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Salvage Vanguard Theater adapts the classic Russian folk tale of Vasilissa the Beautiful into a new urban opera, Motherbone, that may have some rough edges, but is an amazing showcase for the musical passion of Graham Reynolds as well as the company's pluck and determination.

Daniel Lanois confirms as SXSW keynote, Springsteen cancels, and another club -- the Six of Clubs -- closes. Biz as usual, in other words.

Another festival weekend, this time jazz; plus Mars Music not going under, and Bill Hicks -- still dead, more CDs.

When the New York stage company Collective Unconscious took transcripts of Cockpit Voice Recorder tapes from six real-life airline emergencies and performed them on stage under the title Charlie Victor Romeo, they created a theatrical sensation and a testament to the strength and spirit of humans in crisis.

The Zachary Scott Theatre Center production of Claudia Shear's Dirty Blonde does not always work, but when it does -- such as any time Rosalie Teneth struts and curves and bends around the stage as Mae West -- the show embodies everything truly amazing about theatre.

As the Texas and national film industry feels the burn of runaway production, many agree with one directive: Blame Canada.

By billing it as a "neurotic" comedy, Naughty Austin seems to position Beyond Therapy in the Woody Allen movie genre, and its production best compares to the filmmaker's late career efforts -- one that he seemingly wrote during a spare hour in a psychiatrist's waiting room

In his History of the World as the Center of the Universe, Stephen Pruitt proves that he is gifted not only as a lighting designer, but as a writer and performer who can tell an interesting anecdote or formulate a unique view of just how the various facets of the universe fit together.

Live Shot

What might be considered the theatrical fringe in other cities is more and more the theatrical mainstream in Austin, an idea that was reinforced with the announcement of the nominations for the 2001-02 B. Iden Payne Theatre Awards.

The next few weeks bring numerous 9 / 11 specials.

Rave debacle leaves one dead.

It's rare for a piece of theatre staged in Austin to touch an issue close to the city's heart, and that immediacy by itself recommends bee luther-hatchee. But what makes the Zachary Scott Theatre Center production more worthy of attention is the skill with which it serves up the thorny issues authenticity of voice and artistic representation by people of different cultures.

Director Dave Steakley has assembled knockout performers for the Zachary Scott Theatre Center revival of HAIR, and he synthesizes their individual energies into an electrifying whole, but his valiant efforts to make the show's scope inclusive of our modern world fall short.

Emo's turns 10.

The dirigo group production of Sam Shepard's True West sees Corey Gagne and Judson L. Jones swapping the roles of petty criminal Lee and screenwriter Austin every other night. While both are exceptional actors, offering plenty of sharp character work, both versions bring that pervading sense of threat that gives the show the violent inevitability of Greek tragedy.

Characters from children's literature storm Austin-area stages in July.

The former bakery turned arts center on Tillery gets another tenant, Austin Musical Theatre gets an executive director, and Zachary Scott Theatre Center alums get plum acting gigs on opposite coasts.

People and organizations on the move: KMFA and the Austin Circle of Theatres look for new homes, and Austin Theatre Alliance CEO Dan Fallon and KMFA Director of Broadcast Operations Randy Harriman leave their respective companies.

New Texas Music Works closed the 2002 New Texas Festival with some tremendously talented ladies -- sopranos from the Conspirare Choir -- singing a variety of material, but for all its warmth, the concert lacked the sustained intensity and interest that is the hallmark of the choir's best work.

Local Arts Reviews

Gore Vidal's script for Romulus, from a play by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, is as perceptive as they come, and the Bedlam Faction's production has more than a few things to recommend it, but the company's playing style often undercuts rather than enhances the drama.

Director Dave Steakley and three outstanding Austin actors make a visit to The Pavilion, Craig Wright's bittersweet drama about two old flames who meet again at a high school reunion and ponder time's ability to widen chasms as well as heal wounds, time well spent.

Connecting the Dots of Texas Writers Month 2002

Patrice Pike emerges from the "jam band thing."

Everyone's got new albums coming out

Chicken and Beans, a dance / variety show created and performed by Heloise Gold and Leticia Rodriguez, gives the viewer vibrant multi-sensory glimpses into the performers' Jewish and Hispanic heritages, respectively, revealing the cultural environments which molded these two women into the talented performers they are.

In their new show What Goes Up, advertising "40 percent new Idiocy," those juggling, bantering fools the Flaming Idiots incorporate a Sam Hurt cartoon, giant puppet limbs, and lots of audience participation for a family-friendly show guaranteed to get you on your feet and clapping.

The Long Center for the Performing Arts is delayed until 2005, and MS / Nerve Dance Company and Jason Phelps hold a very personal benefit.

In the Second Youth Family Theatre production of the Maurice Sendak-Carole King musical Really Rosie, a cast of young performers brings a gang of rowdy Brooklyn kids to life with a spark and sass that suits their streetwise scrappiness and executes the show's musical numbers with the polish of much more experienced stage performers.