Austin  2009 4th of July events Austin 2009 4th of July events The 4th of July will be here before you know it, and here are some of the events scheduled around the Austin area celebrating Independence day...The largest 4th of July event in Austin is the H-E-B Austin Symphony July 4th Concert & Fireworks he Held at Auditorium Shores, The Long Center. The Austin Symphony will perform patriotic music, including the 1812 Overture, which will feature the shooting of cannons by the Texas National Guard Salute Batter Read more


Studio 2 Gallery Creature Feature Show Studio 2 Gallery Creature Feature Show This week at Studio 2 at 1700 South Lamar Tina Weitz kicked off her Creature Feature Show featuring Jill Alo. Between Jill and Tina they both collectively own around seven dogs and four cats. With this kind of inspiring scenery its easy to understand why Jill’s highly original style comes out so well in her animal paintings and drawings. This showing will also function as a drop off for donations going towards the Read more


Austin.com & Animal Rescue Austin.com & Animal Rescue Austin.com wants to help our best friends by introducing you to some of the friendly faces looking for help out there. Fred Mitchim has made some funny videos to help you find a friend. Austin.com has also attached a feature to this section that allows you to "shop" the current pets available by refreshing your page. So you can now fall in love with the one you are going to save. This section will be growing over the coming months and Austin.com will be presenting ev Read more


Free 4th of July Events Free 4th of July Events 4th of July celebrations are plentiful here in Austin, TX, but what about live music events? There are usually many different shows scheduled every weekend in the ATX. The focus here will be on a few  Austin shows that are free or inexpensive for those (most of us) budgeting for the holiday.  These events will leave you with some money left in your pocket at the end of the weekend, but still feeling like you were able to do all Read more

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Austin.com Events

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Jimmy George Austin's Pennybacker Bridge, commonly called the 360 Bridge, is an extraordinary site. Standing atop one of the highest points in Austin, the bridge resembles a ladder which houses Highway 360 beneath it without ever touching the water below. The rust colored steel bridge folds over Lake Austin, which feeds off the Colorado River and is widely considered one of the most scenic urban drives in Central Texas.     ...

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Night of the Living Dead Comes to Life on Stage
Written by Ryan E. Johnson   

Photo courtesy Weird City TheatreZombie theater extends action through November 7.

Zombie movies have become a staple of any Halloween season, so when it came time for Weird City Theatre to open their season, just a week before Halloween, the choice for a show was a simple one. They then took upon themselves the daunting task of bringing George Romero’s horror classic, Night of the Living Dead, to the stage, and the result is a bloody, gory fright fest worthy of the great horror auteur himself.

Night of the Living Dead tells the tale of a group of people, shacked up in an old farmhouse, trying to survive an onslaught of the undead. The main heroine in this piece is Barbara, who, while visiting her father’s grave with her brother Johnny, falls prey to one of the horrifying creatures of the night. She then joins a motley crew of wanderers in the abandoned house, where tensions flare and emotions run high as a black man, a bull-headed, selfish father, his concerned wife, his ailing son, and two teenagers try their best to keep the army of zombies at bay.

The intimate space of the Hyde Park Theatre makes the fright in the piece so much more palpable, because the horrible members of the living dead stand just a few feet in front of you. The makeup and effects work is top notch, especially for a theater production. Blood squirts, guts are torn out, and people are devoured right before your eyes, and all of it seems gruesomely realistic. John Carroll, who adapted and directs this stage version, does a fantastic job of keeping the tension high, making sure you never expect exactly when and how the zombies will attack, and every time you think you may find a moment peace, it is broken with the screams and moans of the zombies and their victims.

Photo courtesy Weird City TheatreThere are very few problems with this production, if you go in knowing what to expect. This is based upon Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, so you shouldn’t expect Shakespeare, Goethe or even Mamet or Miller. Though the performances are not bad, definitely not as bad as one might expect after watching the movies, there is plenty of ridiculous dialogue and campy over-acting. Though it may turn off some theater goers, the campy style actually helps to lighten the mood, and gives an homage to the campy feel of the original movie.

Though not recommended for children, those with faint stomachs, or the easily frightened, Night of the Living Dead is a terrific chance for gorehounds and  fans of the bloody, scary midnight movies to take in an entertaining night of theater. It may not have the depth and substance of some of the plays currently on stage around Austin, but it more than makes up for it with its fun, campy feel and pulse-pounding fright.

Weird City Theatre’s Night of the Living Dead has been extended through November 7 (original curtain call was November 2). Tickets are $20, and are available here.
 

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