Tony Kushner was robbed. And that’s all I’m going to say about last night’s sexist yawn-fest. Now it’s time for a different sort of ballot. Best of Big D voting started this morning, which is your chance to pick your favorite shops. That’s toy stores, record stores, women’s clothing, everything. May there be at least one Christoph Waltz-level surprise.
Dreary, dreary Monday. Over in Fort Worth, Stage West presents the winners of this year’s new play contest with a series of staged readings. Tonight’s play is by first runner up Paullette MacDougal, an Austinite. It’s called Sisters Under the Skin, and the story revolves around three women who play a role in the Underground Railroad and the final days of the Civil War: a slave in Jefferson Davis’ Richmond household, Mary Bowser, the slave’s owner, Elizabeth Van Lew, and Davis’ wife. It’s based on the true story of Van Lew, who spied for the Union Army, and the rumor that she really did install Bowser (also a real person) as a informant in Jefferson Davis’ home. The nice thing about Stage West is that the theater has a pretty good café right inside the building, offering desserts, drinks, and snacks.
Over at Deep Ellum Brewing Company, there will be meat. And heavily tattooed chefs. Foodways Texas, an organization dedicated to preserving and celebrating the “diverse food cultures” of our state, has put together a Suds and Smoke dinner featuring local beer (six Deep Ellum brews on tap) and familiar faces around town. The menu includes lamb barbacoa tacos (from Tim Byres, of Smoke and Chicken Scratch), pork belly (from Justin Fourton of Pecan Lodge), mussels (from David Uygur, of Lucia), and more. The ticket price benefits Foodways’ oral history project, and you can still snag seats online, which is more than I can say for the booked-up Jester King sour beer dinner at Meddlesome Moth.
For more to do tonight, go here.
