FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FR: Preston F. Kirk, APR, Kirk Public Relations, Austin (Spicewood) TX, 830-693-4447;
kirkpf@verizon.net
SPECIAL INVITATION TO MEDIA -- You and a guest are invited to be our guests any of
the three shows. Please call and make a reservation. -- PFK
EVENT SYNOPSIS: "The Village,” Feb. 3-4, a comedy drama written, directed and produced
by Dr. Ramon Carver, now of Austin, premieres at the Salado (TX) Silver Spur Theater
( 108 Royal St., Downtown ). This original ghost story-cum-play, staged by the Living
Room Theatre of Salado, involves ghosts who haunt a small Texas village coffee shop
where they observe live persons witnessing an accidental murder. The play has adult
themes and language. Parental discretion is advised. Curtain is at 7:30 p.m., Friday,
Feb.3, and Saturday, Feb. 4, with a 2 p.m., Saturday matinee. Tickets are $25 a person.
For reservations, call the box office at 254-947-3456. For directions or more info,
visit www.saladosilverspur.com. Wine, beer, cider and expanded food choices are available
through The Spuradical Social Club in the lobby: www.SpuradicalSocialClub.net. ALSO,
the Living Room Theatre presentation of a “Retrospective and Gala” at 2 p.m., Sunday,
Feb. 2, at the Silver Spur will feature scenes from plays written exclusively for
LRTS by such Texas authors as A. C. Greene and Elmer Kelton. Seating will be limited
to 150 persons.
CAPTIONS:
-- TWO digital images of Dr. Ramon Carver, author-director-producer of the new play
“The Village,” premiering at the Salado Silver Spur Theatre and running for three
shows only.
-- Some of the cast members, (L-R) Don Hale, Shannon Ashe, Stetson Gilchrest, Rita
Oden, Leanna Skarnulis and Timothy Englert rehearse "The Village" under the direction
of playwright Ramon Carver.
Comedy-Drama ‘The Village’ Premieres at Silver Spur Theatre;
Three Shows Only, Feb. 3-4; Gala LRTS Retrospective, Sun. Feb. 5
Ghost story is Playwright-Director Ramon Carver’s ‘swan song’ to Living Room Theatre
SALADO, TX (Jan. 24, 2012) – “The Village,” a new production premiering at the Salado
Silver Spur Theatre on Friday, Feb. 3, is a full-length comedy with “a smattering
of serious scenes,” according to Dr. Ramon Carver, its 79-year-old author-director
and producer. In truth, however, the play, which “takes place in a fictional village
located somewhere between Heaven, Hell and Austin,” may well be Carver’s own “swan
song” to Salado and a celebrated theatrical career. (More on that a bit later.)
The unconventional ghost story-cum-play, staged by Living Room Theatre of Salado
(LRTS), will have three performances at the Salado Silver Spur Theater (108 Royal
St.) -- two at 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Feb. 3-4, and a matinee at 2 p.m. that
Saturday. The play has adult themes and language. Parental discretion is advised.
The play’s action involves ghosts who haunt a small Texas village coffee shop where
they observe live persons witnessing an accidental murder. As one character observes:
“Real murders and accidental murders are pretty much the same thing.” In alphabetical
order, the players in “Village” are Shannon Ashe, Tim Englert, Stetson Gilchrest,
Don Hale, Hulda Horton, Jeanie Lively, Rita Oden, Leanna Skarnulis, and Knox Tyson.
A Gala Retrospective Performance featuring scenes from past LRTS productions will
be staged at the Silver Spur at 2 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 5. Attendance will be limited
to 150 persons.
Admission for all shows is $25. For reservations, call the box office at 254-947-3456
or LRTS at 254-947-5722. Checks with order details also can be mailed to LRTS, P.
O. Box 1023, Salado, TX 76571. For directions or more info, visit www.saladosilverspur.com.
The eight-year-old professional theater will serve wine, beer, cider and expanded
food choices at evening shows (only) at The Spuradical Social Club in the lobby.
http://www.spuradicalsocialclub.net/
Love Affair with Theatre
During the past 17 years, Dr. Ramon (pronounced ray-muhn) Carver has staged more
than 75 shows using more than 150 local performers in more than 100 area homes under
the auspices of Living Room Theatre of Salado. Some productions toured Texas, but
primarily served Salado, Belton and Temple. Carver flatly states that his new play
“will be the final production of the Living Room Theatre of Salado.” After a 17-year
residency in Salado with his wife Barbara, they have relocated to Austin to be closer
to their daughter and her family. The playwright, a graduate of the famed Yale School
of Drama, taught at Auburn University and other institutions, but served his longest
professorial tenure at Angelo State University as Theatre Director and Fine Arts
Dept. Head. During his more than three decades at the San Angelo, TX university,
he designed two distinctive theatres and produced more than 150 full-length shows
during his career. “At Yale, I made a choice between academic and professional theatre,”
he said. “I thought (academic) was safer, a more conventional life. I’m not sorry
at all,” said the Tampa, FL native, who also studied under famed director Paul Baker
at Baylor University in 1955. Some of Carver’s original shows were produced off-Broadway
at the Samuel Beckett Theatre, in Hollywood at the CAST Theatre, in San Francisco
at the American Conservatory Theatre, in New Haven, CT, at the Yale Drama School
Theatre and in Washington, DC, at the Kennedy Center Theatre.
A prolific author, Carver’s titles include: “Ain’t Nobody Loves You Like a Mama But
Your Mama,” “Comfort & Welfare on Interstate Ten,” “Catch as Catch Can,” “Family
Album,” “Dr. Sganarelle,” “You Can Be a Class Act,” “Texassity,” “A Little Love &
Affection,” “About that New House” and “All American – A Bicentennial Pageant.” In
Salado, he also served as a Village Alderman and founded the Public Arts League of
Salado. In 2009, the Salado Chamber of Commerce named him the Outstanding Citizen
of the Year. “I am very, very proud of that and of the folks who recognized me for
my work,” he said.
Tony Blackman of Belton has designed lights and sound for “The Village.” The LRTS’
Board of Producers is serving as the production staff for the show, including current
President Jeanie Lively as well as Jane Wilmer, Anna Lou Raney, Carolyn Britt, Vic
Means, Shirley Pinkston, Merle Stalcup, Patsy Tynes, Betsy Tyson and Margaret Williamson.
Assisting will be more former LRTS officers such as Troy Kelley and Patty Campbell,
and board members Hulda Horton, Gwen Morrison and board spouses. “We are extremely
proud that this man who has dedicated so much of his life to the theatrical arts
and to cultural awareness in our community is staging his latest play at our venue,"
said Grainger Esch, Co-founder and Executive Director of the Silver Spur Theater.
“Note, I said ‘latest.’ Ramon is full of surprises and still full of creative vigor,”
even if he does now say, ‘I have no present plans to be involved in Austin theatre’.”
About the Salado Silver Spur Theater:
The Spur is located in the renovated Guest and Sanford Granary & Feed Co. in historic
downtown Salado – a CenTex tourist destination -- a few blocks from the bustling
IH-35 Corridor. The Spur delights in reviving a bygone era of family entertainment,
offering its trademark blend of live vaudeville acts, live music, plays and classic
cinema. Weddings, reunions, business conferences, concerts, field trips, dances,
even customized private shows are held in the historical venue, with catering available
from the Stagecoach Inn and nearby restaurants.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR INTERVIEWS:
Dr. Ramon Carver, Director and Playwright, Austin TX, 254-931-5281, 512-410-4058
(H); rc@ramoncarver.com
Grainger Esch, Executive Dir., Salado Silver Spur Theatre, 254- 947-3456; grainger@saladosilverspur.com
Preston F. Kirk, APR, Kirk Public Relations, Austin, TX, 830-693-4447; kirkpf@verizon.net
