[Capdist-announce] PR: WAM Theatre announces summer benefit and fall production

Mon Apr 29 10:14:18 EDT 2013

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*

Contact: Kelly Galvin, Assistant to the Artistic Director, WAM Theatre

*www.wamtheatre.com*

518 243 9627

*kelly at wamtheatre.com*

Press Photos can be found at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wamtheatre/sets/72157633357363354

*WAM THEATRE ANNOUNCES NORTHEAST REGIONAL PREMIERE AS FALL PRODUCTION*

*Beneficiary to be announced at July 1 benefit hosted by Jayne Atkinson and
featuring Karen Allen, Lauren Ambrose, Michel Gill, Marin Mazzie, Linus
Roache and Debra Jo Rupp*

PITTSFIELD, MA (04/29/13)— WAM Theatre is delighted to announce the
Northeast Regional Premiere of *Emilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends Her
Life Tonight* by Lauren Gunderson as its fall production. The production
will run November 7-24 at Barrington Stage Company’s St. Germain Stage at
36 Linden Street in Pittsfield. *Auditions* will be held May 13 at
Barrington Stage Mainstage from 4-9pm.

*Emilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight* had its world
premiere in 2009 at South Coast Repertory Theatre. The play has been
described as ‘fiercely inquisitive and joyfully sexy’ (The San Francisco
Chronicle), ‘an evening of humor and heartbreak’ (BroadwayWorld) and as an
‘ambitious, highly theatrical romp that literally crackles with
electricity’ (LA/OC Examiner).

Although today she is best known for her fifteen-year liaison with
Voltaire, Emilie Du Chatelet (1706-1749) was more than a great man's
mistress. She was one of the leading interpreters of modern physics in
Europe, as well as a master of mathematics and linguistics, during the Age
of Enlightenment. After marrying a marquis at the age of eighteen, she
proceeded to fulfill the prescribed-and delightfully frivolous-role of a
French noblewoman of her time. But she also challenged it, conducting a
highly visible affair with a commoner, writing philosophical works, and
translating Newton's "Principia" while pregnant by a younger lover. In this
play Emilie must defend her life by tallying her achievements in Love and
Philosophy—and searching for a formula that will convince the world of her
worth.

*Lauren Gunderson* is an award-winning playwright living in San Francisco.
She studied at Emory University and NYU's Tisch School of Performing Arts
where she was a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship. Her work has
been produced and developed at companies across the US including South Cost
Rep

(*Emilie*, *Silent Sky*), The Kennedy Center (*The Amazing Adventures of
Dr. Wonderful And Her Dog!*), Berkeley Rep, TheatreWorks, Crowded Fire, San
Francisco Playhouse, Marin Theatre, The Magic, Actors Express, Oregon
Shakespeare Festival, Portland Center Stage, Second Stage, Playwrights
Foundation, Impact Theatre, The Lark, and The O'Neill. *Emilie: La Marquise
Du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight* is published with Samual French. The
first two plays in her Shakespeare Cycle, *Exit, Pursued By A Bear and Toil
and Trouble* are now published by Playscripts. She is a Playwright in
Residence at The Playwrights Foundation, and a proud Dramatists Guild
member.  Los Angeles Times calls Gunderson someone who ‘possesses an antic
imagination that seeks to invent its own rules. As soon as we’re drawn in,
she shakes and whisks us 10 or 15 paces ahead’.

*Emilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight* will be directed
by Kristen van Ginhoven, WAM Theatre’s Artistic Director. For WAM Theatre,
Kristen’s directing credits include: *The Old Mezzo (*World Premiere)*, The
Attic, The Pearls and Three Fine Girls *and Sarah Ruhl’s* Melancholy Play. *
 She recently was a director for the 10x10 New Play Festival at Barrington
Stage Company, where she also was assistant director for *Sleuth* and *Absurd
Person Singular. *Elsewhere as a director, Kristen has worked at the
Stratford Festival of Canada, Capital Repertory Theatre, Majestic Theatre,
Cohoes Music Hall, and Emerson College. Kristen is an associate member of
the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and is participant of the
2013 Lincoln Center Director’s Lab.**

In keeping with WAM Theatre’s double philanthropic mission, a portion of
proceeds from the box office will be donated to an organization that
benefits women and girls.

The beneficiary for *Emilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends Her Life
Tonight* will be announced on July 1 at *Claiming Her Place: a panel
discusses the challenges women face in the entertainment industry. *This
benefit for WAM Theatre will**take place at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts
Center in Great Barrington at 7:30pm on Monday, July 1. This event is
co-produced and hosted by Tony nominee Jayne Atkinson (Criminal Minds).
The panel includes: Karen Allen (Indiana Jones), Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet
Under), Michel Gill (House of Cards), Marin Mazzie (Tony Nominee), Linus
Roache (Law & Order) and Debra Jo Rupp (That 70's Show).

Co-producer Jayne Atkinson says, “I am honored to be hosting this fun and
exciting benefit, which brings WAM’s worthy mission of using theatre to
benefit women and girls front and center to the Berkshire community."

This all-star panel will share their stories, observations and thoughts
about the challenges women face in the entertainment industry. The evening
will also include a sneak peak at *Emilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends
Her Life Tonight*, WAM Theatre’s fall production.

Tickets for the benefit can be purchased online at www.mahaiwe.org or at 413-
528-0100.

* *

Tickets for *Emilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight* can
be purchased at www.WAMTheatre.com <http://www.wamtheatre.com/> or
1-800-838-3006.

Equity and non-Equity Auditions for *Emilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet
Defends Her Life Tonight* will be held on Monday, May 13 from 4pm-9pm at
the Barrington Stage Mainstage.

More information about events and auditions below and at
www.WAMTheatre.com<http://www.wamtheatre.com/>

Corporate Support for *Emilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends Her Life
Tonight* is provided in part by Adams Community Bank, Greylock Federal
Credit Union, Interprint and Toole Insurance Agency.

Media Sponsors for *Emilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight
* include The Rogovoy Report.

*Claiming Her Place: A panel discusses the challenges women face in the
entertainment industry*

* *

*Date:*

Monday, July 1, 2013

*Time:*

7:30pm

*Location:*

Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA

*Tickets:*

$35-$50

*Reservations:*

* *

413-528-0100

www.mahaiwe.org

Proceeds from *Claiming Her Place* will benefit WAM Theatre’s fall
production of *Emilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight* by
Lauren Gunderson

* *

*Emilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight*

*Dates:*

November 7-24, 2013

*Location:*

Barrington Stage Company St. Germain Stage, 36 Linden Street, Pittsfield, MA

*Tickets:*

$10-$25

* *

*Reservations:*

* *

1-800-838-3006

www.WAMTheatre.com <http://www.wamtheatre.com/>

*Equity and non-Equity Auditions: Emilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends
her Life Tonight*

*Date:*

Monday, May 13, 2013

*Location:*

Barrington Stage Company Mainstage, 30 Union Street, Pittsfield, MA

* *

*Time:*

4:00pm-9:00pm

*How to Book an Audition:*

Email photo and resume to Kelly Galvin, Assistant to the Artistic Director,
at Kelly at wamtheatre.com.

*Audition Preparation:*

Please prepare a monologue or short scene from the play for the audition.
Script and side information will be emailed to those auditioning. Please
bring picture/resume, stapled together to audition. A reader will be
provided.

*Character Descriptions:*

Emilie du Châtelet – forty, dresses in no particular era, confident and
curious

Voltaire (V)– fifty, dresses immaculately in 18th Century fashion,
charming, boyish

Players:

Soubrette - A young woman, mid twenties, plays Emilie and others:
Mary-Louise – simple and stupid, Daughter – direct and strong

Gentleman- A handsome man, thirties, plays Jean-François and others:
Jean-François – young and doting, sincere, The Marquis – serious but warm,
very formal, Maupertuis – sexy and academic, Marain – snide and proud

Madam – A slightly older woman, fifties, plays Mother and others: Mother –
serious and wounded, Madam Graffigny – obnoxious and rich

[image: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif]

*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 over $7000 to
its beneficiaries by creating professional theatre for everyone that
benefits 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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