[ This Just In! ]
For Immediate Release
Date: May 2, 2006
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SALVAGE VANGUARD THEATER CELEBRATES 10 YEARS OF THE INTERGALACTIC NEMESIS
(AUSTIN, TX) - Ten years ago Buzz Moran was on a mission to find the perfect sound effect.
"Back then the toy stores had better noise-making toys," says Moran, the Foley artist responsible for creating every zip, snap and bang that occurs in Salvage Vanguard Theater's Intergalactic Nemesis.
"It drove me nuts because we'd get a new episode one or two days before the performance, leaving us only that much time to find the sound effects and rehearse them. It made my head hurt."
Moran found his panacea tucked in a nook at Austin's Toy Joy: a small robot with the ability to make tinny laser sounds.
"It's still going on the same battery from ten years ago" he says with a smile.
There's much more than a toy robot that's survived this long.
Evolving from a weekly serial performed in the confines of Little City Coffee Shop in 1996, The Intergalactic Nemesis has spawned three full-length productions: The Intergalactic Nemesis, The Return of the Intergalactic Nemesis and The Intergalactic Nemesis: Twin Infinity. Over the years, the original production has matured to resonate the characteristics of the radio-play genre complete with commercial breaks from paid sponsors and musical interludes to allow for the Foley artists to set up for the next episode.
Yet, even with these subtle shifts, the story of The Intergalactic Nemesis has remained true to its 1996 roots. Each installment follows the adventures of Pulitzer-Prize winning reporter Molly Sloan and man-from-the-future Ben Wilcott as they travel across time and space to save the universe from evildoers. They encounter characters ranging from hypnotists with mind-numbing powers to sludge-based life forms called Zygonians to evil German geneticists with monikers that are too difficult to spell and even more difficult to pronounce.
To celebrate the tenth year anniversary of the episodic serial, SVT will present all three installments of the melodramatic science fiction series to its audiences for the first time. And possibly the last.
"We're gearing up for a national tour of the original Intergalactic Nemesis and if that goes well, we will end up touring the other two, but the production of the trilogy here closes a chapter in SVT's history. This will be the last time that local audiences will get to see the trilogy in its entirety" says SVT's artistic director and co-writer Jason Neulander.
"I think I feel a tear welling up," he adds, pushing aside glasses to rub away the offending droplet.
Neulander is understandably nostalgic about the impending end of the series in Austin. The Intergalactic Nemesis and its numerous remounts are Salvage Vanguard Theater's most attended productions. The appeal, perhaps, lies in the Nemesis' ability to transport audience members to unworldly environments with Moran's now perfected Foley art.
"I think that audiences really enjoy having a world created with just sound," says original cast member Ben Wilcott. "It's a different kind of theater experience. Live Foley turns the most jaded person of the arts into a happy theater-loving fool. Buzz is the man."
Joining Moran for the final production will be Lee Eddy as Molly Sloan, Brent Werzner as Ben Wilcott, David Higgins as Timmy Mendez with Shannon McCormick, Jenny Larson and LB Deyo as various characters. Graham Reynolds will perform his original score and Hilary Thomas will join Moran as an additional Foley artist.
The Intergalactic Nemesis trilogy, written by Ray Colgan, Jessica Reisman, Chad Nichols and Jason Neulaner, will open June 1st and run through July 1st at 8:00PM at the Blue Theater (located at 916 Springdale). For tickets or more information, visit www.salvagevanguard.org or call 474-SVT6.
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