Blake Yelavich has won thousands of dollars on TV game shows, kept his theatre company Naughty Austin going strong for a full decade, and transformed an old ice warehouse into a stylish and intimate theatre, Arts on Real, now in its fourth year of successful operation. Well, this month, add cover boy to Yelavich’s list of achievements. The seemingly tireless director/designer/set-builder/administrator/bartender/you-name-it is pictured on the front of the current issue of DramaBiz, a trade publication for the show-business set, emphasis on “business.” Magazine Editor Joel Dorr conducts an in-depth interview with Yelavich, who explains how the cash earnings from his appearances on Win Ben Stein’s Money and Weakest Link provided the seed money for his dream of having his own theatre and how his savvy at stretching a dollar and using his theatrical skills at dressing up a space made an abandoned warehouse off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard look like a million bucks for a fraction of that. Yelavich also shares his thoughts on what it takes to make it in the stage game (short answer: strong, unwavering commitment and perseverance through the long, lonely hours and inevitable disappointments) and how important the audience has been to Naughty Austin’s survival. It should make for good reading before you go see the company’s latest production, Mambo Italiano, opening this week at Arts on Real, 2826 Real in East Austin. The feature can be found online at www.dramabiz.com. For more information on Mambo Italiano, call 472-2787, or visit www.artsonreal.com.
This article appears in February 16 • 2007.