Arts Reporting: Austin Playhouse Announces Move to Mueller Development

Reported by Jeanne Claire van Ryzin on the Statesman's Ausin360 'Seeing Things' blog, November 19

Austin Playhouse announces move to Mueller

By Jeanne Claire van Ryzin Friday, November 19

After nearly ten years at its South Congress Avenue location, Austin Playhouse plans to build a $4 million new theater in the Mueller redevelopment in East Austin, theater officials announced Friday.

Catellus Development Group, the master developer of Mueller, confirmed that it had signed a letter of intent with Austin Playhouse.

The theater would be located in the Mueller town center, roughly north of Mueller’s Lake Park. The town center is planned to be a mix of retail, restaurant and entertainment venues. However, no date has been set to start that phase of the Mueller project.

“We’re excited about the opportunities the Austin Playhouse would bring to Mueller,” said Greg Weaver, managing director for Catellus Development Group, the master developer of Mueller. “The Austin Playhouse will help activate a new area of the Mueller community, draw new visitors to experience other elements of the development and provide another primarily nighttime venue to move Mueller toward a 24/7 community.”

The community theater group [SIC] plans to build a 17,000-square-foot two-theater complex with classrooms, a gallery, offices and ground-floor space to sublet to a bar or restaurant.

Don Toner, executive director of Austin Playhouse, said he expects construction to begin in 2011. He said the $4 million price tag includes about $2 million for the property and 100 parking spaces and $2 million for construction, fundraising and other project costs.

Toner said that $265,000 in pledges and cash has been raised so far.

Opinion: Why Outdoor Theatre? by Nancy Mohn Barnard (Violet Crown Theatre)

Meditations from Nancy Mohn Barnard published on the blog of the Violet Crown Community Theatre, who wind up The Amazing, Unforgettable, Mixed-up Adventures of Hansel and Gretel at Laguna Gloria amphitheater Sunday, November 21, at 4:30 p.m.:

Why Outdoor Theatre?, November 19

When I was six years old, my parents took me to Golden Gate Park for the day where we went for a nature walk into the seeming wilderness. All of a sudden, we stumbled into a clearing where there was a performance of Alice in Wonderland. For a moment I felt confused . . . Had I somehow fallen down the rabbit hole and into the actual story? Or had the characters been magically transported into my world? My mother must have recognized my confusion for she whispered to me that the scene before my eyes was a performance, a play, and as we sat down to watch it, I fell in love with not only theater but the magic that an outdoor performance can create as well.

As an adult, I had no memory of this experience until one day, several years ago, I was taking a stroll through the Hyde Park neighborhood in Austin. It was summer solstice and the sun was just beginning to set when I walked past Shipe Park. Suddenly, I heard laughter, music and bells ringing. As I approached the Elisabet Ney museum, I discovered, to my delight, there was a theater performance on the grass with the castle-like structure in the background. With great delight, I joined the other audience members and enjoyed a timely performance of A Midsummer’s Night Dream. The unexpectedness of this performance, combined with the magic of summer solstice, transported me into the world of this story until I was an actual participant. The experience was magical and I began to remember that first outdoor theatrical performance from so many years past.

In both of these experiences, the backdrop and staging was minimal. Being surrounded by the beauty of the outdoors, the eyes were not deprived or in need of additional stimulation. The performances were a free gift to whomever was interested – a free gift that changed my world and sent me into a love affair with literature and storytelling.

Theater is meant to be enjoyed by all, and yet, all too often, the experience is out of the reach of many. Theater tickets are expensive—forget trying to take an entire family out to enjoy a performance. As a result, many children are deprived of one of the oldest mediums for entertainment. And yet, as evidenced by my story, many could develop an appreciation for arts and literature through early exposure. This is why Violet Crown Community Theater strives to offer free performances—in the hopes of reaching young families who may not be able to afford to spend $30+ for an afternoon at the theater.

Please help us in this mission by giving generously at our closing show this Sunday: “The Amazing, Unforgettable, Mixed-up Adventures of Hansel and Gretel” atLaguna Gloria amphitheater, Sunday, 11/21 @ 4:30 PM.

Reflections, November 18

As our fall show draws to a close, I have been spending a lot of my down time reflecting on this production. “The Amazing, Unforgettable, Mixed-up Adventures of Hansel and Gretel” is my third production since starting this group, and in many ways, it has been my favorite so far.

Read More at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: Crumble (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake), Poison Apple Initiative at the Blue Theatre, December 1 - 18

Received directly:

Poison Apple Initiative Announces the Southwest premiere of

Crumble (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake)

by Sheila Callaghan

directed by Bastion Carboni

December 1 - 18, Wednesdays - Saturdays, 8 p.m.

Blue Theatre, 916 Springdale

General admission $15 tickets available on-line

Wednesdays are Actor and Crew Benefit performances. Thursdays are Pay-What-You-Can at the door. Show runs approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes with no intermission.

"How can this little body wrap itself around such a moment without falling apart?"

Janice and her mother Clara live in an apartment that's begun to deteriorate since the freak accidental death of the father the previous Christmas. The Apartment, irked by his and the family's states of disrepair, is plotting to kill them while Janice, inspired by visits from Justin Timberlake, hatches her own plan (involving doll heads and hazardous chemicals) to "make things right again.” An obsidian comedy about trying to keep it together when it won't stop falling apart.

Directed by Bastion Carboni, dramaturged by Georgia Young, and stage managed by Lisa Kettyle.Featuring Elizabeth Bigger, Karen Alvarado, Michael Slefinger, Natalie Kabenjian, and Micah Goodding. Designed by Geoffrey Aaron Douglas (lighting), Taylor Finley (scenic), Brett Hamaan (sound), Lauren McKinley (costume), and Staci Paradis (properties).

Poison Apple Initiative is pleased to begin its third and most ambitious season to date with the Southwest premiere of Sheila Callaghan's incisive and thoughtful play. We are an independently-run local theatre company dedicated to the production of sharp, dark comedies by local and national artists. Through our participation in the FronteraFest Long Fringe, Mi Casa Es Su Teatro, and the ArtSpark Festival, we’ve garnered a reputation for giving audiences “a razor-edged experience, one with a vibration and intensity that no video or cinema is going to provide” (Austinlivetheatre.com). This fall we are embarking on our third, and most ambitious season yet. In November we’ll be producing Sheila Callaghan’s Crumble (Lay Me Down Justin Timberlake), followed in January by the premier of Sometimes Callie and Jonas Die by Artistic Director Bastion Carboni. We’ll close out the season in May with The Woyzeck Project, a re-imagining of the 19th century play by Georg Buchner.

Upcoming: A Monster Carol by Dwight Markus, Texas State University, December 3 - 5

Received directly:

Texas State University Department of Theatre and Dance

in association with A Monster Trust presents

A Monster Carol

Written & Directed by Dwight Markus

December 3^rd at 7:00 p.m., December 4^th and 5^th at 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.

Mainstage University Theatre, Texas State Theatre Center, 430 Moon St., San Marcos

Tickets: $5 General Admission, available at the Texas State box office on the day of the show.

For additional information please contact (512) 245-2147.

The Monsters are back! A family comedy for the holidays, ages 4 and up.

Pictured: Top row: Bridget Farias (Veronica the Vampire)

Middle row: D. Heath Thompson (Wolfgang the Werewolf), Audience Member & Dwight Markus (Franklin the Monster)

Bottom row: Molly McKee (Louise, the Museum Curator), Audience Member & Oscar Cabrera (Jake the Ghost)

At Vincent’s House of Wax, home of the scary monsters, a ghostly visitor comes calling on Christmas Eve. Now, Vincent’s is no ordinary museum of wax figures for when the doors are locked, the wax statues come to life. Tonight Jake, the ghost of Jacob Marley comes calling to pull a “Scrooge” on one of the Monsters. Jake has lost the 3 spirits of Christmas and enlists the aid of Veronica the Vampire, Franklin the Monster and Louise, the Curator of the Museum to help him reenact the past of Wolfgang the Werewolf. Jake puts them under a “Mystical Veil” to show him his life. At that point everything goes haywire as Jake’s true intentions are revealed and Wolfgang’s past brings some unexpected revelations. Come find out what funny things happen when you mix Christmas with Halloween and enjoy some good family fun.

Stay after the show for the Monster Picture Party and have your picture taken with our cast onstage. We will send the photos to you via your email address.

Wait Until Dark, Way Off Broadway Community Players, Leander, November 12 - December 4

Community theatre folks are glad that you came, and they make no pretense about that. They've worked for weeks, mostly after hours and on weekends, in an undertaking that doesn't pay the grocery bills or even the transportation expenses. I'm always touched and honored when players and staff position themselves to greet audience members as they come out of the theatre.

Over decades of diplomatic assignments I regularly shook hands of officials receiving guests at the entrances of embassies for national day celebrations. Here in Austin in contrast, particularly on the periphery, your artist hosts greet you at the end, sending you home with good wishes. They've shed their imaginary world and discarded fictitious characters, so you can commune briefly with them as part of the community of the theatre.

There was no particular protocol in the line after Wait Until Dark. Stephanie Newton, fresh off stage from her appearance as a police officer in the final scene, was the first who shook my hand. My friend Stephen Reynolds, cast as the mostly absent photographer husband of the blind protagonist Susy Hendrix, joked that every night between his scene in Act I and his last-second appearance in Act II he had time to read a novel. For opening night, to top it all, the company observed its tradition of inviting audience members to linger with them around a long table laden with good things to eat.

Wait Until Dark is a perennial. Frederick Knott had already written the successful Dial M for Murder (1952) as well as the script for Alfred Hitchcock's movie. In 1966 his Wait Until Dark with Lee Remick was a huge success, made into an even more successful film starring Audrey Hepburn and Alan Alda. Knott never wrote another play, but the royalties from regular productions of those two playscripts provided him a income sufficient to live a comfortable social life in New York City until his death in 2002.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: Straight, A Conversion Comedy by David Schmader, Attic Rep at Trinity University, San Antonio, December 2 - 9

Received directly:

presents

STRAIGHT A Conversion Comedy

Written and Performed by David Schmader

Directed by Andrew Thornton

December 2- 19

STRAIGHT is a hilarious and subversive comedy about the world of conversion therapy, where gays and lesbians are reputedly cured of their homosexuality and made straight. Plunging into the heart of this highly charged territory–from going undercover at ex-gay support groups to an intensive crash course in Christian heterosexuality deep in the heart of Texas–Schmader blends an essayist’s insight with the spark of stand-up comedy to confront difficult questions, reject easy answers, and get to the bottom of what it means to be straight.

San Antonio Premiere.

Upcoming: Of Mice and Music, the Jazz Nutcracker, Tapestry Dance Company at the Boyd Vance Theatre, December 14 - 19

Found on-line:

presents

Of Mice and Music: A Jazz Nutcracker

at the Boyd Vance Theatre, George Washington Carver Center,1165 Angelina Street (click for Google map)

December 14 - 18, 7 p.m., December 18 and 19 at 2 p.m.

Quickly becoming a holiday tradition for many Austin families, this wonderfully original adaptation of the classic nutcracker story is told with an original jazz score, a live band and an army of tapping mice! Celebrate the Holidays with Tapestry Dance Company!

Tickets $27 - $29 including $2 handling fee paid to Long Center Frontgate Tickets. Purchase on-line here.