[Capdist-announce] PRESS RELEASE: WAM Theatre Donates Funds for Ten Scholarships at Flying Cloud

[Gail Burns]

April 17, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Gail Burns, Marketing and Publicity Associate

www.wamtheatre.com

pr at wamtheatre.com; 518.243.9627

Photos of the 2013 production can be found at:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wamtheatre/albums/72157637843978575

Rehearsal photos of the 2017 remount can be found at:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wamtheatre/albums/72157680736007770

WAM Theatre “Emilie…” Remount Donates $2,500 to Flying Cloud Institute

LEE, MA [April 17, 2017] — WAM’s successful limited run remount of their
acclaimed 2013 production of Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her
Life Tonight by Lauren Gunderson and directed by WAM Artistic Director
Kristen van Ginhoven, just finished its two week run presented at the Tina
Packer Playhouse at Shakespeare & Company. The entire original cast and
much of the original creative team reassembled to bring the powerful life
story of Emilie du Châtelet (1706-1749), a French mathematician and
physicist whose work paved the way for many modern discoveries.

In keeping with their double philanthropic mission, WAM donates a portion
of the box office proceeds from their Main Stage productions to agencies
that benefit women and girls locally, nationally, or internationally.
Proceeds from this popular show enabled the company to donate $2,500 to
Great Barrington-based Flying Cloud Institute, the beneficiary of this
production. These funds will provide scholarships to ten Berkshire County
public school students to attend FCI’s Young Women in Science training
program at Bard College at Simon’s Rock and Berkshire Community College
this summer, where they will work alongside professional scientists in
laboratory settings.

“WAM Theatre has now donated more than $32,500 to twelve nonprofit
organizations since our founding in 2010. We’ve had an impact in areas like
girls education, midwife training, and raising awareness for sexual
trafficking and teen pregnancy, to name a few.” enthused Kristen van
Ginhoven, WAM Artistic Director. “ We are incredibly grateful to the
audience who enjoyed this show and to Greylock Federal Credit Union and
other supporters made our dream of remounting Emilie... a success. We look
forward to seeing them all again at our fall regional premiere of The Last
Wife by Kate Hennig.”

As was the case with the original WAM production, this remount of
Emilie... captivated
critics and audience members alike.

Five actors and a director who realize this extraordinary living story of a
woman who brought physics to life and had a lot of fun while doing it.

I loved it so much the first time I didn't think I could love it more, but
the actors have had so much time with script that it lives in all five of
them even more deeply.

I had tears in my eyes as we applauded as it was so refreshing to see such
an incredible performance.

“I’m not only honored to have WAM re-mount Emilie…, I’m inspired,” wrote
playwright Lauren Gunderson. “WAM truly manifests my belief that theatre
actively and intentionally changes hearts, minds, and the future of a
thoughtful and empathetic nation.”

With support from Mass Humanities and Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing, WAM
was also able to provide a special Educational Outreach project around the
production. WAM Theatre and Flying Cloud Institute partnered to do an after
school program and offer a special matinee on April 6 for twenty-five girls
who attend Reid Middle School in Pittsfield and are part of Flying Cloud’s
after school STEAM Team. WAM Theatre teaching artists and professional
scientist worked with the STEAM Team prior to the matinee, conducting
science experiments that are present in the play and participating in
theater activities designed to heighten their appreciation of the
performance. Then, the Reid STEAM team and students from other schools came
to the April 6 matinee, where they participated in a special panel
discussion with working female scientists and actress Kim Stauffer
(Emilie), where the Reid STEAM team students asked prepared questions that
deepened their engagement with the play.

“The young women who attended the show were thrilled and can't wait to see
another WAM performance. They couldn't stop talking about it on the bus
ride home!” said Maria Rundle, Executive Director of Flying Cloud. “WAM
understands the value of extended cultural learning and the need to get
students exposed to scientists and artists who can help them make meaning
out of the play they’ve just seen. We are so grateful to WAM and their
supporters for making it possible for us to offer ten scholarships to these
girls so they can continue working with STEM professionals and FCI this
summer!"

Flying Cloud is WAM’s twelfth beneficiary. Past recipients include:
Berkshire Immigrant Center, Suzi Banks Baum/New Illuminations, Hands in
Outreach, Sisters for Peace, Mother of Peace Orphanage in Illovo, South
Africa, the Rites of Passage and Empowerment Program for Girls (ROPE),
Shout Out Loud Productions, Berkshire United Way’s Teen Pregnancy
Prevention Initiative, Edna’s Hospital in Somaliland, The Women’s Fund of
Western Massachusetts, and Women for Women International. This is in
addition to providing paid contract work to over 200 theatre professionals.

WAM’s eighth season moves forward with two Fresh Takes Play Readings at No.
Six Depot Roastery and Cafe in West Stockbridge - Really on Sunday, May 7
and The Droll on Sunday, June 4 - both at 3:30 pm. A special Fresh Takes
Reading this summer at the Williamstown Theatre Festival will be announced
shortly. The company’s Stars in the Orchard Summer Gala is scheduled for
Wednesday, July 12 at Hilltop Orchards in Richmond. The fun starts at 5:30
pm. WAM will be hosting the first pilot Berkshire Leadership Summit - an
event for women aspiring to leadership positions in the non-profit theatre
in both artistic and operational tracks - on October 28 & 29, 2017 in the
Elayne P. Bernstein Center at Shakespeare & Company. And running from
October 13-November 5 will be the Northeast Regional Premiere of The Last
Wife by Kate Hennig at the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre at Shakespeare &
Company. Visit www.WAMTheatre.com <http://www.wamtheatre.com/> for tickets
and more information.

OUR SEASON SPONSORS

WAM Theatre is funded in part by Mass Humanities, which receives support
from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and is an affiliate of the National
Endowment for the Humanities; and by the Massachusetts Cultural Council
Cultural. Our 2017 sponsors include Adams Community Bank, Berkshire
Magazine, Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing, Blue Q, Brabson Library &
Educational Foundation, Canyon Ranch, Custom Business Solutions, The
Dylandale Foundation, The Feigenbaum Foundation, Futures Education, the
Garden Gables Inn, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Guido’s Fresh
Marketplace, In Touch Printing, International Schools Theatre Association,
Interprint, Dr. Jay Wise, DDS & Dr. Casey Jones, DMD,  Lee Bank,
Massachusetts Cultural Council, MAXYMILLIAN Technologies, Methuselah Bar
and Lounge, No. Six Depot Roastery and Café, RB Design Co., Redfin, The
Rookwood Inn, Rouge Restaurant & Bistro, The Dr. Robert C. and Tina Sohn
Foundation, T Square Design Studio, Toole Insurance, and a. von schlegell &
co.

WAM Theatre is also supported in part by grants from the Alford-Egremont
Cultural Council, Dalton Cultural Council, Lenox Cultural Council, New
Marlborough Cultural Council, Pittsfield Cultural Council, Cultural Council
of Northern Berkshires , Otis Cultural Council, Richmond Cultural Council,
Sandisfield Cultural Council, Stockbridge Cultural Council, Washington
Cultural Council, and West Stockbridge Cultural Council – local agencies
that are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

ABOUT WAM THEATRE

Based in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, WAM Theatre is Where Arts and
Activism Meet. The company was co-founded in 2010 by Canadian director,
actor, educator, and producer Kristen van Ginhoven. WAM’s vision is to
create opportunity for women and girls through the mission of theatre as
philanthropy.

Inspired by the book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for
Women Worldwide by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, WAM donates a
portion of the proceeds from its theatrical events to organizations that
benefit women and girls.

Since 2010, WAM Theatre has donated more than $32,500 to twelve nonprofit
organizations and provided paid work to more than 200 theatre artists. In
addition to the main stage productions and special events, WAM Theatre’s
activities include a comprehensive educational outreach program and the
Fresh Takes Play Reading Series. For more information, visit
www.WAMTheatre.com

###


-- 
Gail M. Burns

*Marketing + Publicity Associate*
www.WAMTheatre.com <http://www.wamtheatre.com/>
413-274-8122

*Our 8th Season:*  <http://www.wamtheatre.com/special/>
Fresh Takes <http://www.wamtheatre.com/fresh-takes-2017/> | Emilie
<http://www.wamtheatre.com/emilie-remount-2017/>| Stars in the Orchard
<http://www.wamtheatre.com/stars-in-the-orchard-2017> | The Last Wife
<http://www.wamtheatre.com/the-last-wife/> | Leadership Summit
<http://www.wamtheatre.com/berkshire-leadership-summit-2017/>


Make a donation now <https://www.wamtheatre.com/donateonline/> to WAM
Theatre!
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