[ This Just In! ]

For Immediate Release
Date: November 8, 2000

Salvage Vanguard Theater Presents It's Next Best Holiday Ever!

AUSTIN, TX--Salvage Vanguard Theater mounts it's fourth annual production of "The Next Best Salvage Vanguard Holiday Ever", a collection of 10 new five-minute plays, Friday, December 8 and Saturday December 9, at Little City Coffeehouse in downtown Austin (916 Congress). The show starts at 9 PM both nights. Admission is $5 at the door, no reservations. For more information, call (512) 474-SVT-6.

"Best Holiday" is a quick and dirty presentation of work of some of the finest writers in Austin and around the country. Each writer is given a theme—this year's theme is "snow"—and has one week from receiving the theme to create a five-minute script based on the theme. On November 27, the actors and directors of the pieces will be given the scripts. Then, each piece gets a maximum of four hours of rehearsal time over the ensuing two-week period. The entire group reconvenes one hour before performance time on Friday December 8 to resolved any performance issues and the show goes up in front of a packed audience.

In past years, packed houses have required audience members to stand and sit under tables, so people coming are encouraged to get there early to get a good seat.

Jason Neulander, the company's co-Artistic Director says: "When we first started this show, we figured it would be a one-shot deal, but it was so popular we did it again and now it's a vital part of what we do. This year's really does look to be the best of the best. We're very proud to have established a bona fide Austin tradition."

The writers for the 2000 "Next Best Salvage Vanguard Holiday Ever" include veteran "holiday" writers Travis York, Andrea Moon (The American Demons), Adam Sobsey (The Essence of Comedy), Ray Colgan (The Intergalactic Nemesis), Jessica Reisman (The Intergalactic Nemesis), John Walch (WINNER! The Kennedy Center New Play Award), and Kirk Lynn (MULTIPLE WINNER! ACT Awards). Newcomers to the holiday tradition include Carey Friedman (based in Chicago), Caridad Svich (based in Los Angeles), and Neena Beber (based in New York).

Actors and directors include Chad Nichols, Corey Gagne, Michael Kranes, Stephanie Swenson, April Matthis, David Sangalli, Joseph Meissner, Dan Dietz, Jason Neulander, Ken Webster, and Lana Dieterich.

Salvage Vanguard Theater is a nonprofit arts organization located in Ausitn, Texas, committed to fostering a dynamic exhange 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 which defy theatrical traditions and define a new American avant-garde.

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