Thirteen years after founding Salvage Vanguard Theater, Artistic Director Jason Neulander is stepping down. Neulander has grown SVT from a crazy little fringe collective to a powerhouse producer of cutting-edge works. No doubt it'll be very exciting to see what he gets into next....

The Ultimate Christmas Musical: The Musical!Through 12/22, Th/Fr/Sa at 8pmSalvage Vanguard Theater (map)[info] | [tickets]Christmas will be here sooner than you think! What nicer gift than an evening out at the theater? Here're just a few shows we think worthy of being early stocking-stuffers. You've probably already seen the XL cover or read the AusChron piece (damn, Jonathon Morgan gets around!)—Yellow Tape Construction Company's Ultimate Christmas Musical: The Musical! opened last weekend. We loved......

Photo by Wylie Maercklein, courtesy YTCC The Ultimate Christmas Musical: The Musical!Through 12/22, Th/Fr/Sa at 8pmSalvage Vanguard Theater (map)[info] | [tickets]The North Pole is a pretty raunchy place. That’s what the Yellow Tape Construction Company would lead you to believe, anyway. And while we don’t remember Frosty the Snowman dealing smack in any of the Christmas fables we used to read in kindergarten, it’s not implausible. He may be a sentient amalgamation of button, coal,......

Photo by Wylie Maercklein The good folks at Yellow Tape Construction Co. are giving away two tickets to Thursday's opening of The Ultimate Christmas Musical: The Musical! According to their website, "When one little boy loses the Spirit of Christmas, his disbelief sends the North Pole into chaos — Rudolph is a diva, the elves are disenfranchised, and Santa has suddenly started growing old! Can Frosty the Snowman and his sidekick, Soniyeve — the pluckiest......

Photo from Soundcheck Magazine Austin's 2nd Annual Green Holiday Festival, "The Sustainable Shopper's Ball!", returns to the Sunset Valley Farmers Market with over 60 local vendors and educators offering everything from bamboo homewares to luxury organic linens SXSW Film Festival Producer Matt Dentler shares some insider tips on what the film programming team is looking for - "Should you spend money on a fancy press kit? Should you check your DVD screener 4 different times......

This press release from Yellow Tape Construction Company crossed our desk today, and it not only sounds like too much fun, it also helps the environment! Good...and good for you. Who hates that? Have a box of gaudy Christmas decorations your spouse won't let you display? Stop letting it gather dust in the attic, and give it to Yellow Tape! We'll take your singing Santa dolls, blinking, animatronic reindeer—even that dollar-store garland from your first......

There're some krazy kapers going on this week in theatre. From a drag-king musical to a one-woman show, the sisters are doing it for themselves. We've also got a brand spankin' new theatre company to tell you about. Read on! First, don't tell your neighbors, but some thespians have moved in up the street; North by Northwest Theatre Company opens its inaugural season on Friday with The Nerd. Larry Shue's "houseguest from hell" comedy is......

FRIDAY [2] music • A Fist Full of Duckets, featuring The Interest Kills, Finally Punk, and The Fucking Transmissions at The Mohawk (10pm, 18+, $6) ® music • Dave Barnes at Stubb's music • Black Before Red at End of an Ear (6pm, Free) ® music • Sparklehorse, Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter, Bill Baird (member of Sound Team) at Antone's ® music • For Her & The Snow, The Unfortunate Heads at......

FIRST THURSDAY [1] music • Tre Orsi (members of Shearwater, South San Gabriel, Little Grizzly), The Paper Chase, Red X Red M, at Emo's music/benefit • ME! Live presents the Emerging Artist Series Debut with Meagan Tubb band, Tacks, the Boy Disaster and the Channel at Antone’s (7pm, $5) music • Yonder Mountain String Band at La Zona Rosa music • Onion Creek Crawdaddies at Waterloo Records (5pm, Free) music • Horse + Donkey,......

TUESDAY [30] books • Amy Wallen presents Moon Pies and Movie Stars at BookPeople (7:00pm) music • Dodo Bird, W-S Burn, Pink Nasty, The Easies at Emo's music • Stickman, Distant Seconds, The Late Fees at Beerland film • The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film • The One-Man He-Man Show at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film • AFS Essential Cinema Series: Vertical Ray of the Sun at Alamo Drafthouse South......

That's right: it's time to heat up your winter nights again, with the 14th season of FronteraFest. The Short Fringe, the Long Fringe, or Mi Casa es su Teatro -- FronteraFest is five weeks of alternative, offbeat, new, and just plain off-the-wall fringe theatre presented by Hyde Park Theatre and Austin Script Works. For complete FronteraFest 2007 information, including times and locations for the Short Fringe, the Long Fringe and Mi Casa es su......

MONDAY [29] opera • Philip Glass' Waiting for the Barbarians at Bass Concert Hall music • Unwed Sailor, Bayta Darell, The Twilight Lieutenants at Emo's Lounge music • Hidden Hand, Kylesa, The Roller, Ironclad at Emo's music • The Fray, Mute Math at Frank Erwin Center music • Hill Country Outdoors' New Member Meeting at Opal Divine's Penn Field film • Darkon: The Movie at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film • Melody at Alamo Drafthouse......

FRIDAY [26] film • El Automovil Gris at McCullough Theatre ® art • Opening Reception: Ishmael Soto: Vessels and Inspirations: Ceramic and Sculptural Work at Mexic-Arte Museum (7-9pm, free) books • Sarah Lewis presents Indecent at BookPeople (7:00pm) comedy • Bil Dwyer at Cap City Comedy Club film • Spike & Mike's Sick & Twisted Festival 2007 at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown ® film • The Bridge at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar community • Meeting......

That's right: it's time to heat up your winter nights again, with the 14th season of FronteraFest. The Short Fringe, the Long Fringe, or Mi Casa es su Teatro -- FronteraFest is five weeks of alternative, offbeat, new, and just plain off-the-wall fringe theatre presented by Hyde Park Theatre and Austin Script Works. For complete FronteraFest 2007 information, including times and locations for the Short Fringe, the Long Fringe and Mi Casa es su......

MONDAY [22] books • The Ludicrous Speed Book Club discusses The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin at BookPeople (7:00pm) film • The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film • Cold Hearts: Icelandic Music Shorts at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film • "24" at Alamo Drafthouse Village film • "Heroes" at Alamo Drafthouse Village film • St. Edwards University Paper Project at St. Edwards ® indicates a recommended event.......

Several of the movies screened at the Austin Film Festival made a big splash when Film Independent announced its 2007 Spirit Awards Nominees yesterday in Los Angeles. Festival hit and winner of both the Jury and Audience awards, Chalk, was nominated for the John Cassevetes Award. The highly-improvised mockumentary about high school teachers was filmed here in Austin and its recognition is another feather in the cap of the local film scene. Raymond J.......

1973 International Showcase Screening Info: 1pm October 22nd at Dobie Regional Premiere. With an eye for cinema and ear for personal stories, Antonino Isordia lays bare the disappointments and tragedies felt by a generation of young Mexicans in his explosively kinetic 1973. By focusing on three case histories, each about someone born in 1973 who eventually spent time behind bars, Isordia delivers a startling tapestry of contempo Mexico City life. Pic superbly reps a......

FRIDAY [20] dance • Requiem at Intel Shell (8pm, $20-$30) party/gay • Q Monthly Magazine release party at Oilcan Harry's (5-9pm) art • Chris Campbell: Surface/Depth Reception at Gallery 3 at the Co-Op (5-7pm) art • "The Stones": Art of Ronnie Wood Reception at ART on 5th (6-8pm) drag/party/various • International Drag King Extravaganza 8 at Venues Around Austin music • Oakley Hall, Brothers & Sisters, Li'l Cap'n Travis, Pink Nasty at Emo's music......

Stop by the Driskill Hotel to purchase movies passes or badges. Individual movie tickets can be purchased at showtime the theatres. Payback – Straight Up Retrospective Screens: 7:30pm @ Spirit of Texas Theatre [from AFF] In 1998, during post-production of his film Payback, Brian Helgeland got fired -- 86ed -- pole-axed. The ending of the film was re-shot, narration was added, key scenes were cut and a character was recast. Seven years later he......

MONDAY [16] film • Matador at Arbor (1:10pm & 6:50pm) ® film • Law of Desire at Arbor (4:10pm & 9:30pm) ® film • Strangers with Candy at Alamo Downtown (7pm) film • Notre Musique at Texas Union (7:30pm) ® film • The Goonies at Rounders Pizzeria (8pm, Free) film • Slums of Beverly Hills at Café Mundi (8pm, Free) film • Dr. Strangelove at The Space (8pm, Free) ® film • Super Troopers......

Ever known someone who economizes their words, and yet (or perhaps because of this) frequently spouts beautiful, eloquent gems of truth? We happen to be very close with someone just like that, and here's what he had to say about Yellow Tape Construction Company's latest production: "If it were a spoken language, they'd have a thousand words for play." This is so true that coming up with a written, non-redundant way to describe and......

Think you're normal? Think the production company that brought you this summer's funnest show, I Love My Dead Gay Son: The Musical! is normal? They think they are! So much so that they've titled their latest show, a dance epic, We Are Normal, Cha Cha Chaaa. Hm. We have our doubts about that. However, we don't doubt this dance performance -- including live accompaniment by Cari P (from not one but two local indie-pop......

For years, the Austin Film Festival has been one of our favorite events of the year. In the true independent spirit of the town which name it bears, the festival is committed to nurturing and celebrating the work of aspiring filmmakers. Their vision includes the celebration not just of directors and actors, but of the people behind the scenes, most notably, the unsung heroes - the screenwriters. They announced their unbelievable lineup today, and......

As happens this time every year, the last few months have been pretty slow at Austinist Theatre Central. The 2005-2006 season wrapped by late August or so, including the shorter, simpler summer productions and workshops that seem to be mainstays of so many local theatre companies. Finally the '06-'07 season is well planned and underway, and while we're looking forward to some exciting upcoming productions, we're also in the mood to look back at......

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......

As we scourged all the theatre listings this week, endlessly digging for all the dirt on all the shows in all the venues from all the companies in all of Central Texas, we realized…there is no spoon. There’s also practically nothing opening this weekend. But never fear, dear theatre goer, there’s plenty, plenty of shows that are still running from previous weeks that – if you haven’t already seen them – will forever haunt......

This Saturday, Austinist is helping our friends at Yellow Tape Construction Company celebrate both the fabulous success of their sold-out show, I Love My Dead Gay Son: The Musical!, and the más fabulous launch of their second season. [Austinist reviews Dead Gay Son] ...Second season? Believe it or not, this "trendsetting" (Chronicle) production company that's managed to win Best of the Fest at FronteraFest and staged a production involving the Rollergirls and punk rock......