My expectations were low. I had agreed to judge costumes and dancing at the New Wave Ball, a modest-sized fundraiser for Austin Children’s Shelter at the Hyatt Regency Austin. I’d attended so many ’80s-themed parties lately, it seemed like a stale idea. Still, the cause is good and the night was open.
Chi Dinh and Ed Roman (Winners: Best Couple)
Turns out I had a delightful time. My fellow judges were media types, some, like Taylor Perkins, duded out for the event. We spent time posing for the good-souled Annie Ray. Then we wandered around with tiny clipboards noting memorable costumes ...
Flag post 
“Big Shake Up” – Dave O’Higgins
“Sense of Humor” – Bembe Seque
“Estrella Del Mar” – Adonis Rose
“Dona Maria” – Rufus Reid
“InA Place” – Ramudah
“Syntheology” – Lewis McCallum
“Modest Confession” – Megan Livingston
“Beauty On a Grey Day” – Mike Lindup
“Fortuna” – Roni Ben-Hur
“Somehow” – Geoffrey Williams
“Orbital Echoes” – John Nau
Related posts:
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. ... Flag post 
Established fact: There is an audience for cabaret in Austin. At the highest level. Austin Cabaret Theatre has proven that over the course of its first nine seasons. Almost every national marquee act has graced Stuart Moulton’s stage, now urbanely situated in the Kodosky Lounge with its panoramic skyline view.
Jackson Iffinger and Riley Britton
The crowd trends older, with inevitable sprinklings of musical queens (and I embrace that term enthusiastically for myself as well). The tables at Kodosky are a bit too large by cabaret standards, complicating any movement or conversation. Yet I wouldn’t trade it for any other Austin ... Flag post
It’s no secret that I’m a skeptic regarding groups like Theatre Action Project, which promotes creative arts and eduction for social change. All the testimonials in the world can’t convince me that something as culturally complex as theater can significantly alter social behavior in a predictable manner. There are too many variables.
Niyanta Spelman and Arlen Johnson
That doesn’t stop me from admiring the people who attempt it. And TAP is as thorough-going as a mixed arts/social service nonprofit can be. I’ve been impressed by their seriousness — and the seriousness of the fun they generate as a byproduct.
Southern Longoria, ... Flag post
On Thursday, the new Tribeza hit the stands. Yes, despite the public and acrimonious split among the owners, the pioneering Austin lifestyle magazine launched its 103rd issue. Please don’t ask us to take sides. We like all the principals.
Graydon Parrish, Eddie Safady and Skeeter Miller
The launch party was held at Gibson Bar, the buzzy new bar across South Lamar Boulevard from Alamo Drafthouse and Highball. Master designer Joel Mozersky’s inspiration was the movie “There Will Be Blood,” and there’s a dark, leathery, California mining country feel to the unobtrusive space.
Joel Mozersky and Ben Brown
Making the rounds, I’m ... Flag post Flag post
Flag post Flag post
Flag post 
Did jazz trumpeter Jeff Lofton really immigrate to Austin just three years ago?
It seems like he and his publicist wife, Dean Lofton, along with collaborating artists, have permeated local jazz for ages. Without the benefit of multiple jazz clubs — the Elephant Room remains Austin’s mainstay — or dedicated radio stations — KAZI, KOOP and KUT do their parts — the Loftons make it seem like there’s an actual jazz scene out here.
Not just to diehards. The trumpeter, whose dreadlocks look like they could furnish enough yarn for a toasty sweater, appears in steak houses, bistros, bars, hotel lobbies ... Flag post 
Before it closes on Sunday, I should say a few words about the touring version of “Fiddler on the Roof” starring Harvey Fierstein at Bass Concert Hall.
The question for every classic work from “Oedipus” to “Oklahoma!” is how much to alter. That effort is complicated when one interpretive/creative artist, such as director Jerome Robbins, brands all subsequent productions with his vision.
Road show director Sammy Dallas Bayes clearly respects the essentials from the 1964 Broadway production, but in hundreds of small ways, he departs from holy writ. This is healthy and refreshing.
To be clear, there’s nothing radical in his ... Flag post Flag post
Don’t mess with drinking traditions in Austin. Despite the new wave of top-shelf cocktails mixed at Péché, Perla, Fino, Cover 3, East Side Showroom and elsewhere, A List readers stuck by their longtime orders.
In fact, the overwhelming winner of the readers poll was the tall, potent, pourable, olive-dotted Mexican martini at Cedar Door, almost an Austin institution, by cocktail standards. It stirred up 60 percent of the vote.
The Mexican martini at Trudy’s slurped up another 25 percent, meaning that species of cocktail — a cousin to the margarita — shook up a full 85 percent of the tally.
The only ... Flag post
