My daughter and I went opening night for The Bat. We didn't know what to expect but we had an…read moreincredible time. The music was great. The singing incredible and the jokes funny. The references to Austin landmarks, famous faces, color and events came fast and furious. If you are into events and Trivia around Austin, this is the "Opera" to go to. Basically the story is that prank was pulled on a man that leaves him drunk in a bat costume under the south congress bridge and this is his revenge. The show goes over the top but if you love Austin and everything about it. You should go see this show. You could tell that the writers love the color and flavor of Austin Weirdness. And that love and laughter is what you should take away from it..,,

Jane was amazing as Cinderella for my daughter's 8th birthday. She stayed in character for the…read moreentire hour and a half talking in a sweet, soft voice and giggling now and then. There were nine girls here wanting her undivided attention and throwing question after question out to Cinderella. Cinderella answered each one (What state do you live in? How did you get here? What does your car look like?) without batting an eye and with perfect Cinderella-esque answers. She taught the girls a song and a couple of dances as well as making crowns out of pipe cleaners. Each and every girl was convinced that the real Cinderella had popped in to share time with them. It was an amazing experience for my daughter and one none of those nine girls will forget.

On recommendation from Casino Connection, I hired Jane to come to our employee casino night party…read moreas Marilyn Monroe. She looked fabulous, and although she was only "obligated" to sing one song, she wowed our staff with several songs! She then spent a good bit of time visiting with our staff during the party, and was kind enough to pose for a number of photos with various staff members. She arrived on time and was always pleasant to deal with - in advance and during the party. I would highly recommend Jane to anyone who would like to hire her as a performer!

Every time I hear that country song, "What Hurts the Most" all I can think about is a woman dressed…read moreup in cowboy duds, lip synching to it. Amazing performances, an amazing experience for me. I had a great time here! I've never seen or even imagined anything like this before! At one point (during an, of course, JT performance) I forgot for a few minutes that it was a female on the stage and I put a dollar in her pants. No, I wasn't drunk, either. I'll definitely be coming back to check out further exploits!

Kings N Things, Austin's own drag king performance troupe, is the perfect mix of intellectual edge…read moreand pure sex appeal. No need to engage in that old mind/body split - with KNT, you can have your cake and politicize it, too. Their seasonal shows at Elysium are a treat - ribald Valentine's ballads, sexy Easter bunnies, you name it. My personal favorite king is DD Cummings, but I've got a major Trevor N Deavor jones as well. Keep your eye on their myspace for upcoming shows so you can come out and pick your own favorite!

Free Night of Theater is a movement that is offered in 120 US cities including Austin, Texas…read more Every October most of the local theaters offer up tickets absolutely free for performances. The goal is to introduce people to theaters they have never been to before. If you want these tickets, sign up for their email list. Pay close attention to the time and day they become available as tickets go very quickly, often in as little as an hour. A variety of types of theater including comedy and musical theater are included. I've attended performances for the past four years and all have been fun and it has introduced me to a number of lesser known venues and performing groups (the large, well-known theaters such as the Zach Scott also participate).

Fantastic fest is well... Fantastic! It is held at the Alamo Theater and here you will see the…read morebest movie debuts. The theater itself serves food and drink right at you seat so you can enjoy your movie in style. I love the people who attend as well. They are all super friendly and devoted to fantastic cinema. I saw several fantastic movies and loved each one. There are also several panels, press interviews, live podcasts and fantastic off site events to attend. It is fantastic that this event is held in Austin. A truly fantastic destination in its own right. Double highly super fantastic recommend. Oh yeah, did i mention its all so very fantastic?

Kevin Smith. Orchestra, Row AA, Seat 10…read more Air Sex Championship. Start watching at 3:28. Look at me. There I am. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J3_zrR6YQ4 Need I say more?

Local theater troops are a blessing... and this one tucked into the loving and welcoming First UU…read morechurch on Grover is no exception. With performances 3 times a year, the team draws upon classic and contemporary, professional and locally crafted material - always professionally staged and performed.

Phenomenal performance of Incorruptable!…read more I was really amazed by how well the show was cast, directed and the overall production. There was never a dull moment. It was filled with quick wit, brilliant acting by the two older monks. And a lot of promising performances by the rest of the cast. Truly an ensemble. I can't wait to see what they are working on next!

PART TWO: OK, I'm…read moredone with my "rant" (sorry, I was "born this way"; oops, wrong artist), time to focus on the actual show. Steve Vai was simply AMAZING! I don't think he's capable of putting on a bad show. I bought my ticket well in advance, & still wish I'd done it sooner. I was in the Orchestra, about 15 rows back. Show was at the PARAMOUNT THEATER. What a JUXTAPOSITION! Opened in 1915, The Paramount harkens back to an even earlier period, somewhere in the 19th Century. Contrast that with some of the most technically advanced music of OUR age, & it blows the mind! Man, if the original architects could see it now, completely restored, still every bit the JEWEL of Downtown Austin as it was, "back in the day". Pick out something YOU like, and GO! Find yourself a REASON to get inside the building! I've seen everyone from the late Carlos Montoya to Pat Metheny, & many others. Folks were SHORTER 100 years ago; I'm "average" height (6'1"), & the Balcony seats are cramped, but ONLY from there can ya truly appreciate the ornate GRANDEUR of the scroll work surrounding the Stage, from top to bottom. A modern movie theater is made from tilted concrete walls, & has no soul. The Paramount Theater's truly a SHRINE to the Arts. In our clamor for "progress", we've lost something. I'll cover the Paramount more on its own page, but I had ta digress; back to "Little Stevie Vai" (what a NICE little boy!). NO elaborate light show, NO costuming (well, there was the one "alien?" suit he wore). NO GIMMICKS! It's all about the MUSIC. Let's make sure EVERYONE gets their just due. The main members of the Band for "The Story of Light" tour include: BASS: Philip Bynoe GUITAR: Dave Weiner DRUMS: Jeremy Colson And a few supporting members whose names I don't know; sorry. Much (but not all) of Steve's music is complicated, poly-rhythmic, in odd time signatures, & maybe not "accessible" for the "GAP" (definition in Part One). It's difficult to classify what "genre" it is; I guess "fusion" would come the closest, but that label seems to conjure up images of Avant Garde Jazz. Steve Vai is NOT Jazz. You just have to hear for yourself; you'll either hate it, or you will LOVE it. And apparently, younger folks are fans too; there were TONS of twenty-&-thirty-something's there! He might not be the biggest "draw" in the Industry, but the age range is an indication folks will be listening to Steve Vai for a LONG time. Most of the show (as usual) was instrumental. Steve's got quite a bit of solo material, but many (including me) think "Passion and Warfare" is one of his best albums. Accordingly, the songs in this work are ALWAYS a major part of his shows. The climax of the concert (though not the end) is "For the Love of God". Also from "Passion", there's "The Audience Is Listening", a depiction of a "show and tell" from yer Grammar School days, with his ACTUAL childhood teacher, Nancy Fagan, pleading, BEGGING him to turn it down ("boys, it's getting too LOUD."). I mean, he warned her ("Just wanna warn ya; it's gonna be LOUD"). The song is re-enacted live, compete with Nancy's (recorded) voice. That's another thing about Steve: his humor. He's a virtuoso, but he doesn't take himself too seriously, or seriously AT ALL, really. None of the "angst" with which too many Jazz musicians are afflicted. The music will play to your intellect, but you'll also LAUGH YOUR ASS OFF! As always, there's an acoustic set, & Steve is just as mesmerizing doing "Wooden Music" as on Electric. He brought up a coupla audience members, to "write" a song for the band. He'd have them sing or "beat box" lil' parts, and "build" the song by adding each part, one at a time. But we need someone else, to complete the picture; we need (Steve's words here, I'll not argue): "The BEST guitarist in the World!" Well, we ARE in Austin, right? Can ya see where this is going? Who should walk onstage but ERIC JOHNSON! Now, I've seen Steve before, and Eric sat in that time too. So, at a certain point, I knew what was coming, but that didn't make it any less COOL. Of course, they played with Joe Satriani, in G3; I believe they were the FIRST to tour with him under that name (saw that too, at AMH). Of course, there's the obligatory Encore, & afterwards, possibly the nicest, most sincere "Thank You" to the audience I ever heard. Steve loves coming to Austin, as do many other artists, so we sometimes get that EXTRA special show the rest of the Country doesn't (like Eric Johnson stoppin' by). But Steve's got other friends in Austin as well (Terry Bozzio, for one), so I know when he talks about loving Austin, he really MEANS it! All in all, a GREAT SHOW! Again, I encourage you to at least check out "Passion and Warfare", and you'll see why I'm so enthusiastic about Steve Vai. I'd ask ya to go check him out, but by now, he's in S. America, on the next leg of his tour, so ya missed out. larrythediner .

Love. Hate. Passion. Betrayal. A typical Friday night out at the bars for me, but also the major…read morethemes running through "Blood Wedding" (Bodas de Sangre), a tragic play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. Written in 1932, it has now been adapted in 2011 by The Wondrous Strange Players, an acting troupe that will be putting on the show here in Austin, TX at the Community Renaissance Market Theater. I was invited by my friend Trey, after he had read my impressions of other local plays I attended over the summer. He basically cut to the chase and said: "On our opening night, I want to see YOU in the audience". He sent me to their website and I made plans to be there, since that's usually when there's all that "opening night" electricity in the air. The Community Renaissance Market was at first, admittedly, a venue I was completely unfamiliar with. That is until I drove up and realized it was that south side market with a variety of locally owned micro-businesses; it's basically an air-conditioned hub for Austin's thriving "Buy Local" initiatives. Black curtains cordon off the stage and seating area from the rest of the market, and if I thought Zach Scott was an intimate setting, then compared to that space we were almost sitting in the actors' laps. We were instructed not to leave until intermission, as the actors would be making various entrances from each side. It's a reasonable request, because I could remember pondering at other theaters how one would even be able to go to the bathroom during the performance since there were always people lined up waiting for their cue. I was lucky enough to be sitting with Trey's friends, all of whom I could deduce work at the same office together. Actually, they kept referring to having come to support their friend "'Austen", so I thought we were there to see different people. When they asked me who I had come to see, I said I couldn't find his name on the cast list. They probably thought I was lying. A whole half hour went by before I realized that Trey *was* Austen, and I made sure to explain that to everyone during a break, so they didn't think I was some psychotic who pretends to know someone and then randomly name-drops actors to get into shows. The play is divided into three acts and two intermissions, but the total run time is about equal to that of one with just two acts. The story follows a love triangle that ends up with what can only be described as the wedding reception from Hell. When I described the plot to my mother the day before, she abruptly blurted out "Oh--that's García Lorca!" Apparently her Spanish teacher loved the playwright and had drilled all his works into their heads during her upper level Spanish literature courses. She said it would probably be really dramatic and ethereal, and that's exactly how it turned out. My friend Austen Simien played Leonardo, The Bride's old lover who is now married to another, but still madly in love with her. The Bride, played by Cameron Holmes, feigns that she doesn't love him back, but as with all good tragedies--of course she does. In short, if these people had computers, they'd still be Facebook stalking each other even after they'd both changed their relationship statuses. Ms. Holmes pulls off "stressed out" quite well, and she can do a mean cry, too. I also enjoyed the performance by Terrie Cooper as The Mother, whose son gets stood up by The Bride; her scenes at the end were especially well done. There's a lot of symbolism (a lullaby at the beginning metaphorically spells out the upcoming events). and some larger themes such as the role of women in society (The Mother explains to The Groom that if The Bride ever doesn't want to hit the sack, he has a right to press the issue because he's a dude. Ladies, your thoughts?). There's also moments of a capella singing, done especially well by Kat Eason as The Bridesmaid. In the director's thanks on the program, there's a shout out to the venue for "allowing a lot of crazy theatre people to do what they love". And that's what you're paying to see. I'd also recommend it to those especially familiar with the works of García Lorca, as the poetry is quite beautiful even in English. "Blood Wedding" is like the theatrical equivalent of live music in Austin; it's people working on their craft, no matter how big or small the venue, and having fun doing so. Tickets for "Blood Wedding" are $10, and can be purchased ahead of time from their website or at the door. The show runs September 8th-11th and 15th-18th.