COVID-19 Impact

Broadway in Austin postpones upcoming season again due to COVID-19

To Kill a Mockingbird Broadway Jeff Daniels

To Kill a Mockingbird was originally scheduled to be in Austin in February. It has been postponed.

With the pandemic's end nowhere in site, many prominent Austin events are being postponed once again. Included on that list is Broadway in Austin, which takes place annually at Bass Concert Hall on the University of Texas at Austin campus.

The season was originally scheduled to begin this September with Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, an homage to the queen of disco. That show, along with the rest of the season, was pushed back in July. On October 30, Texas Performing Arts announced that the upcoming 2021-22 Broadway in Austin schedule has again been revised.

"Texas Performing Arts continues to prioritize the health and well-being of its cast, crew, staff and audiences during the coronavirus pandemic," said organizers in a release. "The Broadway in Austin season schedule has been revised in response to the ongoing national disruption in performing arts touring."

Three of the season's most anticipated shows — Tootsie, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Mean Girls — are all postponed with a new performance schedule to be released at a later date.

Wicked, the now classic tale of Elphaba, Glinda, and the other residents of Oz, returns to Austin for its original run on April 21-May 9, 2021. The show is this year's "season option" and not part of the season ticket package available for Lexus Broadway in Austin 2020-2021 subscribers. Instead, it can be added for an additional fee.

Hadestown, originally scheduled to close out the season, will now be among the first shows of the year. The eight-time Tony Award winner will play Bass Concert Hall June 1-6, 2021. The show, which also won a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album "intertwines two mythic tales — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone — as it invites you on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back," notes a February release.

Road Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, originally scheduled to make its Austin debut next month, will instead open July 20-25, 2021. And Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, initially slated to run this summer (Summer in summer — see what they did there?), will instead have its "Last Dance" September 7-12, 2021.

A news alert notes that Lexus Broadway in Austin 2020-2021 subscribers will keep the same subscription seats for all rescheduled plays, including Tootsie, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Mean Girls once those new dates have been announced. If performances are cancelled, subscribers will have the option to receive a credit, refund, or the ability to donate the value of their tickets. Single tickets will be released at a later date.

For more information or to purchase season tickets, go here or call Broadway in Austin at 800-731-SHOW (7469), from 9 am-5 pm, Monday through Friday.

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New

Historic Austin museum will close for more than a year for restoration

Photo courtesy of the City of Austin

The Elisabet Ney Museum will close at the end of 2024 and reopen in mid-2026.

Every building needs some maintenance here or there, and the historic Elisabet Ney Museum needs some extra-special care. Formerly the art studio and residence of its namesake, it's been standing since 1892. It'll spend 2025 in relative solitude, as it undergoes renovation for a year and a half with no visitors allowed.

The museum will close to the public December 30, 2024, and open again in the summer of 2026 if all goes according to plan, a news release from the City of Austin shares. It'll be a quiet period compared to the 21,000 people visiting from around the world each year.

According to a museum overview on the city's website, Elisabet Ney, a European portrait sculptor, bought the property and called her new studio Formosa. She worked on sculptures depicting important Texans like Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston, and collected works of European contemporaries.

The building at 304 East 44th St. includes 3,700 square feet of museum space, which was converted by Ney's friends after her death in 1907. It retains its unique look that juxtaposes a Neo-Classical main studio from 1892 with a later addition from 1902 including a tower for her husband, Edmund, to write in. It is also on 2.5 acres of land, which has largely been restored to its natural state with native species.

A press release lists these tasks (verbatim) within the scope of the new work, referred to as the Capital Improvement Project (CIP):

Restoration of original exterior wood doors and windows
Upgrades and replacement of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system
Replacement of the exhibit and general lighting systems
Repairs to the roof, masonry, plumbing, and interior finishes.

There will also be work to do outside of the building. Workers will replace the pedestrian bridge across Waller Creek, stabilize a 20,000-square-foot portion of the bank, and make the grounds more accessible by adding new pathways.

Funding comes from several sources, according to a release: "the 2012 Bond, Proposition 14, the Parkland Dedication Fund, the Historic Preservation Fund, Partners in Preservation through the National Trust, and contributions from the Friends of the Elisabet Ney Museum."

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