The Official Salvage Vanguard Theater Blog

Oh man.
Oh man oh man oh man.

It’s actually happening. The other day Neulander was totally walking around the office and showing off this very official piece of paper that said “BUILDING PERMIT” in very official looking font. The phone has been ringing off the hook with subcontractors asking questions about this and that. While I’m busy doing website stuff I can hear Etta talking about a Port-A-Potty being delivered.

A Port-A-Potty? That makes it offical in my book. Damn official.

The other day Etta went over and snapped some photos. Neulander tells me that what they’re of is the framing of the walls for the bathrooms and the new office and — I mean, walls. WALLS!!!!!!! WE’RE GOING TO HAVE WALLS! Excitement.

Wanted to share the progress with those that read. Check it out.

Wow. June 1st, baby. It’s going to so rocking on June 1st.

As everyone reading this probably knows, I helped found Salvage Vanguard Theater thirteen years ago. And in that time almost everything we’ve created has been right here in Austin. Over the years we’ve received a little bit of national attention for our work, but sometimes it feels that on a national level we’re creating work in a vacuum. Which is to say it’s very hard to tell what the rest of the world thinks of what we do here in town.

Two things have happened in the past couple of weeks that make me think that maybe, in fact, we are playing on a national stage. First, the Intergalactic Nemesis tour, which played across the country this past year, and already has nine engagements for the 2007-8 season (including the Paramount here in Austin) has just been booked into the Wortham Center in Houston. For those of you who don’t know, the Wortham Center is one of the premiere presenters in the nation. We’re in their New Now series along with Ira Glass. The Nemesis show there is November 16. We are through the roof about this. Please let your friends and family in Houston know about the show.

Second, our man Dan Dietz, who began working with SVT in 1997 as an actor, but is probably better known as the incredible playwright of Dirigible, Tilt Angel, tempOdyssey, and Americamisfit, all of which received their first productions through SVT, has been getting productions around the country with his play tempOdyssey. The show just got reviewed in the New York Times, running at New Jersey Rep. It’s very rare for the Times to print a review that’s unequivocally positive, but this was one of them. In fact (and I’m not kidding), they call the show “a brilliant tour de force.”

I couldn’t be prouder of Dan and happier for SVT. This is a major breakthrough for a guy who we’ve known for years is one of America’s most brilliant up-and-comers.

Anyway, we’re not living in a vacuum here in Austin. In fact, the nation is watching!

So, the upshot of the NY visit is that we have geniune interest in the show from venue managers, publicists, marketing people, some NY press, and producers. Based on meetings after our presentation, here’s the feedback I got:

1. The show works on a small scale, keep it that way but add set design. In other words, produce it in a 199-seat venue, not a 499, and keep the budget as low as possible.
2. the basic business plan is sound and potentially very exciting.
3. the framework for the show is great and original and clearly has potential to reach a lot of people.
4. everyone we talked to is interested in being involved, but wants to see the show in its entirety.
5. What they saw of the script is too conventional.

So, the next steps are:
1. I’m going to lead a team to do a major rewrite of the script. Our goal is to make this first chapter as strong, as fun, and as memorable as Twin INfinity.
2. We’re going to present a “workshop” production in NYC for two or three weekends in June at a location to be announced.

One thing we heard was that it might make sense to put the show up in front of the target audience, rather than a room full of producers. That’ll make it more fun for everyone and give potential investors a chance to see how this thing really will play.

So, no we didn’t get a check for a million dollars, but we definitely have made some concrete steps forward. Come June, I know we’ll deliver.

Great question, Jason!

About six weeks ago, we brought Seth Goldstein, our general manager for the NY production; Michael Coco from New World Stages; and Jeremy Lee, all around great guy from NYC to Austin to work with the Austin team, including the cast, Derek Rosenstrauch, Tim Doyle, and a couple of veteran marketing guys Gregory Kallenberg and Dave Shaw. We analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of the show and over the course of a weekend reframed the production to eliminate the weaknesses (creating a stronger visual arc, streamlining the audience participation, setting it in a clear period) and capitalize on the strengths (the fun, the script, etc.).

Yesterday, we tested this effort by presenting the concept to seventy potential NY-based producers and investors. We presented the first three episodes of the show, I showed our ideas (including the concept, the target market, the scale of the production, and exploitation opportunities) in a Keynote presentation. Then, the cast performed a five-minute wrap-up of the rest of the story.

There wasn’t enough time after the performance for me to talk with everyone who came. But, the people I did talk with seemed to be very impressed and we set up three meetings immediately with three people who could really make the show happen!

There are a whole bunch of decisions to make, including on what scale to produce the show. (We presented two scales: the extremely minimal version that we’re already doing and $1m production for a 499-seat theater.) But I’m anticipating the we’re going to have answers to all our questions by the end of the week when I leave NYC.

Buzz took a bunch of photos so hopefully those will be posted soon!

My head is spinning, but I think we’re on the right track.

We want to hear what you thought about our holiday extravaganza The Tenth Best Salvage Vanguard Holiday Ever.

Of course we realize it hasn’t started yet so that statement doesn’t quite make sense (it’s on December 8 & 9). So here’s what we can do in the meanwhile. There have been nine (count them, nine) Best Salvage Vanguard Holidays Ever before now and you might have possibly attended one of these coffee-fueled spectacles. So now’s your chance to share one of your favorite Best Salvage Vanguard Holiday Memories with all of your friends. Here. Reading this blog.

Okay, I can see you’re nervous so I’ll go first. I— I remember a man. I think it was a man. Yes, it was. There was a really tall man wearing a fedora and he was standing on the counter of Little City. He was leading a holiday sing-along. Everybody was happy and forgot all of their troubles and where they had parked their cars and were laughing and singing. The next thing I remember was being urged by a man with a beard (also standing on the counter) to purchase CDs. It was a magical evening that I’ll never forget.

Okay, now it’s your turn. Leave a comment about your Best Salvage Vanguard Holiday memory for other potential audience members to read. Just click on the little comment button below and let ‘er rip.