MISSION

Salvage Vanguard Theater is a nonprofit arts organization located in Austin, Texas, committed to fostering a dynamic exchange between visionary artists and audiences new to their work. To that end, Salvage Vanguard Theater seeks to combine explosive energy with expert technique, creating forms that defy tradition and define new American theater.

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What We Do

• Produce new plays by up-and-coming writers from around the country
• Reach out to at-risk teens with our educational program ArtReach
• Publish the scripts of the plays we produce and release music CDs from those plays
• Offer our expertise to the rest of the community through administrative workshops
• Manage a paid Resident Company, keeping Austin's local artists local
• Serve as a fiscal umbrella for a puppet company, a performance salon, a music collective, an improv comedy group, and a dance company
• Tour our work nationally with representation by Rena Shagan Associates in NYC

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What We've Done

Salvage Vanguard Theater has produced more than 50 productions in Austin since 1994, including new musicals and operas (The Cry Pitch Carrolls, MotherBone, Genghis Khan), wild solo shows (Terminal Hip, STATIC) and, of course, straight-up plays (tempOdyssey, The Death of a Cat). The company has produced in venues across central Austin, including The Off Center, Hyde Park Theatre, and even a circus tent on the corner of 5th and Lamar. We have reached more than 33,000 people in the past 12 years, 60% of whom are under the age of 30, and have employed more than 700 artists.

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Awards We've Won

Lots. Including grants from The Rockefeller Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Meadows Foundation, Dell Computer Corporation, Austin Community Foundation, and The Houston Endowment. We've received numerous local theater awards including Best Drama, Best Comedy, Best Musical, Best Director of a Comedy, Best Director of a Drama, Best Director of a Musical, and Best Actor. In 2005, all three of our mainstage shows were listed in the critics' "Top Ten" lists, including the number one music event in the Austin American-Statesman (Genghis Khan) and the number one theater event in The Austin Chronicle (Americamisfit). We have been ranked number one out of 40 theater companies applying for funding from The City of Austin–above Zach Scott and the Paramount! In 2004 and 2005, we won "Best Theatre Director" (Jason Neulander) and "Best Actress" (Lee Eddy) in The Austin Chronicle"Best of Austin" readers' poll, and the mayor of Austin officially declared March 26, 2004, "Salvage Vanguard Theater Day" in celebration of our tenth anniversary.