Stories, Operas, and Meet-Cutes: The Week in Arts

My Own Private Idaho

Thursday 1, AFS Cinema

In only his third feature, New Queer Cinema icon Gus Van Sant lassoed two rising Hollywood stars for his dreamy-eyed arthouse film about two Portland hustlers. River Phoenix – Gen X’s James Dean, achingly vulnerable – plays a narcoleptic who falls in love with his straight best friend (Keanu Reeves), a Prince Hal-esque rich kid tender with his friend’s feelings ... until he’s not. Delectably off-kilter and teeming with gosh-wow visuals (a house falls from the sky, clouds skitter by in time-lapse, porno mags talk back), the film’s most special effect is capturing Reeves and Phoenix in full, luscious bloom of youth. The campfire scene will gut you.  – Kimberley Jones

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812

Through March 3, Zach Theatre

You’re a busy guy; you don’t have time to read all of War and Peace. But you’re also ashamed that you’ve not dug into the hottest Russian novel of 1869! Hark: A solution awaits at the Zach Theatre production of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, Dave Malloy’s musical adaptation of a 70-page section of Tolstoy’s great tome. Described by the theatre as an “innovative electro-pop opera,” this two-hour-and-thirty-minute love triangle will be available as pay-what-you-will until Feb. 4. Heads-up to queers: Thursday, Feb. 1, is PRIDE night!  – James Scott

Groundhog Day

Friday 2, Flix Brewhouse

Sure, there are plenty of movies like Groundhog Day, but how many movies actually take place on the Feb. 2 holiday based on the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition of entrusting weather-related soothsaying to a small rodent? Last year being the 30th anniversary of the comedy film, it pretty much played in every theatre, but this year Flix is looking like the most solid option. Grab some grub; have some laughs with Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell; and hope you don’t end up stuck in a time loop.  – Kat McNevins

Austin Opera’s Cruzar la Cara de la Luna

Friday 2, Long Center

Austin Opera presents this emotionally charged drama that weaves together the lives of a multigenerational Mexican American family separated by countries, cultures, and consequences in search of new possibilities. The company premiere is staged with a full opera orchestra and the mariachi musicians of Trio Chapultepec in a new orchestration by David Hanlon to bring José “Pepe” Martínez’s groundbreaking score and Leonard Foglia’s libretto to life. Daniel Noyola and Cassandra Zoé Velasco make their Austin Opera and role debuts as the separated spouses. Timothy Myers conducts, in collaboration with director David Radamés Toro.   – Wayne Alan Brenner

Brett Goldstein: The Second Best Night of Your Life

Friday 2-Saturday 3, Bass Concert Hall; Sunday 4, Paramount Theatre

The Second Best Night of Your Life could be closely followed by the third and fourth best nights of your life if you catch every one of Ted Lasso star Brett Goldstein’s three stand-up showcases at two Austin venues. His Roy Kent character may be famously terse, but if you’ve ever listened to Goldstein’s funny yet weirdly philosophical pod Films to Be Buried With, or sampled his work behind the camera as co-creator of Apple TV+ series Shrinking, you know there’s a lot of soulfulness there. A lot of four-letter words, too; show promoters caution this is for audiences aged 15 and up.  – Kimberley Jones

Mix ‘n’ Mash: Celebrating Austin

Through March 3, Mexic-Arte Museum

Opening this Friday, Feb. 2, is Mexican, Latino, and Latin American art & cultural center Mexic-Arte Museum’s annual mega exhibition/art sale. Mix ’n’ Mash will feature over 200 artists utilizing a 12-by-12-inch Gessobord to explore “the large and small of what makes Austin weird, interesting, timeless, and robust,” according to Mexic-Arte’s website. Each board goes for around $150 each, but buyers are encouraged to buy at least three to create an ATX triptych to impress all your gallery-going friends.  – James Scott

Print Your Own Valentine’s Card

Saturday 3, Letterpress PLAY

Your sweetheart’s sure to swoon over something you’ve made with your own clever hands, lover. Let the inky professionals at Letterpress PLAY guide you through the classic printing process, using their stunning selection of upcycled papers to help you craft a unique, eco-friendly masterpiece that expresses both your creativity and your adoration for that special someone. Bonus: Complimentary coffee and sweets while you make that unforgettable card.  – Wayne Alan Brenner

The Love Witch

Saturday 3, Blue Starlite Eastside

Get in the V-Day spirit with a screening of The Love Witch, part of the series Bad Girls Club hosted by Cindy Popp. Styled in lush Sixties Technicolor hues but released in 2016, the film follows love-obsessed witch Elaine, a master of seduction potions and spells that work a little too well, leaving a string of dead lovers behind her. It’s got hippies, manhaters, cups of blood, and immaculate blue eyeshadow. Go ahead; freak out your boyfriend!   – Lina Fisher

Meet Cute

Saturday 3, ColdTowne Theater

Of course the unstoppable comedy entrepreneurs of ColdTowne are going to leverage romantic synergy with a rom-com show that works lovey-dovey Hollywood tropes for all they’re worth this month, right? This one stars an all-Black cast of seasoned improvisers – Rudy Armstrong, Mykel Jewel, Tauri Laws-Phillips, Christian Lewis, Lex Okeke, Rochelle McConico, Irielle Wesley, and Terrence Yon – bringing the unscripted hijinks to movie-format hilarity, as directed by Jennifer Rosario, each Saturday in February.  – Wayne Alan Brenner

Story Ave

Monday 5 & Wednesday 7, AFS Cinema

Bronx native Aristotle Torres was semi-famous during the Aughts for directing over 70 music videos (J. Cole, Nas, 2 Chainz, Ludacris) and short films. Now he is releasing his first feature-length film. Story Ave began as a short in 2017, but after screenings at regional film festivals across the country, Torres took the project long-form with backing from Sundance Labs. It tells the story of Kadir, a young man who, in an attempt to prove his manhood, tries to stick up subway conductor Luis at the Story Ave. station in the Bronx. Monday’s screening is free for AFS members.  – Brant Bingamon

The Library

Monday 5, Trinity Street Theatre

Do you think gun violence is way out of control in these United States, citizen? Do you want a more effective response than “thoughts and prayers” from politicians? Different Stages knows how public art can help effect change, continuing their current season of theatre with Scott Z. Burns’ drama about the aftermath of a deadly shooting at a high school. Directed by Carl Gonzales and Lacey Cannon Gonzales, featuring performances by Lucky Cantu, Eva McQuade, Beau Paul, Gina Houston, Stan McDowell, Liz Waters, and Jason Park.  – Wayne Alan Brenner

Querelle

Monday 5, Hotel Vegas

German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder passed young at 37, and this film described by local film screening homies Hyperreal Film Club as “Tom of Finland meets FANTASIA” was his last release. This pick for HFC’s Movie Night in the Love Suite series follows multi-hyphenate thief/sailor/murderer Georges Querelle as he navigates anal sex, lovers’ quarrels, and brotherly tussles in blood-soaked Brest, France. Based on Jean Genet’s novel Querelle of Brest, the author never saw the film. According to Edmund White’s biography of Genet, his reasoning was thus: “You can’t smoke at the movies.” Same rules apply for Hotel Hyperreal.  – James Scott

FronteraFest Short Fringe

Tuesday 6, Hyde Park Theatre

Austin’s most beloved performance festival has returned for its 29th year, with the Short Fringe bringing a slate of five different 25-minute shows each night at the legendary Hyde Park Theatre – featuring actors, artists, poets, dancers, and performers of all types from Texas and beyond. Tonight’s lineup showcases “They Eat Sunshine Not Zebras” by Dara Murphy; the musical “Miss. Adventure” by Rachel Pallante; the juggling-infused “The Magic of Yes” by Paprika; the mental health explorations of “Treat Yourself, Stella!” by Sandy Maranto, and Raymond Abel Gutierrez’s “Latini-Duh!™: The upside-down side of the Latinoverse!” with music by Mexican Institute of Sound.  – Wayne Alan Brenner

Treespell

Through March 7, Women & Their Work

This excellent gallery on East Cesar Chavez presents a solo exhibition by Elizabeth Chapin, inspired by the myth of the Greek goddess Artemis, who turned the hunter Actaeon into a stag and shot him full of arrows for sneakily watching her as she bathed. In “Treespell,” the Mississippi-born painter explores natural and mythological worlds “to comment on the transformative power of the gaze and the interconnectedness of all living things, incorporating personal, historical, and imaginative elements to wield and subvert notions of viewership and voyeurism.”  – Wayne Alan Brenner