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THEATRE:
CAROLINE, OR CHANGE Dave Steakley directs this Tony Award-winning musical (book by Tony Kushner,
music by Jeanine Tesori) about a woman "working as a maid for a southern Jewish family and struggling to keep afloat emotionally
and financially, while the young son of her employer seeks solace in her company following the death of his mother." This
powerful show's not one of your bubbly musical-lite numbers, no. Starring Janis Stinson among a fine supporting cast and set
in 1963 Lake Charles, La. Recommended. Through Nov. 9. Thu.-Sat., 8pm; Sun., 2:30pm (No shows: Oct. 30-Nov. 1.)
Zach Theatre, 1510 Toomey, 476-0541 x1. $20 (opening weekend; prices rise thereafter). info@zachtheatre.org www.zachtheatre.org
DUG UP Austin Playhouse presents this world premiere play by Austin's own Cyndi Williams, directed
by Lara Toner and featuring Jude Hickey, Jessie Tilton, and Liz Fisher in a story about an inn in the Louisiana bayou. An
inn where the owner, whose dead sister may be returning, is living like an animal in the courtyard. And the inn's newest guest
may have just killed her husband before checking in. Through Nov. 2. Thu.-Sat., 8pm; Sun., 5pm. Austin Playhouse,
3601 S. Congress, Bldg. C, 476-0084. $20 ($10, students). www.austinplayhouse.com
GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS Coffee is for closers, but this David Mamet classic about the cutthroat world
of real estate salesmen is for anyone who appreciates rat-a-tat-tat dialogue and the extremes of greed, scheming, backstabbing,
and middle-aged angst. Well, let's see how well the City Theatre ensemble, under the direction of Andy Berkovsky and Charles
P. Stites, renders the contentious drama. Through Oct. 26. Thu.-Sat., 8pm; Sun., 5:30pm. City Theatre, 3823 Airport
Ste. D, 524-2870. $15-20 ($12, students; pay what you wish, Thursdays).
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD Weird City Theatre shambles onto the scene to present this live version
of the George Romero zombie classic, as adapted by John Carroll. All together now: Braaaaaaaaaaaaains! Through Nov.
7. Wed.-Sat., 8pm; Sun., 3pm. Special show: Fri., Oct. 31, 11pm. Hyde Park Theatre, 511 W. 43rd, 745-2636. $20.
www.weirdcitytheatre.com
POLITICAL THEATRE Out in Bastrop, here is Sorcha Blaine's world premiere of a fictitious meeting
between Mary Baker Eddy and John Wilkes Booth with asides by Abraham Lincoln, as directed by Chester Eitze. Through Nov.
22. Fri.-Sat., 8pm. Bastrop Opera House, 711 Spring StBastrop, 512/321-6283. $7-10.
SLEUTH This intense Anthony Shaffer classic gets a staging in Lockhart. Oct. 24-Nov. 8.
Fri.-Sat., 8pm. Gaslight Baker Theatre, 204 N. MainLockhart, 512/376-5653. www.gaslightbakertheatre.org
THE CASKET OF PASSING FANCY Rubber Repertory says "This is the show that will destroy our brains
and drive us to ruin," and they may be right, as directors Josh Meyer, Matt Hislope, and Rebecca Beegle present a night where
each of the only 30 audience members each night gets to choose from among 500 offered sensory experiences. You may
win, or you may lose, depending on which offer you pick while the Duchess regales the crowd with stories of faded glory and
your fellow theatregoers vanish one by one into the depths of the Blue Theater, there to intimately encounter unique delights
or unnerving squickiness or some things you'd never want to tell your mama about. This is a show for adults only, and it's
waaaaay recommended; make your reservations early. Through Nov. 1. Thu.-Sun., 8pm. The Blue Theater, 916 Springdale,
927-1118. $15-25. www.rubberrep.org
THE HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL MASSACRE Just in time for Halloween, it's a happy-go-lucky musical
about impressionable teenagers falling in love, learning about life, and being brutally murdered by a homicidal maniac! As
written and directed by Tom Booker. Fri.-Sat., Oct. 24-Nov. 1, 8pm. The Hideout Theatre, 617 Congress, 895-9580.
$13. tombooker@theinstitutiontheatre.com www.theinstitutiontheatre.com
THE PRODUCERS Mel Brooks' classic musical comedy gets an energetic staging out in Georgetown. Through
Nov. 2. Fri.-Sat., 7:30pm; Sun., 2pm. Palace Theatre, 810 S. Austin RdGeorgetown, 512/869-7469. www.thegeorgetownpalace.org
THE SHOCKER It's a theatre event, it's a Halloween event, it's a spooky and galvanizing
fundraiser for your friends at the Vortex. Join the creepy Mr. Jennings and his family on a journey through the old electrical
warehouse where the voltage may be just a bit more than you bargained for. Through Nov. 1. Wed.-Sun., 17-10pm. The
Vortex, 2307 Manor Rd, 478-5282. $12. www.vortexrep.org
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS Here's a Transit Theatre Troupe adaptation of Orson Welles' adaptation of
Herbert George Wells' original science-fiction narrative about invading Martians. Directed by Austin Alexander and Jarrett
King. Through Oct. 31. Tue.-Sat., 8pm. Fleck Hall, Rm. 305, St. Edward's University, 3001 S. Congress. Free.
UNBEATEN If the previews are any indication of quality – and we insist that they are
– you don't even have to like sports to enjoy the hell out of this new show from Salvage Vanguard Theater. The improvisational
Übermensch Shannon McCormick channels an entire game of professional football, player after player, offense and defense,
to examine what it means to lose. He's accompanied by 1) a new Graham Reynolds score that sounds, it's been suggested, like
the beginning of a pep rally in Mordor; 2) video enhancement by Lowell Bartholomee; and 3) the ghosts of gridiron heroes past.
Recommended. Thu.-Sat., Oct. 24-Nov. 8, 8pm. Salvage Vanguard Theater, 2803 Manor Rd, $12-35. www.salvagevanguard.org
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COMEDY:
DAVE LITTLE has a sharp sense of humor and a sweet guitar, which makes him doubly dangerous onstage,
albeit "dangerous" in a laid-back, moseying-down-from-Dallas sort of way. Mark Agee and Chance Royce open. Fri.-Sat.,
Oct. 24-25, 9:30 & 11:30pm. Velveeta Room, 521 E. Sixth, 469-9116. $5. (In the Clubs)
 ESTHER'S FOLLIES The most popular troupe in town returns with its riotous musical send-ups of local and national politics
and cultural phenomena, making already hot topics burn with a bright comic intensity, with the incredible and – ai!
ai! ai! – spicy illusions of master magician Ray Anderson. Thrills! Chills! Ripped-from-the-headlines events
turned into comedy gold! Reservations highly recommended. Thu.-Fri., 8pm; Sat., 8 & 10pm. $20 (discounts available
Thursdays & Fridays for seniors, students, military). Additional $5 for special reserved seats. Esther's Pool,
525 E. Sixth, 320-0553. (In the Clubs)
IMPROV OUT THE WAZOO Parallelogramophonograph goes vintage-screwball comedy with their improv,
like Bringing Up Baby and It Happened One Night, and so on, and tonight's the ColdTowne Anniversary Show.
Thu., 8pm. Next, Midnight Society presents what they're calling a Halloween Spooktacular. Thu., 10pm.
All this month the Proctor show presents a Halloweeny gambit called "The Bat," which is improv performed completely
in the dark. Now with the Faculty and Murphy. Fri., 8pm. That Other Paper presents Punchline.
The popular stand-up showcase continues. Fri., 10pm. Jabber Talky is a great name for an unscripted comedy interview
show; which is what this is. Fri., 11:30pm. Stool Pigeon features Fastball's Miles Zuniga jump-starting
the improv shenanigans that ensue. Sat., 8pm. Cage Match Finals Oh, the hue, Mandy! Sat., 9pm. Cold,
Cold Improv The ColdTowne house troupe dishes up a comedy conflagration for your entertainment, along with the ocular
proofs of Look Cookie. Sat., 10pm. ColdTowne Theater, 4803-B Airport, 524-2807. www.coldtownetheater.com (In the Clubs)
ROBERT HAWKINS Late of Fox's TV show "Titus," this nationally touring comedian's got funnier chops
than a clown in a butcher shop. (Insert rimshot here.) No, really, he's good - he calls his website "The Hawk Nest;" he must
be some kind of superhero - and Geoff Tate opens. Oct. 21-25. Tue.-Thu., 8pm; Fri.-Sat., 8 & 10:30pm.
Cap City Comedy Club, 8120 Research #100, 467-2333. www.thehawknest.com (In the Clubs)
SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL Gnap! Theatre Projects nails the weekend to a latenight comedy wall
with this excellent improv showcase. This week: Parallelogramophonograph and the Halloweeny frightness of Haunted.
Sat., Oct. 25, 10:30pm. Salvage Vanguard Theater, 2803 Manor Rd, 474-7886. $10. (But Wait -- There's More!)
SATURDAY: Start Trekkin' Lower those deflector shields, Federation lackey, because the skiffiest
improv show this side of the Neutral Zone is back with all phasers set to disintegrate your funny bone. 8pm. $10. Maestro
is a fierce, multipartite battle for supremacy among improvisers, scored by you, the audience. Highly recommended.
10pm. $10. The Hideout Theatre, 617 Congress, 443-3688. www.austinimprov.com (In the Clubs)
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