[Capdist-announce] BRIDGE THEATER COMMEMORATES CIVIL WAR 150TH ANNIVERSARY

[jwmhickman at nycap.rr.com]

PRESS RELEASE:

WHITEHALL’S BRIDGE THEATER CELEBRATES 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR 
IN A RE-CREATED 19TH CENTURY PICNIC GROVE, SATURDAY, AUGUST 24 

(See Attachment)




WHITEHALL, NY-- A re-created 19th century picnic grove will be the site of a Bridge Theater celebration of the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War beginning at noon,  Saturday, August 24. 

The theatrical re-creation, open to the public, will take up all the parade floor of the former Whitehall Armory, renamed the Whitehall Athletic Club when Greg Gross, a New Jersey insurance broker, purchased the 110-year old structure in 2010.  Location is  Poultney (Route 4) and Williams Streets, Whitehall, NY

Produced and directed by Martin  P. Kelly for the Bridge Theater, the celebration will be presented as a mid-Civil War picnic at which Abraham Lincoln re-enactor Phil Jessen of Hartford in Washington County, will appear  following the picnic lunch  prepared by the Athletic Club's staff for all attendees. 

During lunch, the audience will be serenaded by the 77th Regiment 
Balladeers, a  group of a dozen musicians and singers who are also 
Civil War re-enactors. This troupe appears a good six months a year at such events throughout the northeast, and earlier this summer appeared at the Gettysburg battlefield. 

Following lunch, Lance Inguire, President of the Friends of the NYS 
Military Museum at Saratoga, and the Balladeers will welcome President Lincoln.
 
Jessen as Lincoln will discuss his arrival in Washington as 
President, and the lead up to the Civil War, while relating the purpose of his Emancipation Proclamation.  He will conclude with the deliverance of his Gettysburg Address as given in 1863 shortly after the famed battle. 

Following President Lincoln's appearance, Lance Ingmire will introduce actors from the Bridge Theater company who will present  letters from Civil War soldiers who were Whitehall residents, in dramatic form with musical background by The 77th Regiment Balladeers.  Lance Inguire will conclude the afternoon's official program with a Power Point demonstration of photographs taken by his great-great grand-uncle who was Lincoln's photographer.  Inguire is a ninth generation resident of Saratoga County. 

The Balladeers, led by John Quinn of Greene County, will lead the 
audience in songs of the Civil War period as the gathering of visitors 
prepare to leave the picnic grounds in the former state armory.
 
Tickets for picnic lunch and the celebration are $15.00 for adults and 
$13  for students 17 and younger.  Reservations are available at 
518/499-0477. 

(The Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council (LARAC) in Glens Falls has provided a small grant from  New York Arts Council funds to enlist the aid of the musicians, speakers and actors.)
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