Weekend Roundup
Shopping, parties, beasts and benefits: One weekend left before Santa arrives
Hate to break out the big Truth stick, but we're only one week away from that week when most folks in America exchange presents with one another either for Hannukah or Christmas.
That means you either need to get busy shopping and wrapping and stressing and hair-pulling, or you need to start clicking and typing and dragging and shipping on the merry ol' Internet. Whatever your desired format for holiday shopping, this is going to be a busy weekend full of office parties, shopping splurges and holiday themed performance events.
You can almost start to feel the magic in the air, can't you? CAN'T YOU???
If you prefer the option of personally shopping for those hard-to-please relatives or friends, we recommend visiting the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar over at the Palmer Events Center all weekend. This is a truly Austin original shopping experience, offering hundreds of creative, heartfelt arts and crafts to please everyone on your list. If you've never seen this collection of handmade awesomeness, you haven't yet experienced how Austin does the holidays.
Another quintessential Austin favorite is Ballet Austin's long-running production of The Nutcracker over at The Long Center. This is the 49th year for this production, and it's a great introduction for children who will delight at the exciting Tchaikovsky score played by the Austin Symphony and all the leaping, mischevious animal characters. Children of all ages will appreciate the fine work by the city's own tireless and always impressive ballet company.
It's not specific to any one holiday, but Disney's Beauty and the Beast is playing this weekend at Bass Concert Hall. Whether it's your first time seeing it or your thirtieth, you can't help loving "Be Our Guest" with all those animated furniture pieces, and you'll smile when Belle finally realizes she loves that snarly old Beast. It's a tale as old as time for a reason, y'all.
For the adults looking for a more raucous holiday party, Austin's favorite drag celebrity Rebecca Havemeyer and her pal Stanley Roy are putting on their latest holiday jamboree at the ND. Christmas!...Carefully will be a non-stop, hot toddy-fueled romp with plenty of cringe-worthy versions of your favorite holiday hits, dance numbers from Little Stolen Moments and guest stars galore. If you're too drunk to blush, this is the show for you this season.
In the spirit of giving and generosity, a collective of Austin area musicians organized a benefit concert for one of their own who recently suffered a traumatic setback last weekend. Ruby Jane, the young fiddle prodigy that has been singing and stringing to packed crowds for several years now had most of her musical instruments stolen at gunpoint after a show in Houston. Saturday's concert at the historic Victory Grill will raise money to help Ruby Jane replace those instruments that largely define her livelihood.
Sunday night, in addition to their awesome and hysterical Master Pancake X-Mas shows, the Alamo Drafthouse is remounting the amazingly bad Christmas film, Santa vs. Satan. This ridiculous low-budget nugget of genius is made even more special through the talents and equipment of foley artist Buzz Moran. The sound effects wizard (also known for his work with The Intergalactic Nemesis) makes this now-classic Alamo holiday tradition a magical experience you won't want to miss.
Hopefully you'll have time in between all the driving and parking and shopping and wrapping and cooking and entertaining and drinking and partying to relax, look around and enjoy the magic of the season. It may be raining instead of snowing, but that's no reason to miss out on the best parts of the season.
So crank up the Mariah Carey Christmas album, pop those reindeer antlers on your car, and get in the holiday mood, y'all. It's about dang time.
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You can listen to Michael Graupmann's weekly interview on KUT 90.5 FM right here.
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