[ This Just In! ]
For Immediate Release
Date: September 23, 2003
Salvage Vanguard Theater Revives Award-Winning Production
AUSTIN, TX--Salvage Vanguard Theater is reviving its award-winning production of Ruth E. Margraff's holiday opera The Cry Pitch Carrolls, with music by Golden Arm Trio.
Rehearsals began last light for the revival, which was called "nothing less than a small miracle" by the Austin Chronicle when it was originally produced in 1999.
"I couldn't be more excited about this production," says director Jason Neulander. "When we did the show four years ago, we knew we had something special on our hands. Now, we've realized it's probably the most artful show we've ever produced and deserving of a whole new audience."
When the company originally produced the show in 1999, it represented a turning point. It was the first show the company had done that was scored with music from start to finish. After the production of The Cry Pitch Carrolls, Salvage Vanguard Theater went on to produce its fully scored production of Wallpaper Psalm, which won a special award from local critics for "pioneering a new art form" in Austin. Then, the company produced its first full-scale opera MotherBone, which won the Frederick Loewe Music Theatre Award in 2002. Currently, the company is developing a new opera with Golden Arm Trio entitled Genghis Khan.
Neulander continues: "I wanted to revive The Cry Pitch Carrolls not only to give audiences the opportunity to see this wonderful show, but also for the company to be able to go back to its roots a little as we look ahead."
Next year marks Salvage Vanguard Theater's tenth anniversary.
The Cry Pitch Carrolls tells the story of a young mother and her small child, a town of widows where it never stops snowing, and a lost poodle named Snowball. Through simple images and musical textures, a story unfolds about a group of women who cling to the memories of their husbands. Only when they let go of those memories can they finally find the worldly comfort they so desperately seek.
"I describe this play this way," says Neulander. "Imagine you had a friend who had the most beautiful, creative, vivid dreams. Then imagine you could watch them. Ruth Margraff is that friend. The Cry Pitch Carrolls is her dream."
The Cry Pitch Carrolls opens Friday, October 31 and runs Thursdays through Sundays through November 22. Tickets are $15 ($12 students, seniors, acot) on Fridays and Saturdays. Thursdays are "Pay What You Wish". Sundays are "Starving Artist Nite", half off with a canned food donation. All performances are at 8:00 PM at the Off Center (2211-A Hidalgo St). For tickets and information, call 474-SVT-6 or visit <http://www.salvagevanguard.org>.
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