As you may recall from last week’s column, in what feels a lot like one of
those Saturday morning serials with the cliffhanger endings, the closure of
Capitol City Playhouse by the Internal Revenue Service put the fate of the
Austin Gilbert & Sullivan Society’s Gala All-Star Revue — scheduled for
Sunday, December 8, at Cap City — in jeopardy. When we last saw him, Society
Executive Director Robert Mellin was pursuing a deal with the IRS that would
still allow the group to hold the gala in the space, but he had received no
commitment. Well, in the improbable fashion of those serials, the guys in the
white hats beat the odds; the society did get to hold the event at Cap City.
Mellin appealed to several influential folks for aid, and they helped to
negotiate an arrangement with the feds. The society’s attorney, board members
from the society, Cap City, and Bank One, and, most notably, Congressman Lloyd
Doggett all got involved on the society’s behalf. Friday, a dozen people met at
the IRS office and spent three hours hammering out an agreement. The result
allowed the theatre to be opened Saturday, so its staff could strike the set of
The Glass Menagerie and prepare the stage for the gala. The G&S
Society had to provide a cash bond against the removal of any property, and
guards were stationed on-site to prevent anything from being taken, but that
pretty much sealed the deal. Mellin says that Playhouse Artistic Director
Richard Brown and his staff struck the old set within hours and did a beautiful
job of redoing the space. As to the gala, “everything came out beautifully,”
Mellin says. Approximately 230 people attended, and the society made about
$4,500. “It was a good feeling for a whole lot of people to have one last show
there,” Mellin says, “volunteers, techies, board members, a lot of the Cap City
regulars — and Pepe (aka Jose Greco II) felt very happy to dance there one
last time.” Congressman Doggett noted that it was “great to be able to give a
hand to the Gilbert & Sullivan Society, which has given so much to our
community. I appreciate the cooperation of all the parties involved who worked
for a worthy cause.” In another bit of Cap City news, the IRS scheduled an auction of the theatre’s
office equipment for Thursday, December 12.
More Access
Austin Access Arts does what its name says: increases access to local artsevents for patrons with visual disabilities. The service is best known for its
Audio Described Performances, in which trained volunteers provide narrated
descriptions of plays to audience members wearing headsets tuned to a specific
FM frequency. (Its next Audio Described Performance is Saturday, December 14,
for the Live Oak Theatre at the State production of A Christmas Carol.) Now,
AAA is adding Large Print and Braille playbills to its services. In conjunction
with Live Oak, it’s making them available for all Live Oak shows this season.
For more info, call 454-9912.
Send literary, performing, and visual arts news to: “Articulations,”
PO Box 49066, Austin, TX 78765 or onstage@auschron.com
Box Office Update
The Box Office has recently moved from its cozy home in the Dougherty ArtsCenter, and, as was reported here, the move necessitated the service giving up
its easy-to-remember 499-TIXS number. Initially, Box Office maven Roxy Becker
was concerned that their new exchange would not allow them to keep the “TIXS”
code, but it turns out that they’re able to keep it after all. The new Box
Office number is 454-TIXS, and its companion service, AusTix, which sells
half-price tickets to many performing arts events in town, is now 454-HALF.
Day Without Art Reminder
ProArts Collective, an African-American arts company, hosts a most tastyfundraiser, Gumbo, Cornbread, Red Beans and Rice, Sunday, November 17, 4-7pm,
at 1804 East Side Dr. For info, call 499-TIXS or 474-4494.
Getting Seen
Dave Steakley has hardly had a minute to savor the success of his latest stagesensation at the Zachary Scott Theatre Center. Zach’s managing director and the
director of Beehive, Forever Plaid, and several of the theatre’s other many
musical hits no sooner got The Gospel at Colonus open than he had to jet off to
Pittsburgh to start work on a production of Avenue X at City Theatre there.
Steakley was hired to direct the Pittsburgh production after being recommended
for the job by none other than Avenue X’s creators, Ray Leslee and John Jiler,
who came to Austin last year, saw Steakley’s work in the Zach staging, and were
much impressed. In fact, the pair like Steakley’s work so much that they want
him to help develop the play by directing more productions of Avenue X in other
theatres. The City Theatre production opens next Wednesday, December 4.
Speaking of Gospel, though, ZSTC Marketing Director Jim Reynolds reports that
the musical, which was a risky endeavor for the theatre, turned out a certified
hit. In terms of Zach’s projections for the run, the show did 150% business
during its six-week run. Now, that doesn’t make it the first big hit for the
theatre this season; that distinction belongs to Sylvia, the A.R. Gurney comedy
starring Emily Balanoff as an irrepressible pooch. It opened September 14 and
is now in its 12th week, with a guaranteed extension through the end of
December. For info, call 476-0541.
Artists Displaced The Artists Coalition of Austin, which has operated the ArtSpace at 403 Baylor
for several years and provided studio space for dozens of visual artists, is
unable to renew the lease for most of that space. This week, all but a handful
of the 30 or more artists who have been leasing space, will be forced to
relocate. Goodwill Industries, the owners of the building, are reclaiming most
of it for their own use, though they are allowing the coalition to keep the
gallery and some space behind it. The coalition and the artists are actively
seeking a new home, preferably with 15,000 square feet in central or south
Austin. If you can help, call 474-7799.
Worthy Causes
ProArts Collective, an African-American arts company, hosts a most tastyfundraiser, Gumbo, Cornbread, Red Beans and Rice, Sunday, November 17, 4-7pm,
at 1804 East Side Dr. For info, call 499-TIXS or 474-4494.
On the Funding Front
Austin Theatre for Youth received an enormous show of support in the form of a$50,000 challenge grant from the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Foundation. The
local theatre company, which produces plays for pre-school-age and school-age
audiences, is only just about to start its second season — it opens The
Christmas Schooner December 7 — so it hasn’t established the track record that
generally helps arts organizations win contributions of this size. While the
Rapoports are quoted by the foundation as believing ATY is “an outstanding
organization dedicated to expanding the dramatic and literary horizons of young
people” — a judgment with which we agree — it’s worth noting the Burnt
Orange Connection here: Mr. Rapoport is the chair of the UT Board of Regents,
and the ATY Board Fundraising Chair is Isabella Cunningham, who’s married to
the UT Chancellor. For more info about ATY, call 459-7144.
Women & Their Work has been given $30,000 from the Meadows Foundation to
replenish its operating cash reserve. In the fall W&TW newsletter, Board
President Connie Arismendi is quoted as saying, “Support from private
foundations like the Meadows, corporations, and individuals is essential to the
survival of nonprofit art organizations because of the drastic cuts in federal
and state support for art,” after which the uncredited author of the item
reminds us that Texas, despite being the second largest state and having the
third largest population of artists in the Union, ranks 53rd among the U.S.
states and protectorates in per capita funding for the arts. That’s after
Guam and the Marianas Islands. Ouch! Like we needed reminding! Somebody
call the Lege! For more info on W&TW, call 477-1064.
Roy Lozano’s Ballet Folkl�rico de Texas has an official sponsor for its
1996 Winter Tour. Southwestern Bell is providing support for the 13-year-old
dance troupe as it performs four dates around town this month and next month.
Two performances have already taken place, but fans can still see the annual
Children’s Recital December 7, 3pm, at Bowie High and the performance at the
Trail of Lights in Zilker Park December 13, 7pm. For more info, call 928-1111.
Sharing the Opera Gospel
Austin Lyric Opera wants everyone to enjoy their chosen artform. They’veformed a new social group, La Noche de Opera, to help share the joy of opera
with more folks in the Hispanic community. Before every Saturday performance in
the season, the group gathers for a reception where they can meet ALO General
Director Joseph McClain and singers from the operas. ALO is also having one
show in each season production audio-described by Austin Access Arts, an
organization . For The Magic Flute, AAA will provide audio descriptions Monday,
November 25, 7pm. For more opera info, call 472-5927; for AAA info, call
499-0255.
Listening in the Evening
For lovers of British theatre, last week’s 1996 Flair Symposium was a dreamtalking. The two-day event, Shouting in the Evening, sponsored by the Harry
Ransom Humanities Research Center, brought together in one room some major
figures of the English stage to speak personally about their work in British
theatre and its importance in the past 40 years. Playwrights David Hare, Tom
Stoppard, and Timberlake Wertenbaker; actor-directors Frith Banbury and Janet
Suzman; critics Michael Billington and Mel Gussow; and scholars Ruby Cohn and
Oscar Brockett provided much personable and lively chat about the state of the
art.
Alas, the guests have flown back across the Big Pond, but the Shouting in the
Evening exhibition continues through January in the Leeds Gallery (fourth
floor, Flawn Academic Center, UT campus). For info, call 471-8944.
The Business Committee for the Arts is getting more out of a week than most
of us do; this year, the BCA started its annual Arts Week on November 2,
but it’s keeping it going a full nine days, which means you have through this
weekend to help our corporate friends recognize and promote the arts’
contributions to our community. On Saturday, November 9, surf the local visual
art scene on the “Artrageous Tour of Galleries, Studios, and Salons.” Between
10am and 6pm, participants will visit 15 venues via Capital Metro’s Dillo. For
info on departure times and stops, call 322-5688. The concluding event of the
week, hosted by BookPeople, is the Austin Free Poetry Festival, featuring more
than 80 different wordsmiths performing their own work. The event is Sunday,
November 10, 10am-10pm, at the bookstore, 603 N. Lamar. For more info, see the
sidebar in the “Books” section (p. 36, this issue), or call 441-0807.
Honors
Novelist James Michener and his late wife Mari have been named recipients ofthe Medal for Distinguished Philanthropy from the American Association of
Museums for 1996. The medal, presented annually to persons or organizations who
have made outstanding contributions to museums, recognizes the couple’s gifts
of $100 million to museums, including their art collections (such as their
Twentieth Century Painting Collection, housed at UT’s Archer M. Huntington
Gallery). A formal presentation of the medal will take place Saturday, October
19, during a luncheon at the Huntington.
Gallery Kick-Offs
The Medore von Koffler Studio and Gallery will open in a blaze of light andcolor this Friday. The new Wimberley art space for glass artists Jay von
Koffler and Melissa Medore will be engulfed in an inferno of colors, abstract
shapes, and giant shadows, courtesy of lighting designer Marc Herring of San
Francisco. Herring has pioneered the projection of slides and film on huge
surfaces — like skyscrapers — and he’ll be projecting onto the buildings and
landscape of the Hill Country in what is bound to be an dazzling show. The
action commences November 1, 6pm, at the gallery, 3.2 miles from Wimberley
Square on FM 3237. Call 847-7002 for info.
Closer in, Judge Roy’s Bean Emporium, a gallery/coffee shop, is opening in the
Driskill Hotel on Monday, November 4, 7pm. The opening exhibit is in memory of
Michel Jaroschy and showcases work produced for Capitol City Playhouse.
Costumes, designs, posters, and production photos will be on display. For info,
call 457-0000.
Off the Desk
Lyons Matrix Gallery invites you to The Bob and Bert Show, a happy hour eventwith artists Bob Wade and Bert Long, whose artwork is on display in the
gallery’s current exhibition, Native Texans, showing through November 9. The
“show,” which includes liquids and music, takes place this Thursday, October
24, 5-7pm, at Lyons Matrix, 1712 Lavaca. For info, call 479-0068.
The Austin Visual Arts Association has just given its newsletter, AVANTI, a
new, successful re-design. Write PO Box 13313, Austin, TX 78711-3313 for a copy
of the most recent issue. You might also send a resum� and throw your
hat into the ring as a potential board member or part-time paid director of the
organization. Call 454-3077 for info.
Untimely Ripp’d Off
Up through last Saturday, the folks in the Austin Shakespeare Festival had
been feeling real good about the opening weekend of their production of The
Merchant of Venice at the Zilker Park Rock Island. ASF Board Vice President
Bill Sheffield, “trashed the inside of the shed.” Making the crime yet more
painful for the group was the fact that all of the damaged and stolen material
was either rented or borrowed. ASF not only has to find substitutes for the
rest of the run, it has to replace goods generously loaned to them by other
local groups. Needless to say, ASF is in need of contributions more than ever.
Call 454-BARD for info.
Talking Printmaking
Women & Their Work hosts a panel on “Perspectives on Printmaking,” inconjunction with its exhibit, Women in Print: Prints From 3M by Contemporary
Printmakers, running through September 14 at its 1718 Lavaca gallery. The panel
will be moderated by Katherine Brimberry of Flatbed Press and will include
Connie Arismendi, Melissa Miller, Lillian Garcia-Roig, Anne Marie Pavlik, and
Arleen Polite. The panel will be held Thursday, August 22, 6-7:30pm, at
W&TW. Call 477-1064 for info.
In Memoriam
Another longtime friend of Capitol City Playhouse has died. Ken Murphy, adevoted volunteer for that theatre, passed away Friday, November 1, at the age
of 46. Murphy worked for the Internal Revenue Service, but he was well known
outside that agency for his involvement in Austin’s volunteer community. He
contributed to AIDS Services of Austin, Project Transitions, and the Paramount
Theatre, as well as Cap City. But it was at the Playhouse that Murphy had made
some of his most public contributions of late. Within the past month, he had
presided over the memorial service for Cap City founder Michel Jaroschy and had
given a brief curtain speech prior to the opening of Cap City’s current
production of The Glass Menagerie. Murphy is survived by his wife Peggy. A
celebration of Murphy’s life will be held at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home,
Sunday, November 10, 2pm.
A Grant for Grenon
Austin photographer Martha Grenon has been awarded a grant from ArtsLink todevelop a disciplinary bookwith Albanian writer Robert Martikos. The
collaboration will be a photo-documentary essay on the life of a family during
and after the Hoxha regime, the most severe of the Eastern European communist
dictatorships. Grenon’s images will be matched to writings that Martikos has
been compile mostly in secret over the past 15 years. The project will be in an
exhibition to be shown in both the United States and Albania and will see print
as a handmade, limited edition book. ArtsLink enables artists and arts
organizations in the U.S. to develop projects with their counterparts in
Central and Eastern Europe on projects which may benefit both countries. Call
474-9047 or 442-9709 for info.
Those creative kids in the Performance Art Church are looking to take their
act to Cleveland, where the world’s largest performance art festival is held.
To raise money for the trip, they’re putting together an evening of bands and
art, kicked off with a special PeACh show, The Performance Art Olympics.
The event takes place Monday, August 5, 8pm, at their usual venue, the Electric
Lounge, 302 Bowie. For info, call 478-5387.
Black Artisan’s Market
Tribes, the multidisciplinary cooperative and support network for local blackartists, is hosting an open air market for black artists at the Passon House,
East 12th and Comal, and is looking for fine artists, artisans, designers, and
vendors to exhibit. The grounds of this historic East Austin home can
accommodate 15 10′ X 10′ booths for the sale of handmade arts, crafts, or
specialty items. Interested artists should call Tribes co-founder Nailah
Sankofa at 477-4247 for an application.
More Seasons in the Sun
Schedules for 1996-97 seasons keep tricklin’ in. Here are a few more: Live OakTheatre at the State continues to honor family ties in 1996-97, with Sweeney
Todd, by Sondheim & Wheeler; On Golden Pond, by Thompson;
Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, adapted by Schave, Toner, & Robertson
(that means duelin’ Dickens in December — Zach Scott is also Carol-ing);
Shadowlands, by Nicholson; You Can’t Take It With You, by Kaufman
& Hart; Woody Guthrie’s American Song, adapted by Glazer; and a show
to be announced. Call 472-5143.
Remembrance Through the Performing Arts offers another season of new work in
progress, starting with Homerun, by and starring award-winner Jo Harvey Allen;
Ten Feet Down and Looking Up, by Egan Dean; The Confessions of David Crockett,
by Steve Warren; and Red Sea, by RPA artistic director Rosalyn Rosen. Call
329-9118.
And a new company blending top national talent with Austin artists will debut.
Director-playwright Manuel Zarate is artistic director for Third Coast
Repertory Theatre. Its inaugural season includes: Inherit the Wind, by Lawrence
& Lee; Sonata Escondido, by Zarate; The Songs of Christmas, a company
generated piece; The Meeting, by Stetson; Theresa Bassoon, by Narens; and a
musical to be announced. Call 328-3785.
This article appears in December 13 • 1996 and December 13 • 1996 (Cover).