Critics Table: The Aftermath
I don’t want to say that this year’s Austin Critics Table Awards ceremony was long, but hoo-boy, it made that theatrical marathon The Kentucky Cycle feel like a UIL one-act. (Rim shot.) But seriously, folks … even though the presenting critics made a noble effort to pass out the honors as fast as a Vegas cardsharp dealing poker hands, the event at the Capitol City Comedy Club still turned into an endurance test, setting a new record for length at 31/2 hours. Now, as can be seen by the results published elsewhere in this section, the sheer volume of honors had something to do with that; with 49 awards for work in theatre, dance, classical music, and visual art; nine special citations; and 12 inductees into the Austin Arts Hall of Fame, anything short of firing the award certificates at the winners with T-shirt guns is going to take some time. To the critics’ relief, the crowd remained gracious throughout (though it did thin considerably after 10pm), but they are not anxious to repeat such a Long Day’s Journey Into Night, as it were. As they drained the dregs of their last-call martinis, the critics were already discussing ways to make the 2004 party less taxing.
This article appears in June 6 • 2003.