Tuna Helper

I ran into Jaston Williams this morning at Las Manitas.  I always seem to run into someone I know there.  Anyway, Jaston reports that he and Joe are having fun working on the new show, Tuna Does Vegas, which is scheduled  to play the Paramount Oct-Nov.  I actually had lunch with Jaston about three months ago and he did tell me a little bit about the play.  While I can’t tell you all the secrets, I am confident we are in for a wild ride with the residents of Tuna on their trip to Las Vegas.  Can anyone tell me how many stops between Austin and Vegas when flying Southwest Airlines???  A laugh riot it will be…  and then later in the season more laughs are sure to come with Jaston’s new one-man-show Cowboy Noises.   If you have never seen a Tuna show (Greater Tuna, A Christmas Tuna, or Red, White & Tuna) you can still enjoy this 4th show, but why not order the Greater Tuna DVD just to get familiar with the residents of Tuna, Texas.

A river runs through it…

With all the flooding happening I thought I would share a little known fact about the Paramount and State Theatres – they are built on top of an underground creek.  Pumps in the basement keep these landmarks high and dry, but during heavy rains you can listen to the water running through special channnels in some of the walls that carry the water down to the pumps in the old boiler room.  It’s kind of cool and creepy at the same time.

Us vs. Them – you decide

 

Last year, Cyndi Lauper played the Paramount and left people literally stunned at her musical talent…. I know, not something you would think about the 80’s Pop Icon.  But it’s ture.  She is extremely talented and her live show at the Paramount is something that people are still talking about.  It was that good.  We tried to get her back this year but her current tour played Houston and Dallas instead.

I loved her concert so much that I made the trip to Dallas to see her again.  Big, BIG mistake.  Cyndi was great but the venue ruined everything.  I couldn’t hear a single word she sang.   At both shows she left the stage and climbed into the seats to sing.  The picture on the left above was taken from a cell phone at the Paramount in a seat that cost $67.  The picture on the right above was taken from my seat in Dallas that cost $72.   I am telling you, the Paramount is just the absolute best venue to see any kind of show.

Acoustically  the Paramount was built before sound systems, so if you are a music lover actually hearing the music at the Paramount is a treat.  Visually the Paramount is stunning and even the last seat in the balcony is closer than most seats in other venues.  The Paramount has spoiled me…. maybe you should let yourself be spoiled as well.  Check out our 2007-08 Season now on sale.

Oh and I checked on tickets to Kathy Griffin’s show at the Paramount in July.  Only obstructed view seats are left.  These can only be purchased at the Paramount Box Office located at 713 Congress Ave.  Even our obstructed view seats are not that bad.

Shooting a Pilot

  

So a production team was at the theatre today shooting a pilot for the Travel Channel.  They hope to produce a series of shows about special theatres around the nation….their first pick was the Paramount in Austin.  I asked, Why us? and they told me that they had gotten an email from me inviting everyone to come see Diavolo last season.  In the email I explained that it was an extraordinarily beautiful show in an extraordinarily beautiful theatre.  They came to the show and agreed.

So a film crew of five spent several hours filming and interviewing me and our head custodian, Tony Johnson.   They also interviewed Peggy, one of our favorite ushers. I have no idea if the Travel Channel will air the pilot, but I will let you know when/if we hear something.  BTW – Tony and I didn’t look too shabby after the make-up artist finished with us.  Peggy always looks great.

So, I wanted to share some of the things we talked about during the filming…

The Paramount, built in 1915, was originally called The Majestic and was billed as ”the theatre beautiful.”  It was designed by a famous theatre architect named John Eberson.  Eberson is credited with popularizing a new style of theatre around the turn of the last century.  This new style of theatre was called an atmospheric theatre and the Austin Majestic was his very first attempt at the new style.  This genre of theater architecture sought to transport the patron into another time and place, to give the illusion of sitting in an exotic setting.

Eberson’s early commissions were traditional theatre designs, but, with the Austin Majestic (1916), and Dallas Majestic (1917), he began his shift to the atmospheric style. The Houston Majestic, his first truly “atmospheric”, opened in 1923.  Eberson’s design work was so popular that sketches and blueprints were stolen from his studio, and later appeared in other theatres by competing architects.  On a sad note, the Majestic in Houston was torn down several years ago. (BTW, the link to the Houston Majestic above takes you to a page that includes comments from people who remember that grand theatre – how sad that it is gone.) His Majestic in San Antonio  built in 1929 still stands, but the one in Austin is the one that started it all.

 I’ll post more about our theatre beautiful soon…

Life on the D List

Kathy Griffin has a blog about her sitting at home watching her own TV show.  I found this post and died laughing so I had to copy it here.  Her show at the Paramount is pretty much sold out.  As hard as we try, those damn scalpers find a way to get in so I am sure there are tix floating around out there on the net.  I’ll check with the box office and see if we have any left and then post back here shortly for anyone still looking.  I also plan to beg Kathy to post a personal message on my blog the night of her show.  I wonder if she’ll remember the funny joke I played on her the last time she came? …stay tuned.

 Here is the post from Kathy’s blog that cracked me up:

 When I watch episodes of the show, I actually do watch them as a viewer so that when I blog I’ll talk about the episodes like it’s not me on that screen, but some other beautiful, sexy 28-year-old with a super hot body. – KG

Writing on the wall…

Lots of entertainers have left messages for us backstage.  International stars like the Kodo Drummers appear next to Entertainment Icons like JimmyBuffett.  Sometimes it is simply a signature on the wall, but often it is a message relating to the show.  Jimmy Buffett repeated his remark from stage where he told the audience that he loved playing the Paramount because he could actually hear himself sing. [Buffett normally plays large, impersonal venues.]

Not pictured is a comment from George Carlin about a couple of shows that had played the Paramount in the past.  To some the comment is funny.. to others not so much… to me it’s just one of a million stories to tell about this amazing place.

My favorite (still makes me laugh out loud) message was Kathy Griffin’s response to a message left a couple of weeks earlier from Dan Rather.   Mr. Rather wrote “Courage” and then signed his name.  A word like “courage” followed by Dan Rather’s signature makes you pause and ponder… courage followed by Kathy Griffin’s signature makes you snort and giggle.  She is just so damn funny I can’t stand it.

Lily Tomlin thinks the Paramount is one of the most beautiful theatres she has ever played and (unlike Griffin) when Judith Ivey echoed the sentiment a few months later , she was serious.  Often times a “thank you” like the one from John Prine is actually a message to our amazing backstage crew headed up by Mary Nelson and Denise Brouillette.  Those two women really know how to make our celebrities feel special.

Kathy Griffin

I can’t believe it’s been over a year since Kathy was last here (Jan. 06).  Her July 20 show is selling very well and having watched the first two episodes of the current season of Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List I cannot wait.  After her show in Jan. ‘06 she made the comment to me “What a great audience. I wish I would have filmed my Bravo special here.” So do we Kathy.

We’ve had lots of great shows filmed here including Bill Engvall: 15° Off Cool – his last Comedy Central special-  as well as Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Show.

There are five shows that people still like to talk about: Kathy Griffin,  Cyndi Lauper,  Ira Glass w/ Julia Sweeney,  Jimmy Buffett  and Marvin Hamlisch. (Really people, that kid Marvin had me pull up on stage wasn’t staged. )

Kathy is coming back.  Get Tickets

Cyndi isn’t bringing her current tour to Austin…Houston and Dallas are as close as she gets. I’m catching her in Dallas.

I hear Julia Sweeney is making her play “Letting Go of God” into a film. Maybe we can screen it when it is released.

Based on the nice comment Jimmy Buffett wrote on the Green Room wall, I hope he’ll come back some day.

I’d love to have Marvin back but his show didn’t sell as well as we had hoped. It might have had something to do with his appearing at the Seton Gala only a few months earlier. Who knows. 

More on Kathy as we get closer.

Why is it called a Green Room?

Last night we hosted a private event for Weaver Kading & Associates who were treated to a private screening of the documentary “Texas Legends – The Paramount Theatre” which was produced by METV.  

Some of the guests ended the evening with a backstage tour.  I was asked the question:  Why is it called the Green Room?   I didn’t know the answer. But I looked it up on Wikipedia and copied the article below.    All I know is our Green Room is a green room.  And that rather rude comment written on the wall is from George Carlin.  Just another piece of our history.

A  ”green room” is a room in a theater, studio, or other public venue for the accommodation of performers or speakers when not required on the Stage.The first recorded use of the term was in 1701 but the origin of the term is unknown and is the source of many folk etymologies such as:

• In some explanations it is said that the color was a response to limelight; early stage lighting.
• Green is also thought to be a calming and soothing color but this is according to 20th century psychological theories so can not be the origin of the term.
• The most widely accepted origin of the term dates back to Shakespearean theatre. Actors would prepare for their performances in a room filled with plants and shrubs. It was believed that the moisture in the topiary was beneficial to the Actors’ voices.
• Richard Southern, in his studies of Medieval theatre in the round, states that the acting area was “The Green”. The central space, often grass-covered, was used by the actors, while the surrounding space and circular banks were occupied by the spectators. Since then “The Green” has been a traditional actor’s term for the stage. Even in proscenium arch theatres there was a tradition that a green stage cloth should be used for a tragedy. The green room is thus the room on the way to the green.
• It has been suggested that the original ‘green room’ was in a London theatre converted from office buildings. The room behind the stage had previously been used to cut deals and was known as the ‘agreeing room,’ and the phrase has become corrupted over the years.

And the Tony Award Goes To…

Congratulations to Christine Ebersole for winning the Tony for her role in Grey Gardens.  I had the opportunity to see that show last November with an ATA Board Member, Janet McQuaid, when we went to New York for a conference.  It’s a fantastic show and I highly recommend you see it if you get to New York.  So why will it most likely NOT play the Paramount?  Unless a Broadway Musical is especially designed for a small theatre, it will most likely not fit the Paramount.  The sets for Grey Gardens are lavish, gorgeous and, unfortunately, large.  Built as a vaudeville house in 1915 the Paramount was not designed for the large musical productions that have become the norm on Broadway.

 

Sidebar - I also got to see Christine Ebersole perform her cabaret act in New York in January – what a voice.  That performance, however, came after a bizarre cabaret performance from Patrick Cassidy.   Patrick spent much of his time on stage that day letting the audience know that he isn’t gay…Hey Patrick – no one cares.  Anyway, Mr. Cassidy will be playing the Paramount on June 22 in a TexARTS presentation of Carousel. You can also see his mother, Shirley Jones,  at the TexARTS event on September 21 at the Riverbend Centre.

 

We are thrilled to have Broadway musicals that have been produced especially for our intimate stage as part of the coming 07/08 Season including The Mikado and Damn Yankees.  And while not a musical, the new play from our friends in Tuna, Texas is the highlight of the season [Tuna Does Vegas]starring Tony nominated actor Joe Sears.

 

Several Tony winning performers from tonight’s awards show have graced the Paramount stage including Tommy Tune, Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, Phylicia Rashad, and Marvin Hamlisch.  (By the way, if you were at Marvin’s Paramount show – that kid he pulled up on stage wasn’t staged!) And if you watched Eddie Izzard’s hilarious Tony presentation for the Best Special Theatrical Event be sure to see Dame Edna at the Paramount in January – winner of this award in 2000 and then nominated again in 2005.  Oh and our Programming Director, Lietza Brass, has been desperately trying to get Eddie Izzard to the Paramount – stay tuned!