[Capdist-announce] METTAWEE RIVER THEATRE CO. ANNOUNCES FOUR JULY PERFORMANCE OF 'BEFORE THE SUN AND MOON.'

patalamb at aol.com patalamb at aol.com
Wed Jul 13 17:27:43 EDT 2016


Good afternoon, 
This month, the renowned Mettawee River Theatre Company will present four performances, July 21-24, of a work-in-progress version of its new production, Before the Sun and Moon.The entire press release follows as text, and is attached as a Word doc with production photo.


Please let me know if you have any follow-up requests including additional photos.


Regards, Pat Lamb



METTAWEE RIVERTHEATRE COMPANY ANNOUNCES FOUR PERFORMANCES DATES FOR ‘WORK-IN-PROGRESS,’‘BEFORE THE SUN AND MOON’

 
SALEM, NY(July 13, 2016)--TheMettawee River Theatre Company has announced that its 41st upstate season will feature four performancesof a “work in progress” version of a new production, Before the Sun and Moon. These performances will take place at venues in NewYork and nearby Vermont:
 
Thursday, July 21          Sandgate, VT                Methodist Church Lawn, 8 p.m
Friday, July 22              Queensbury, NY            Gurney Lane Park, 8 p.m.
Saturday, July 23          Shrewsbury, VT             Mountain School Lawn, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 24              Shushan, NY                 Georgi Museum Lawn, 8 p.m.
 
The company will continue developing the show next fall andwinter in New York City, and return with a complete production for afull tour in upstate New York and New England next summer. 
Before the Sun and Moon is drawn from an ancient Korean folktale,a magical story in which a young husband and wife discover the power of loveand devotion through unexpected challenges and wild adventures. As always in aMettawee production, the show will incorporate masks, puppets and other visualelements. 
The production’s score is by NealKirkwood, who has composed scores for Mettawee productions since 2001. Themusic will be performed by the multi-talented Ed RosenBerg on alto saxophone, hammereddulcimer and any number of rattles, bells and drums.  The companyof actors includes Mettawee veterans Andrew Butler, Tanya Dougherty, KristineHaruna Lee, Rob McFadyen and Jan-Peter Pedross.  Kristine Haruna Lee doubles as playwright forthe show.  The production is directed anddesigned by Ralph Lee, with costumes by Casey Compton. Actor and puppeteer Jon Riddleberger has joined the company asassistant director. 
 
About the Mettawee TheatreCompany
Under the ArtisticDirection of mask maker, designer and director Ralph Lee, the Mettawee RiverTheatre Company, founded in 1975, creates original theater productions thatincorporate masks, giant figures, puppets and other visual elements with livemusic, movement and text, drawing on myths, legends and folklore of the world’smany cultures for its material. The company is committed to bringing theater topeople who may have little or no access to live professionalperformances.  
 
In his design anddirection, Lee seeks to create vivid theatrical moments with economy andelegance. This search for an evocative simplicity of image and Mettawee’scommitment to making theater accessible to the widest possible audience throughits outdoor performances give this theater company its particular character.
 
About Ralph Lee
Ralph Lee firstcreated puppets as a child growing up in Middlebury, Vermont. He graduated fromAmherst College in 1957, and studied dance and theater in Europe for two yearson a Fulbright Scholarship. Upon returning to the United States, Lee acted onBroadway, off-Broadway, in regional theaters and with the Open Theatre. Duringthat period he started creating masks, unusual props, puppets andlarger-than-life figures for theater and dance companies, including the NewYork Shakespeare Festival, Lincoln Center Repertory Theatre, the LivingTheatre, the Erick Hawkins Dance Company, Shari Lewis, the Metropolitan Operaand Saturday Night Live. 


In 1974, whileteaching at Bennington College, Lee staged his first outdoor production, whichtook place all over the college campus, and featured giant puppets and maskedcreatures. That same year he organized the first Greenwich Village HalloweenParade, which he directed through 1985. For his work on the parade Lee receiveda 1975 Village Voice OBIE Award, a 1985 Citation from the Municipal ArtsSociety, and in 1993 he was inducted into the City Lore People's Hall of Fame. 
 
Two of Lee's Mettaweeproductions have been honored with American Theatre Wing Design Awards: ThePopol Vuh in 1995 and Wichikapache Goes Walking in 1992. Under Lee'sdirection, Mettawee also received a 1991 Village Voice OBIE Award and twoCitations for Excellence from UNIMA, the international puppetry organization.Additional awards to Lee include a 1996 Dance Theatre Workshop Bessie Award for“sustained achievement as a mask maker and theatre designer without equal,” anda 1996 New York State Governor's Arts Award in recognition of his manycontributions to the artistic and cultural life of New York State.  In2003, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship, one of the nation’s most prestigioushonors. In 2008 Lee served as the Jim Henson Artist-in-Residence at theUniversity of Maryland at College Park. He is currently on the faculty of NewYork University.
 
For more informationabout the Mettawee River Theatre Company, visit the company’s web site at www.mettawee.org.
 

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