Oregon
Children’s Theatre presents
Einstein
is a Dummy
- An exhilarating and hilarious musical
- An Oregon Premiere!
Portland, OR – Drammy Award
winning Oregon Children’s Theatre presents Karen Zacarías’ original play, Einstein
is a Dummy, May 4, 10, 11, 17 & 18 (Saturdays at 2:00 & 7:00 pm,
Sundays at 2:00 & 5:00 pm) at the Winningstad Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway.
Tickets are $19-$24 for adults and $16-$20 for children and seniors.
Box Office: 503-228-9571 or through TicketMaster (503-790-ARTS or www.ticketmaster.com).
General information: www.octc.org.
Recommended for ages 8 & up. Sign
interpreted performance: Sat., May 10 at 7:00 pm.
Einstein
is a Dummy by Karen Zacarías
and Deborah Wicks La Puma, the team that brought Ferdinand the Bull, presents a fictional day in the life of Albert
Einstein as an awkward twelve year old. Einstein
struggles with all the usual issues of a pre-teen: keeping up with violin
lessons, impressing the girl next-door and, oh yeah, comprehending the
fundamental relationship of space and time to the speed of light. This uplifting
play confirms that each of us is both ordinary and special. With an engaging,
original score, a healthy dose of imagination, and the help of a mysterious cat,
Einstein is a Dummy reveals life’s atomic possibilities.
Written by Karen Zacarías, with music composed by Deborah Wicks La Puma, Einstein
is a Dummy is directed by Stan Foote.
The play stars David
Cole as Albert Einstein and Gary
Brickner-Schultz as Herr Schloppnoppdinkerdonn.
Set Design is by Mark Haack, Lighting
Design by Don Crossley, Sound Design
by Rody Ortega, and Costume Design by
Stan Foote.
Stan Foote, Artistic Director, Oregon Children’s Theatre
Stan Foote has been the Artistic
Director since the 2001-2002 Season but has directed for Oregon Children’s
Theatre for 18 years. Stan received his BA in Theater from Sacramento State
University and has been directing, teaching and acting for 28 years. In that
time, Stan spent three years serving on the Artistic Committee for Artists
Repertory Theatre in Portland and has received Drammy Awards for Outstanding
Direction for OCT’s Stuart Little and The Gondoliers at Mock’s
Crest. His production of Kiss
of the Spider Woman, originally produced by Miracle Theatre Group and
remounted for Borderlands Theater in Tucson was named the Outstanding Drama of
the 2002-2003 Season in Tucson.
Stan has orchestrated and directed
five original adaptations of children’s literature in his tenure at OCT,
including Eric Coble’s critically acclaimed adaptation of Lois Lowry’s book The
Giver and Lowry’s own adaptation of her novel Gossamer
(to premiere in October 2008). Stan
also collaborated with Coble on Sacagawea,
presented at the Kennedy Center’s New Visions/New Voices 2002. The
production featured seven Native American actors and dancers. Stan directed and
toured Professor Bodywise’s Traveling Menagerie for Kaiser Permanente’s
Educational Theatre Program. OCT has recently partnered with Kaiser Permanente
to reintroduce ETP to the Northwest Region. Other directing projects include Cyrano,
Ferdinand the Bull, Jesus Christ
Superstar, Into the Woods, Blue Plate Special, Psycho Beach Party,
Strange Snow and Pump Boys and Dinettes. Stan co-authored
one play, Karaoke at the Casa De Chin, which has been produced twice and
continues to collect dust in hopes of being rediscovered.
Karen Zacarías, Playwright
Karen is the Founding Artistic Director of Young Playwrights' Theater in
Washington, DC. This season,
Karen will have three world premieres: The
Book Club Play at Round House Theater (also selected for the 2007 Eugene
O’Neill conference and developed with PWC), Chasing
George Washington: A White House Adventure at the Kennedy Center, and
Looking for Roberto Clemente at Imagination Stage. Karen is the winner of
the 2006 Francesca Primus Award for her play, Mariela
in the Desert. Mariela is also the
winner the 2005 TCG/AT&T First Stages Award, the 2004 National Latino
Playwrights’ Competition, finalist for the 2004 Susan Smith Blackburn prize,
and short listed for 2005 Kesselring Prize. Her play, The
Sins of Sor Juana won Outstanding New Play at the 2000 Helen Hayes Awards
and has been produced throughout the country. Her musical plays for young people
have enjoyed productions at The Goodman Theater, The Coterie, Chicago PlayWorks,
The Alliance Theatre, Imagination Stage, Arden Theater, Cleveland Playhouse, and
St. Louis Rep.
Founded in 1989, Oregon
Children’s Theatre is Oregon’s largest non-profit professional children’s
theater company and a resident company of the Portland Center for the Performing
Arts. Performances
are held weekdays for school audiences and on weekends for family audiences.
OCT serves more than 111,000 children of all ages each year.
OCT offers numerous school services including in-school workshops
and an extensive outreach program. OCT’s
year round Acting Academy offers theater classes for children ages 4-17.
Einstein is a Dummy is sponsored by Mentor Graphics & The Boeing
Company.
This project is
also supported in part by a grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust, investing in
Oregon’s arts, humanities and heritage. OCT
is funded in part by the Regional Arts & Culture Council and Work for Art
with additional underwriting support by the Oregon Arts Commission.
Tickets are now
on sale and can be ordered by calling
Oregon
Children's Theatre at 503-228-9571.
# # #
|
