Frontera Fest is such a playing-field-leveled egalitarian opportunity for creative types from all walks and skill levels to have a night in the spotlight. Totally worth the $12 -14 price of admission but don’t wait to figure this out later. The wait for unclaimed tickets on sold out nights starts an hour before showtime and baby it’s cold outside....

Gay people and good theatre go hand-in-hand, see: ancient Greece and Tennessee Williams. Conversely, good gay-themed theatre can be hard to come by. How many tired ensemble pieces populated with predictable muscle marys, self-important disco queens, wilting PLWA s, stoic bears and bubbly twink ingenues (each grappling with their place in the world) can one art form support?...

ArtSpark 2008 applications are available through 3/31, and this year HBMG is awarding $15,000 in prizes to two winning creative teams. For the uninitiated, ArtSpark throws a "spark"—a piece of visual art or music—to a group of creative teams and tasks them with creating a new play or video game. If you're active in almost any creative field, check it out....

Zach Scott is getting national attention for its run of Porgy and Bess at the newly remodeled Austin Music Hall. The show runs two weekends only, and wraps up this Sunday. // Jaston Williams had great success with his autobiographical, one-man show, I'm Not Lying—and now he's back with more. This weekend only, Cowboy Noises further explores Williams' fascinating life with humor and, we expect, unflinching honesty. // We're mighty fond of local playwright Max Langert, and his current play, You're Happier Than You Think: Recalibrating Your Emotional Scale, at Frontera Short Fringe sounds like a charmer. Saturday @6:15pm, and Sunday @noon....

When I graduated from college, there's weren't a lot of gay characters in movies and TV. This was the mid-90's so when there was a gay character, he was usually dying of AIDS. I saw every one of these movies, but I was desperate to see characters more like myself....

What sets Laura and her show apart is a wild imagination and an ability to get the audience inside her head. Not only that, but she pulls this off with no set to speak of and very few props, key among what little she uses being a ukulele and a shopping cart. Luna Tart, the character, much like her creator, is not just from another era, she’s from another planet....

This might not technically be theatre, but it made for some great comedy. On Saturday's show [listen], the Car Talk guys repeated the name of Austinite and Puzzler-winner Quentin Fennessy eight times in a row.......

The third annual see.hear.speak fest opens on Thursday and closes on Saturday, with shows nightly at 8 & 10 at Coldtowne Theater. Bringing a few big-name comedy groups to town, this year's fest has quite the lineup....

Dame Edna had to cancel her entire North American tour due to complications from appendix surgery. Said the Dame in a letter to her loyal Austin fans, "Texas is no country for sick Megastars, so I will see you in November 7-9, 2008 [at the Paramount], possums."...

Sunday, 1/13, 10pm at the Alamo Downtown, the big Dick cast and Austin's premiere naughty boy band, Cedar Fever, will thrill and excite you with performances, sing-alongs, and heaven knows what else....

There comes a day when one must ask oneself: WWTDD? What Would Tyler Durden Do? If not that, then WWDD? What Would Dolly Do? In the former case, the answer is available via one pretty damn entertaining celeb blog—if that's not an oxymoron. The latter? The Getalong Gang Performance Group explores all things Parton with Dolly Would: a cast of characters who stumble, fight, and dance their way through a series of obstacles, searching......

You may not know this, but here at the Austinist theatre desk, we work our little fingers to the bone every weekend looking up all the fabulous theatre our fair city has to offer, compiling it into a list, and forwarding it to Austinist's esteemed editor for compilation into the Ist Lists. Sometimes our work is kinda cinchy...say, 15 lines or so. But other times it's a beast. Take this week, for example. This week......

FRIDAY [9] art • Joey "Jo E" Santori paints a 6'x3' piece live while DJ O'Cal spins at Canvas Bar and Gallery (10am-6pm) art • Contemporary Art Trunk Show thru Feb. 11 at Art on 5th (10am-6pm) comedy • Bog Saget at The Paramount Theatre film • Master Pancake Debuts with Titanic at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film • Weird Wednesday Reel One Viewing Party at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film • Spike & Mike's Sick......

THURSDAY [8] film • Austin Film Festival screens an archival 35mm print of Trading Places, with screenwriter Herschel Weingrod (Trading Places, Twins, Kindergarten Cop, Brewster's Millions, Space Jam) introducing the film, at Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek (7:30pm, $4 General, Free for AFF Members, "Prince and Pauper"-style menu) books • Dalton Gang Poetry Showdown with Ric Williams, Lyman Grant, W. Joe Hoppe and Rob Lewis at Intellectual Property (6:00pm) film • Love Bites, the 80s......

WEDNESDAY [7] music • Hotel, Hotel, Haunting Oboe Music at Beerland music • The Matches, I Am Ghost, Escape the Fate, The Higher at Emo's music • Lotus, The Frequency at Stubb's music • David Garza at Continental Club (Midnight, $7) music • Todd Snider at Cactus Café music • Tiny Fox, The Offisaurs, Aspen Murder at Trophy's music • Pezz Perez, The Seas at The Chain Drive (10pm) film • A Portrait of......

TUESDAY [6] film • AFS Essential: Last Life in the Universe at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar books • The Utter Reading Series presents Irwin Tang (How I Became a Black Man) and Abraham Burickson at BookPeople (7:00pm) art • Show & Tell : A digital slide jam featuring Justin Goldwater, Andrew Long, Deborah Roberts and Michael Sieben at Women and Their Work (7-9pm) books • Well-Read Women Book Club discusses Becoming Myself by Willa......

FRIDAY [2] music • A Fist Full of Duckets, featuring The Interest Kills, Finally Punk, and The Fucking Transmissions at The Mohawk (10pm, 18+, $6) ® music • Dave Barnes at Stubb's music • Black Before Red at End of an Ear (6pm, Free) ® music • Sparklehorse, Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter, Bill Baird (member of Sound Team) at Antone's ® music • For Her & The Snow, The Unfortunate Heads at......

FIRST THURSDAY [1] music • Tre Orsi (members of Shearwater, South San Gabriel, Little Grizzly), The Paper Chase, Red X Red M, at Emo's music/benefit • ME! Live presents the Emerging Artist Series Debut with Meagan Tubb band, Tacks, the Boy Disaster and the Channel at Antone’s (7pm, $5) music • Yonder Mountain String Band at La Zona Rosa music • Onion Creek Crawdaddies at Waterloo Records (5pm, Free) music • Horse + Donkey,......

WEDNESDAY [31] dj • fStar, a biweekly project about "living, breathing, moving graffiti" coupled with a live soundtrack at Jo's on 2nd Street (8-10pm, Free) dj • Cut Club at The Mohawk music • The Lymbyc Systym, This Will Destroy You, Loren Dent at Emo's music • Live Oak Decline, Sounds Under Radar at Stubb's music • Brother Will, Carley Wolf, Stoney's Spoken Word (featuring the Golden Boys) at Beerland music • Militant Babies,......

TUESDAY [30] books • Amy Wallen presents Moon Pies and Movie Stars at BookPeople (7:00pm) music • Dodo Bird, W-S Burn, Pink Nasty, The Easies at Emo's music • Stickman, Distant Seconds, The Late Fees at Beerland film • The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film • The One-Man He-Man Show at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film • AFS Essential Cinema Series: Vertical Ray of the Sun at Alamo Drafthouse South......

MONDAY [29] opera • Philip Glass' Waiting for the Barbarians at Bass Concert Hall music • Unwed Sailor, Bayta Darell, The Twilight Lieutenants at Emo's Lounge music • Hidden Hand, Kylesa, The Roller, Ironclad at Emo's music • The Fray, Mute Math at Frank Erwin Center music • Hill Country Outdoors' New Member Meeting at Opal Divine's Penn Field film • Darkon: The Movie at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film • Melody at Alamo Drafthouse......

FRIDAY [26] film • El Automovil Gris at McCullough Theatre ® art • Opening Reception: Ishmael Soto: Vessels and Inspirations: Ceramic and Sculptural Work at Mexic-Arte Museum (7-9pm, free) books • Sarah Lewis presents Indecent at BookPeople (7:00pm) comedy • Bil Dwyer at Cap City Comedy Club film • Spike & Mike's Sick & Twisted Festival 2007 at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown ® film • The Bridge at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar community • Meeting......

THURSDAY [25] music • Meryll, The Lovely Sparrows at The Parish Room music • Many Birthdays, Skiesfalling, The Ron Titter Band at Emo's music • The Laughing, Bello Ragazzo, Shapes Have Fangs, DJ Brian Tweedy at Stubb's ® music • Cartright, Pataphysics, Cavedweller, Smoke Detector at Beerland music • Ottmar Leibert at The Paramount Theatre music • The Missing Tapes, Student Film, Pompeii, The Onlys at Continental Club music • Lindsey Buckingham at Hogg......

WEDNESDAY [24] books • Dr. Steven Moore presents Alternative Routes to the Sustainable City at BookPeople (7:00pm) books • Neal Shusterman presents Everlost at BookPeople (7:00pm) comedy • Bil Dwyer at Cap City Comedy Club DJ • Cut Club at The Mohawk DJ • Tighten Up at Beauty Bar film • Stroszek at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film • Ladies of the 80s Singalong at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film • Weird Wednesday: Get Mean at......

TUESDAY [23] film • AFS Essential Series presents Beautiful Boxer at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar ® books • Jean Davison presents Ostrich Wakes at BookPeople (7:00pm) comedy • Bil Dwyer at Cap City Comedy Club film • Estrangement is Death at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film • The One-Man He-Man Show at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film • "Gilmore Girls" and "Veronica Mars" at Alamo Drafthouse Village food • "Dinner With Friends" Cooking Class with Chef......

FRIDAY [19] film • AFS presents a new 35mm print of The Rules of the Game at Dobie Theatre film • Spike & Mike's Sick & Twisted Festival 2007 at Alamo Downtown (7pm, 9:30pm, 11:58pm) Most events are probably back on schedule, but call ahead just to be sure. music • The Weird Weeds, W-S Burn, Brian Sookram, Jonathan Horne at The Peacock ($3, 9pm) art • Two Mongolian Artists From Two Generations: D.......