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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2008 > April > 29
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Arts on Real may lose East Austin home
Arts on Real Theatre may lose the lease on the East Austin property it has called home for the past five years.
The venue, at 2826 Real Street, is the permanent home of theater director Blake Yelavich’s Naughty Austin Productions, which is the primary presenter of shows at the theater.
In an e-mail sent to supporters April 23, Yelavich wrote that “we will be forced to close (our) doors by the end of May if we do not raise $7,500 by the end of April.”
A copy of the lease obtained by the American-Statesman shows that Yelavich was required to pay from $2,480 per month to $3,100 per month for the past 11 months in a graduated rent payment schedule over 60 months. The lease also required that Yelavich pay the taxes on the property.
A statement issued by Gary I. Currier, an attorney with Vack, Kiecke and Currier who is representing the property owner, LWR Family Partnership LP, said that the nonprofit theater organization “was in almost continuous default of the lease by failing to pay its rent on time, wrote several rent checks that were returned for lack of sufficient funds and still owes a considerable sum in back rent to the landlord.”
Currier did not respond to a request asking for the specific amount LWR Famly Partnership was owed by Yelavich.
“In all honesty there have been cash flow problems with the organization,” said Catherine Tabor on Tuesday, an attorney with Tabor Law Firm who said she was providing pro bono legal services to Arts on Real. “All we really want is May, to (have the time to) sort out the numbers and figure out what is owed and to negotiate the next year’s rent,” she said. Tabor said that documents she received Tuesday from Currier revealed that $15,000 was owed by Arts on Real. She said that almost $10,000 has been raised by the organization since last week. She added that Yelavich had added $30,000 of improvements to the property over the five years he has occupied it.
Multiple calls to Yelavich were not returned Tuesday.
Larry Rother, representative of the group that owns the property, referred all questions to lawyer Currier when reached for comment. In the statement from Currier, he said that LWR Family Partnership, “has decided not to extend the lease on the property leased to Arts on Real.”
This is a developing story and updates will be posted.
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Zach extends ‘Doubt, A Parable’ for an extra month
Due to the popularity of the show, Zach Theatre will extend “Doubt, A Parable” for an additional four weeks beyond its original end date of May 11. The production will continue through Sunday, June 8.
Show times are 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays. ZACH Theatre’s Whisenhunt Stage, 1510 Toomey Road. See the Zach Web site for more information.
Directed by internationally renowned playwright Steven Dietz, John Patrick Shanley’s Tony Award-winning suspenseful, drama takes a look at the goings on of a Catholic school in Bronx in 1964 when a independently minded nun grows suspicious of a young priest who seems to take a special interest in a new student.
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Salvage Vanguard Theater announces new leadership
Salvage Vanguard Theater has appointed a new executive director and an interim artistic director to fill the shoes of company founder Jason Neulander, who announced his departure from the nonprofit group last fall.
Here’s the official news release from the theater:
Salvage Vanguard Theater, an Austin theater company founded in 1994, has selected two people to replace founder and Artistic Director Jason Neulander when he steps down on May 30.
Following a four-month national search, SVT has hired Brad Carlin as executive director of the fourteen-year-old company. Jenny Larson, currently SVT’s associate artistic director, will serve as interim artistic director.
“There is genuine excitement on the Board about our future with Brad and Jenny leading the organization,” says SVT board chair Reza Shirazi. “We’re evolving from a founder-driven company to a full-fledged Austin arts institution.”
When Neulander announced he was leaving last year, the company’s board determined that they would split his role into two positions. They quickly asked Larson to step in as interim artistic director based on her long association with the company as they began a national search for an executive director.
Shirazi led a succession committee through the four-month search. The committee received resumes from coast to coast. When the time came to select the new leadership, the committee’s vote was unanimous.
“Jenny and Brad have a natural chemistry,” continues Shirazi. “Both can focus on their specialties, and together they will find great ways for SVT to have impact on the artistic community in Austin.”
Before accepting the position with SVT, Brad Carlin was the associate managing director of SITI Company (an ensemble theater company led by Anne Bogart and based in New York City). Prior to his time with SITI, he worked with the managing director of City Theatre in Pittsburgh while earning his masters degree in arts management from Carnegie Mellon University. While in Pittsburgh, he led research projects on tax policies supporting the arts and arts education for American for the Arts. Carlin is also an alumnus of the prestigious Theatre Communications Group’s New Generations Mentorship Program.
Carlin’s roots in Austin run deep. He has a BA in acting from St. Edward’s University and has worked on stage and off with many local theater companies, including SVT, Hyde Park Theatre, the Rude Mechanicals, and Refraction Arts. His work was recognized with several ACoT B. Iden Payne Award nominations, Critics Table Award nominations, and a Deacon Crain Award.
“I feel like the challenges and experiences I have gained while away will be invaluable in charting a path for the next fourteen years of SVT,” says Carlin. “Salvage Vanguard Theater is a robust and vital company with a nationwide profile, and I am honored to be entrusted with continuing SVT’s transformation into an Austin institution.”
Jenny Larson has been active in Austin theater as an actor, director, and teacher for over ten years. Larson has a BA in theater from St. Edward’s University and has been involved with numerous local and touring theater productions. Larson’s first experience with SVT was as an audience member at SVT’s 2000 production of Terminal Hip. After seeing the show, she knew she had to work with the company.
“I have always had and continue to nurture my love for new works, edgy performance, and productions that defy tradition,” says Larson. “This company has always been a perfect fit for me.”
Larson started her professional relationship with SVT in 2001, first as a literary intern, then as an actor, literary manager, resident company member, director, and finally, associate artistic director. Larson has won numerous local theater awards and has already directed three SVT main-stage productions.
Larson’s enthusiasm about the future is palpable: “I am very excited and hopeful as I step into this next phase of not only my career, but of Salvage Vanguard Theater’s development. And I am thrilled to be working with Brad Carlin.”
Salvage Vanguard Theater’s next production is Hamilton Township by Jason Grote, directed by Jenny Larson. It opens May 30 and plays through the end of June at Salvage Vanguard Theater, 2803 Manor Road in Austin
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