Vaudeville for Three September Weekends

Clown Alley veterans, classic silent cinema, century-old musical instruments

 plus 'Keyboard Queen' Nelda Milligan

SALADO, TEXAS (Aug. 18, 2008) --The Salado Silver Spur Theater’s “Season of Surprises” amplifies its vaudevillian roots for three weekends in September with a new “Fall into Fun” autumn show featuring the Spuradical Players trademark blend of live, cabaret-style variety acts and classic cinema.

Performances will be at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday nights, with 2 p.m. Saturday matinees on Sept. 5-6, 12-13, and 19-20. Admission is $15 for adults; $12 for senior citizens, military personnel and students with I.D, and $8 for children. Matinees are $10, $8 and $8, respectively. Group rates also are available. For reservations, call 254-947-3456. For more info, visit www.saladosilverspur.com.

 “It’s good old-fashioned entertainment which the whole family will enjoy,” says Grainger Esch, Co-founder and Executive Director of the four-year-old, 156-seat theater built in 2003 in the renovated Sanford & Guest Granary & Feed Store (at 108 Royal St.) in Downtown Salado, just blocks from Interstate 35. The exterior retains the old feed signs and native Texas landscaping.

 “On stage, physical comedy flourishes as the Spuradicals earn laughs the hard way, with the comical chaos that has made the Silver Spur a favorite among children of all ages,” Esch emphasized. The Players include veterans of Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey’s Clown Alley: an enthusiastically droll Esch and jocular juggler Tom Rolls, both of Salado, and the inspired lunacy of Kevin C. Carr of Round Rock. Also on tap are the rib-tickling musical stylings of Silver Spur troubadour Tony Blackman of Belton, who also is the theater’s Technical Director. Grainger and Kevin will reprise their popular “Dim and Slim” antics as the show’s inimitable emcees. Tom is an Austin native who has been juggling professionally for more than 20 years, all over the country, including Las Vegas, and has been seen on the “Friday Night Lights” television series. “And who knows what surprise guest artists might drop in on the Salado stage? Anything can – and usually does -- happen at the Spur,” Esch warned.

 On screen, the Spur will present a real reel gem from the silent movie era: Harold Lloyd in “Grandma's Boy.” The 1922 classic tells the story of a small-town coward who becomes a hero. The movie is chock-full of character-driven comedy and guffaw-inspired slapstick.  “In his day, Lloyd rivaled the great Charlie Chaplin in popularity, and the appeal of his films with modern audiences is arguably better than those of Chaplin,” Blackman contends. Of course, “Grandma's Boy” will be presented in true Silver Spur fashion, with live musical accompaniment arranged and performed by the Silver Spur’s accomplished accompanist, Nelda Milligan. Live sound effects will be performed by the zany hosts on authentic, vaudeville-age instruments, some more than 100 years old.

 And now heroes, gorillas, villains and ordinary townsfolk have been seen chasing through the historic village and along the bucolic creek!

 Not to worry. It’s the Salado Silver Spur’s annual melodrama, “Perry's Hatter Is Up the Creek,” by Gary Askins. Subtitle for the melodrama-silent cinema summer hijinks is “The Deathly Secret Half-blood Prisoner's Phoenix Stone Goblet,” since it is a bit of a spoof on the Harry Potter books, with generous helpings of political satire and slapstick comedy.

 Performances are weekends in July through Aug. 23, with the July 4 show at 5 p.m. to turn-out in time for city fireworks. Typically, shows are at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights with 2 p.m Saturday matinees. Admission is $15 for adults, $12 for senior citizens (65 and over) and military personnel, and $10 for children (12 and under); and $12, $10 and $8, respectively for matinees. For group prices, reservations or more information, call 254-947-3456 or visitwww.saladosilverspur.com.

 “This is the fourth melodrama from Gary's pen, and I think it's his best script yet,” says Grainger Esch, Co-founder and Executive Director of the Spur. The150-seat proscenium theater was developed in 2003 in the historic Sanford & Guest Granary and Feed Store (at 108 Royal St.) in downtown Salado a few blocks off IH-35 between Temple and Georgetown.

 And what would a melodrama be without welcome hisses, taunts and plenty of popcorn for audience members to throw at the villain?

 “Come prepared to boo the villain and to cheer the heroes as they attempt to save damsels in distress and to protect innocent villagers from the evil clutches of rampaging gorillas and Snidely H. Whiplash,” advises, Askins. The playwright and retired master teacher of theatre at Salado High School is an original member of the Spuradical Players.

 “As always, the show will include – on our screen – our own 20-minute silent movie chase sequence through the streets and businesses of Salado,” Askins explained. “The cinematic sequence is a contemporary take on the classic beginnings of modern movie making,  a ‘Keystone Cops’ meet Buster Keaton and the ‘Perils of Pauline.’

 “We had the able assistance, both enthusiastic and reluctant, of several of Salado’s most famous and infamous citizens, including members of the championship baseball team,” he noted. “Of course, the film is complemented by the live musical accompaniment arranged and performed by pianist Nelda Milligan of Harker Heights.”

Many in the “cast of characters” are melodrama regulars and unless noted, local Salado actors. Kevin C. Carr of Round Rock is Snidely H. Whiplash, the Villain. Tony Blackman portrays Snide’s wicked sidekick, Billy Bob McMuggle. Becca Quick is Miss Goody Goody, the Heroine, and Melissa Kemp of  Midway plays her Guardian, Bertha Bovine.

The angora-chaps-wearing hero, Ranger Sam Houston "Tex" Grainger, is played by Esch, with Douglas Mackie of as his sidekick, Deputy Justin Nicholas Time. The role of Miss Katrina Love, proprietress of Miss Kitty's Passion Palace, is played by Karen Ewton, and the playwright himself is Tonkawa Tom, Chief of the Lost Tribe

“Audience reaction and participation has grown each year,” Esch noted, “The Spuradical Players, under Gary’s direction, turn their comedic powers of observation upon contemporary life and culture here in the Village of Salado. But there are scenarios that both urban dwellers and country folks will find to be filled with laughs and side-splitting silliness.”

The Silver Spur Theater strives to revive a bygone era of family entertainment, offering a trademark blend of live vaudeville acts, live music, stage plays and classic cinema. Weddings, reunions, business conferences ,concerts, field trips, dances, even customized private shows also are held at the venue, with catering available from the renowned Stagecoach Inn nearby and other area restaurants.

iT'S JODY ASKINS FAVORITE MOVIE AND YOUR CHANCE TO SING A LONG WITH THIS CLASSIC.

 That all changed about 3:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon.

 “My first hint this dinner and party were related to the wedding for the daughter of the leader of the free world, was when a local policeman outside my box office inadvertently mentioned the name Jenna,” said Esch, an actor and former clown with the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus.

“When the Secret Service agent showed up minutes later with an explosives-sniffing German shepherd and they began barricading Royal Street, I had no doubt. Jenna Bush and Henry Hager’s highly private wedding was about to spill over from Crawford, Texas, to our historic village on the banks of Salado Creek.”

 Indeed. The Silver Spur Theater would host 120 wedding party guests for a sit-down dinner. The Texas-sized celebration would add another 100 invited guests coming from the actual rehearsal and dinner elsewhere in the popular tourist destination straddling the creek and busy Interstate 35.

 The additional guests included the betrothed couple as well as the President and First Lady. The father and mother of the bride visited the party for about 45 minutes “with little fanfare inside,” Esch said. Meanwhile, outside, Salado police officers, Texas Highway Patrolmen, Bell County Sheriff’s deputies and Secret Service agents kept locals at bay and carefully checked residents trying to return to their nearby neighborhoods.

 Ms. Lineweaver turned out to be a wedding planner for Jenna Bush. And now, eight months after that fateful phone call, “everything started getting very crazy.” Esch said.

Judy Evans, a friend of the Bush family, arrived with friends and began decorating the theater. In the usual “Coming Soon” and “Now Showing” spaces, they placed large photos of Henry and Jenna, respectively. And frankly, I don’t think the double entendre was intended. “Between those, they also had a beautifully arranged photo montage of the wedding couple. Around the theatre they dangled clusters of bundled flower blooms or nosegays, some as large as a grapefruit, and all in various colors, perhaps to compliment the many pastel shades of the bridesmaids dresses to be worn on the wedding day,” Esch recounted.

Round tables were wrapped with burlap with a pastel ribbon pulling the cloth in tight underneath the table. Napkins and votive candles with matching colors complimented the tables. Leather cowboy boots had been painted wildly and turned into vases containing multicolored Gerber daisies. Many tables had large sunflowers as their centerpiece.

Additional tables were even placed on the outside patios, including the covered portion in front of the box office window, giving the locals behind the barricades a bit more about which to buzz.

 Austin Catering of Austin, TX, provided the dinner, which included a Southwest Caesar salad, a jalapeño-flavored chicken, salmon, roasted potato wedges with chipotle sauce, ice tea and coffee. An avocado bar featured pitted avocado halves with salsa, cheese and other dressings.Texas brewed Shiner Bock and the Mexican Dos Equis beers were plentiful, as well as a full complimentary bar. The party guests drank from clear plastic cups with “Jenna and Henry” imprinted on them in burnished gold.

The Spur Theater, which received the “2007 Business of the Year” award from the Salado Chamber of Commerce in January, was developed in the renovated and historic Guest & Sanford Granary & Feed Store five years ago. The exterior retains the old feed signs and native landscaping.

The property is owned by Morris Foster of Stagecoach Properties, which also has the famous Stagecoach Inn. This famous Texas watering hole dates back to 1861 and boasts a long list of notable visitors, from Texas General and Gov. Sam Houston, both Robert E. Lee and U.S. Grant, the infamous James Boys, Sam Bass, Bonnie & Clyde, all the way to former White House Press Secretary Liz Carpenter, a Salado native.

The Silver Spur Theater strives to revive a bygone era of family entertainment, offering a 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 also held at the venue (capacity 210) , with catering available from the renowned Stagecoach Inn a block away and other area restaurants.

Typical show prices range from $8 to $15 or even up to $50 per person as the weekend before when Kinky Friedman and Texas Poet Laureate Steven Fromholz held a fundraiser for an animal rescue group. But on this Friday night, there was no buying a ticket. It was strictly invitation only and very private. No photos by the Spur staff were allowed once the event started.