The Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Austin has a new artistic director, though he’s hardly a new face around the company. Ralph MacPhail Jr. has directed five of the last eight productions mounted by the G&S Society, and the fact that those productions have earned the group some of its strongest critical and popular acclaim ever no doubt had some bearing on the society’s decision to install him at the helm for good. MacPhail is considered one of this country’s foremost scholars on Gilbert and Sullivan, a rep he developed during his 33 years teaching theatre at Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Va., and directing for groups like Austin’s across the country. In his new position, MacPhail will be responsible for advising the board on artistic matters and staging the society’s annual summer production, which next year will be a return voyage on the HMS Pinafore. For more information, visit www.gilbertsullivan.org.
Arthouse Texas Prize recipient Eileen Maxson may have been the big winner where the new regional art award is concerned, but she wasn’t the only winner. Robyn O’Neil – she of the large, intricate landscapes often populated by dozens of tiny middle-aged men – snagged the 2005 Arthouse Texas Prize People’s Choice Award, based on the votes of visitors to the exhibition of work by the prize’s four finalists. And what does she get? An exclusive Arthouse Texas Prize 2005 People’s Choice belt buckle. Well, they can’t give 30 grand to everybody. For more information, visit www.arthousetexas.org.
Looking for the right place to start that yuletide spending spree? How’s about a spot where you can purchase quality ceramics, painting, sculpture, photography, glass, jewelry, wood, and fiber; where you might win a free art class as a door prize; can bid on donated artwork by such brilliant local artists as Lance Letscher, Julie Speed, and Will Klemm; and can even see a new art exhibition? Then you want the Austin Museum of Art’s 20th Annual Holiday Art Festival, happening Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 26 and 27, 10am-5pm, at Laguna Gloria, 3809 W. 35th. This annual festival features all this, including “At the Water’s Edge,” a new exhibition in AMOA-Laguna Gloria’s Driscoll Villa. Proceeds support AMOA exhibitions and education programs. For more information, call 458-8191 or visit www.amoa.org.
This article appears in November 25 • 2005.