Home Search

• Film

  Special Screenings

  Austin Asian American Film Festival

  All films featured during this fest come from Asian or Asian American creators, from debut directors to old-hand pros. New films crossing the genre spectrum showcase at this nonprofit fest, plus Q&As with the artists involved as well as special surprises.

  June 25-29

  AFS Cinema

• Arts

  Theatre

  Austin Chamber Music Festival

  The Austin Chamber Music Center once again presents a summerlong celebration of intimate ensemble works. This year’s lineup includes the Yamazalde Trio (featuring ACMC Artistic Director Sandy Yamamoto), the Miró Quartet, the Poiesis Quartet, Michelle Schumann, Gil Shaham, Akira Eguchi, the Kodak Quartet, and a family-friendly performance of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals.

  June 27-Aug. 9

  Bates Recital Hall

• Arts

  Visual Arts

  “Cuídate (Take Care)”

  Curated by assistant gallery director Savannah Diaz, this will be Ivester’s first-ever open call group show. Works displayed will center on “rituals and self-soothing practices” that recharge us in our cacophonous and connected world.

  July 12-Aug. 30

  Ivester Contemporary

• Arts

  Comedy

  Hysteria!

  Previously under the moniker “Whose Life Is It Anyway?” this comedy variety show skewers the Lone Star State’s backwards movement on reproductive rights. Carolyn Kelleher and Caroline Penca play hosts/producers/directors to a cast of comedic talent that includes such luminaries as Becca Andrews, Ricky Corragio, Rainny Daze, Kim Egner, Sandra Fountain, Judy Lee, Chelsee Lopez, Shannon Mullery, Martha Neil, and Kat Williams. Be there this Saturday, or be an aborted little cell clump! – James Scott

  Saturdays

  ColdTowne Theater

• Arts

  Dance

  KDH Dance Company Presents Interiors

  From Artistic Director Alyson Dolan and composer Drew Silverman comes a new dance work featuring live music, dance, and themes about "the spaces and environments we inhabit; large and small, physical and metaphysical."

  June 5-7

  Ground Floor Theatre

• Arts

  Comedy

  Last Voyage of the Voyagers

  Austin’s comedy scene is synonymous with improv, but it’s not all about the “yes, and.” Sketch comedy troupe the Voyagers goes on stage with a lot more than a wing, a prayer, and hopes that the audience has some good prompts. Promising live sketch comedy from the bottom of the barrel of their hearts, these laughs from the end times come from writer/director John Gholson, who is set to become the toast of this year’s Tribeca Festival as star of the new Austin-made horror, Man Finds Tape. But before he terrorizes the Big Apple, catch him and the rest of the Voyagers as they find humor in these dumpster fire days each Saturday night through May. – Richard Whittaker

  Saturdays

  Fallout Theater

• Film

  Special Screenings

  Saving Face (2005)

  I’m a sucker for intergenerational stories, particularly if they’re about parents and kids dealing with romance. There’s a real fun chaos to the idea: parents having to commiserate with their kid over dating troubles, forcing a new equality of situation into a historically uneven power dynamic. In director Alice Wu’s debut feature, protag Wil (Michelle Krusiec, Duplex) must take in her pregnant mother (Joan Chen, Twin Peaks), whose unwed status has her on the outs with her father. While Wil’s in the closet with her mom, she becomes enamored with her boss’ daughter (Lynn Chen, a five-episode recurring doctor on Grey’s Anatomy), who butts heads with her own father over choosing modern dance over ballet. Social expectations get broken; love comes from unexpected places; and hearts do change, even if it takes a little while. – James Scott

  June 2 & 4

  AFS Cinema

• Film

  Special Screenings

  Sunset Boulevard (1950)

  One of the best-loved Billy Wilder productions, Sunset Boulevard is a timeless tale of the greed and desperation Hollywood wreaks on its young acolytes as they age. It also set off a long practice of – to varying degrees performative and genuine – self-criticism among its elites. Gloria Swanson is glorious and tragic as the washed-up silent star Norma Desmond, atrophying in her mansion with her former director/husband and now faithful butler Max (Erich von Stroheim). Her quasi-exploitative relationship with young writer Joe (William Holden) lays bare the extent of her delusions, as crackling dialogue carries the viewer through the muck with Wilder and longtime collaborator Charles Brackett’s signature lightness. At the Paramount, it’s only fitting to see Norma the way she sees herself: “I am big. It’s the pictures that got small.” – Lina Fisher

  Mon., June 2

  Paramount Theatre