Articulations

---

Better Verse

Conspirare takes its National Poetry Month very seriously. Not only is the choir building its April concert, the Marriage of Great Things, around the relationship between poetry and music, with choral settings of poems by Emily Dickinson, John Donne, and William Blake, it's also sponsoring a poetry contest, Meet Your Muse, in which one lucky area high school student will have his or her poem set to music by Dead Man Walking composer Jake Heggie and sung in concert by Conspirare next season. Entries are due April 23. For more information, visit www.conspirare.org.

---

Who's Zach Doin': Sally B. or Roxie H.?

So which Kander and Ebb musical that begins with a C has Zach has chosen to fill the late spring slot in its season? That would be Cabaret, the one set in Nazi-era Berlin, and not Chicago, the one set in Prohibition-era, well, Chicago. The theatre had been pursuing the rights to both for months but kept getting stalled over national tours of the recent Broadway hit revivals. Well, the stalling is over, and we'll be able to see an Ann Ciccolella-directed Cabaret starting May 27. For more information, visit www.zachscott.com.

---

Tommy Goes to 'Urinetown'

Speaking of Zach and recent Broadway successes, the Austin theatre has a connection to the Tony Award-winning musical satire Urinetown: The Musical. Charlie Pollack, who played that "deaf, dumb, and blind kid" in Dave Steakley's 1998 staging of The Who's Tommy, is starring in the national tour, which landed in Houston this week and runs through April 11 at the Hobby Center. In his current role, Pollack gets to have a bit more fun; he's Bobby Strong, the idealistic leading man leading a revolt against a society in which citizens must pay for the privilege to pee. Although this Brechtian spoof begs to be seen in Austin, it may be a while, so you might want to catch Urinetown in the Bayou City. For tickets, call 713/629-3700.