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Esther's Follies comedy troupe returns to live Austin performances austin360.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from austin360.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Oh, Polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, how you changed the world. And, oh, Leo Baekeland, how we depend on what you created when you formulated the first synthetic plastic, Bakelite. The Dutch migrant and researcher was as much a father of modernity as Thomas Edison, and All Things Bakelite: The Age of Plastic is a charming if brief chemistry lesson on the development of a material upon which the 20th century was built. Not that most people remember, as shown in a vox pop intro of befuddled citizens who have no clue what it is ( artificial bacon being the most common answer). Fortunately, there is a succession of chemists who explain what was so special about Baekeland s innovation, while great-grandson and executive producer Hugh Karraker is on-hand to chirpily give the familial viewpoint. ....
l-r: Timeca Seretti, BeckiJo Neill, Shannon Sedwick, Patrick King, and Shaun Branigan, raising a righteous ruckus at the Follies’ packed reopening on June 17 (Photo by John Anderson) It s Thursday, June 17, 2021, the COVID pandemic finally dwindling in the rear view mirrors – and, in the bustling Downtown of Austin, the Esther s Follies comedy troupe is preparing to return to their live stage for the first time in 15 months. More than a year of unplanned downtime has passed, with the writers and performers secluded in quarantine, each sheltering in their separate (or sparsely shared) abodes. More than a year in which a pivot toward Patreon-supported video content has been their sole means of connection with an audience, any audience. More than a year in which the internet has been the company s only connection with those for whom the Follies mix of music and madcap sketches skewering the topics of the day is what makes life, no matter how harsh, more ....