Articulations

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Cry Oops!

Last Wednesday, I had one of those "oh hell" moments recognizable to anyone in publishing. I had spent the day, as usual, feverishly banging out a review and column, and trying to take care of a thousand different things before sending the issue off to be printed. When I finally got it all done, I went home to collapse, confident that everything in the paper was as it should be. I fell into the sleep of the dead and should have remained there until dawn. But sometime after midnight, I sat bolt upright in bed and thought, "Oh hell! I never said anything in my review about the direction!" Here, I had written a long review of The Cry Pitch Carrolls, enthusiastically praising all aspects of the production but had neglected to mention the show's director, Jason Neulander. It was an idiotic omission, brought on by the trouble twins of encroaching deadline and multiple distractions, and naturally I didn't realize it until it was too late to rectify. So, because I feel strongly about the show and want to give credit where it's due, I'm using this space to let you know that Jason Neulander's direction is an integral part of this production's success, bringing all the exceptional elements of text and design and performance into an organic whole, a magical world at once familiar and wonderfully strange. You have only a few more chances to catch Cry Pitch, and I'm told that Salvage Vanguard Theater will let you into the Thursday night and Saturday matinee performances for half-price with a can of food to be donated to the Capitol Area Food Bank. The production closes Sunday, December 19. See the listings for details, or call 454-TIXS.

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Umbrella Found

Having trouble finding your umbrella? May we suggest looking for it at 4402 Burnet Road? There's a rather large umbrella there, one big enough for most of the city's stage companies and artists. Yes, the umbrella in question is the Austin Circle of Theatres, the nonprofit arts organization which provides umbrella services for area theatre types, and it's just moved -- for the second time this year -- which might be making it difficult for some of ACoT's constituents to locate it. But ACoT wants to remedy that, so it's throwing a big housewarming party this Friday, December 17, and inviting everybody to drop by and have a look. According to Russ Wiseman, ACoT Executive Director, the new offices are better suited to the organization's goals since they afford the organization greater space and save it from the financial strain of office rental in downtown. They also allow the umbrella to share space with the AusTIX ticket service and more easily coordinate both entities' services. You can see it for yourself Friday. The schedule is: 2-6pm, open house; 6-7:30pm, membership meeting for ACoT; 7:30pm, sit and chat time. ACoT will serve champagne, other beverages, and light munchies. Call 454-9700 or e-mail acot@eden.com for more info.

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Score Scores

Congratulations to composer Dan Welcher and radio station KMFA 89.5FM. They've just been awarded the 1999 Deems Taylor Radio Broadcast Award by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers for Knowing the Score, a program on the local classical music station. The one-hour show features Welcher, a professor of composition in the UT Austin School of Music and director of the New Music Ensemble, commenting on outstanding 20th-century music.