[Capdist-announce] PR: WAM Benefit this Sunday June 30 at Mahaiwe with Celebrity Panel

Mon Jun 24 10:21:45 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:

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

*WAM Theatre Benefit to be hosted by Jayne Atkinson at the Mahaiwe*

*‘Claiming Her Place’: Sunday, June 30 at 7pm*

PITTSFIELD, MA (06/16/13)— WAM Theatre, recently announced as a finalist in
the Creativity/Innovation category of the Berkshire Trendsetter awards, is
delighted to present *Claiming Her Place*, a benefit for WAM to be held
Sunday, June 30 at 7pm at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great
Barrington*. *Co-produced and* *hosted by Tony nominee *Jayne Atkinson*,
recently cast in *The Lion in Winter *at Berkshire Theatre Group, the
evening will feature a celebrity panel discussing the challenges women face
in the entertainment industry. The panel includes: *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."

The celebrity panel will share their stories, observations and thoughts
about the challenges women face in the entertainment industry.

The evening will also include a sneak peek of WAM Theatre’s fall production
*Emilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight** *by Lauren
Gunderson, a Northeast Regional Premiere running November 7-24 at
Barrington Stage Company’s St. Germain Stage. In keeping with WAM Theatre’s
double philanthropic mission, a portion of proceeds from the box office of *
Emilie* will be donated to an organization that benefits women and girls.
That beneficiary will be announced at the June 30 benefit.

“Jayne began telling me all these great stories over a cup of tea about how
she claimed her place as a woman in the entertainment industry. We were
immediately struck by the idea that sharing these stories and having a
discussion about how celebrities claim their place was a fitting focus for
our first ever benefit.” Says Kristen van Ginhoven, WAM Artistic Director.
“We look forward to sharing Jayne’s stories and the many hilarious and
inspiring stories of our panelists with our current WAM supporters, as well
as the many new people we hope will join us at our inaugural benefit.”

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.

*Panel on June 30 is subject to availability.

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.

More information at www.WAMTheatre.com <http://www.wamtheatre.com/>

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

* *

*Date:*

Sunday, June 30, 2013

*Time:*

7:00pm

*Location:*

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

*Tickets:*

$35-$50

*Reservations:*

* *

413-528-0100

www.mahaiwe.org

Corporate support for the *Claiming her Place* provided by Cohen Kinne
Valicenti & Cook, Attorneys.

* *

*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/>

*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 a participant of the
2013 Lincoln Center Director’s Lab.**

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, Pittsfield Cooperative Bank and Toole Insurance
Agency.

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

[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

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make a secure donation to WAM Theatre
*Thanks for your support!*
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