Many people took to the stage for several of the more energetic pop princess songs like Beyonce’s “Single Ladies,” where we were asked to display the flashing gummy rings they provided us while waiting in line. They also threw out glow sticks in hoards during “Toxic” and again during Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA” and confetti rained down during Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone.”

There were many favorites from the ’80s and ’10s ranging from The Pointer Sisters’ “I’m So Excited” and “Love is a Battlefield” (in which, yes, Pat Benatar and company shimmy at a man to frighten him) to “Womanizer” and Taylor Swift’s “You Belong with Me.”

There were also, of course, Lady Gaga videos, which I admit I’ve only heard about in legend until last night (though I already loved her music), and they’re amazing. Just those videos alone make this experience worth checking out.

Never been to a sing-along? Basically, you’re surrounded by a sold-out theater of people who want to sing and dance along with their favorite videos, loudly, so any possible shyness evaporates during the first line of the first song played. People also tend to dress up (I might’ve sported a hot pink wig) and dance dance dance. And just in case you don’t know the words to a song, they run them on screen, so you’ll be able to sing your heart out to every lyric.

Word to the wise: Buy tickets while they last. Sing-alongs tend to sell out very quickly.

On Friday night, the ladies took their neon, taffeta and teased hair to the Thirsty Nickel’s stage. The bar is owned by Brad Womack, star of “The Bachelor’s” 11th season. Womack also owns The Dizzy Rooster and The Chuggin’ Monkey, both of which Cover Girl will play in July and August.

In addition to belting out rad songs from the Reagan era, Cover Girl sold hot pink slap bracelets and effectively channeled the feel-good fun and frivolity of the Decade of Greed.

The Austin Chronicle’s 2009-2010 music awards ranked Cover Girl the city’s #6 best cover band, which is four spots above Austin’s other esteemed ’80s cover band, The Spazmatics.Cover Girl kicked off Sunday’s show with performances by members of Girl Guitar. To see a sample of Cover Girl’s awesome set list, please click here.

Cover Girl‘s lead singer is Mandy Rowden, founder of Girl Guitar Austin, which offers lessons and opportunities for women to take their musical talent to the stage. Click here to read Cynthia’s post about the awesome experience of Girl Guitar classes.

Despite my brief foray into pole dancing, I am not an athlete. In fact, I’m like the least athletic person ever. I got my PE credit in high school from marching band. (Band geeks unite!) I’ve done a lot of fast walking for exercise, but I’ve always dreamed about being one of the people running past me on the Lady Bird Lake trails. Running can seem pretty daunting to someone who has never tried it, so if you’re also a running newbie, I recommend three things: (1) find a running buddy, (2) commit to a training plan and (3) sign up for a 5K, preferably one that offers mimosas at the finish line, like the one I’ll be running in this weekend.

First, I lucked out in my running buddy, past Chickster guest blogger Barbara, not only because she is awesome and loves the idea of mimosas after a workout as much as I do, but because she is married to a bona fide marathon runner who found us the perfect (and oh-so-grueling) five-week 5K training program from Runner’s World magazine. Here it is:

As a running newbie, the training trail wasn’t without bumps. Sweating just plain sucks. And it’s really hot out. Those are givens, but I wasn’t expecting to get so sore in my shins. Luckily, a trip to RunTex to get fitted for new shoes and learn some good stretches for my shins and calves helped immensely. Even if you feel foolish stretching in public, don’t skip it. Your legs will thank you after, believe me. And on the walking or cross training days, I found that throwing in a little yoga helped my sore muscles feel better too.

If you’re intimidated by running like I was, you might also look for a 5K that is billed more as a “fun run” than a hyper-competitive chip-timed event where everyone will be focused on their completion time. We opted for a women’s only 5K that’s part of the Lavender Festival in Blanco, but the Keep Austin Weird 5K is coming up on June 26 and carries with it the low-pressure billing of “the slowest 5K you’ll ever run,” not to mention the fact that people run in wacky costumes. Or if you’d rather suffer through your five kilometers while supporting your favorite team (Edward or Jacob, of course), check out the vampire-themed Twilight 5K at the Hill Country Galleria, also on June 26. For a listing of running events in the Hill Country area, visit RunTex’s comprehensive calendar.

We’re in the final week of training, and I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d be able to run 3.5 miles without stopping, but somehow, I made it through. (For my indoor training days, I owe a shout-out to SoapNet’s endless supply of “Beverly Hills, 90210″ reruns for helping make those treadmill sessions bearable.) Now that I think about it, I probably should have held out on this post until after I (hopefully!) complete the 5K this weekend. Depending on how it goes down, I might have to come back next week with a post on how NOT to train for your first 5K. But either way, at least I know there will be a mimosa waiting for me at the finish line.

In “A Chorus Line,” 17 hopefuls dance, talk and sing their way through an audition for a part in the chorus of a new Broadway musical. That stage setting is spare, and the realities we come to learn of each character’s past are harsh. From brash Sheila to wounded (in more ways than one) Paul, each character gets their time to shine, be it a song, a dance or a monologue, during the audition process, and by the time the casting director is ready to name the four men and four women who have made it into the show, you genuinely care for all of them and feel bad for the ones who are sent home.

The show premiered in 1975, and in addition to the dancing, features songs from the great Marvin Hamlisch, including the famous “One,” all of which helped it earn Tony awards for best musical, book and score and the Pulitzer Prize for drama. But aside from the accolades and the Broadway setting, as cliched as it sounds, “A Chorus Line” really is for anyone who has ever had a dream to do anything with their lives, whether it’s making it as a dancer in New York or owning your own business or writing that Great American Novel, and how heartbreaking the loss of that dream can be. But as Diana sings in “What I Did For Love,” the dream makes all the hard work worth it, whether or not it ever comes true.

The show runs through Sunday at Bass Concert Hall on the University of Texas campus. Tickets start at $20, and you can find out more here.

On the second Sunday of the month, you can take a trip back to the ’50s and ’60s at this East Sixth Street bar, where the DJ spins vintage R&B, rock-n-roll, doowop, rockabilly and soul from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Sure, it will probably leave you tired come Monday morning, but when else can you actually bust out the mashed potato or the watusi in public? As an unabashedly girlie girl, the best part might just be the clothes. While there are a few attendees in their standard hipster uniform, most sock hoppers dress to impress in their vintage best. The dance floor is crowded and dark, which we all know are the ideal conditions for dancing. With all the twisting going on, it can get a little steamy, so when you need a break, you can escape to the fresh air of Shangri-La’s wonderful elevated patio.

One final sartorial word to the wise–go with the flats. You won’t regret it. And leave the watermelon at home too.

When the MetroRail finally opened for business last month, I checked out the service schedule, and my stomach sank. I must have been too excited about the prospect of never having to circle around the same downtown block again and again while scouting out an elusive parking spot to pay attention to the realities of the MetroRail service, which were that the trains would only run on weekdays and, even then, only for a few hours during the morning and evening commute. “Seriously?” I asked the CapMetro website. “Seriously,” it confirmed.

Because my office isn’t located along the line, I couldn’t figure out when I would finally be able to ride the rail. Then my mom decided to come for a visit, and I took a day off work, giving us the perfect opportunity to take advantage of my favorite form of public transportation.

When we pulled up at the station at 8:20 to catch the last southbound train of the morning, there were fewer than a handful of people on the platform. We bought our tickets at the machine ($6 each for an unlimited 24-hour pass) and the train quickly approached. We boarded, and the first thing that struck me was how clean the car was. Then I noticed how comfortable the seats looked. Only after I sat down did I realize that we’d be facing backward on our journey, which was a bit of a bummer since I am embarrassingly prone to motion sickness. I noticed that several other passengers were working on laptops using the free wifi service, and a few had even stowed their bikes on the rack inside the door. The trip downtown took about a half hour. Honestly, it felt like we were moving really slowly, but the trip was smooth and the scenery through the big picture windows held my interest the entire time. During the first part of the journey along Mopac, my mom even commented that it felt like we were in a tunnel of trees, but then the view gave way to houses and schools and roads until we arrived downtown just outside the north entrance of the convention center on Fourth Street.

With the afternoon train a good eight hours away from departing, we spent our day downtown like tourists – breakfast at the delicious 1886 Cafe & Bakery, shopping at Sixth and Lamar, burgers at Hut’s, an early happy hour in the warehouse district and even taking the surprisingly educational and hilarious Austin Duck Tour. When we made our way back to the downtown platform to leave, it was much more crowded than it had been that morning. In fact, by the time the car left, there was someone seated in every single row. Somehow we still ended up facing backward on the return trip up north (how is that even possible?), but when I thought about how I would normally be stuck somewhere along I-35 around 5:15 p.m. on a Friday afternoon, I didn’t really care which direction I was facing. I was just grateful we were moving.

The Girlie Night screening of “Big” is tonight at 7 p.m. at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz and will be hosted by the lovely Sarah Pitre. For more information on the Girlie Night series, click here.

Now it’s time for you to vote for your favorite couple to win a free wedding on the set of the play. The ZACH Theatre folks have narrowed it down to four couples, and you can watch their video submissions here or just watch the videos below.

Scott and Taylor

I love the Photoshopped movie posters (“Ghettotar” made me nearly spit out my water), and the song is sweet too. And who wouldn’t love a Taco Bell hot sauce proposal?

Marshall and Alicia

The interviews are adorable here, and it’s so cute to see how the couple interacts together.

Reid and Jen

This one made me cry. You’ve got to love a surprise proposal!

Chas and Gerardo

They sound like such an Austin couple – a musician and an environmental crusader. The shots of them around the city are beautiful.

Voting ends at midnight on April 16, and the winning couple will be announced the next day. Click here to vote. So what do you think? Who should win the free wedding?

Fables: New Art by Graham Franciose opened March 25 at the Austin Art Garage and will continue through April 24. Featuring free entry and free beer (Lone Star was one of the sponsors), opening night clearly had many appeals in addition to the art, which exposed Franciose’s imagination as an interesting dichotomy of morose and cheerful. There was also a story contest in which the first and second place winners were awarded one of Franciose’s signed canvas prints. To enter, attendees of the opening wrote a short story onto an index card and taped it beside an art piece of their choice. The winning stories are below.

©2010 Graham Franciose

First place: Jeff St. Onge, for his story based on Graham Franciose’s ”She Sat Waiting for the right one to find her”:

Once there was a little girl. She loved her pet bird very much. The only thing she loved more was riding elevators to the penthouse floor and climbing the highest hills in town. One day she went walking, carrying her beloved bird in its cage. They came upon a strange object—a very, very, very tall chair. They girl climbed and climbed until she reached the top, whereupon she sat down to survey her surroundings from her unexpectedly tall perch. An overwhelming desire came upon her, and she opened the bird cage and let her winged friend escape.

She watched in satisfaction as he flew faster and farther than he’d ever flown before. She watched in gratitude as the little bird was welcomed into the flock around them. And she contemplated the quiet rewards of letting go of the things you love.

©2010 Graham Franciose

 Second place: Levi McGlathery, for the story based on Graham Franciose’s “The Lonesome Giant”:

“It’s lovely to meet you here,” the giant said to his new friend. ”I’ve been ever so lonely up here.” His new friend did not respond. ”You’re the quiet type, huh? That’s okay, I’ve got plenty to talk about.” His new friend began to drift apart. “Please don’t leave me,” the giant pleaded, but his new friend didn’t hear.

For more information about the Austin Art Garage, you can also visit this blog.