.


Bereft of a central theater district, San Antonio is instead home to more than two dozen small companies spread almost invisibly about the city — the majority would most appropriately be described as community theater. Though our city is yet to found an Actors Equity house guaranteeing professional level performances and actors’ pay, some companies, like the Classic Theatre of San Antonio and AtticRep muster remarkable performances, many recognized by The Alamo Theater Arts Council’s annual awards.


In the past, a favored destination for those seeking innovative, experimental work was the Blue Star Arts Complex where productions at the Overtime Theater and the Sterling Houston Theater at Jump-Start have attracted devoted, if small audiences. But, a little over a year ago the Overtime left Southtown, a casualty of new construction at the complex, and last month the arts community was shocked to hear that Jump-Start’s lease would not be renewed.


Though the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, being built within the gutted façade of the old Municipal Auditorium, promises a resurgence of artistic endeavor based on a few lucky tenants when it opens in fall of 2014, San Antonio’s theater community now seems under duress. But is theater being incrementally whittled away before it can mature to a professional level, or are changes in our local economy offering the possibility for a renaissance?


As the Current went to press on Monday, April 15, for our April 17 issue, we barely had time to insert news we confirmed that day: Jump-Start’s lease would not be renewed at the Blue Star Arts Complex. Since then, James Lifshutz, principal of the company that owns the property, signed papers with Jump-Start that allow them to stay through January, 2014, past the end of their lease in September. Even with the extra time, the transition won’t be easy for the theater company, one of the first tenants of the nearly 30-year-old arts complex. At present, neither Jump-Start, Classic Theatre, nor Celebration Circle — the third nonprofit sharing the space — know where they ultimately will land.

Read more at the San Antonio Current. . . .

Arts Reporting: Classic Theatre Explores Potential New Homes, by Deborah Martin of the San Antonio Express-News, April 23

from the paper's Art beat page at www.mysanantonio.com:

Brendan Spieth, Dru Baucus (photo: Dwayne Green)

 

Classic Theatre explores potential new homes

Posted on 04/23/2013 by Deborah Martin

In the short time since they learned they’ll have to move, the folks at Classic Theatre have looked at potential new homes at the Woodlawn Theatre, the Josephine Theatre, Performing Arts San Antonio and Fox Tech High School.


The big take-away so far? “There’s a lot of unused space in San Antonio,” said Diane Malone, a co-founder of the company.


The company currently shares space with Jump-Start Performance Co. at the Blue Star Arts Complex. Jump-Start learned nearly two weeks ago that their lease on the building will not be renewed. The company was able to negotiate an extension that allows them to stay through January.


Classic closes its fifth season with the farce “Scapin,” slated to open May 10 at the Sterling Houston Theater at Jump-Start. The company has not yet decided whether they’ll begin their sixth season there and then move, or if they’ll do their entire season at a new space, Malone said.


Ideally, Classic’s new space will include room for an office, storage and rehearsal space.


“We’re asking for the moon,” Malone said.


A lot of other theaters have stepped up and offered to house the company, she said.


“A lot of people are talking about, it giving us suggestions: There’s a place here, a place there, museums and theaters and storefronts,” she said.


There is also a possibility that Jump-Start will go in together on a new space.

At this point, nothing is off the table: “We’re not eliminating any options,” Malone said.

Arts Reporting: Austin Playhouse's Relocation to Highland Mall

Published in the Statesman's Sunday edition of December 9, 2012:








 Whether in a Tent or in a Mall, for Austin Playhouse the Show Goes On

by Jeanne Claire van Ryzin December 9, 2012

(photo: Alberto Martinez via Austin Statesman)

What’s the old show business saying? Something about how no matter what happens, the show must go on?

More than any other theater group in town, Austin Playhouse might embody the spirit of that saying.

A year ago, the midsize nonprofit troupe announced that it was pitching a tent — literally — on a site at the Mueller development, where it planned to build a two-theater facility as part of the Mueller community’s town center.

The tent was a temporary venue while the community theater group worked through the permitting process for its planned 17,000-square-foot complex that would also have classrooms, offices and ground-floor space that will be sold to a bar or restaurant.

However, with permitting for the Mueller project still not finalized but construction under way on the building next to it, the troupe is setting up a second temporary home. And this time, the show’s at Highland Mall.

On Thursday, Austin Playhouse will raise the curtain on “The Game’s Afoot (Or Holmes for the Holidays),” a murder mystery drawing-room comedy set in Broadway theater world of the 1930s.

The theater’s real estate shuffle around town mirrors the shifting landscape of Austin development[ . . . . ]


Read more at the Austin Statesman on-line. . . .

Discussing Austin's Summer Musicals -- Robert Faires et al., Austin Chronicle

In today's Chronicle, along with reviews of the productions discussed:

Of Thee I Sing (and Dance)

The musical is America's gift to theatre, and here's the local state of the union

Robert Faires, Fri., July 20, 2012

 

What better time to celebrate the musical than the month in which our nation was founded? After all, musical theatre, like jazz, is one of America's contributions to world culture. And having recently noted the Founding Fathers' keen interest in the melodious ("Revolutionary Score," June 29), I feel they'd be particularly proud that this all-singing, all-dancing art form was born on our shores. Though, really, how could they not, when it put them in a musical of their very own?

Sadly (for me, anyway), 1776 is not among the seven musicals you can find on Austin-area stages this July. (Ah well, at least we had a tip of the tricorn to U.S. history with Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson in June.) Still, the month's unofficial mini-jamboree of show-tuners is worth noting, not because it commemorates the art form's American-ness (you can bet your stars-and-bars the July cluster of musicals has more to do with lighter theatrical fare for the mind-melting summer than patriotic pride) but because of the breadth of the selections and producing companies. This small sampling includes two works from the musical's post-war golden age (1946's Annie Get Your Gun, 1959's The Sound of Music), two from the post-Watergate era of anti-romance (Into the Woods and Chess, both from 1986), and two from our own post-millennium age in which musicals are either so derivative or so self-mocking that they routinely advertise the genre in their titles (Legally Blonde: The Musical and Xanadu, both from 2007). Moreover, the productions run the gamut from all-amateur to fully pro. In this one area in this one month, you can chart the evolution of the musical over six decades and see how it's handled from the Great White Way to Main Street, U.S.A. (Drive a little farther, and you can further your musical education with The Rocky Horror Show [Smithville], Fiddler on the Roof [New Braunfels], and Hello, Dolly! and Hairspray [San Antonio].)

The current cluster of musicals offered an ideal opportunity to check in on the form as it's treated in Central Texas today. After three members of the Chronicle Arts team each reviewed a musical now running – Jillian Owens, The Sound of Music; Dan Solomon, Chess; myself, Annie Get Your Gun), we compared notes on what we'd seen and what it said about the state of the art form in our area.

Click to read more at the Austin Chronicle. . . .

Study: Arts and Economic Prosperity in Austin, Americans by the Arts, 2012

(cover: Americans for the Arts)

This fourth updated edition of the study bolsters the justification for the City of Austin to continue providing grants to cultural arts organizations from the revenue generated by the tax on hotel occupancy. Most of those funds from the tax go to the Austin Convention and Visitors Center and to undertakings associated with the hotel industry. Certain of their representatives have argued that Texas law mandates that all the revenue for promotion of tourism should go to those non-arts entities.

Excerpts from the authors' conclusions after analyzing data from 95 arts and cultural organizations in Austinfor City of Austin fiscal year 2010 :

The Economic Impact of the Nonprofit Arts and Culture Industry in the City of Austin, TX

Arts & Economic Prosperity IV provides compelling new evidence that the nonprofit arts and culture are a significant industry in the City of Austin—one that generates $236.1 million in total economic activity. This spending—$137.2 million bynonprofit arts and culture organizations and an additional $99 million in event-relatedspending by their audiences—supports 7,315 full-time equivalent jobs, generates $164.9 million in household income to local residents, and delivers $23.0 million in local and state government revenue. This economic impact study sends a strong signal that when we support the arts, we not only enhance our quality of life, but we also invest in the City of Austin’s economic well-being.

Economic Impact of Spending by Nonprofit Arts and Culture Organizations in the City of Austin

Nonprofit arts and culture organizations are active contributors to their business community. They are employers, producers, and consumers. They are members of the Chamber of Commerce as well as key partners in the marketing and promotion of their cities, regions, and states. Spending by nonprofit arts and culture organizations totaled $137.2 million in the City of Austin during fiscal year 2010. This spending is far-reaching: organizations pay employees, purchase supplies, contract for services, and acquire assets within their community. These actions, in turn, support jobs, create household income, and generate revenue to the local and state governments.

The City of Austin’s nonprofit arts and culture organizations provide rewarding employment for more than just administrators, artists, curators, choreographers, and musicians. They also employ financial staff, facility managers, and salespeople. In addition, the spending by these organizations directly supports a wide array of other occupations spanning many industries (e.g., printing, event planning, legal, construction, and accounting).

Data were collected from 95 eligible nonprofit arts and culture organizations in the City of Austin. Each provided detailed budget information about more than 40 expenditure categories for fiscal year 2010 (e.g., labor, payments to local and nonlocal artists, operations, administration, programming, facilities, and capital expenditures/asset acquisition).

Read or download from AustinLiveTheatre.com the full 32-page study in .pdf format

Liz Fisher on Maxsym Kurochkin's Vodka, Fucking and Television, Breaking String Theatre blog

Liz Fisher's Vodka, Fucking and Television

by Graham Schmidt on the Breaking String blog, July 15

Liz Fisher (image: Will Hollis Snider)

 

I caught up with Liz Fisher a few days ago for a cup of coffee and some talk on her upcoming work with Breaking String - a full-on production of Vodka, Fucking and Television by 2012 New Russian Drama Festival spotlight artist Maksym Kurochkin, to be staged at Hyde Park Theatre this coming November. Fisher's pale blue eyes, smokey voice and arresting stage presence have knocked out thousands of Austin theater-goers over the past decade, and her work with Breaking String's been extensive, with award-winning performances in The Seagull, The Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya, and as a co-producer of the inaugural 2011 New Russian Drama Festival.

Fisher - an old hand when it comes to new plays - projects palpable excitement at the idea of staging a Kurochkin piece. "Maksym writes these sprawling, epic stories, some of them even have a mythic feel, mixing reality with fantasy, spanning centuries. This one's a four-hander, it's compact, but even here he's skewering audience assumptions, pranking all over the place, pushing against his own limits.”

Fisher's upcoming production grew out of her work on the second annual NRDFest this past March (here's a rundown on Breaking String's efforts to link Austin with Moscow's contemporary theater scene). To complement the American premiere of The Schooling of Bento Bonchev, she worked up a staged reading of Kurochkin's 2003 comedy. Vodka introduces the "Hero" - a writer at the end of his rope who tries shedding the vices that hold him back. The plot hinges on a delightful, irreverant device: Kurochkin presents these vices as characters - Vodka, Fucking and Television - who are challenged to justify their presence in the hero's life, or get the boot.

From her first encounter with Max's work, Fisher sensed its "Austin" vibe. "It felt young, fresh, smart, darkly comic, and there's so much new work being staged here. And of course, with Vodka being a four-hander, it was perfect for a staged reading. Right after the festival, Robert Faires said it'd be easy to mistake Max for an Austin playwright, and I think he really nailed it."

Read more at the Breaking String blog. . . .

University of Chicago Studies 1994-2008 Cultural Building Boom

UPDATE: a 15-page case study of the construction of the Long Center in Austin entitled Small is Beautiful: Scaling Down the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin (tip of the hat to Jerry M. Withers!) (click to view .pdf file)

 

Major study "Set in Stone" examines lessons of “building boom” for museums, arts centers and theaters

June 28 , 2012

Civic leaders, arts organizations, donors and government officials can better plan new or expanded arts facilities by first focusing on the arts organizations’ missions and assessing demand for the projects, according to a new study from the Cultural Policy Center at the University of Chicago.

The study, “Set in Stone,” looks at a major building boom of museums, performing arts centers and theaters in the United States from 1994 to 2008. It is the first scientifically prepared study of its kind and was requested both by cultural leaders and major foundations that had, in many cases, provided support for these building projects.

“Set in Stone” (which is at culturalpolicy.uchicago.edu/setinstone/) was released on June 28 by the Cultural Policy Center, a joint project of the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy Studies, and the independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago. The study looks at the lessons that can be learned from the cultural expansion.

The work was based on interviews with people in more than 500 organizations and drew data from more than 700 building projects, including both new facilities and major renovations. The costs of the projects ranged from $4 million to $335 million. It relied on rare, behind-the-scenes access to the discussions surrounding the buildings.


Unexpected challenges amid building boom

The building boom in cultural facilities from 1994-2008 outpaced building in other sectors, such as health care, said Joanna Woronkowicz, an associate at the Cultural Policy Center and one of the authors of the report.

“Expansive new venues, signature architectural statements, vital new centers of artistic and cultural activity, and objects of civic pride—all these could appear to be positive indicators,” said Carroll Joynes, co-founder and senior fellow at the Cultural Policy Center. Joynes joined Woronkowicz in authoring the report, in addition to center colleagues Norman Bradburn, Robert Gertner, Peter Frumkin, Anastasia Kolendo and Bruce Seaman.

“At least in the beginning, each of these projects was based on the assumption that a new facility would help increase audience size, increase earned and donated income, and at least indirectly, help realize the institution’s mission,” said Joynes. In some cases, this worked. But in many instances, the experiences in these new and expanded facilities were much more difficult and challenging than predicted, and put enormous strain on institutions.

The study looked at great variations in cultural building projects in the United States.

Among the key findings:

• Cities in the South had the greatest increase in cultural buildings. The region had lagged behind the rest of the country prior to the building boom — the Northeast and West had twice the number of cultural facilities per capita in 1990 than did the South.

• Increases in building were most common in communities with increases in personal income and in education among their residents; this was another reason why the South led in building expansions.

• Spending was also strong across the rest of the country from 1994 to 2008. The New York area led the country in cultural building ($1.6 billion), while the Los Angeles area saw an expansion of $950 million and the Chicago area saw spending of $870 million on arts-related projects.

• Smaller cities with fewer than 500,000 people were building as well, and many of these cities were building for the first time. On a per capita basis, nine of the top ten spenders on cultural projects were in smaller cities. Pittsfield, Mass., for example, with a population of 44,700, led the list with a per capita expenditure of $605 for six projects at a total cost of more than $81 million.

• More than 80 percent of the projects we studied ran over budget, some by as much as 200 percent.

• More performing arts centers were built than any other kind of arts facility.

Click for additional information at AustinLiveTheatre.com. . . .

Woodlawn Theatre San Antonio Announces 2012-2013 Season

Via Deborah Martin of the San Antonio Express-News and www.mysanantonio.com:

‘In the Heights,’ ‘Frost/Nixon’ slated for Woodlawn

 

Posted on 05/15/2012 by Deborah Martin

Greg Hinojosa’s first full season at the helm of the Woodlawn Theatre includes such big-buzz titles as “In the Heights,” “The Producers” and “Frost/Nixon.”

The theater’s season runs on a calendar year, so all of these shows run in 2013.

Here are the dates for the main stage: “The Producers,” Feb. 15-March 17; “The Full Monty,” April 5-May 5; “In the Heights,” May 24-June 23; and “Reefer Madness,” Oct. 3-Nov. 2.

The August and December shows are TBA.

In the neighboring black box, the season holds: “Bug,” Jan. 11-Feb. 3; “Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean,” March 15-April 17; “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,” May 10-26; “Night, Mother,” July 5-21; “Frost/Nixon,” Sept. 6-29.

In addition, the theater will present at staging of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in the black box; those dates are also TBA.

Next up at the theater: “The Pillowman,” opening June 14 in the black box; and “Next to Normal,” opening on the main stage June 29.

Trinity University, San Antonio, Announces 2012-2013 Theatre Season

announces its 2012-2013 season:

Fall 2012 A Bright Room Called Day Written by Tony Kushner Directed by Susanna Morrow September 28th-30th and October 3rd-6th La Tempesta Adapted from William Shakespeare's The Tempest Directed by Roberto Prestigiacomo November 9th-11th and 14th-17th La Tempesta will be produced in collaboration with this year's Stieren Guest Artist, Theatro del Drago, a puppet theatre company founded in 1820 by the Monticelli Family of Revenna, Italy.

Spring 2013

Arcadia

Written by Tom Stoppard

Directed by Stacey Connelly

February 15th-17th and 20th-23rd

The Crazy Locomotive

Written by Stanislaw Witkiewicz

Directed by Kyle Gillette

April 12th-14th and 17th-20th

San Antonio: Asia Ciaravino from Classic Theatre to Take Direction of San Pedro Playhouse

Reported by Deborah Martin of the San Antonio Express-News via www.mysanantonio.com:

Ciaravino moving to San Pedro as new CEO

Posted on 04/05/2012 by Deborah Martin

Asia Ciaravino, co-founder and executive director of Classic Theatre, is making the move to the San Pedro Playhouse.

Ciaravino will take over as the president and CEO of the theater, which begins its 100th anniversary season this fall, on May 1.

Her hiring comes at the end of a nation-wide, seven-month search to fill the slot left vacant when Di Ann Sneed left the theater last fall.

Ciaravino said she wasn’t looking for a new opportunity, but when she was approached about the possibility, she agreed to meet with folks from the theater. She was impressed with the direction they’d like to see things head, and they were impressed by her combined theater and business skills.

Ciaravino, who is finishing up her master’s degree in non-profit management, said she’s looking forward to putting all of that together.

“I knew this was my next step,” she said. “I knew that I needed to match my passion with my skill set. Every single person I’ve told on the Our Lady of the Lake campus (where she works now) has said, ‘Finally, you get to work 24 hours a day for your passion.’

“If you can marry your passion with your job, it’s pure beauty. I feel so lucky.”

[image: Asia Ciaravino as Hedda Gabler (Dwayne Green for Classic Theatre, San Antonio)]

Arts Reporting: Composer Tobias Picker to Head New Opera for San Antonio

From a lengthy article by Scott Andrews in the San Antonio Current:

Composer Tobias Picker tapped to write a lead role for new SA opera company

By Scott Andrews

Published April 4, 2012

. . . [Tobias] Picker, who[m] the Wall Street Journal has called "our finest composer for the lyric stage," has agreed to become artistic director of the new company.

In the wake of the failure of the debt-burdened San Antonio Opera, which closed its doors in February, hopes are high but guarded for the success of [the Opera Theatre of San Antonio or] OTSA, as it has yet to form a chorus or stage a production. The aspiring company is helmed by Tobin Theatre Arts Fund President Mel Weingart, and has a prestigious advisory board that includes Santa Fe Opera past-president Nancy Zeckendorf and opera patrons Emily Coates and Edgar Foster Daniels (who has been a director at five operas, including New York's Metropolitan Opera). If the new company becomes a performing reality, Picker will become the only composer to direct an opera in America. . . .

With such a prodigious talent in charge, rumors have spread that the new opera company will be solely devoted to contemporary work. "Not true," says OTSA President Mel Weingart. "The first production is going to be a Puccini opera. Which one, I don't want to say, but not La Boheme. It won't be Madame Butterfly, either." If all goes well, the first opera will be staged at the Tobin Center for Performing Arts early in 2015.

"There are people who are afraid of the new, especially if it's music," Picker told the Current last week. "Obviously as a composer, and known especially for my operas now, I am interested in the art form as a living art, and not strictly as a museum. But I don't want to encourage people to assume that there is going to be lot's of scary new modern music and nothing else." Picker insists that the programming will be "balanced," featuring both new works and the classics. "I love Puccini, I love all the masters — they will all be represented, but there will be exciting new pieces, too," he said. "Why shouldn't there be, when every other major city in the world has them, and sells out their opera houses with them."

Picker notes that opera in San Antonio in recent years has offered primarily Italian fare, but that there is a larger repertoire to explore: Russian, German, and French operas abound. And when he produces a well-known classic, there will be a twist. "If I do a production of Carmen, it is going to be something that is totally unexpected. The new aspect will be in the production." But Picker stresses that talent is key. "The programming, first of all, will feature the best singers in the world. The productions will be on a level as high as the singer. I want the audience to see productions that are theatrically exciting, it has to capture people's imagination, to be something they want to see it has to be terrific."

Read full text at the San Antonio Current online . . .

Robert Faires Interviews Shakespeare Scholar James Shapiro, Austin Chronicle, March 23

In a lengthy Q&A Austin Chronicle arts editor Robert Faires draws out Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro about his methods and discoveries about Shakespeare's life, especially during the process of writing 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare.

Unraveling Shakespeare's Life

by Robert Faires, Fri. Mar. 23, 2012

Forget cradle to grave; get to know Will just one year at a time

Whether or not you believe William Shakespeare really wrote all those plays, you can probably concede that writing his life story is a challenge all its own. But Columbia professor of English James Shapiro has devised a cunning approach, one he's laid out in his acclaimed history, 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare.

Austin Chronicle: I've read enough biographies and partial biographies of Shakespeare to know that it's a particularly tricky pursuit. How did you choose which strand to pick up in writing about Shakespeare from a historical or biographical standpoint?

James Shapiro: "Strand" is exactly the right word, and it led me to the idea of unraveling. I even got curious when the word "unraveling" came into use in English. Turns out to have been a Dutch word introduced almost surely by Shakespeare's contemporary playwright, Thomas Dekker, and in Shakespeare's day it had a much stronger meaning than, say, unraveling the sleeve of a sweater. It had the sense of really undoing, and my talk is really about undoing what has been done, untangling various strands.

I've been practicing since 1988 a different kind of biography -- some people call it micro-biography, that sounds too close to micro-beer for me. It's studying a smaller but significant moment in a life. And one of the things that has long struck me is that there are a lot of great writers who had extraordinary moments of creativity or transformative moments in their writing careers and had them fairly early on, like Wordsworth at the beginning of his career and in the wake of the French Revolution, around 1800.

Click for a corrected .doc transcription of this 3250-word text at ALTcom . . . .

Click to read at the Austin Chronicle website

Connie McMillan Honored with Actors Equity Lucy Jordan Humanitarian Award, February 11

Following up a notice on the Austin Playhouse Facebook wall:

The Lucy Jordan Award

Connie McMillan Named AEA's 2012 Lucy Jordan Humanitarian Award Recipient

Actors' Equity Association (Equity) presented Austin resident Connie McMillan the 2012 Lucy Jordan Humanitarian Award at Equity’s Austin/San Antonio Annual Membership meeting on Saturday, February 11, 2012

Ms. McMillan, who was nominated for the award by actors, producers, patrons and critics alike, has been an integral part of the theater community in Austin for more than 40 years. She is an avid theater-goer, and can be found in theaters, attending theater festivals and theater conferences. Nominators describe her as “the ultimate Theater Person.”

“Loving theatre the way I do, I was so grateful to be able to contribute to the profession behind the scenes and I never wanted any recognition since the production IS the reward,” said Ms. McMillan. “But this honor is most welcome since it comes from other professionals who understand fully what it takes to make the magic happen.”

Born in Lubbock, her love of the arts was established early by parents who encouraged her to participate in and make the arts an important part of her life. After earning her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in English Literature from Texas Tech University, Ms. McMillan moved to Austin to attend graduate school at the University of Texas where she earned her Ph.D. in English Literature. She worked as the Box Office Manager for the University of Texas Performing Arts Center for 23 years. Since 2000, she has combined her love of theater and education through part-time work for the University Interscholastic League, which hosts the One-Act Play Contest for high schools in the state of Texas, the largest play festival of its kind. She has also served on the nominating committee for the B. Iden Payne Awards, which recognizes excellence in Austin theater. In addition, she audio-described live performances of theater and opera for patrons who are blind or have limited vision.

The Lucy Jordan Humanitarian Award is the only recognition given by Equity’s Western Regional Board. It was established by the Stage Managers Committee in 1992 to honor and commemorate the unflagging spirit of former Western Region Business Field Rep Lucy Jordan, who passed away that same year.

Arts Reporting: Austin Playhouse Signs Contract for Theatres at Mueller

Posted by Lara Toner at the Austin Playhouse blog, January 20:

Signing The Contract

Dear Friends,

Yesterday afternoon Don Toner signed our contract to purchase our building site in the Mueller Town Center. We are the first business to have a signed contract for the Town Center portion of the Mueller development and we are incredibly proud. We have accomplished a tremendous amount already, and we're confident we're on the right path to making our dream a reality. Thank you to everyone who has helped us reach this milestone and especially to our attorney, Gary Greif and our architect, Scott Ginder.

What we've already done:
-Our site plan was submitted in November. The site plan approval process can take several months, so it was crucial that we started the process as soon as possible.
-We have raised almost $400,000 in pledges and contributions. During the first phase of our fundraising efforts we reached out to our long-time supporters. We've been very gratified by their initial outpouring of support for this project.

What will happen next:
-We anticipate closing within 60 days as soon as the remainder of our financing is in place.
-We will begin construction as soon as closing occurs and the site plan is approved. We are currently estimating construction will begin in late February. Construction will take six to seven months to complete and we will open our new theatre in Fall 2012.
-We will expand our fundraising efforts to include the greater Austin community, foundations, and corporations. [. . . ] If you would like to make a contribution or pledge, please visit our website.

Profile of Hidden Room Theatre by Dawn Youngs at Culturemap

On-line at www.austin.culturemap.com:

The Hidden Theater: A secretive Austin gem that's going global

By Dawn Youngs,12.31.11

As Master of Company and Theatrical Deviser Beth Burns put it, “The Hidden Room Theater is a Theatrical Curiosity Shop specializing in Original Practices classics, technologically forward-thinking works, intriguing new plays, and rarely-done oddities.” The company, critically acclaimed for its media jumping cross-Atlantic theatrical event You Don’t Know Him He Lives in Texas/You Don’t Know Her She Lives in London, will be bringing all of these diverse specialties together in this season’s production of Rose Rage.

Hidden Room has been making waves in the modern world of Shakespeare by going old school. Their recent Original Practice production of Taming of the Shrew had a historically accurate all male cast, period Elizabethan dress and stayed true to the minimalist staging of Shakespeare’s time. The company is not lost in the past, however, evidenced by a recent Kickstarter campaign which harnessed the power of the internet to take the company to the Blackfriar’s Conference at the Shakespeare Center to present the work to some of the world's most renowned Shakespeare scholars. This trip was a big success for Hidden Room Theater, solidifying their place on the international stage.

Read full text at www.austin.culturemap.com . . . .

Adam Roberts Appointed Artistic Director of Theatre at the J

Published in the January 2012 edition of

Adam Roberts Appointed Artistic Director of Theatre at the J

The JCC Youth and Teen Department announces the appointment of Adam Roberts as the new Artistic Director of Theatre at the J. He succeeds Trisha Reed Baughman, who also directed the JCC’s School of Dance prior to relocating to the East Coast with her family.

Roberts has served as musical director or choreographer for over one hundred productions to date, with choreography credits including two European concert tours. He has taught and coached musical theatre voice, acting and dance styles throughout the country. His students have appeared on and off-Broadway, in regional theatre and national tours, and on film and network television. In addition to his current role as Musical Director for Music Theatre Online: 1866-1923 with the New York Public Library and the University of Maryland--College Park, Adam is a contributing writer and arts critic for the Austin Chronicle and is currently writing a book focused on music analysis for practitioners of musical theatre. [. . .]

Theatre at the J summer musical auditions are Tuesday, March 20 and Wednesday, March 21. Contact Adam for more details at adam.roberts@shalomaustin.org. Registration opens for Performing Arts Camp at the JCC Summer Camp Fest on Sunday, January 8 at 1:30 p.m. in the JCC Community Hall.

Click to read full article on-line at The Jewish Outlook. . . .

Arts Reporting: San Pedro Playhouse Trades 'Streetcar' for 'My Fair Lady', by Deborah Martin, San Antonio Express-News

Found on-line at

San Pedro’s ‘Streetcar’ jumps the tracks

Posted on 12/19/2011 by Deborah Martin

The San Pedro Playhouse has made a change to its spring lineup.

“A Streetcar Named Desire,” slated to open in March, has been pulled from the schedule. The show was to be directed by Carol Lee Klose, who had cast Sam Gilliam, Rick Frederick and Susanna Morrow in the leads.

In a statement, Artistic Director Frank Latson explained that “The move comes in the interest of continued economic growth and a move closer to family friendly programming in its Russell Hill Rogers Theater.

“Replacing Streetcar was a very difficult decision, particularly with the stellar Director and Cast which had been assembled for it. However, the Playhouse is at a crossroads, and many tough choices are being made in order that we enter our second century with a strong and steady foundation.”

In its place, the theater will stage “My Fair Lady,” which Latson is planning to direct.

Click to see article at www.mysanantonio.com . . . .

Arts Reporting: Culturemap Profiles Austin High School and Upcoming Spring Awakening (School Edition)

Found on-line:

The 400 Club:

Red Dragon Players of Austin High present landmark production

[Spring Awakening, School Edition, December 9 - 11, 30-31]

by Michael Corcoran

When Billy Dragoo was hired to replace his retiring mentor Larry Preas as head of the theater department at Austin High School in 1993, he noticed one difference there than at other Texas high schools he had worked at or visited. “At Austin High, it’s cool to be a theater kid,” he said. "It's a welcoming environment, not a closed shop."

You won’t hear taunts of “drama queens” or “theater sissies” at Austin High, where the rich stage tradition is a source of Maroon pride.

The AHS Red Dragon Players, whose alumni includes actor Zachary Scott (Mildred Pierce), Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan (The Kentucky Cycle) and Emmy-winning actress Valerie Mahaffey (Northern Exposure), is one of the nation’s oldest continuously active drama troupes west of the Mississippi.

While the school’s football team has not won a playoff game since 1957, the theater department has won three state championships (two in the past three years), in the UIL one-act play competition. The reputation goes beyond the state, as theater companies in New York City often look to Austin High to test-stage musicals that have been adapted for high school theater.

Read more at www.austin.culturemap.com. . . .

Arts Reporting: AustinOnStage.com Hosts Santa Brunch for Families Affected by HIV and Hepatitis C

Received directly from Rob Faubion at AustinOnStage.com:

"Brunch with Santa" Provides Holiday Cheer for Deserving Central Texans

On Saturday, December 10 Austin On Stage Magazine and Rusty's Austin will co-host a special "Brunch with Santa" for the clients and families served by the Wright House Wellness Center, an Austin-area non-profit organization that serves Central Texans affected by HIV and Hepatitis C. The event will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Rusty's Austin, located at 405 E. 7th in downtown Austin.

"This special event will provide a much-needed boost to families and individuals who might otherwise not have a holiday celebration this year," said Rob Faubion, Editor and Publisher of Austin On Stage Magazine. "Due to budget restrictions, the Wright House Wellness Center was unable to offer a client party this year. Through the generosity of our partners - including Rusty's Austin, Callahan's Western Store and private individuals - we can spread the joy of the holidays to some of our most deserving neighbors."

Guests at the "Brunch with Santa" will enjoy a fully-catered brunch and live entertainment featuring the Capital City Men's Chorus and Butler Opera Center mezzo-soprano Julie Snyder. Santa Claus will arrive on horseback to visit with the children and take photos, and the youngsters will also have a special area to make crafts and holiday cards to take home with them. The entire event will be provided free of charge to the attendees.

The Wright House Wellness Center is an Austin-area non-profit providing no- to low-cost support, education and resources to individuals and families affected by HIV and Hepatitis C. The philosophy of The Wright House Wellness Center is to help people living with or at-risk for chronic illnesses make healthier life-style choices, employ complementary/holistic health therapies to delay illness, and contribute back to the community. Visit online at www.TheWrightHouse.org for more information.

Arts Reporting: Seven NEA Grants to Austin Area Arts Groups

From the Statesman's Austin360 Seeing Things blog of November 22:

Austin arts groups net seven NEA grants

By Jeanne Claire van Ryzin | Tuesday, November 22, 2011, 12:32 PM

National Endowment for the Arts chairman Rocco Landesman recently announced the latest round of grants from the federal agency to organizations and individual writers across the country. Some 863 awards totaling $22.54 million and encompassing 15 artistic disciplines and fields were awarded.

Austin area arts groups received seven grants. Texas netted 29 for a total of $653,000.

The Austin grants are:

• Austin Film Society, $20,000 for its curated film and video series.
• Badgerdog Literary Publishing, $7,500 for the publication, promotion, and distribution of the quarterly journal American Short Fiction.
• Blue Lapis Light, $10,000 for the creation and presentation of a site specific aerial dance, titled Swan Nebula, choreographed by Sally Jacques
• EmilyAnn Theatre Inc., $10,000 for Shakespeare Under the Stars, a summer youth theater program for high school students.
• Puerto Rican Folkloric Dance, $10,000 for Celebrando 2012: Bomba de Loiza with Los Hermanos Ayala.
• Tapestry Dance Company, $10,000 for the 12th annual Soul to Sole Tap Festival.
• Vortex Repertory Company, $15,000 for the creation and presentation of “The Elementals: Water,” an original theatrical work with music and dance, conceived and directed by Bonnie Cullum, an original score by Chad Salvata and choreography by Toni Bravo.