🏗️ East Austin Building Saved From Demolition

A 100-plus-year-old building near the intersection of East 12th and Comal streets will become a landmark after an Austin City Council vote this month. The landmark designation will stop a Dallas developer from demolishing the building. [KVUE]

🐶 Austinite’s Dog Named ‘Man of the Year’

Actor and Austinite Glen Powell's little dog Brisket was named “Man of the Year” in Texas Monthly’s annual Bum Steer Awards. The magazine described him as having “soulful brown eyes and feathered blond hair that makes the boyish heartthrobs of yore seem like trolls.” ❤️ [Texas Monthly]

💰 City Council Approves Funding for Homeless Shelter

Austin’s Marshalling Yard homeless shelter will stay open through September, after city council members voted to spend nearly $7 million on operations. [Community Impact]

📝 AISD Plan To Reduce Its Deficit

Austin Independent School District has some ideas on how to reduce its $92 million budget deficit, including phasing out portable classrooms. [KUT]

From the moment it starts, “Falsettos” at Ground Floor Theatre is a marvel.

The musical, which premiered on Broadway in 1992, follows a Jewish family in New York through a divorce, a bar mitzvah, therapy, and the 1980s AIDS crisis. With more than three dozen songs, it is heavy, chaotic, hilarious, and warm.

It felt almost unbelievable that the show I was watching was in a small theater in East Austin instead of Broadway or the Tony Awards or the dang moon. It was during Megan DeYoung’s performance of “I’m Breaking Down” as family matriarch Trina that I thought to myself, “This is just happening over here?”

Trina is processing the fact that her ex-husband Marvin, played by the remarkable Jacob Rosenbaum, is leaving her for a man, Whizzer, played by Nicholas Hunter. DeYoung sings while rollerskating through the theatre, pausing to chop a carrot and a banana, all while wearing a clown-esque apron. It was incredible.

Ground Floor Theatre is tucked away behind Austin Bouldering Project along Springdale Road. Tickets for the shows are “pay what you can,” and even then, the suggested payment is just $35. The amount of talent radiating out of the room is indelible.

Juno McQueen plays teenager Jason and had the room cracking up during his rendition of “My Father’s a Homo,” and had my ears perked up during the opening number, “Four Jews in a Room Bitching.” I combed through my show program to read McQueen’s biography and whispered to my friend: “He’s only a sophomore in high school.” McQueen’s control over his voice was impressive and I felt underaccomplished in his presence.

Most impressive of the show, though, was how it tackles Whizzer’s AIDS diagnosis, which Hunter takes great care with. Much art has been made about the crisis, which was on display via Keith Haring drawings on props, and a light sculpture over the stage.

The way Ground Floor Theatre gets through it in the second act is crushing and touching. It felt like the actors were reaching out and holding my heart with their hands.

Go experience it for yourself through Dec. 21.

🎨 Armadillo Christmas Bazaar at Palmer Events Center | 11:00 a.m. | $12 | Barton Springs

💀 “The Nightmare Before Christmas” at the Long Center | 7:30 p.m. | $66 and up | Auditorium Shores

🎥 “Home Alone” at Paramount Theatre | 7:30 p.m. | $12 | Downtown Austin

🎶 Robert Earl Keen's Lights, Camera, Christmas! at ACL Live at the Moody Theater | 8 p.m. | $49 and up| Downtown Austin

🎨 Armadillo Christmas Bazaar at Palmer Events Center | 11:00 a.m. | $12 | Barton Springs

🎶 Neighborhood Sing-a-long Outside at Austin Public Library Windsor Park Branch | 6 p.m. | Free | Windsor Park

❓ “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” Trivia at Sunny’s Backyard | 7 p.m. | Free | East Austin

🧑‍🎄 The Naughty List Ball & The Roast of Santa at the Ballroom at Spiderhouse| 7 p.m. | $20 and up | UT Campus

🎄 “A Christmas Carol” at Austin Playhouse | 7:30 p.m. | $24 | UT Campus

🎶 Robert Earl Keen's Lights, Camera, Christmas! at ACL Live at the Moody Theater | 8 p.m. | $49 and up| Downtown Austin

🎤 Karaoke at Volstead Lounge | 9 p.m. | Free | East Austin

👋 Bye! I’m off to get some last minute gifts!