"Much Ado about Nothing" is really something!

A friend of ours produced "Much Ado About Nothing" in a local park the other night and we took some photos-- "Tube be or not tube be?"

Let them eat cake!

A bawdy version of the Marie Antoinette story played at a local theater the other night.

A New Venue

Some of you who have never visited Austin, Texas have seen a program on public television called "Austin City Limits." Their venue was a studio in the communications building at UT. But a new home for this show (and other performances) just opened in the structure housing the W hotel and residences. The Theater is called Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater. Our friend Jackie took this photo during the Gipsy Kings performance Wednesday. Last night was a grand opening party. We haven't been to the venue yet and it will probably be a while because we didn't pull the trigger on shows and they are all just about sold out for months. We'll definitely be enjoying this venue, though. It's three blocks from us.

Let them eat pie!

Last Sunday, we went to the "Mildred Pierce Pie Social" -- a "No Place But Austin" kind of event held at Alamo Draft House on South Lamar.

Lots of our friends were involved. Virginia Wood, the food editor of the Austin Chronicle, put together a benefit for the continuing medical care needed by Stephen Moser, the Chron's Fashion Editor (above left).

The benefit cost a mere $30 and you got all the pie you could eat, chosen from an array prepared by some of the finest bakers in town-- including a scrumptious Jalapeño Apple--my fave, Cherry, Country Blueberry, Strawberry/Rhubarb, Lemon Meringue and on and on. If you were really brave and off your diet, you could get scoops of Amy's ice cream on top.

And while you were eating your six-slice selection of pies, (there were over twenty) you got to see a screening of the classic film "Mildred Pierce." Of course, it starred Austin's own Zachary Scott and the inimitable Joan Crawford. The Veda character (Mildred's eldest daughter) is an iconic depiction of the ungrateful child.

How can you not love lines like:

Veda: With this money I can get away from you. From you and your chickens and your pies and your kitchens and everything that smells of grease. I can get away from this shack with its cheap furniture. And this town and its dollar days, and its women that wear uniforms and its men that wear overalls.

or

Monte: Oh, I wish I could get that interested in work.
Ida: You were probably frightened by a callus at an early age!

or

Ida: Personally, Veda's convinced me that alligators have the right idea. They eat their young.

Oh-- the person to the right? That's local entertainer Saffire Trinity as Joan Crawford!

If any of you in Austin are reading this, there will be another fantastic benefit party for Stephen next Wednesday at Antone's--www.antones.net.

A Theater is a Theater Again

The Ritz was a theater once. Its past in my Austin memory was as a bar, though. It was part of the East Sixth line of "bars LB and FFP probably won't be going to." But the Alamo Drafthouse folks made it a theater again, taking it over as their downtown Austin location so the Colorado location could become...hmm I think some stupid bar! Good for them. I understand the interior is great and they have their goofy stuff like sing-alongs and quote-alongs going on in this location especially. The sign is neat, too, and it's heartening to see it preserved.

We'll Be Having Tuna

I hope we pop downtown a little early to get some tuna seared rare and a glass of wine at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse before the UT game is over. Then we will walk over the stars in the sidewalk in honor of Joe and Jaston and see the latest fun play about the denizens of the fictional third smallest town in Texas: Tuna.

Feeding Austin

The guy on the right is FFP, of course, posing with Eddie Bernal who is responsible for what the social set eats in Austin more often than they may realize. He operates 34th Street Cafe, Santa Rita Cantina and Blue Star Cafeteria (which isn't a stand in line with trays place but rather a comfortable cafe). But 34th Street Catering also feeds a lot of Austin parties. We were at an interesting house high above Lady Bird (Town) Lake last night in honor of Austin's Shakespeare group and the food had a Cuban feel (tortas, empanadas, peppers and chorizo on a stick), maybe because the group is planning to translate Shakespeare into Spanish. The house is very Zen as you can see by the pool and landscaping behind the guys.

The Incomparable Mrs. K

Some people are actors. Some people live their lives as if all the world were a stage. Some people are characters or icons. In Austin, there are many people who fit one or two of those categories. Karen Kuykendall is all that and more. Sunday was a busy day for us. Besides the Ballet Bash downtown and a private party, we joined Karen and several hundred of her friends and family to kick off fund-raising to name a stage at the planned Zach Scott theater. Karen is a dear friend and in spite of being in a battle with health problems she continues to have perfect timing. A few syllables from her gravelly voice are all that's required to attract your attention so that she can deliver a perfectly-timed zinger or burst into a little Cole Porter number. Here she does a Carol Channing-like mug for my camera while posing with FFP. The event was at Green Pastures, which is a restaurant and event space but was Karen's childhood home. Two of the many, many roles Karen shouldered in Austin theater were Andy Warhol and Ann Richards. Think about that!