What is Diane Like?

 

What can I say about Diane Keaton?   She signed everything we asked her to  including our wall ( pic above).  She graciously met with major donors after the show patiently posing for pictures and listening to their stories.  Fans followed her everywhere and she politely signed everything they put in front of her.  But I still don’t know what to say about her…

When I interviewed Shirley MacLaine and Lily Tomlin, eventually the glaring lights and the audience faded away.  The list of questions became less of an interview  and more of a conversation between friends.  With Diane, it went from question to answer back to question and answer…  Don’t get me wrong.  It was great.  She was fabulous and gorgeous and funny and… I am still wondering if I met Annie Hall or Diane Keaton or if there is even a difference…

La-dee-da. La-dee-da.

Who has the #55 quote on AFI 100 Movie Quotes list?  Answer:  Diane Keaton from the movie Annie Hall.   Of her four Academy Award nominations, that is the role that won her the statue beating out Anne Bancroft, Shirley MacLaine and Marsha Mason.

I am getting ready for my interview with Diane this Friday and I want to make sure I can ask something better than “Where did you get that hat?”

Last night I watched The Godfather.  Today Annie Hall.  Tonight Marvin’s Room and maybe Reds.  If I have time, I’ll pop in GF II and III.  She has had quite the career…

Hey. Am I interviewing Diane Keaton?

     

Seriously.  That is the question I asked my staff this morning.  Am I interviewing Diane Keaton?  And the answer was,  “I think so.”   Diane Keaton will be at the Paramount on November 6 and I wasn’t clear on exactly what all would be happening that night.  I know she is giving a talk and evidently then she is going to sit down and chat with me. Does anyone out there have a question they want me to ask?

How exactly I got this job is beyond me…

I remember as a kid watching Lily Tomlin on Laugh In and never in my life did I think I would interview her one day.  One of my favorite movies is Terms of Endearment and now I watch the movie and pinch myself that I got to spend the evening with Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger.  And here we go again.  Diane Keaton.  I’m going to be hanging with Annie Hall.  Kay Corleone.   Wow.

I am really looking forward to talking with Diane about her interest in restoring historic buildings.  It will be great to show her our beautiful Paramount and talk to her about the restoration projects currently underway. Speaking of which, if you would like to help ongoing restoration projects, you can “Take Action” by going to our website at www.austintheatre.org .

It will also be fun to talk to Diane about Katharine Hepburn , one of the women who inspired her.  Hepburn played the Paramount in 1941 – 5 years before Diane was born.  Oops.  Did I go too far?

They eat cedar trees…

 

I just love that picture of me with the camel.  It’s hilarious.  So were the silly animal rights protestors who paid the Roaring Fork valet to park their “Animal Cruelty” van out front… and then they went and had dinner.  Come on.  You call that protesting?  I used to work for Planned Parenthood.  You, my friends, have no idea how to protest.

Honestly, the camels seemed quite happy.  The Belly Dancers, on the other hand, seemed a little perturbed by the whole ordeal.  I guess they thought they would be the main attraction and weren’t expecting the camels.  By the way, they eat cedar trees – the camels I mean.  They eat the bark and branches of cedar trees.   We need more camels in Central Texas.  (Oh and totally kidding about the Belly Dancers.  They were great.  Really.)

Well the Summer Classic Film Series at the Paramount is coming to a close with the traditional screening of Lawrence of Arabia.  Thanks to all our Film Fans who made this series the most successful in the theatre’s history.  And thanks to staffers, Jett and Brooklyn, for all the clever ideas along the way including the “cell phones for soldiers” during the screening of ETand the “mani-pedi treatments” during the screening of Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

And I am not exactly sure what it means, but we got a special “Best Ever” award from the Austin Chronicle.  Wow.

I look forward to seeing everyone during the new season of shows featuring Dianne Keaton, Don Rickles, Tim Conway, Wynton Marsalis, Wynonna, John Waters, Rufus Wainwright, Woody Allen…

Drastic times call for drastic measures…

We didn’t think that now was the time to play it safe.  We are in the business of entertaining people and challenging the imagination of the community.  So during these difficult times we felt that we needed to be bold with our programming.  Last week I sat down and talked with John Aielli about Don Rickles, Diane Keaton, John Waters and many more… click here to listen.

And for more on the new season at the Paramount click here.