Branford Marsalis and Dianne Reeves Bring Coltrane’s Centennial to Silky Life
Swaying to Branford Marsalis’s silky saxophone, I thought of the grand weeping willows lining the Hudson River in upstate New York. Rooted and graceful, their branches move with the breeze,…
Crescendo: Mozart, Misconduct, and the Politics of Being Right
Opera has always accommodated oversized egos, wandering hands, and people convinced that their desires deserve an entire orchestra. Agnès Jaoui’s Crescendo brings those appetites into the present, where an accusation…
City Theatre’s Amadeus: Period Splendour and a Clash of Styles
City Theatre’s Amadeus gave my eyes and ears two very different evenings. Beautiful period costumes, complemented by wigs and makeup, established the elegance of eighteenth-century Vienna, while the mixture of…
BALLET: Seventh Night Sky
An astronomical ballet, what a treat! The Seventh Night Sky, currently being performed by Ballet Austin, is inspired by a Vietnamese tradition. In the world of ballet, however, it is…
OFRENDA: A Tear of Death
Premiering at the new home of Austin Opera, south of the river (Lady Bird Lake), is Ofrenda. Claudia Chapa hosted an intimate gathering before a recent performance of the opera.…
A Grandfather’s Gift: Erin Jackson’s Fragments of Love
After his death, Jackson believes he gave him something else: the ability to paint. Four years ago, grieving the man he describes as a second father, Jackson picked up a…
French Premiere
The Cultural Savior to the French Expat Community in America I discovered French Premiere at AFS Cinema while laughing my way through a French comedy. Having lived in Vence in…
KD Wants a Bigger Kanvas for Austin’s Creatives
At the pop-up show Fragments, the founder of Kanvas X Vogue, KD talks about the art and clothing line that started it all, the people he wants to platform, and…
Mrs. Doubtfire Finally Lands in Austin and Earns a Standing Ovation
Funny, engaging, endearing and, unexpectedly touching, Mrs. Doubtfire has finally made its way to Austin. Nearly seven years after the stage production first premiered in Seattle in 2019, the musical…
Primary Trust: a slow burn
The play Primary Trust was developed in 2021. Eboni Booth won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for it, and the play quickly became one of the most-produced plays in…