81/2 Souvenirs were still performing down in the amphitheatre when I heard music starting on the acoustic
stage, situated next to the Austin Museum of Art at Laguna Gloria. It was the
Chronicle‘s 15th anniversary party, a benefit for the museum. I headed
over to the acoustic stage, figuring someone had screwed the schedule up —
music wasn’t supposed to start on that stage for 20 minutes. As I got closer I
realized it was Guy Forsyth playing, essentially doing a mini-set, to a couple
dozen listeners, as a sound check for his longer set. Forsyth loves to play
(witness Forsyth solo, Forsyth with band, Forsyth in Asylum Street Spankers,
Forsyth in any number of combinations). It is that spirit, the passion for
music and for life, which drove the party this day.
Rain having been predicted by everyone, the Chronicle staff was
resolved to accept this annual party being washed away. Instead, the day was
beautiful, the party one of the best-attended ever. The music was excellent,
including a wonderful performance by the gospel-mongers the Jubilettes and Roy
Heinrich who got the crowd going early. Kelly Willis, playing with Rich
Brotherton and Bruce Robinson, was just breathtaking and Wayne “The Train”
Hancock played all night and then played a little longer as the party wound
down.
The children’s stage featured Joe McDermott, Hand-to-Mouth Puppet Theater,
Peter the Adequate, and Carl Anderson, and there was food available from Ruby’s
Bar-B-Q, Wheatsville Food Co-op Deli and Curra’s Grill. Talk was everywhere and
everyone was talking. KGSR’s Jody Denberg manned the station’s table for a
while. I went over to him and pointed out that if the
golf-cart-in-the-swimming-pool story that appeared in the Sunday
Statesman‘s front page story on The Austin Chronicle had been any
longer, they probably would have mentioned that Denberg was a passenger on the
cart. Fortunately they didn’t have the space to go into detail on the story.
That’s probably just as well, as 107.1 KGSR, along with Balcones Fault Red
Granite, and the Austin Museum of Art at Laguna Gloria were co-sponsors of the
event — and we thank them profusely. This event, we hope, is much like the
Chronicle — good music, good food, good setting, good people and lots
of conversation.
Now that the “Best of
Austin” is out of the way, it is time for The Austin Chronicle‘s annual
Restaurant Poll. Ballots run this issue, offering you a chance to support your
favorite Austin eateries.
This issue’s cover story is by Robert Faires. It is a shame that Capitol City
Playhouse is being forced to move. The theatre lead the way for what has become
the West End Arts District and it has been a significant, creative force for
many years. Fortunately, there is good news. Not just that we hope, and are
somewhat confident, that in Michel Jaroschy’s hands the theatre will survive,
but that the kind of unique, quality theatre coverage offered here, by Faires,
by the Statesman‘s Michael Barnes, and by John Bustin, the dean of
Austin critics, has had a direct result on the quality of local theatre. These
writers — not only passionate and intelligent but committed to quality writing
— have between them upped the local ante considerably over the years. It is a
privilege to work with Faires, not only because his work is so impressive but
because as a person he personifies the best qualities of his work, intelligent,
understanding, knowledgeable, witty, and precise. His writing has a direct
result in the community, proving that quality criticism has positive and real
consequences. Theatre is alive and well in Austin, though we are losing a
treasure that helped bring things to where they are.
Speaking of great critics, this issue also marks the last appearance of
Patrick Taggart’s “Awake in the Dark” column. When Taggart was at the
Statesman, we all read him; when he left the Statesman, we asked
him to come write for us. That trip, the six years of his column, has been a
real pleasure, offering his unique voice and thoughts. We can understand that
Taggart is ready to hang up his spurs, so to speak, but can only hope that
occasionally we’ll be able to persuade him to write for us in the future.
Thanks, Pat, for the extraordinary run.
n
This article appears in September 20 • 1996 and September 20 • 1996 (Cover).