Last night, Austin Circle of Theaters ushered in a whole new batch of B. Iden Payne Award winners. The event took place on the lovely St. Ed's campus; MMNT artistic director Ev Lunning Jr. hosted, along with members of the Actor's Equity association. Local heroine Karen Kuykendall was this year's Outstanding Honoree; Austin Chronicle Arts Editor Robert Faires presented her award. It was an elegant and exciting evening, to be sure! We weren't shocked by......

And they're off.... The nominations for this year's B. Iden Payne Awards have been announced. We received 'em this morning, straight from the offices of the Austin Circle of Theatres. If you want to get in on the action, ballots will be available starting this Thursday, September 21, at ACoT (701 Tillery Street) & AusTIX (kiosk at the Austin Visitors Center, 209 E. 6th Street). You must be an ACoT member to vote, but......

There's a mighty big lot of theatre going on at any given time in A-burg, and this weekend is no exception. While we've got only two shows opening -- both musicals, we might point out...very.different.musicals -- there's still plenty of monkeying around to be done, with a few closings (sad!) and lots of continuing runs (happy!). So let's take a peek inside this barrel and see what the apes are up to. We can't......

We can dance if we want to, we can leave your friends behind. 'Cause your friends don't dance, and if they don't dance, well they're…no friends of mine. I say, we can go where we want to – a place where they will never find. And we can act like we come from out of this world – leave the real one far behind. And we can dance. And so can Blue Lapis Light.......

Our common pitch to the non-theatre-goer: Hey, you’re a fun looking guy/gal. Wanna give something new a try? You know that persnickety twitch in the back of your head, reminding you that you feel disconnected from friends, neighbors and co-workers? You know how, in a quiet moment, alone in your apartment with the sinking feeling that there just isn’t anything imaginable that you could possibly want to do, you wish that you’d felt one......

Off like a prom dress indeed. This summer, theatre in the A-burg is gonna get all raucous on yah ass. The newbies, the small, feisty, ain’t-takin’-no-shit-from-the-man performance companies du resistance are all comin’ outta the woodwork to rock your sweet casbah. With that in mind, our Austinist pick of the week is Minus Tide. It’s a co-produced effort from Bayou Radio Productions (which isn’t too dissimilar from the dirigo group) and Austin fringe heroes,......

We’ll just come right out and say it: it’s a slow week in Austin performance. Our normally buoyant theatre and dance communities seem to be taking a break, gearing up for what looks to be an amazing summer. Before the UT kids come traipsing back into town in August, we’ll have seen productions from Rude Mechs’ Second Stage, Salvage Vanguard, Yellow Tape Construction Co, Dirigo Group, Rubber Repertory, Hyde Park Theatre, Zach Scott Theatre,......

For this, the official Mother's Day edition of This Week in Theatre, we offer you a poem. Hopefully Hallmark is reading. Match each letter with its corresponding description after the jump to win a large bouquet of flowers and a handmade card. (Not really, but you will be able to decipher our Austinist pick of the week!) Mom. You didn’t judge me when I performed one man shows about body image and my burgeoning......

As we reported several months ago, one of our most favorite local starlets, Helen Merino, had to pull out of Zach Scott's Bad Dates due to an unfortunate encounter with a pothole. We were excited to learn today that Merino will return to the role for a three week holdover. Don't get us wrong. We love Jill Blackwood, too, and her run received a rave review from the Chronicle. But we felt terrible for......

They may not be as famous, and they’re certainly harder to have sex with, but at least Austin’s theatre-makers don’t have to try and fuck anyone with a pulse who appeared on Leno just to feel good about themselves. That’s right, dear theatre enthusiast, here in the A-burg we raise our self-esteem the old fashioned way: by putting on plays. By that measure, this week we’ll be riding that self-worth train steady on into......

MONDAY [27] [ music ] Jay Moeller's Birthday Blues Bash, with Ephraim Owens, Mike Barfield, Scott Nelson, Damien Llanes, James Bullard, and loads more at The Continental Club (9:30pm) (link) [ music ] KOOP Radio Monday Benefit with Guy Forsyth, Wammo and Sick, and Southpaw Jones. Hosted by Owen Egerton (of Sinus) at Ruta Maya ($5, 8:30pm) (link) [ art ] "Art is Imagination": Paintings of the American West at Blanton Museum of Art (Free,......

This week’s theatre offerings have nothing to do with John Aielli or KUT, and we won't be playing a variety of songs referencing how exceptionally cold it’s been these past few days. Really, we just liked the title. (Sorry to all you non-KUT listeners who we’ve just completely excluded.) Plus, it actually is a very eclectic week on the boards (or, er, the concrete floors...in our local warehouse theatres). There’s an exciting collaboration afoot......

As your eyes try to focus through the after-party-induced, post-intoxication (or still intoxicated) haze that's been your modus operandi this week, don't feel bad that you're a little...less productive than normal. The theatre community isn't getting much done either. But, while this may be a slow week on the boards, coming next weekend only, ProArts Collective is bringing you Kissing the Goodbye, written and directed by the fabulous Zell Miller (who we love). Also,......

(UPDATE: All performances for this weekend (firm) and next (tentative) are cancelled. We'll keep you posted on this story as it develops. --JH ) In what is undoubtedly a major bummer for Zach Scott Theatre, Helen Merino, star of the recently opened and critically acclaimed production of Bad Dates has been seriously injured. According to Michael Barnes at the Austin-American Statesman, the star of the show all about shoes...has broken her foot. Merino stepped......

Quick, citizens of Austin, to the theatre! This weekend is your last chance to down to the jiggy beat of your favorite theatre company before all those self-important dicks with well-coppered tans come to town. Speaking of San Francisco, (and SXSW, and theatre), that brings us to our Austinist performance pick of the week. Heather Gold is coming all the way from Golden-Gate-Ville to perform at the Vortex on Monday and Tuesday night. Here’s......