Articulations

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Little Longer For Long Center

Don't dust off your fancy duds for the opening of the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Center for the Performing Arts just yet. Last week, Arts Center Stage announced that the cultural facility being developed out of the current Palmer Auditorium will now open one year later than planned, in the fall of 2005 instead of 2004. Several factors contributed to the postponement, among them the decision to add a rehearsal/recital hall, a catering kitchen, and a chilled water plant; a need to remove more asbestos from the Palmer site than was originally expected; and, most significantly, the slowdown in the economy, which has affected the campaign to raise funds for the center's construction.

Of course, the additions to the facility have pushed those construction costs upward, as have certain adjustments in costs for materials and shifts in market prices over time. The total project cost for the Long Center is now $110 million, up from $89 million. To date, Arts Center Stage has raised $61 million of private funds. Having to raise $50 million at this point might seem daunting, especially in light of events this past year, but Michelle Wallace, Arts Center Stage's director of marketing and public relations, insists that the group wouldn't be increasing the goal "if we didn't feel like we could raise the money." As if to underscore the point, the organization announced on Tuesday that 3M was making a $500,000 donation to the Long Center campaign: $250,000 in cash and $250,000 in 3M products, such as a Volition fiber optic cabling system, special duct wraps, and projection and specialty equipment.

The extension of the project timeline is especially meaningful for Austin Lyric Opera, the Austin Symphony, and Ballet Austin, which had been counting on the opening in 2004 to get out of Bass Concert Hall, owing to a scheduling crunch at the UT Performing Arts Center. Arts Center Stage held conversations with the ASO, ALO, and ballet prior to announcing the delay, and is also working with UT so they can hold performances on the campus through the 2004-05 season. For more info, call 482-0800 or visit www.artscenterstage.org.

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Hit a Nerve

MS/Nerve Dance Company is presenting a new piece next week, which is reason enough to go see them perform. But the company is devoting one of its three performances to a benefit for the continuation of specialized therapy for two-and-a-half-year old Javon Segal Phelps, the son of MS/Nerve artistic director Margery Segal and actor Jason Phelps. Hit the Arts Building/ Performance Studio on the St. Edward's University campus next Monday, May 20, 7:30pm, and you'll be able to see not only Segal's Gorilla Guerilla, a memoir: first movement, danced by Segal, Julie Nathanialsz, Myrna Ventura Thibault, and special guest Carolyn Pavlik, but also a special performance by Phelps of two new works by "fellow art-dads" Kirk Smith and Steve Moore. A DJ Dance Party and food will follow. Call 478-8228 for more info.

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Episode X: Attack of the Critix

The Austin Critics Table has made its nominations for this year's Critics Table Awards, the 10th from the group. Space limitations prevented their inclusion in this issue, but you'll find the full list in the May 24 edition of the Chronicle.