Upcoming: Earth Beat Life New Year's Eve, Blue Theatre, December 31

Found on-line:

Earth Beats Life:

Blue Theatre Annual Fundraiser Party!

916 Springdale (click for map)

New Year's Eve, December 31, 6 p.m. - 2 a.m.

Come One; Come All To The MARVELS of CARNIVAL
. . . .
A night of Carnival is always a whimsical affair
filled with bevies of burlesque beauties
remarkable human marvels
bizarre sideshow wonders
and all the sights of the cabaret artistique.
. . . .
This NEW YEAR'S EVE, we transform the BLUE THEATRE into the deep, dark, mysterious world of Carnival. We invite you to step into our whimsical carnival playground of delights.
. . . .

999 Eyes Freak Show
Sky Candy Aerialists
Minor Mishap Marching Band
Interstellar Transmissions
Savonne the Minx
Ciara Blossom
Holding Space
The Wave Farmers
Strawberry
and Iris the Artiste
. . . .

Cocktails and Carnival Desserts courtesy of TITO'S HANDMADE VODKA and APHRODITE DIVINE CONFECTIONS.

Tickets Are All-Inclusive and include: admission, bar, carnival eats and games!

$30 Door

MOREMOREMORE

Oddities, Curiosities, the strange, the bizarre, and the beautiful...999 EYES Vaudevillian Freakshow is the last genuine traveling freakshow in the U.S. featuring authentic human oddities, an authentic freakshow museum, Lowrent the Clown, and LIVE music from their dark carnival jug band -That Damned Band. SEE THE HISTORY AND PRESENT OF FREAKSHOW!

Sky Candy Aerialists presents Chelsea Laumen on Silks. Chelsea Laumen is a professional performance artist, teacher and community activist. An integral part of the Birimbau Academy of Capoiera, Chelsea has served as a co-choreographer, core artist, student and also teacher of the Afro-Brazilian martial dance form in her beloved New Mexican community.

Savonne The Minx is a versatile-vixen who can point tootsies en pointe, tappa-tappa tap dance, and saunter and twirl to a mishmash beat. A magnetic medley of the magical kind let her exceed your expectations, unbind your boundaries, and find your fancies. Savonne danced with the award-winning dance troupe, Eye Candy Burlesque, and has performed everywhere from Kansas City to Little Rock.

Ciara Blossom, a.k.a. the Hula Hoop Enchantress specializes in spiral seduction with 2 tiny fire-hoops, and the smooth fluid movements of L.E.D glow hoops. Armed with a giggly golden smile, ornate handmade costumes, and wicked sick tricks to mesmerize and inspire audiences long after the show is over.

Strawberry ignites her hoops of fire to manipulate the flame through play and dance. This fire twirling Sprite is sure to delight!

Iris the Artiste transforms into the bodyart painting Gypsy who won't tell you your future but will help create one with you. Just give her a section of your body, details of your New Year's Resolution and let the creation begin.

BANDS:

MINOR MISHAP MARCHING BAND is a renegade brass band- Bourbon Street meets Budapest. An absurd expression of boisterous pandemonium and washboard-tuba-punk-rock ridiculousness: fun, loud and in the streets.

INTERSTELLAR TRANSMISSIONS is carnivalesque Shamanic Tribal Rock Fusion blending exotic sacred healing scales and frequencies with dynamic fast changing, primal rhythms. Let them take you on an epic journey of the soul that encompasses a vast spectrum of emotional depth, magic, excitement and color.

THE WAVE FARMERS cover a wide variety of sonic landscape from glitchy/psychedelic downtempo to electro-acoustic breaks. With collective music releases on Psymbolic--sounds, Organic Records, and Latchkey Records, The Wave Farmers is sure to bring you a night of experimental crossover electronic jam music that is not to be missed.

HOLDING SPACE adds the triply elements of Jazz Psychedelic Funk.

Upcoming: Searching for Eden by James Still, after Mark Twain, Paradox Players, February 10 - 26

Found on-line:

present

Searching for Eden

Written by James Still, after Mark Twain
Directed by Joni McClain

February 10 - 26
Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm • Sundays at 3 pm
HOWSON HALL THEATER, Unitarian Universalist Church, 4700 Grover Avenue (click for map)
Tickets -- $20 Opening Night Gala, Friday, Feb 10th (includes a special reception with refreshments)
$15 all other performances ($10 for seniors and groups of 10 or more)
Reservations by web , phone 744-1495 or Purchase via Paypal
Free childcare Feb 12 Matinee if reserved by Feb 5. Email childcare@austinuu.org or call 452-6168, ext. 313

Adam and Eve meet in paradise and embark on an epic, exuberant battle of the sexes. Several thousand years and a fall from grace later, the middle-aged couple returns to present-day Eden, now an upscale resort. Searching for Eden is a fresh, funny new look at the question of how to make the magic last, and a tender testament to enduring love.

The play is inspired by and adapted from a pair of short stories by Mark Twain. Says director Joni McClain, “Several thousand years after Adam and Eve meet in paradise, they return to a very different Eden. It’s a comic testament to enduring love; a fresh look at how to make the magic last.”

Variety Magazine called Searching for Eden “An engaging blend of wit and whimsy.” The Indianapolis Star wrote, "Eden is a paradise of a play, a captivating romantic comedy that captures the wit and warmth of Mark Twain's timeless paeans to love and marriage and updates them for today.”

Searching for Eden will be presented at the Howson Hall Theater, located in the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin, 4700 Grover Road, Austin, TX 78756. Performances are February 10 – 26, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm, and Sundays at 3:00 pm.

Tickets for the Opening Night Gala are $20, and for all other performances $15 General Admission and $10 for Seniors and groups of 10 or more. Purchase tickets online at www.paradoxplayers.org or phone 512-744-1495 for reservations.

Searching for Eden features actors Matt Gauck as Adam and Marsha Sray as Eve.

Upcoming: A Neon Christmas dance party, Paper Chairs at Cheerup Charlies, December 21

Found on-line:

Paper Chairs invites you to

A Neon Christmas dance party

December 21, 6:30 p.m. - 1:30 a.m.

Cheer-Up Charlie's, 1104 E. 6th Street (click for map)

We don't care if you've been bad or good. Frankly, we don't really care! This has been a milestone year for paper chairs as we said goodbye to some, bon voyage to others, and hello to still more as we grow our collaborative efforts. We'd love for you to join us in celebrating our favorite time of year! Tis the season to be jolly, and we've put together an electrifying evening of enjoyment for you.

Cheer Up Charlie's has graciously offered to host our bright, bright take on the holidays Wednesday, December 21. We'll kick things off with happy hour at 6:00p, get the juices flowing with Christmas Karaoke hosted by Sonny & Cher, and break it down with an all-out dance party to write home about. Throughout the night, we'll also be raffling off White Elephant Christmas gifts, and Santa and his Sexy Helper will be available for some serious photo ops.

As we prepare for the launch of our next original work - a collection of plays by Austin's own Hank Schwemmer in February - we're asking that all guests make a $5 donation to partake in the night's festivities. Friends of paper chairs will receive drink specials for the evening - including such deliciousness as soynog, peppermint coffee, spiked apple cider, and more.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me here on Facebook. Or just ask your favorite paper chair. We're looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday!

Poste Restante, The Secret Agents, Salvage Vanguard Theatre, December 15 - 17

I went up to Tim Gallagher after the Secret Agents' first run-through at the Salvage Vanguard on Thursday, congratulated him and asked, "What's the hidden message?"

I know: wrong question. But I couldn't help myself. I'm a narrative theatre guy, analyst, reporter, decipherer of mysteries. And I'd known a fair number of secret agents in my former career, even though I was in the overt diplomatic service, not the covert service.

Tim gave me a grin. "We just like to have fun!"

Spoken like a true secret agent, without a trace of guile. So you can puzzle over it as much as you like after you've experienced the multidimensional fun of Poste Restante ("dead letter office") by Tim Gallagher and Bonnie Duncan. There's a message in there; in fact, there are many messages in their post office of the mind. But they're largely wordless, expressed in an ever-surprising modulation of mime, physical comedy, contortion, ballet, puppetry, music and video projection.

Upcoming: I Hate Hamlet by Paul Rudnick, Georgetown Palace Theatre, January 13 - February 5

Found on-line:

I Hate Hamlet

by Paul Rudnick

directed by David Sray

Jan. 13 - Feb. 5 - Fri. & Sat. at 7:30 p.m. and Sun. at 2:00 p.m.

Georgetown Palace Theatre, 810 S. Austin Street, Georgetown (click for map)

Prices: General: $24; Senior(55+): $22; Student(13-22)/Active Duty Military (with ID): $14; Children(12 or younger): $10
Click to choose seats and purchase tickets on-line

This hilarious romp takes us into the life of hot, young TV star Andrew Rally who has been asked to play Hamlet in Central Park. But Andrew has two problems: he hates Hamlet, and he’s being haunted by the drunken ghost of actor John Barrymore who used to live in his apartment.

Auditions for The Dixie Swim Club, Georgetown Palace Theatre, January 29 - 30

Received directly:

The Georgetown Palace Theatre is holding AUDITIONS for

Dixie Swim Club

directed by Mary Ellen Butler, on Sunday, January 29th from 6-9pm, and Monday, January 30th from 7-10pm.

We are looking for six women who can play 45-80 yrs old. All types, ethnicities and sizes are encouraged to audition.

Auditions will at Georgetown Palace Theater at 810 S. Austin Ave in Georgetown (Click for map). Auditions will consist of cold reads from the script only. For an audition time, please email: auditions@thegeorgetownpalace.org with your name, phone number and audition day preference.

SYNOPSIS Five southern women who were college swim teammates meet one long weekend every August in the same beach cottage in North Carolina's Outer Banks to catch up, laugh and meddle in each other's lives. The show focuses on four of those weekends, and spans a perioud of thirty-three years. The Dixie Swim Club is the story of five unforgettable women--a hilarious and touching comedy about friendships that last forever.

Click for character descriptions and additional information at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Opinion: Houston: A Town Without Critics by Robert Bales, Arts Journal

Arts writer Theodore Bale is moody about the lack of arts writing and criticism in Houston. ALT attention was caught by opening paragraphs in his blog Texas, A Concept at www.artsjournal.com:

A Town Without Critics

December 15, 2011 By Theodore Bale

Many years ago in Cambridge, I had the pleasure of meeting the esteemed former New York Times dance critic Anna Kisselgoff. The lecture she’d delivered that night at Harvard was so inspiring that I decided I was going to become a critic as well. In a hopelessly naïve gesture, I went up to her after the talk and asked if she could explain my next move. “Well,” she said with a sigh, “the first thing to remember is that you’re going to have to conduct your education in public.”

Many decades later, that advice continues to ring true, and it’s particularly applicable to the contemporary blog. Gone are my fact-checkers, my editors, my copy desk, my headline writers and photo editors. Or rather, now I am all of them. This isn’t big news to anyone who started in print publications and moved to blogs. In my case, I continue to play both fields, writing for newspapers and trade publications as well as websites.

The theme of this week’s blog is so unwieldy that I couldn’t possibly cover it thoroughly within the “confines” of this ever-scrolling page. “Don’t write in a way that forces readers to click for too long,” I’m learning that lesson. With this delayed lede, however, I’ll proceed and try to convey a current crisis in Houston’s critical culture.

Read more at www.artsjournal.com . . . .