👀 Michelle Obama in Austin

🗣️ Michelle Obama Headed to SXSW

With just hours to go before South by Southwest starts, the festival made its biggest announcement yet: Former first lady Michelle Obama will speak in a featured session on March 13 with her brother Craig Robinson. [SXSW]

🎬 How To Do SXSW Film and TV Right

How does one get the most out of SXSW’s Film and TV track, arguably the most highly anticipated part of the festival? Eric Webb, a local writer who has been covering the festival for more than a decade, is revealing the best ways to get into a screening, which celebrities will be in Austin this year, and more. [City Cast Austin 🎧]

🅿️ Parking Fines Have Increased

New fines for violating Austin parking rules are now in effect, increasing in some cases by double. An expired or unpaid meter will cost you $75 now, for example. [Austin Monitor]

💉 Do You Need a Measles Vaccine?

As the state’s measles outbreak continues, questions about measles boosters and vaccinations abound. I’m reading this story to make sure I’m properly protected! [KUT]

• The Trump administration has now dispatched “disease detectives” to West Texas to assist. [New York Times]

My metaphorical copy of “Funny Girl” is beat up. If streaming didn’t exist, my VHS tape of the movie would be unusable with film tape falling out of it. (Is that how VHS tapes die? I don’t remember.) The 1968 hit movie that got Barbra Streisand her first Oscar is my blankie that was given to me as a child and remains sacred in my life more than two decades later.

The way I remember it, my mom sat me down when I was probably 9 years old or so and said, “We’re watching ‘Funny Girl.’” Streisand was a key part of my growing up: There was learning to shave my legs, putting eyeliner in my waterline for the first time, getting my driver’s license, and getting to know Barbra Streisand.

Other Streisand films followed in my mom’s curriculum: “The Way We Were,” “Hello, Dolly!” and “A Star Is Born.”

“Funny Girl” is loosely based on the life of the real comic and actress Fanny Brice. The musical follows Brice as she reaches for stardom in New York City after World War I, and falls in love with gambler Nicky Arnstein, two feats made all the more difficult by Brice not being considered beautiful.

Streisand starred as Brice when the show came to Broadway in 1964.

Watching the movie as a kid was all sparkles and realizing I wanted to live inside a Broadway show. In high school, Streisand’s performances of songs “Don’t Rain on My Parade” and “Funny Girl” made me feel better when I was sad and made me feel secure in who I was: A funny, powerful Jewish girl. (Cut to me in my school’s cafeteria after the latest “Glee” episode where Lea Michele cosplayed as Streisand, telling people that Streisand refused to get a nose job.)

Now that I’m a full-blown adult, “Funny Girl” is all about stepping into my power in my career and personal life.

So, a year ago when Texas Performing Arts announced the stage show was coming to Bass Concert Hall in 2025, I called up my favorite funny, powerful, Jewish girl – my mom. It was finally going to happen for us. We were seeing “Funny Girl.” Going to the show with my mom felt like a lifelong quest was finally complete, like we had taken our full form.