We had more fun watching this show than we did seeing Chicago's famed improv group Second City. We enjoyed this more than some of the of the stuff we've seen off-Broadway! Of course, since this is an improvised show—meaning the characters and situations are created on the spot—the show we saw most certainly won't be the show you'll see. Yet we trust that any group putting on something so fresh and vibrant one weekend will be able to reproduce the magic in the next performance. Watching a comedy show like this is sort of like visiting the farmer's market. You see fresh eggs and tomatoes every week, but you don't see exactly the same eggs, now do you?... [continue]

It's good to be King, and it’s even better when that King is very, very good, or even great! That’'s why we feel so lucky that we just adored Mark Lovell as King Henry VII in The Bedlam Faction'’s production of The Brats of Clarence.... [continue]

Every Wednesday on Austinist we feature one of our multitude of ridiculously talented writers, writing written things for your eyes to consume. The opinions expressed by the writer are strictly their own, and are not necessarily shared by the Ist Network or any of its affiliates. For this week, meet: Anna Hanks. Enjoy! -- Columnist Editor Image from movie: Rock and Roll High SchoolSouth By Southwest is my favorite time of year. Not so much... [continue]

The Long Center opened this past weekend for perusal by the general public. We’re happy to report that the new/old building has a sleek modern aesthetic that nicely alludes to the center’s mid-century past. That's not surprising, as lots of parts from the original structure of Palmer Auditorium were recycled and re-imagined into the new, two-venue, $77 million-dollar space.... [continue]

I spend very little of my time or money in corporate America, preferring to shop mostly at independent merchants. I also try to only buy things made in countries where it wouldn’t be horrible to be a worker, like, say, France or Sweden. This means not only going to independent merchants like Toy Joy, or Karavel Shoes but looking at where the things they sell are made. It’s actually kinda exhausting. It’s the kind of retail therapy that might send you into therapy.... [continue]

With Speeding Motorcycle, Zach Scott Theater has delivered a solid product. The basic story is simple—boy meets girl; boy becomes obsessed with girl; boy really, really can’t let go. The show also deals with Johnston’s stint inside the mental hospital system. we’d recommend it for any Johnston fan, but unlike most of Zach’s offerings, bringing your granny, your momma or your baby sister might be a little problematic.... [continue]

Visually the production delivered. The elaborate, creamy, period-inspired costumes by Costume Designer Buffy Manners were fantastic. Their light colors, lacy froth and gold accents made us think of lavishly gilded meringues. But the show...ouch! The acting was stiffer than the boned bodices of the period outfits. There was lots of declamation, but little interaction. The play dragged more than a heavily footnoted account of the taxation structure of pre-revolutionary France. ... [continue]

With Beirut’s ads proclaiming, “Nudity. Sexually Explicit Material. Adults Only,” audiences might think they'll be seeing a titillating show. While there is plenty of nudity, it isn’t of the arousing sort. In this hour-long saga of love, lust and sexual deprivation, the actors (and real-life newlyweds) Patterson and Vogt-Patterson go at each other with a clawing intensity and emotional rawness that pulls you into their dark tale of doomed love.... [continue]

Photo by Bret Brookshire, courtesy Hyde Park Theatre Thom Pain (based on nothing)Through 12/22, Th/Fr/Sa at 8pmHyde Park Theatre (511 W. 43rd. Street)Reservations: 479-PLAY[info]Every so often when doing a review, we’ve gotta own up to something from our past. In this case, it’s that we used to be in a cult. In our defense, it was a good cult. Back in college we were part of the American Forensic Association*—"forensic" meaning “having to do with...... [continue]

Back in November, we caught the brief, free run of A Mystical Quest To Slay Normalcy at Southwestern University in Georgetown. We enjoyed this remarkable, site-specific work so much that we have to talk about it, and share rehearsal / promotion video. Described as “exploring disability,” the performance by Southwestern's Department of Theatre and the Theatre For Social Justice started off at the Jones Theater on campus. The show then mocked the fact that wheelchair...... [continue]

Photo of Emily Tindall and Leslie Chastain courtesy UT Dep’t Theatre & Dance Ashes, Ashes8pm Saturday, 2pm SundayWinship Drama Building (UT Campus)[info] | [tickets]Ashes, Ashes, closing this weekend at UT, is the most visually-impressive theatrical work we’ve seen anywhere in quite awhile. We’ve even been to lower-end Broadway productions that didn’t have half the visual whammy of this retro-futuristic extravaganza. We simply couldn’t tear our eyes away from the post-Victorian steampunk fantasia created by the...... [continue]

We’re absolute fiends for Halloween, though we'll admit that sometimes we go a little overboard. Last year our porch was so scary that several elementary-aged trick-or-treaters refused, absolutely refused, to step foot on it, sending their parents up to nab their candy. Something about the creeping tentacles and clouds of fog unnerved the wee ones. That was before they saw the giant 14-foot spider hanging in the carport. Good times. Naturally, one of the things...... [continue]

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Blue Lapis Light's newest production opened last weekend, and we had chance to take it in. Illumination is the latest site-specific aerial dance work from Blue Lapis Light’s Artistic Director Sally Jacques. We were totally wowed by how pretty the show was. We might've even spent at least part of the time with our mouth hanging open—we were that amazed by the sheer spectacle. Illumination features dancers/aerialists moving around the big open space of the...... [continue]

You may not have noticed, but Maker Faire is just around the corner—less than two weeks away on October 20-21. Among all of the homemade, groovylicious goods, we’re especially excited about the Zimbabwean-style Rattletree Marimba band—playing their gigantic instruments, which are hand-crafted by a band member. We first saw the group while hauling our sweaty, sticky selves home from ACL. Right there on Barton Springs Road, Rattletree was infusing the Heineken-sponsored, AT&T corporate-ness of ACL...... [continue]

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