Driving Miss Daisy, Georgetown Palace Theatre, August 28 - October

Driving Miss Daisy is about nostalgia and trust, but it is also about entropy.

Fortunate or not in this material life, we can all expect to age, to slow, and to become feeble. We may dislike growing old, but we shun the obvious alternative.

That major theme should be mirrored in the dynamic of these familiar characters and in the rhythm of the production.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Political Theatre: An Account of the Eye and Tooth Project of March, 2009

ALT carried notice last February of an upcoming workshop and theatre production in Austin sponsored by Amnesty International (AI), using techniques of Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed methodology to express opposition to capital punishment in Texas.

The event was organized to coincide with the biennial meeting of the Texas legislature, at which a subcommittee was scheduled to consider a proposal by Rep. Jessica Farrar to abolish the death penalty (House Bill 682).

John Sullivan from the Houston chapter of Amnesty International organized the project. Kelly Howe, a Ph.D. candidate at UT, and Kathleen Juhl, a professor of theatre arts at Southwestern University were the theatre practitioners. Workshops for volunteer participants were held at UT on February 8 and March 7-8, with the performance held on Sunday evening, March 8 at the Off Center.

Delia Perez-Mayer, whose brother Louis Castro-Perez is on death row in Texas, attended as a resource for participants.

Sullivan has written a lengthy account of the initiative, the methodology, and the performance, published last month on the Community Arts Network. It is also available, in a more readable format, at the Texas Death Penalty blog.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: La Cage Las Vegas, Rainbow Cattle Company, September 5

Received directly:

Hello Friends, Family, Etc....

I just wanted to take a moment to let you know that this Saturday September 5, 2009, La Cage Vegas in Austin has a new Home: Rainbow Cattle Company. We will be performing once a month starting this Saturday.

As usual we have two show times -- 8:00pm and 10:00pm. We would love to have you join us as we are bringing back the most requested Illusions, Caricatures and Numbers for a very special End of Summer show! Plus there is no cover or ticket price! However if you would like to reserve a Cocktail Table, please contact me.

If you have any questions or would like more information please feel free to contact saffiretrinity@yahoo.com.

I am attaching the poster please feel free to send this on to any of your friends or associates who would be interested in seeing the #1 Celebrity Impersonation Show in the State of TEXAS!

Don't Forget .... "Being A Diva Is Tuff, That Is Why We Hire the Best Men For The Job!"

See you Saturday,

Saffire T. Stone

El Channel, Latino Comedy Project at Center Stage, August 21 - 29

I had expected to like this show a lot more than I did.

I'd seen and really appreciated the clever videos spots in which Guillermo Deleon as the "BC -- born citizen" compares notes with Adrian Villegas, as the "Mex" illegal. You can catch them either at the Latino Comedy Project website or on YouTube. They ran on MTV and they've been nominated for an Emmy award.

In those one-minute sketches, each gets to shine. For example, in the one on "travel," Deleon plays the self-important yuppie citizen, progressively more appalled as Villegas cheerfully details, mostly in Spanish, the vicissitudes of crossing the border.

It's irreverent, fast and funny. If you don't speak Spanish, you see Villegas do his wild pantomime and babble; if you do speak Spanish, it's even better. Click on the image to take the ride.



Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: bobrauschenbergamerica, Mary Moody Northern Theatre, St Edwards University, September 17 - 27

UPDATE: Click for ALT review, September 21



UPDATE: review by Jeann Claire van Ryzin at the Statesman's Austin360 "Seeing Things" blog, September 21

UPDATE: Hannah Kenah's pre-opening piece in the Austin Chronicle, September 17

Found on-line:

The Mary Moody Northern Theatre
at St Edwards University
presents

bobrauschenbergamerica

by Charles L. Mee
directed by David M. Long
September 17–27
Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.

A wild road trip through the American landscape as artist Robert Rauschenberg might have conceived it had he been a playwright: a collage of people and places, music and dancing, love stories and business schemes, chicken jokes and golfing, and the sheer exhilaration of living in a country where people make up their lives as they go. Featuring Equity guest artists Babs George and Jamie Goodwin.





Info Phone: 512.448.8484
3001 South Congress Avenue Austin, TX 78704

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: StarCo Readings, Penfold Theatre, Round Rock, Tuesday, September 8

Received directly from

Hello friends!

Join us after work for a fun and relaxing evening of 10-minute comedies, as read by some of Austin's newest talent. No charge for admission. Come and go as you please. Sip a cup o' Joe and let us treat you to a buffet of playwrights from David Ives to Shel Silverstein.

When: Tuesday, September 8 from 5:30pm to 7:00pm.

Where: StarCo Coffee (114 East Main Street in Round Rock)

Featuring: Nathan Jerkins, Ryan Crowder, Molly Fonseca, Derek Kolluri and Sarah Tufts.

Coming soon...

Three Days of Rain by Richard Greenberg

A Farewell: Geppetto Dreams

Received directly:

Cutting right to the chase

Due to the rapidly failing health of our largest benefactor, and the scarcity of grants in the failing economy, Geppetto Dreams Puppet Company is forced to close its doors September 27, 2009.

We have had an amazing and memorable 2 years in Austin and wish to thank all of you who supported our quest to bring Puppetry arts to you fine folks.

Although we will be ending our workshops, we do plan to perform two farewell performances, the first (as a troupe with a Puppet Operetta collaboration with Austin’s That Damned Band) in winter of 09 and 1 more in January 2010 which will be my personal final performance as a puppeteer with a show based on the last hours of the life of Dr Hunter S Thompson. Both of these shows were in pre-production stage so we’d like to still perform them for you before we go. We’ll make sure we send out the dates and hope that you will attend.


Also we will be having an all day Garage sale Saturday September 26th to sell off a lot of the chairs, tables, art supplies, workshop equipment, and movie editing computers, art, puppets, props, and toys. WE will be holding it at the center 1715 E 7th st on Austin ’s Eastside. The money raised will go to stage the last two shows and pay the rest of the bills.

On a personal note, for those who didn’t know I don’t live in Austin , I live outside of Dallas. Because Dallas has Ricki issues, and no sense of humor, I’ve spent the last 2½ years making that long three hour trek through the hills to share my dreams with this incredible city. You were worth every mile… even the summer the air conditioning went out in my truck. So because of that I’d like to say thank you for all the love, friends, and general weirdness I’ve found in this town. If you have any questions on the garage sale or the upcoming farewell performances please call me at 512 358 4632 Wed – Sat…

Love your faces Austin



Ricki (Geppetto) Vincent
Artistic Director
And the rest of the troupe
of the
Geppetto Dreams Puppet Company