Blake Behind Bars

To write a parody of prison movies, Naughty Austin's Blake Yelavich sentenced himself to 27 films in the big house

"...OK, the last one may be just Blake Yelavich...."

Sept. 28, 2007 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Get Real!

With the Arts on Real, Blake Yelavich has managed to do what many other theatre groups in the city have been attempting to do, some for years upon years: create from scratch the premier alternative theatre facility in Austin.

"...Blake Yelavich has been around Austin theatre for more than..."

June 13, 2003 Arts Feature by Barry Pineo

Not Just Another Pretty Face

With the Naughty Austin theatre company, there's more than meets the eye.

"...the hometown theatre scene. That was in 1997, when Blake Yelavich and a few pals put together a cabaret..."

Nov. 28, 2003 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

The Colosseum: There Will Be Oil

Arts on Real goes WWE with six seminaked, well-greased men wrestling for a championship title

"...Austin is being directed – and reimagined – by Blake Yelavich, Arts on Real's producing artistic director. "It was..."

Feb. 1, 2008 Arts Feature by Barry Pineo

Arts on Real: Theatre under threat

Escalating property values may cause the Eastside's classiest warehouse theatre to close its doors for good

"...warehouse theatre wouldn't be around to see a sixth. Blake Yelavich, the actor/writer/director/producer who built the venue out of..."

May 2, 2008 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Aidan's Bed: Soda In Need of Proper Handling

Blake Yelavich's new play Aidan's Bed is like a bottle of soda, fizzling and popping with characters who are laughable, wry, and sardonic, but the author's uneven direction of his own play proves that even the best soda can go flat without proper handling.

"...the sex lives of gay men. In Aidan's Bed, Blake Yelavich has written the beginnings of that series...."

March 23, 2001 Arts Review by Skipper Chong Warson

Tricks

Blake Yelavich has transformed another Eastside warehouse into what promises to be a gem of a small theatre for years to come, but his sexual thriller Tricks, with which he opens the new Arts on Real, is much like the as yet unfinished theatre: incomplete.

"...Major kudos and good wishes to Naughty Austin, and Blake Yelavich in particular, for turning another Eastside warehouse into..."

June 27, 2003 Arts Review by Robi Polgar

It's Open ... Come On In

Screen Door Film welcomes short-film makers

"...actors. Editors meet camera operators. And you might meet Blake Yelavich...."

Jan. 21, 2005 Screens Feature by James Renovitch

When (More) Pigs Fly!

With this Naughty Austin revue, it ain't about the story; it's about the songs – and the costumes

"...a couple of them together, as Naughty Austin director Blake Yelavich has done with this one. The story, such..."

Jan. 11, 2008 Arts Review by Barry Pineo

Arts on Real: Secrets to building a successful theatre

Naughty Austin Artistic Director Blake Yelavich spills all about the creation of his theatre, Arts on Real, in his cover-story interview in the trade publication DramaBiz

"...Blake Yelavich has won thousands of dollars on TV game..."

Feb. 16, 2007 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

The 24th Day

Naughty Austin may not be known for dramatic fare, but its production of the thought-provoking thriller The 24th Day could change that perception

"...perception. "Tony Piccirillo wrote it as a play," says Blake Yelavich, Naughty Austin's producing artistic director. "He produced it..."

May 19, 2006 Arts Feature by Barry Pineo

Articulations

Naughty Austin makes a new home for itself on the Eastside, and Katie Pearl and Lisa D'Amour return to the Grove on Lamar.

"...by the man behind the Naughty Austin theatre company, Blake Yelavich. To be called Arts on Real, the venue..."

April 4, 2003 Arts Column by Robert Faires

Aidan's Bed

While each of the seven bedroom dialogues in Aidan's Bed, Blake Yelavich's tight comic subversion of melodrama, relates to a deadly sin, the play as produced by Naughty Austin, is harmless at worst and titillation at its best.

"...Blake Yelavich and Kirk Addison have built a giant wheel..."

Dec. 13, 2002 Arts Review by Rob Curran

Mr. 80 Percent

With Mr. 80 Percent, director Blake Yelavich and crew do their damnedest to entertain their audience, serving up James Sherman's loopy comedy of romance among roomies in a New York apartment with a lively energy that's winning even when the show works it a tad too hard in the "love me" department.

"...off-putting sense of the last-gasp grab for affection. Director Blake Yelavich and crew are just doing their damnedest to..."

Nov. 30, 2001 Arts Review by Robert Faires

Angel's Balcony: Rhythm Is Gonna Get You

Seven thirtysomething friends converge on a Texas beach to party, party, party, in the comedy Angel's Balcony, and with playwright Blake Yelavich providing an abundance of pop-culture references and witty banter, it's a good bet the rhythm is gonna get you.

"...Playwright Blake Yelavich opens his comedy Angel's Balcony, set mainly on..."

May 19, 2000 Arts Review by Skipper Chong Warson

'Matt & Ben'

This stage comedy is about just who you think it is, only the well-known guys are played by gals

"...local premiere, opening this week, Naughty Austin Artistic Director Blake Yelavich has cast two of his favorite actresses, Kelley..."

March 28, 2008 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

The 24th Day

Not everything in Arts on Real's production of The 24th Day comes together as well as it might, but Tony Piccirillo's script works quite effectively on the level of human drama

"...and deadly plot, this Tony Piccirillo script, directed by Blake Yelavich for Arts on Real, works quite effectively on..."

June 23, 2006 Arts Review by Barry Pineo

When Pigs Fly

If there's a surprise to the Arts on Real production of Howard Crabtree's extravagant and campy revue, 'When Pigs Fly,' it's that it's so, well, modest

"...revue, as director/set designer/costume designer/lighting designer/theatre producing artistic director Blake Yelavich has gone his own way and founded a..."

Jan. 13, 2006 Arts Review by Robert Faires

K2

Director Blake Yelavich opens his production of K2 with an image that is theatrical in the extreme, powerful and breathtaking, but sadly his Arts Entertainment Group production has no thrills left after that, leaving the show to the mercies of Patrick Meyers' long, tedious, sometimes silly script.

"...credited, but kudos to the creative team.) While director Blake Yelavich has inspired his two actors to immerse themselves..."

Sept. 5, 2003 Arts Review by Robi Polgar

Personals

While the material in Personals, a revue built around the ads placed by men and women desperately seeking soul mates, suffers somewhat from age, Naughty Austin's production makes a fine match with a cast that is exceedingly appealing and extremely adept at musical comedy.

"...mining the miseries of the mating game for laughs. Blake Yelavich and company have made comic hay of this..."

Feb. 7, 2003 Arts Review by Robert Faires

Bianka's Wake

The premiere production of Bianka's Wake, Blake Yelavich's farce about a badly behaved Madonna-like celeb has some solid physical comedy and pleasing physicality, but the lack of internal logic and shallow humor make it a weak evening of theatre.

"...Directed by Blake Yelavich, this profoundly tacky flesh feast depicts a night..."

Oct. 13, 2000 Arts Review by Ada Calhoun

Exhibitionism

Chronicle Art Reviews

"...Blake Yelavich can be credited for much of the show's..."

Nov. 21, 1997 Arts Review

Batboy: The Musical

As long as it has its mind squarely on fanged freaks, horror cliches, and musicals it can shamelessly riff off, 'Batboy: The Musical' is one bloody good time

"...Naughty Austin Artistic Director Blake Yelavich gets the joke and serves it up in..."

July 1, 2005 Arts Review by Robert Faires

2007-2008 B. Iden Payne Award Nominations

The full list of honorees for the Austin Circle of Theatres' annual theatre honors

"...Blake Yelavich (Cellbloq)..."

Oct. 3, 2008 Arts Feature

2008 Payne Awards Nominations

The full list of honorees for the Austin Circle of Theatres' annual theatre honors

"...Blake Yelavich (Cellbloq)..."

Oct. 3, 2008 Arts Feature

KidsActing: The Young Ones Take Center Stage

The space known as Arts on Real gets a new name and becomes a theatre of, by, and for kids

"...closed was Arts on Real, the elegant showplace that Blake Yelavich built out of an abandoned ice factory and..."

Aug. 8, 2008 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Pageant

There's something inherently entertaining about men in women's clothing, and you'll rarely see so many men in so much women's clothing as you will in Naughty Austin's quite entertaining revival of Pageant

"...Blake Yelavich, Naughty Austin's producing artistic director, wears multiple hats..."

Dec. 29, 2006 Arts Review by Barry Pineo

Psycho Beach Party

The humor in Psycho Beach Party might seem as mindless as the targets, but with Naughty Austin's production the fun of guys in wigs, dancing hunks, and screaming chicks yanks you in

"...to be naive not to know that one of Blake Yelavich's productions – especially one with the title Psycho..."

Sept. 29, 2006 Arts Review by Patti Hadad

'Psycho Beach Party'

Coming soon to theatres near you will be two productions of Charles Busch's camp classic 'Psycho Beach Party' – but despite having the same title, they'll be surprisingly different

"...so totally not what we do," says artistic director Blake Yelavich. "Drag queens, naked porn-star boys, and people running..."

Aug. 4, 2006 Arts Feature by Barry Pineo

Dream Come True

Back home in Texas, Lisa Scheps finally gets her place to play!

"...Vortex] and all the folks at Rude Mechanicals and Blake Yelavich [at Arts on Real] and everyone has been..."

March 18, 2005 Arts Feature by Barry Pineo

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