[Capdist-announce] RELEASE: WAM Theatre announces CAST for World Premiere of The Old Mezzo

Mon Sep 3 09:12:08 EDT 2012

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*

Contact: Kristen van Ginhoven

www.wamtheatre.com

518 243 9627

kristen at wamtheatre.com

Photos of cast:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wamtheatre/sets/72157631052808990/

*Cast Announced for WAM Theatre’s World Premiere of The Old Mezzo*

*Presented in October at the Berkshire Museum*

*Starring Elizabeth Donnelly, Rylan Morsbach, Erin Ouellette, Eileen
Schuyler and Ryan Winkles***

PITTSFIELD, MA (03-09-12)- WAM Theatre’s October 12-28 World Premiere
production of *The Old Mezzo* by Berkshire based playwright Susan Dworkin
will feature professional actors from Berkshire County and the Pioneer
Valley in Western Massachusetts, the Capital Region of Upstate NY and
beyond.

*Eileen Schuyler* of the Capital Region (NY) will play the title role of
Alyssa, the old mezzo. Ms. Schuyler has worked with professional theatres
across the Capital Region and beyond including Stageworks/Hudson and
Capital Repertory Theatre, most recently in their critically acclaimed
production of *33 Variations*. *Ryan Winkles* of Berkshire County will play
Joe, one of Alyssa’s students. Mr. Winkles is familiar to Berkshire
audiences for his many notable and wide-ranging roles at Shakespeare &
Company, most recently as Ferdinand in *The Tempest*. *Rylan Morsbach* will
play Billy, another of Alyssa’s students. Mr. Morsbach is from the Pioneer
Valley and wowed audiences in the summer of 2011 with his tour de force
solo performance in Pauline Productions *Scaramouche Jones*. Alyssa’s other
two master class students will be played by *Erin Ouellette* of the Capital
Region, graduate of Shakespeare & Company’s Conservatory and recently seen
at Hubbard Hall in *Amadeus*, and *Elizabeth Donnelly*, a Connecticut based
actress with credits ranging from Hartford Stage in CT to Stoneham Theatre
in MA. Both Erin and Elizabeth were part of WAM Theatre’s sold out 24hr
Berkshire/Capital Region Theatre project held in April at Shakespeare &
Company.

*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.

Tickets, ranging from $15-$25, can be purchased by calling
1-800-838-3006or online at
www.wamtheatre.com. The production runs October 12-28 at the Berkshire
Museum at 39 North Street, Pittsfield, MA, playing Friday and Saturday
nights at 8pm and Sunday at 5pm. 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.

*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/>

*CAST:*

Elizabeth Donnelly*- Sally/Pow

Erin Ouellette - Marcy/Marcelle

Rylan Morsbach - Billy/Captain Billy/Louie

Eileen Schuyler*- Alyssa

Ryan Winkles*- Joe/Johannes

*Member of Actors Equity Association

* *

*CREATIVE TEAM:*

Director-Kristen van Ginhoven

Scenic Designer- Juliana von Haubrich

Costume Designer-Rita Watson

Lighting Designer-Meryl Joseph

Sound Designer-Brad Berridge

Choreographer-Rosie Spring

Stage Manager-Chris Donovan

Technical Director-Sam Craig

Associate Producer-Corissa Bryant

Graphic Designer-Enrico Spada

The production sponsor for this production is Mission Bar & Tapas. Other
sponsors include: Adams Community Bank, Arizona Pizza, Berkshire Bank
Foundation, Berkshire Museum, Cohen Kinne Valicenti & Cook LLP, 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 $5000 to
its beneficiaries by creating professional theatre for everyone that
benefit women and girls. www.wamtheatre.com

*###***

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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