Arts and Entertainment Scene September 2010

by Jennifer Michelle Warner

As the San Antonio theater community gears up for the start of the 2010 – 2011 season, at least two local theaters have used the new season as an opportunity to tackle some much-needed upgrades. Trinity’s Laurie Auditorium will be closed for the month as it replaces an out-of-date theatrical rigging system—the series of ropes and pulleys used to move backdrops, lights, and scenery on and off the stage—behind closed curtains. The Woodlawn Theatre is currently testing out new sound and lighting systems, which can be seen and heard for the first time with the production of Hairspray, on stage through September 12.

The new theater season will also welcome a newcomer—Inception Theatre (probably not named after the mind-bending Leonardo DiCaprio film, though I can’t confirm this.) Inception, founded with the intention of bringing edgier, more progressive works to San Antonio stages, had its inception in July with Scenes From an Execution. And it looks like the company is off to a good start—the show caught the attention of the Texas Observer and got rave reviews in the Express-News. No word yet on when the company will stage its second show.

In other theater news, the Bellator Cage Fighting Championships will be at the Majestic (no, that wasn’t a misprint) and Magik Theater is gearing up for national tours with its Pocahontas and Alice in Wonderland. In a cross-theater cooperation, both shows will star Damian Gillen, founder and artistic director of the Company Theatre (as John Smith and the Mad Hatter, respectively). The San Pedro Playhouse’s Cellar Theater swapped The Young Man from Atlanta with The Carpetbagger’s Children, which is on stage through September 26.

TheatreASAP is back September 11 with its frantic, this-should-be-a-reality-show style of theatrical production. Playwrights, directors, actors and crew are given 24 hours to write, rehearse and perform a brand new original 10-minute play. As an audience, we’re invited to see all of the finished products at 8 p.m., but if you ask me (nobody did, for the record), the San Antonio Theatre Coalition is missing a bet here by not inviting the audience to get in on the crunch time creative process. Shows like Project Runway and Ace of Cakes prove that we’re just as interested in the process (and the mistakes and miracles along the way) as we are in the actual outcome. I, for one, would pay good money to be in on the entire 24-hour process—that’s drama at its finest.

Speaking of TheatreASAP, playwright James Venhaus’ 2007 participation in the annual theatrical all-nighter resulted in Inside the Loop, which Venhaus expanded into a full-length production over the summer. The result was Broken Record, which had its world premier at the Overtime Theater last month and will be on stage through September 18. Venhaus and his creative team have been keeping a blog that lets interested readers follow the adaptation and staging process; check it out at jamesvenhaus.net/wordpress.

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There’s a frightening history of breast cancer in my family. My mom and my grandmother are both survivors and we lost my aunt to the disease in 2007. In January my mom had a double mastectomy and reconstruction. Thanks to early detection—and the amazing care she received—my mom is able to view  the ordeal as a hard-won badge of honor, rather than the crushing blow the diagnosis deals to many women.

I hope all women facing such an ordeal have access to the kind of care my mom was given. WINGS is a San Antonio-based nonprofit organization that makes certain all women, even the uninsured, have access to excellent care.  WINGS helps provide low-cost and no-cost mammograms and other services to ensure quality care to women diagnosed with breast cancer.

WINGS will celebrate its 11th anniversary with a “Wingin’ It in the Big Easy” gala September 11, 6:30 p.m. at the Omni Hotel. It’s a fundraising bash, and I can’t think of a better cause.

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There are two (that’s right, more than one) 10K races listed in our current entertainment calendar. How running 6.2 miles qualifies as entertainment, I’ll never know, but they’re both supporting great causes. One is the return of an old Gruene tradition; the other will help the City of Galveston with historical preservation and redevelopment, an important mission after Hurricane Ike.  The Gruene 10K ran (get it?) for 18 years before going on an 8-year hiatus. The race returns September 11, along with a 5K and a 1K Kids’ Run. On the same day, the Galveston race will wind its way through many of the city’s historic neighborhoods.

I can only assume my editor e-mailed me these events with a sense of humor, hoping I’ll sign up to compete and then sell tickets. That ought to be a blast—for everyone else. Runners, walkers, and Schadenfreude enthusiasts should check the calendar for more details.