After a Fashion

SEPARATES BUT EQUAL We attended the Equality Texas Merry Merry Martini Mixer at Mercury Hall last Saturday. Pre-pre-precocktails at home, followed by pre-precocktails at Stephen Rice and Mark Erwin's, followed by precocktails at the home of Patricia Paredes, where Patricia tried to leave the house wearing some little faux-fur shrug with her Pucci dress. "What?!" I shrieked, "Where is your real fur, young lady?" Moments later she appeared in a full-length black fox that made me so envious I wanted to spit blood from my eyes. "Omigod, you have to wear that," I commanded. But suddenly I felt like a fashion orphan in my black velvet blazer and demanded that we stop by my house on the way, so I, too, could wear my black fur (well, it was cold!). So we sashayed into the mixer and had a ball being glamorous (I mean drunk) and getting petted like we were trapped in a children's petting zoo. Packed to the gills, it seems like the event must have raised a zillion dollars for Equality Texas. Later, tearing up Downtown and hanging at Oilcan Harry's, some little twink confronted me about my usual drag – you know, waaay too much jewelry, gaudy shirts, and jackets – and said, "The thing about you, girlfriend, is that you have AGD." Frightened that I may have been diagnosed with yet another life-threatening ailment, I asked Dr. Twink to explain exactly what AGD was. "It's called Attention Getting Disorder, and you have it in spades." The nerve of the bitch. She may be right.

AUSTIN DRIPS I saw a private showing of writer, director, and editor John Sayles' new movie, Honeydripper, starring Austin boy-wonder Gary Clark Jr., as well as Danny Glover, Charles S. Dutton, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Stacy Keach, and Mary Steenburgen, among others. Despite having already seen it, I still wouldn't dream of missing the premiere on Tuesday, Jan. 22, at 7:30pm at the Paramount (Sayles and his partner, Maggie Renzi, along with Clark, will attend). Clark shines as the new kid in town who brings a whole new kind of music to the blues-soaked Deep South in the Fifties. For more details, see "'Honeydripper' Drops on Austin," or see "'Honeydripper' Blues," or go to www.austinfilm.org. And while you're at that site, take a look at the upcoming Texas Film Hall of Fame info. Emceed by Dan Rather, honorees include Jayne Mansfield (who attended UT), whose daughter Mariska Hargitay will accept the award; Mike Judge; Thomas Haden Church; and the movie Urban Cowboy, with Debra Winger accepting the award on behalf of the cast and crew. Omigod, I love Debra Winger – Deb, where have you been?

HONORABLE MENTIONS Famed Austin architect M.J. Neal has won the 2008 Institute Honor Award for Interior Architecture from the American Institute of Architects for the stunning design of the Anthony Nak Fine Jewelry flagship store on Eighth Street and Brazos. Neal's design for the Anthony Nak store has also garnered awards such as the International Interior Design Association award, Texas Society of Architects Design Honor Award, an Honor Award at AIA Austin Design Awards, and the Couture International Jeweler Retail Design Award given by the National Jeweler and Couture International Jeweler publications. The award was presented to Anthony Camargo and David Nakard, the owners of the renowned jewelry top brand... Sally Jacques and Blue Lapis Light won the latest edition of Famecast, bringing in a $10,000 prize (see the video at www.bluelapislight.org). Yippee, Sally! You're a true Austin treasure.

BESS, YOU IS MY WOMAN We know what Zach Scott Theatre Artistic Director Dave Steakley can do with a musical: turn it upside down, inside out, and reveal the raw soul that often gets buried under the glitz in the hands of a lesser director. Steakley's versions of Hair, Cabaret, and Jesucristo Superestrella proved that emphatically. Zach opens the classic Porgy and Bess at the new Austin Music Hall for a limited run (Friday, Jan. 25, through Sunday, Feb. 3), blending Austin's live theatre scene and live music scene into what will undoubtedly be a memorable show, leaving the audience humming "Summertime" and "Ol' Man River" for weeks after. For me? I'm all a-quiver at the idea that Zach is producing the musical Chicago later in the season, and we know what a kickass production that will be. Go to www.zachscott.com for complete information.