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......

Spank Dance Company and Refraction Arts are hosting a festival this month celebrating modern dance. Because most of you were probably out at that little music festival last weekend, you might have missed some seriously rockin’ dance performances during opening weekend. Don’t be sad, though, because there are two more weekends in September for you to get your contemporary dance on. Hot September Flurries is a massive collaborative event with involvement from Salvage Vanguard Theatre,......

THURSDAY [29] theatre •Yellow Tape Construction Company presents I Am Not Tartuffe at play! Theatre (8pm) theatre •The City Theatre Company presents The Boys Next Door at The City Theatre (8pm) theatre •Ohio Trip, a "slide show adventure" by Elizabeth Cobbe at Women & Their Work Gallery (7:30pm) theatre •The Vortex presents Hamlet at The Vortex (8pm) theatre •Hyde Park Theatre presents Zell Miller III's My Child, My Child, My Alien Child at Hyde......

THURSDAY [22] music •Third Coast Festival Listening Room, hosted by David Brown (KUT) at Cactus Café (7pm) books •Melissa Kirsch presents The Girl's Guide to Absolutely Everything at BookPeople (7:00pm) music •The Charms, Gentlemen's Social Club, The Deadly Companions at Emo's music •Jack Rabid and the Slims, American Business Machines (Mass), Abby Birds, The Steed at Trophy's music •Weird Weeds, The Dead Science, The Parenthetical Science, Hello Lovers at The Mohawk film •Alejandro Jodorowsky's......

FRIDAY [16] art • Artist's Reception: Joan Winter: From Marfa to Sudari at Flatbed Press and Gallery (6-8pm) art • Flatstock 12 Poster Convention at Austin Convention Center (11am-6pm) books • Jack Pendarvis preseents The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure at BookPeople (3:00pm) books • John Sellers presents Perfect From Now On at BookPeople (7:00pm) sxsw • SXSW Film Festival at Everywhere sxsw • SXSW Music Festival at Everywhere theatre • Austin Shakespeare......

Violinist Charles Yang. Photo by Eric Uhlir Three weeks ago, Austin's newest arts organization, strataTX, launched with a successful kickoff gala at the Design Center of Austin. The latest giving group of the Texas Cultural Trust, strataTX brings together enthusiastic young professionals of all industries and backgrounds to help sustain and expand the Lone Star State's arts community. StrataTX Launch Party Attendees. Photo by Eric Uhlir Amidst heavy fanfare, TCT Deputy Director Jennifer Wijangco......

As we mentioned yesterday, Yellow Tape Construction Co is throwing a kick-ass party at Art Amici on Saturday night. Not only does the Austinist-sponsored afterparty feature Peel, The Early Tapes, and Cari P from Belaire and Fancy Feast, but you can come early and check out performances by The Frank Mills, Big Poppa E, Breanna Stogner and more! Performances start at 9pm, with a ticket price of $20 (price includes 2 drinks), but now......

We’ve already brought to your attention most of this week’s theatre and dance openings, but here’s a quick refresher, just in case you haven’t been paying attention: We Are Normal, Cha Cha Chaaa: a new dance epic from the Yellow Tape Construction Co featuring Cari P from Fancy Feast and Belaire. Read our preview, or check out our photos. At Home With Dick 2: the Dick Price musical. All singing, all dancing, Alzheimer’s. Check......

Get in touch with twenty of Austin's most innovative young businesses this Saturday at Ruta Maya. Austin Breaking Ground -- an event created as a launching pad for the aforementioned entrepreneurs -- will provide exposure and networking opportunities for companies like 360 Bebe, A Thousand Petals, Zen Blossom and more. For you? It's a chance to check out the up-and-comers while you shake your groove thang to the bitchin' DJ and watch dance performances......

We’re not exactly inundated with new shows opening this weekend, but there’s a couple of notable events to keep the proverbial party hoppin’ and your metaphorical booty shakin’. Shakin’ modern dance style, that is. Werd. Big ups to our Austinist Pick of the Week, Calyx Dance Co’s Danscopia. These kids are fresh meat in Austin’s growing modern dance scene, but the initial buzz is good. Our girlfriend caught the second half of the company’s......

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......

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......

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,......

Wow, we know, that title was so lame (sorry 'bout that). But fortunately for you, dear lover of new theatre/dance/music/film/art/allofthosethingsmushedtogether this upcoming performance happening will not be lame. At all. Brought to you by the always delightful Refraction Arts, this artistic melee will feature cutting edge work from the likes of Phil Soltanof of Mad Dog Theatre Company the Zellner Brothers, Sara Richardson of the Rude Mechs, Joe Swanberg of Nerve.com, Yellow Tape Construction......

Austin actress Lucy Jennings has been quietly making a name for herself over the past few years. She’s worked with Different Stages, the Vortex and Yellow Tape Construction Co, but recently took her most high-profile role performing as Becky Twoshoes in Zach Scott’s hit production of Urinetown (which closed last weekend). We sat down with Lucy to get her thoughts on this show, theatre in Austin, and making it as an actress.......

Our favorite posts for the week: Is the Frontera Fest really that fringe-y? Yellow Tape Construction Co. ponders this thought. Amy at Flooded Lizard Kingdom posts pics from New Year’s Eve at the new Amy’s. The Chippie posts her New Year’s Resolutions. Kathy at Rocket Tots posts on First Night and includes a recipe for black-eyed pea soup. Burnt Orange Report is happy with the Horns’ win (not surprisingly). Favorite Random Blog of the week:......