Contrary to its name, the new Bad Dog Comedy Theater isn't a mean spoiler on Austin's comedy scene. BY PHIL WEST Transforming the storefront at 617 Congress into The Hideout, a multilevel arts venue, has been a learning process for proprietors Shana Merlin and Sean Hill. The next time you go out to eat, keep an eye out for the work of Austin artist Elizabeth Guenthner. She's showing in almost every cafe where it's possible to display art, and her works' precise, distinctly disturbing beauty is simply transcendent. Comedy isn't the funny business it was in the Eighties, what with fewer clubs and audiences burned out by comedy on cable and hack comics.
Life goes on, and both shows offer portraits of human resilience and perseverance.
But he was, breaking away from Ballet Austin in 1996, only to return two years later. Now the newly named artistic director of Ballet Austin, Mills talks about his departure, his return, and the future of the company. Some of the city's most nakedness-prone actors, performance artists, and directors expose their reasons to arts writer Ada Calhoun. With cultural festivals popping up around Austin like orange traffic cones, a few festival organizers offer their insights into running a festival. One Voice and The America Play .