Punchline stand-up comedy | BYOB!
Every Friday 10:00PM @ ColdTowne Theater (East Side)
Punchline is the best show in town. No, silly, it's not the local middle school's production of Cats -- it's THE BEST SHOW IN TOWN! Punchline is not only BYOB, but it's a mere …more»
Jesus Christ Superstar
Thu. 05/24 | 7:00PM - Sun. 08/12 @ ZACH Scott Theatre (South Austin)
By Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice May 24 - July 15, 2007 ZACH's Kleberg Stage Buy Tickets From The Passi…more»
The Last Days of Judas Iscariot
Thu. 07/12 | 7:00PM - Sun. 08/05 @ City Theatre Co (North Austin)
Has Judas Iscariot suffered enough? He’s languished in hell since he committed suicide following his betrayal of Jesus Christ. But does he really deserve to be there? In Last Days, playw…more»
Master Drawings from the Yale University Art Gallery
Fri. 06/01 | 10:00AM - Sun. 08/12 @ Blanton Museum of Art (Campus)
ScheduleJune 1 - August 12, 2007. Tues, Wed, Fri, Sat 10am - 5pm, Thurs 10am - 8pm, Sun 1pm - 5pm AA-S Best Bet: "Master Drawings from the Yale University Art Gallery," the Blan…more»
Threefer Madness (improv)
Every Friday 8:00PM @ The Hideout Theatre & Coffee House (Downtown)
Three improv troupes for the price of one.With a sampling of three different troupes every week, the Friday Improv Threefer is the fastest way to find out what improv in Austin is all about.If…more»
Punchline :: BYOB :: $5
Every Friday 10:00PM @ ColdTowne Theater (East Side)
Punchline is a stand-up comedy open mic hosted every Friday night at ColdTowne Theater. The show consists of 10–12 comics who each get four minutes onstage. Live comedy is a great way to…more»
Austin Puppet Society Presents: Outer Dark Stage Cabaret
Fri. 07/27 | 10:00PM @ Salvage Vanguard Theater (Campus)
Every Friday in July, the AUSTIN PUPPET SOCIETY transforms the second stage into an after-hours CABARET with ACTS FROM THE OUTER DARK, drawn from the venerable stage arts of PUPPET, CLOWN, SON…more»
An Almost Holy Picture-July 19 - August 26, 2007. Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 pm, S...
Thu. 07/19 | 7:00PM - Sun. 08/26 @ ZACH Scott Theatre (South Austin)
An Almost Holy Picture Keeping the Faith Photos by Kirk Tuck By…more»
An Almost Holy Picture
Thu. 07/19 | 7:00PM - Sun. 08/26 @ ZACH Scott Theatre (South Austin)
A breathtaking drama in which Samuel, a former Episcopal priest collides with the ultimate test of his faith when his wife gives birth to a beautiful baby girl -- born covered with downy white…more»
Punchline, with Seth Cockfield | $5 | BYOB!
Fri. 07/27 | 10:00PM @ ColdTowne Theater (East Side)
Punchline is a stand-up comedy show proudly presented by That Other Paper. This Friday's show features local comedian Seth Cockfield and will be hosted by Mason Lerner. Just five bucks get…more»
The Leavening
Fri. 07/27 | 7:00PM - Sun. 07/29 @ First Unitarian Universalist Church
In a one man show, Jack Harris-Bonham, portrays the brilliant military tactical commander, General Thomas J. 'Stonewall' Jackson of the Confederate States of America, who was also a de…more»
Double Barrel (improv)
Every Friday 10:00PM @ The Hideout Theatre & Coffee House (Downtown)
Every week Double Barrel features two seasoned improv troupes showcasing their best stuff.
'All Things Politic: A Silent Examination of Artistic Input'
Fri. 07/13 | 7:00PM - Sat. 08/04 @ Artspoken Gallery & Studios
Schedule July 13 - August 4, 2007. Fridays and Saturdays from noon - 4pm. Profile AA-S Best Bet: "All Things …more»
Power Craft new work by Whitney Lee
Thu. 06/28 | 6:00PM - Sat. 08/04 @ Women & Their Work (Downtown)
Opening Reception : Thursday, June 28, 6 -8 pm Women & Their Work presents new work by Austin based artist Whitney Lee. Lee has subverted the craft world by interjecting sexy la…more»
'Interchange: An Exhibition in Three Parts'
Sat. 06/30 | 7:00PM - Sat. 08/25 @ Creative Research Laboratory
Profile AA-S Best Bet: "Interchange: An Exhibition in Three Parts" presents work from 15 master of fine arts candidates from the University of Texas. The show is curated by six …more»
New American Talent: The Twenty-Second Exhibition
Fri. 06/15 | 7:00PM - Sun. 08/19 @ Arthouse at the Jones Center (West Sixth)
The twenty-second in a series of annual juried exhibitions, New American Talent features the work of emerging national artists working in a variety of media including sculpture, painting, phot…more»
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by Andrew Long
August 2007
A noticeable shift in this year’s New American Talent (NAT) exhibition, at Arthouse in Austin through August, is the curator’s exacting attention to photography. Digital technology is increasing the amount of photography being created and presented today.
Image
Dave Woody
Amelia
2006
Digital print
38 × 30 inches
While photography is intermittently included in survey exhibitions, NAT would suggest that the kids are now being allowed to sit at the grown-ups’ (i.e., the painters’) table. Although the photography in NAT often feels like an afterthought, curator Anne Ellegood of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., has made a bold move in bringing the medium front and center. The overall quality of the photographic works from the 850 applicants is surprising, given that many photographers are reluctant to apply to this annual juried exhibition due to its exclusion of this medium in past years.
The major weakness of NAT is the presentation of too many subsections, resulting in the feeling of a clump of work here, a clump of work there. This is true of theme (race and alienation), medium (ink, found materials and works on paper) and style (juxtaposition, overlay and sparseness). The unifying factor is the very lack of resonance — not one part jumps out or tends to be all that exciting.
NAT artists ask more questions than they provide answers to the exhibition’s question of what is new. To paraphrase choreographer Martha Graham, You can’t make up work, you have to discover it. But it seems as if many of the artists are mimicking one another’s styles rather then forging new ground. (This may simply reflect a national trend as more and more artists are graduating from MFA programs.) What you get here is fewer tour de force, whizbang pieces and more of a slow burn. While the former can sometimes be too much sugar, not enough substance, there are several exceptions.
Image
Mark Schatz
Moving Gehry
2007
Cardboard Installation
Dimensions vary
Dave Woody’s large, meditative photographic portraits are a rare treat. Their power lies in their simplicity: you carry away only what is present. With so much recent attention garnered by European photographers like Rineke Dijkstra and Thomas Ruff, the portrait is hard to make fresh. But Woody conveys a newness through a reduced color palette and the positioning of his subject, thus encouraging us to look full on. Allison Wermager’s BEEEEP, a sound installation of found answering machines, is perfectly done. Most of the messages are trivial and inconsequential, lacking any real interpersonal connection, although at times a more emotional message surfaces. Wermager serves up these vestiges of late technology in a huge jumbled pile, where distorted voices, power cords, and telephone wires have been preserved in a bizarre chasm of posterity. Roberto Bellini’s video work Landscape Theory captures the artist at work attempting to tape a horde of black grackles gathering at sunset. An older man approaches off-camera and warns Bellini at garrulous length that he can’t tape the birds: “People are on edge. Looks like you’re videotaping that overpass. The police have been making arrests for things like that.” The whole interaction is heard as a voiceover to other sunset images. Normally difficult to pull off, Bellini’s post-9/11 discourse speaks brilliantly to our collective loss of innocence and public space.
Image
Rebecca Rothfus
Untitled (highway one)
2006
Gouache, pencil and paper on panel
14 × 11 inches
The setup to Damien Gilley’s Parking Lot Miracle video piece starts off predictably –– a man walks across a deserted parking lot, sees a boombox on the ground, then continues on. Seconds later he returns to look around, and realizing he is alone, he presses play and begins to dance. The payoff to this short video is a memorable section halfway through: As the dancer is in the middle of a midair barrel turn, Gilley suspends the tape and jogs the frame back and forth a number of times, mimicking the break-beat scratching of a cheesy Casio keyboard loop. The gravity-defying choreography is charming and humorous and fresh even upon multiple viewings. Equally engaging is Elizabeth Axtman’s video American Classic, which effectively moves the race discussion forward in a cunning, yet direct manner. Framed by her hair, Axtman faces the camera directly and lip-syncs lines lifted from old movies about racial passing. Although we see her underlying torment, Axtman could also break out laughing at any moment as the joke is on the viewer, or at least on those viewers with bigoted perceptions. There are several other strong race-based works present, including Sonseree Verdise Gibson’s Let’s Discuss the Word “Nigger” and Brad Farwell’s An African Mask Looks at Sites of American Blackness: New Orleans Superdome.
Image
William Hundley
Checkers
2006
Digital print mounted on Plexiglas
22 1/2 × 30 inches
Several works of note for their material investigation include William Hundley’s photographs of suspended fabrics; Jonathon Durham’s Foreskin, composed of tobacco, oil clay and a remote control helicopter; Suzanne Wright’s large-scale colorful drawing “Rainbow Highway” (G.W.B.); Wonjung Choi’s delightful mixed-media installation evoking a kindred spirit to the fish imagery of Lee Bontecou; and Ansen Seale’s crafted screenprint Oil for Food, with its purposeful substitution of the artist’s blood for ink.
Relational works in NAT abound: Jenene Nagy’s topologically themed sculptures; Joseph Phillips’ works on paper; Miguel-Angel Avila and Michael Cambre’s use of collaged imagery; the sparse nature of both Jennifer Nelson and Wura-Natasha Ogunji’s works on paper; Felice Grodin and Elwyn Palmerton’s migrating Mylar ink drawings; and the organized line qualities of work by Tom Mueske and Kirk Stoller.
On first view, NAT seemed exciting in its new commitment to photography, but subsequent viewing revealed an overall palette that felt gray, both in tone and vision. But this is the current state of the union, is it not?
Forklift Danceworks presents The King & I
Every Friday 8:00PM @ Arts on Real
Join one of Austin’s most-loved dance companies, Forklift Danceworks, in their celebration of a…more»
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Fri. 07/27 | 7:00PM - Sun. 08/05 @ Scottish Rite Theatre
Come and enjoy the Austin Scottish Rite Theatre's first production of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.Tickets: $10/General Admission Info Phone: (512)472-5436 …more»
Radio Silence
Every Friday 8:00PM - Sun. 08/31 @ The Vortex (East Side)
VORTEX Repertory Company and Uprise! Productions proudly present the world premiere of Radio Silence: a word opera, a fresh-to-death new bullet in the chamber fro…more»
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Radio and its dwindling efficacy as a modern medium becomes the lens through which performance poet Zell Miller III tackles current events in his newest show. ‘Radio Silence’ features performances by Miller along with Wanda Holland and Ebony Stewart. Choreography by Ananda Maya Moss.
— Jeanne Claire van Ryzin
more at austin360.com
Lovey and Lovey
Every Friday 10:00PM @ United States Art Authority
Lovey and Lovey—ColdTowne’s Michael Jastroch and Tami Nelson bring their award winning (Best of Fest 2005 Austin Sketch Festival and 2008 Frontera Fringe Fest) sketch comedy revue …more»
Zilker Summer Musical – "My Favorite Year"
Sat. 07/07 | 7:00PM - Sat. 08/11 @ Zilker Hillside Theater
Hilarity ensues when a former matinee idol is slated to appear on a live TV variety show. The Zilker Musical is the longest running outdoor production of its type in the US.Shows take place Th…more»
'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix': An IMAX 3D Experience
Wed. 07/11 | 7:00PM - Mon. 09/03 @ Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum
One of the biggest names in film — and a children's literature phenomenon — flies onto the biggest screen in Austin…where viewers can experience the movie's explosiv…more»
Brilliant Traces
Thu. 07/26 | 7:00PM - Sat. 08/04 @ Hyde Park Theatre (Campus)
Brilliant Traces is a story about 2 people and their struggle to adapt to societal norms. Heartbreakingly human and devastatingly funny at the same time, this is a very physical show.Tickets: …more»
Will van Overbeek: Photographs of Barton Springs
Sat. 05/19 | 7:00PM - Wed. 08/22 @ Austin Museum of Art (Downtown location) (West Sixth)
Will van Overbeek graduated in 1978 from the University of Texas where he studied under photographer Garry Winogrand. Van Overbeek's first major project was a photo documentary book entitl…more»
Master Drawings from the Yale University Art Gallery -- Tues, Wed, Fri, Sat 10am -...
Tue. 07/03 | 7:00PM - Sun. 08/12 @ Blanton Museum of Art (Campus)
n Heather McDonald’s odd yet thoughtful one-man play, a lapsed Episcopal priest faces the ultimate test of faith when his wife, after several miscarriages, gives birth to a beautiful baby girl who is covered with downy white fur.read more at austin360.com