Ethos & The Vortex present ATLANTIS: A Puppet Opera (September 03-24, 2016 @ 8PM) By Chad Salvata Directed by Bonnie Cullum Presented by Ethos in association with The VORTEX Filmed and edited by Magic Spoon Productions The VORTEX is on fire with excitement over this amazing new puppet opera!! Ethos has teamed up with VORTEX artists create a magnificent and inventive piece of theatre. Ethos Artistic Director, Chad Salvata has created a mythic world of powerful warring religious zealots who are obsessed with world domination and non-renewable energy. With a soaring original score and some of Austin’s best vocalists, this production is sure to be one of the most exceptional theatrical works of the year. In Atlantis, Queen Solstra and Prince Helios, with their mighty battleship Invinctus, seek world domination through a war with Lemuria and its powerful Dragon Air Ship. They must harvest the Red Eye of the last Kracken for the Red Energy, but their greed and thirst for revenge will lead to the inevitable destruction of civilization. A cautionary environmental tale with Chad Salvata’s dynamic original score offers a magical realm with fantastical puppets, magnificent production designs, seductive Mermaids, menacing Sharkmen, and majestic Oceans. CAST The powerhouse vocalists of the stellar cast include award-winning VORTEX Company members Michelle Haché, Justin LaVergne, Anderson Dear, Melissa Vogt, and Jonathan Itchon, with Rachel Pallante and Jeremy Moran. The cast also includes the multi-talented performances and puppeteering of VORTEX Company members Emerald Mystiek, Eryn Gettys, Gabriel Maldonado, Annie Kim Hedrick, and Patricia Wappner, with Abigail Lucas, Ciera Ramirez, and Whitney “Starlight” Carpenter. PRODUCTION TEAM The production team of Atlantis: A Puppet Opera is packed full of award-winning creators, directors, and designers. Director Bonnie Cullum (VORTEX Producing Artistic Director) has teamed up with Connor Hopkins (Trouble Puppet Artistic Director) and Caroline Reck (Glass Half Full Theatre Artistic Director) and award-winning VORTEX designers Ann Marie Gordon and Melissa Vogt to bring the puppets and scenery of Atlantis: A Puppet Opera to life. Jason Amato returns to Austin to contribute his stunning lighting design to the world of Atlantis. Roy Taylor engineers the sound design for Salvata’s score with vocal arrangements by Anderson Dear. VORTEX Resident Stage Manager Tamara L. Farley manages the production. Photography by Errich Petersen. TICKETS $10-$30 $30 Priority (Seated first), $20 General, $10 Discount (Seated last) Radical Rush Free Tickets Limited free tickets for each performance in the spirit of sustainability, accessibility, and the gift economy. Radical Rush tickets released at 7pm each night--in-person only. 2-for-1 admission Thursday and Sunday with donation of 2 cans for SafePlace. Limited Seating. Advanced Reservations Strongly Recommended While Atlantis is intended for adults and contains some puppet violence, older children may attend. This project is funded and supported in part by VORTEX Repertory Company, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department.