Home for Heroes (and Others)

Transforming the storefront at 617 Congress into The Hideout, a multilevel arts venue, has been a learning process for proprietors Shana Merlin and Sean Hill. But after $250,000 of investment, the developer's dance of securing permits, and many hours of hard labor, they have created one of Austin's most user-friendly theatre spaces.

"...thorough cleaning of the interior, as they readied the theatre for opening earlier this year, turned up such artifacts..."

Aug. 4, 2000 Arts Feature by Phil West

Theatre -- ALL CAPS, All the Time

There's nothing lower-case or lethargic about theatre director, actor, and producer Sharon Sparlin. She's bold, animated, even electric, and channeling all that high-voltage energy into creating equally energetic theatre all the time.

"...the scene herself. She saw that the Public Domain theatre company was doing her favorite play, Bertolt Brecht's The..."

April 13, 2001 Arts Feature by C. Denby Swanson

Robert Rodriguez Brings Big Dad Energy to We Can Be Heroes

Sharkboy and Lavagirl return to pass the torch to a younger generation of heroes

"...His latest, We Can Be Heroes, revisits the superpowered world of 2005's The Adven­tures of..."

Dec. 25, 2020 Screens Feature by Richard Whittaker

We Can Be Heroes ... Again!

Robert Rodriguez announces kids' flick gets Netflix sequel

"..."Kids can't drive themselves to the theatre, but they can watch it on Netflix as much..."

Jan. 4, 2021 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

Review: Penfold Theatre’s Box

Audacious retelling of an equally audacious life

"...Over its past 14 seasons, Penfold Theatre has been on a mission to give audiences “fresh..."

June 28, 2023 Arts Post by Bob Abelman

Hero of Heroes of Comedy

"...around 1997-1998, Sean Hill started the We Could Be Heroes improv troupe, which a few years later officially changed..."

Oct. 13, 2006 Postmarks

Modest Heroes: Ponoc Short Films Theatre, Volume 1

Three short films from Japan's newest major animation studio

"...by: Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Yoshiyuki Momose and Akihiko Yamashita. Modest Heroes isn't really a film, or even a full-fledged anthology...."

Jan. 11, 2019 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

A Guide to Austin's Musical Theatre Scene

"...getting that razzle-dazzle rush that stage musicals provide. The theatre scene is bustling with Broadway-brand beltin' and steppin', with..."

Aug. 1, 1997 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Theatre's Great Historian The Essential Oscar

"...Austin theatre has many heroes who are diligent and accomplished but..."

Dec. 8, 1995 Arts Feature

Hidden Room Theatre Resurrects King Lear

The once-popular but now obscure revision of Shakespeare's play by Nahum Tate is revived, complete with happy ending

"...oblivion. Burns and her team in the Hidden Room Theatre have been focused on a mystery: the unexplored practices..."

Nov. 6, 2015 Arts Feature by Stephanie Carll

Review: Zach Theatre's The Girl Who Became Legend

World premiere of epic Americana folktale delights young and old

"...program has showcased and championed 111 new works. Zach Theatre Director of Youth Programming Nat Miller was hoping that..."

Sept. 22, 2023 Arts Feature by Bob Abelman

Zach Theatre's Ann

This revival of Holland Taylor’s play replaces Ann Richards the Lone Star icon with the everyday Texan who faced challenges head-on

"...expected, seeing Richards brought to life on Zach's Topfer Theatre stage was a complex experience, one that left me..."

Aug. 23, 2019 Arts Review by Trey Gutierrez

Local Heroes

The 2015 class of the Austin Arts Hall of Fame

"...in 1989 to obtain a master's degree in children's theatre and soon started scoring family-oriented plays at the University..."

May 29, 2015 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

The Hideout Theatre's Dance Dreams

The improv artists in this production do an impressive job of detailing the falling and rising fortunes of a ballet company

"...veiled woman appears to Madame Brous­sard and leads our heroes to THE TREASURE! The only problem is that the..."

Dec. 8, 2017 Arts Review by T. Lynn Mikeska

Glass Half Full Theatre's Don Quixote de La Redo

This imaginative spin on Cervantes tells of walls and the stories that inspire us to tear them down

"...some to become demagogues, it inspires others to become heroes...."

Feb. 24, 2017 Arts Review by T. Lynn Mikeska

Hideout Theatre's Happily Ever After

Happily Ever After shows how to put on a Disney-inspired musical: improv edition

"...When I learned that Hideout Theatre would be doing a show called Happily Ever After..."

July 10, 2015 Arts Feature by Alexa Harrington

Local Heroes

The 2015 class of the Austin Arts Hall of Fame

"...their respective work in the visual arts, dance, and theatre while they've been working in this city. Like the..."

May 29, 2015 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Austin Arts Hall of Fame
Critics Table Honors Cultural Heroes

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Austin Critics Table Awards, member critics are inducting 12 individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the community through the arts into the newly established Austin Arts Hall of Fame.

"...Paul Beutel (Austin Theatre Alliance) -- administrator, critic, actor..."

May 31, 2002 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Local Heroes

The 2015 class of the Austin Arts Hall of Fame

"...which ranged from postmodern choreographer Simone Forti to avant-garde theatre maker Robert Wilson (appearing in his 12-hour opera The..."

May 29, 2015 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

In Memoriam: Jason Tremblay

Playwright to be remembered at the Paramount on Sunday

"..."Jason Tremblay – Our Theatre Hero." So read the Paramount Theatre marquee on April..."

April 28, 2017 Arts Post by Robert Faires

Austin Playwright’s Final Play Might Have Died With Him, but a Community Joined Together to Ensure Its Survival

Saving Jason Tremblay’s Gretel! The Musical

"...playwright had begun work on a new project for Theatre Heroes, a company he'd founded with Noel Gaulin to..."

Jan. 4, 2019 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Three Kings

This modern classic is a war movie with a conscience, an action movie with a funny bone, a caper movie with a shifting agenda.

"...of the beloved Clint Eastwood/Telly Savalas war/heist movie, Kelly's Heroes, updating that movie's theatre of war from its WWII..."

Oct. 1, 1999 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Best of Austin 2001

"We Can Be Heroes, Just for One Day..."

"...rest of the editors, have worried that our "Super Heroes"-themed "Best of Austin" might seem flip...."

Oct. 5, 2001 Best of Austin Feature by Kate X Messer

Wonder Woman

The origin story of Diana, princess of the Amazons

"...Marvel’s shield-wielding Cap’n arrived in “the funnies,” and both heroes were born amidst the chaos of World Wars, fighting..."

June 2, 2017 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Burn After Reading

The Coen brothers may be masters of black comedy, but there are times when there’s no point in taking them seriously.

"...Spy marathon). But they’re also the movie’s Achilles' heel: heroes whose bulging-eyed broadness descends quickly into burlesque, meaning the..."

Sept. 12, 2008 Movie Review by Josh Rosenblatt

Shaolin Kung Fu Mystagogue

"...Ching supporters as possible along the way. Opposing our heroes is a dastardly Ching spy posing as a monk..."

Oct. 6, 1995 Movie Review by Joey O'Bryan

Austin Arts Hall of Fame Class of 2017

Flatbed Press founders Katherine Brimberry and Mark L. Smith, choreographer Kate Warren and theatre / spoken word artist Zell Miller III join the ranks of cultural heroes

"...and founding the institutions and providing the support for theatre, dance, classical music, and the visual arts – not..."

June 2, 2017 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

The Benchwarmers

Another comedy from ex-SNLers, along with Napoleon Dynamite's Jon Heder and baseball's Reggie Jackson.

"...the television, and bad baseball movies are in the theatre. The Benchwarmers is the latest comedy from Adam Sandler’s..."

April 14, 2006 Movie Review by Toddy Burton

Buffalo Soldiers

On an American military outpost in Europe during the Eighties, the black market economy runs the show.

"...Bilko, and with more than a hint of Kelly’s Heroes thrown in for good measure, this is a grim..."

Aug. 22, 2003 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Austin Arts Hall of Fame Class of 2018

Actor/director Norman Blumensaadt, dance artists Kathy Dunn Hamrick and Anuradha Naimpally, and philanthropists Jeanne and Michael Klein join the ranks of cultural heroes

"...support for the visual arts, classical music, dance, and theatre, over many years, who have made the difference. It's..."

May 25, 2018 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

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