Articulations
A meeting on the Long Center; a profitable gala for Austin Musical Theatre; a new season for Salvage Vanguard Theater.
By Robert Faires, Fri., March 3, 2000
Get the Skinny on the Long
If you're an arts maven who wants to stay up-to-date on the latest development of the Long Center for the Performing Arts, grab your DayRunner and make sure you're available Wednesday, March 8, at 5:30pm. That's when folks from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the prestigious Chicago design firm that's leading the architectural transformation of Palmer Auditorium into a performing arts center on the Shores, will present schematic designs they've prepared based on the facility program reported here last week. The ARTS Center Stage Architectural Design Committee is inviting all Central Texas arts groups and potential users of the Long Center to this presentation. You'll get a chance not only to see drawings of the facility, but to question the architects yourself. Space is limited, so call Letty Chavarria at 482-0800 to let her know you're coming. The presentation will be at the office of TeamHaas Architects, 1011 San Jacinto, suite 411. To find out more about the facility program for the Long Center, go to www.artscenterstage.org.
135K 4 AMT
Big money in the Austin arts scene may not be what it used to be. With all the multimillion dollar budgets for cultural projects these days -- and a few multimillion dollar gifts to go along with them -- arts money in the six-figure range may seem old hat. But you can bet the folks at Austin Musical Theatre are pleased with the six-figure total they raked in for their Valentine's Day gala. Their A Broadway Romance, held at the Four Seasons Hotel on February 13, raised $135,000 for the company. It could have been the holiday that caused AMT's patrons to be so generous, or the show-stopping Cole Porter songs from AMT Gypsy queen Pamela Myers or perennial roof-raiser Jacqui Cross, but we think it was the surprise duet by AMT leading lights Scott Thompson and Richard Byron that spurred the generosity. Proceeds benefit AMT's Performing Arts Academy and the company's May production of The Music Man.
By the way, AMT has leaked its plans for the 2000-01 season: the triple threat of Oklahoma!, Oliver!, and Mame.
Seasons in the Sun
Speaking of seasons, Salvage Vanguard Theater has announced its three-play season for 2000. First up is Mac Wellman's Terminal Hip, an 11th-hour replacement for the previously announced revival of Ruth Margraff's opera Wallpaper Psalm. New co-artistic director Dan Dietz stars in this solo work which has the actor delivering an ominous (and hilarious) lecture in which language as we know it has been exploded. SVT founder and co-artistic director Jason Neulander directs. The piece kicks off in just three weeks at The Hideout on Congress. Second in the season is a revival of SVT's radio serial The Intergalactic Nemesis, by Ray Colgan, Lisa D'Amour, Julia Edwards, and Jessica Reisman. It's a throwback to Thirties radio adventure, with a tough reporter, an evil genius, and fascists from beyond the stars! Look for it in May. Ending the season is a new original piece combining the talents of Dietz, Neulander, Margraff, and choreographer Deborah Hay, as well as the fiction of Fyodor Dostoyevsky and the fact of modern headline news. Titled The American Demons, the performance work links 19th-century Russian violence to 20th-century Columbine High. The work will premiere this fall. For more info, call 474-SVT6.
