[Capdist-announce] RELEASE: WAM Theatre presents first World Premiere at Berkshire Museum: Tickets now on sale

Sun Aug 19 10:41:15 EDT 2012

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*

August 20, 2012

Contact: Kristen van Ginhoven

www.wamtheatre.com

518 243 9627

kristen at wamtheatre.com

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wamtheatre/sets/72157631125428950/

*Tickets now on sale for WAM Theatre’s The Old Mezzo*

*WAM presents first World Premiere at the Berkshire Museum*

[PITTSFIELD, MA] - Tickets are now on sale for WAM Theatre’s World Premiere
production of *The Old Mezzo* by Berkshire-based playwright Susan Dworkin.
The production runs October 12-28 at the Berkshire Museum at 39 South
Street, Pittsfield, MA. In keeping with WAM’s double philanthropic mission,
the beneficiary for the production will be Berkshire-based Shout Out Loud
Productions, a non-profit helmed by Jeanet Ingalls that takes action to
address sexual trafficking. Shout Out Loud will receive up to 25% of the
box office proceeds.

WAM Theatre’s artistic director, Kristen van Ginhoven, says, “WAM Theatre
is excited to follow in the footsteps of other professional Berkshire
theatres by producing at the Berkshire Museum, which has welcomed us with
open arms. As a nomadic theatre company, WAM Theatre always tries to find
the perfect location for the play we are producing and the Museum’s theater
is ideal for *The Old Mezzo*, our first World Premiere, which is set in a
lecture hall and takes the form of a master class.”

*The Old Mezzo* concerns the political awakening of a great opera singer.
Alyssa, the old mezzo, is driven by the recent death of a famous conductor
to teach a master class concerning the Politics of Singing. The class
becomes a play within a play where we revisit important scenes from
Alyssa’s past. She has assigned parts to four of her students and as the
exercise unfolds, we see how Alyssa had to risk her fame and success to
preserve the freedom that is so essential to the arts. By the end of the
play, through a surprising connection to recent events, the importance of
politics in art is revealed.

“Berkshire Museum is delighted to host WAM Theatre this fall,” says Van
Shields, Berkshire Museum’s executive director. “The innovative nature of
their work, from their dedication to producing art that engages the
community to their unique philanthropic model, makes collaborating with
them most rewarding. And that they have chosen to produce a play by a
Berkshire-based author makes this production particularly appropriate for
presentation in our theater.”

*The Old Mezzo** *is written by Berkshire-based playwright Susan Dworkin.
Ms. Dworkin is best known for her books *The Viking in the Wheat Field* and
*The Nazi Officer’s Wife *as well as her play *All Day Suckers*. She was
also a finalist for the Susan Blackburn Prize in 1980-1981 for her play *Deli’s
Fable*. Ms. Dworkin was one of the original writers and editors at Ms.
Magazine.

Gloria Steinem, when asked about Ms. Dworkin, recently said, “As a writer
and as a human being, Susan Dworkin has always had the ability to draw us
into new dreams of justice, and to make them irresistibly practical,
humorous and human. She makes clear that progress and pleasure go together.”

*WHERE:*

Berkshire Museum

39 South Street

Pittsfield, MA

*WHEN:*

Friday, October 12 @ 8pm (Preview)

Saturday, October 13 @ 8pm (Opening Performance)

Sunday, October 14 @ 5pm*

Friday, October 19 @ 8pm

Saturday, October 20 @ 8pm

Sunday, October 21 @ 5pm*

Friday, October 26 @ 8pm

Saturday, October 27 @ 8pm

Sunday, October 28 @ 5pm

* *

*Performance followed by a talkback.

*TICKETS:*

$25 adults

$15 students + groups of 10 or more

$20 adults/ $12 students + groups (Preview Price for Friday, October 12 8pm
Performance)

Purchase by calling 1-800-838-3006 or online at
www.WAMTheatre.com<http://www.wamtheatre.com/>

*CREATIVE TEAM:*

Director-Kristen van Ginhoven

Scenic Designer- Juliana von Haubrich

Costume Designer-Rita Watson

Lighting Designer-Meryl Joseph

Sound Designer-Brad Berridge

Stage Manager-Chris Donovan

Technical Director-Sam Craig

Associate Producer-Corissa Bryant

The production sponsor for this production is Mission Bar & Tapas. Other
sponsors include: Berkshire Museum, Adams Community Bank, Arizona Pizza,
Berkshire Bank Foundation, Cohen Kinne Valicenti Cook, Greylock Federal
Credit Union, Interprint and Pittsfield Coop Bank.

Other organizations that are helping make this production possible include:
Barrington Stage Company, Berkshire Theatre Group, Luminix Light and
Williams College.

*About WAM Theatre:*

WAM Theatre is a theatre company based in the Berkshires of Massachusetts
and the Capital Region of New York State. Inspired by the book *‘Half the
Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide* by Nicholas
Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, WAM Theatre was founded in 2009 by professional
theatre artists Kristen van Ginhoven and Leigh Strimbeck. WAM’s
philanthropic mission is two-fold; first, producing theatrical events for
everyone, with a focus on women theatre artists and/or stories of women and
girls; second, to donate a portion of the proceeds from those events to
organizations that benefit women and girls. WAM has donated nearly $5,000
to its beneficiaries by creating professional theatre for everyone that
benefits women and girls. For more information, visit www.wamtheatre.com.

*About Berkshire Museum*

Berkshire Museum is the first public museum in Berkshire County,
established by Zenas Crane in 1903 as a museum of art and natural history.
The Berkshire Museum’s mission is to bring people together for experiences that
spark creativity and innovative thinking by making inspiring, educational
connections among art, history and natural science. *Rethink! American
Indian Art* is on view through January 6, 2013. The Feigenbaum Hall of
Innovation, Aquarium, Alexander Calder Gallery, and other exhibits are
ongoing. Little Cinema is now open year-round showing independent films and
screening opera and ballet performances.

The Museum is located at 39 South Street (Route 7) in downtown
Pittsfield. Berkshire
Museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday
noon to 5 p.m. For more information, visit www.berkshiremuseum.org or call
413.443.7171. Museum admission is $13 for adults and $6 for children.
Members and children aged three and under enjoy free admission.

###

Kristen van Ginhoven
Artistic Director, WAM Theatre
518-243-9627
www.WAMTheatre.com <http://www.wamtheatre.com>
http://www.facebook.com/WAMTheatre

Click here<https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=263XAT6LNRMZQ>to
make a secure donation to WAM Theatre
*Thanks for your support!*
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