Top 10 - The Austin Chronicle

22 top 10s 26 recommended reading 28 after a fashion 47 arts listingsTHE ARTSSettingthe StageAustin’s Art scene spent 2012prepping for big things to comeby Robert FairesTo the extent that 2012 is likely to be remembered, itwill be as the year when the world famously did not end.(Sorry, Mayans, you deserved better than that.) And whilethe Austin arts did see some notable endings – the finalissues of visual arts journals Cantanker and … might begood; the shuttering of the Blue Theatre and DomyBooks; the self-imposed termination of PalindromeTheatre; and the untimely passings of arts stalwartsGerre Hancock, Robert Rudié, Esme Barrera, Phil Aulie,and Phyllis Slattery – our cultural community saw manymore beginnings in 2012. Zach Theatre realized a15-year dream with the opening of its third venue, the430-seat Topfer, a space that fills a critical gap in localmidsize performing-arts facilities and gives Zach all thetrappings of a full-scale 21st century theatre. TheParamount Theatre elbowed its way into SXSW/ACL/FunFun Fun territory with the Moontower Comedy and OddityFestival, loading more than 100 acts into 11 venuesover four days, with enough marquee names – SethMeyers, Wanda Sykes, Steven Wright, Aziz Ansari, NickOfferman – to give the event A-list appeal. After almost adecade, the folks at Big Medium gave their highly successfulEast Austin Studio Tour a sibling: the WestAustin Studio Tour, spotlighting studios and galleries onthe sunset side of I-35. Arts education received a hugeboost from the Any Given Child Initiative’s local launchand a $1 million private gift to establish the AustinCreative Classroom Fund, both aimed at providing anarts-rich education for every student in Austin. Severalsmall venues debuted: Tiny Park Gallery, the InstitutionTheater, and a new New Movement Theater. Mexic-ArteMuseum unveiled Fernando Romero’s dramatic designfor its new building: a five-story wheel evoking the Azteccalendar. And the Waller Creek Conservancy selected thewinner in its international Design Waller Creek competition,with the vision supplied by Michael Van ValkenburghAssociates and Thomas Phifer & Partners securing astrong presence for the arts in the future of Downtownthrough numerous civic spaces for cultural events alongthe waterway.Of course, choosing a design is a long way from realizingit. (Just ask the folks at Zach.) This is just the startingpoint for the real work in transforming Waller Creek.And that goes for Mexic-Arte and Any Given Child; for thearts organizations with new leaders at their helms(Austin Lyric Opera, AMOA-Arthouse, classical radio stationKMFA, and Scottish Rite Theater); and for WEST,Moontower, and the Topfer, for that matter. The true legacyof these arts endeavors, the changes they make toAustin’s cultural landscape, will be determined in futureyears through the efforts of the creative community, thework produced through them, and, most significantly, thelarger community’s interest in and support of them.Ultimately, 2012 was a year about setting the stage forthe transformed Austin arts scene to come. nC o u r t e s y o f A m i t A v A s A r K A rTop 10 Theatrical Wondersof 2012by robert faires1) ‘ROSE RAGE’ (The Hidden Room Theatre) Shakespeare’sleft-for-dead histories of Henry VI charged to vital, absorbinglife by director Beth Burns and the year’s most vigorous, committedensemble. Her Original Practices crew made arcanefamily feuds over the English crown as urgent as this season’shigh-stakes political battles and made four hours race by.2) ‘RAGTIME’ (Zach Theatre) More than a showpiece for thenew Topfer Theatre’s bells and whistles, this deeply felt dramaof humanity and history threaded together in a tapestry byturns tragic and inspirational said as much about us today asabout Americans a century past.3) BERNADETTE PETERS/BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL(Zach Theatre) Broadway royalty blessed Zach’s TopferTheatre in separate concerts with distinct characters – thequeen’s poised and glamorous, the king’s informal and boisterous– but the same peerless musical-theatre artistry in thisdeliriously intimate space.4) ‘NOW NOW OH NOW’ (Rude Mechanicals) A mind-ticklingforay into the natures of beauty, society, evolution, and chance,with attendees teamed in quests, teased with puzzles, toastedwith cordials, and treated to a series of giddy surprises.5) ‘SUPER NIGHT SHOT’ (Fusebox Festival) Visiting troupeGob Squad played tricksters along SoCo, drawing passersbyinto an improvised drama, captured in realtime on video, thenscreened on completion. Wicked fun.Top 10 (+1) Dance/Classical Music Treasures of 2012by robert faires1) ‘SOLO SYMPHONY’ (ForkliftDanceworks) A revelation – ofthe dance at the heart of anorchestral conductor’s movements,of Peter Bay’s love for hiswork and courage as an artist,and, through his artistry and thatof choreographer Allison Orr, ofthe Creator as a dancerand musicmaker.SoloSymphonyC o u r t e s y o f K r i s t e n W r z e s n i e W s K iRose Rage2) ‘LIGHT/THE HOLOCAUST & HUMANITYPROJECT’ (Ballet Austin)/‘THEMATERIALITY OF IMPERMANENCE’(Sharon Marroquin) Performed at the LongCenter the same week, both works proveddance’s ability to explore weighty issueswith power and eloquence. BA’s first revivalof Stephen Mills’ Holocaust meditationaffirmed it as his masterpiece. Marroquin’sresponse to her cancer experience profoundlyconveyed its terrors, the communityit inspired, and her triumph over it.3) ‘HEAVEN/EARTH/ONE’ (Blue LapisLight) Returning to the Long Center’sring, Sally Jacques’ company providedeven more spectacular visions of theearthly meeting the eternal.4) AUSTIN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ANDCONSPIRARE Having Peter Bay and CraigHella Johnson alternate as conductors fascinated,but the reading of Bernstein’sChichester Psalms made heaven ring.5) MIRÓ STRING QUARTET WITHANTON NEL (Butler School of Music)Five master musicians playing with suchcraft and so attuned to one another thatthey seemed to share one mind.@AusChronArts6) ‘THE ALIENS’ (Hyde Park Theatre) A detailed portrait offriendship, etched in silences more than words. Beautifullyacted, with a fearless Jude Hickey scratching 130 layers underhis character’s skin just by repeating “ladder.”7) ‘JUBILEE’ (Rubber Repertory) Watching this show feltrather like spying on endurance tests at a theatre camp, butits odd exercises also tapped some essence of drama in presentingthe thrillingly unexpected and unpredictable.8) ‘BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON’ (Doctuh MistuhProductions) Screw the history books. This gloriously messymusical reveled in irreverence, ditching the same-old, sameold“Old Hickory” for an emo rock god, fiercely embodied byDavid Gallagher.9) ‘UNDER CONSTRUCTION’ (Mary Moody NorthenTheatre) Another exhilarating spin with director David Longand playwright Charles Mee, this time across the USA, circamidcentury, joyously celebrating and subverting those happydays and American values.10) ‘BOTTLED-IN-BOND: THE DECLINE AND FALL OF ATHUG AS TOLD IN FIVE DRINKS’ (Fusebox Festival)Patrons were drafted to act out a cornball melodrama of loveamong thieves, but who minded when served with such goodhumor, sweet theatricality, and intoxicating craft cocktails? Asfun as audience participation gets.6) ‘A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS’ (AustinChamber Music Center) Hearing VinceGuaraldi’s wistful, wonderful score played live,lovingly, by Michelle Schumann – that’s whatChristmas is all about, Charlie Brown.7) ‘STRING QUARTET SMACKDOWN’(Golden Hornet Project) A stunt, okay, butone that showcased many exciting new chamberworks, all played fabulously by ToscaString Quartet.8) ‘APHRODITE DANCES: ROMEO DRIVE’(VOICE Dance Company) The blending ofGina Patterson’s choreography, Chris Hannon’sdancing, and wine keeps this tasty riff onRomeo and Juliet lingering.9) ‘APRIL FOOLS’ (Tapestry DanceCompany) Acia Gray revived lost vaudeville taproutines with jazzy verve and an infectious joy.10) DVORÂK: ‘CELLO CONCERTO IN BMINOR’ (Austin Symphony Orchestra) CellistBion Tsang as Cyrano, swashing and bucklinghis way through the robust, romantic score.11) ‘YANKEE BAROQUE’ (La Follia AustinBaroque) A welcome history lesson in musicfrom the Revolution that played like a mixtapefor George Washington.a u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o m JANUARY 4, 2013 T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E 21