MRTC Revives WOMAN WHO FELL FROM THE SKY

On its 35th Anniversary, Ralph Lee's Mettawee River Theatre Company Reprises its 1997 production
'THE WOMAN WHO FELL FROM THE SKY' on September 10, 11, 12 and 17, 18, 19 at 7:30 PM.  performances will be held at Garden of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Amsterdam & 111th Street.  Tickets are $10 adults; $5 for children & seniors and can be purchased by calling 212-929-4777.
 
Ralph Lee's Mettawee River Theatre Company announces that, for its 35th Anniversary Season, the Company will reprise the 1997 "The Woman Who Fell From the Sky," drawn from the Iroquois creation tale in which the Sky Woman falls from the spirit world and lands on the back of a turtle.   Water animals bring up mud from the bottom of the sea so the earth can grow.   The character Sapling creates all the delightful things of the earth, while his brother Flint brings mosquitoes, thorns and sharp rocks.   The abrupt arrival of Hodu'i, a whimsical crackpot who claims to have created it all, spells the readiness of the earth for the arrival of human beings.   The production will incorporate many puppets representing the spirits and creatures of this young world.
 
Mettawee Artistic Director Ralph Lee remarks: "At this time, when serious concerns about the state of our environment weigh heavily on us, it's nourishing to hear these clear voices from the beginning of the world, reminding us of the gifts we've been given."           
 
Master puppet maker Ralph Lee has been honored for his work with two American Theatre Wing Design Awards, a Village Voice OBIE (for organizing the first Greenwich Village Halloween Parade), two Citations for Excellence from UNIMA (the international puppetry organization), a Bessie Award for "sustained achievement as a mask maker and theatre designer without equal," and a 1996 New York State Governor's Arts Award in recognition of his many contributions to the artistic and cultural life of New York State.  In 2003 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship, and in 2008 he served as the Jim Henson Artist-in-Residence at the University of Maryland at College Park.  
 
Lee first created puppets as a child growing up in Middlebury, Vermont.  He graduated from Amherst College in 1957 and studied dance and theater in Europe for two years on a Fulbright Scholarship.   Upon returning to the U.S., and while pursuing an acting career,  Lee started creating masks, unusual props, puppets, and larger-than-life figures for theater and dance companies, including the New York Shakespeare Festival, Lincoln Center Repertory Theatre, the Living Theatre, the ERick Hawkins Dance Company, Shari Lewis, the Metropolitan Opera and Saturday Night Live (that naughty "Land Shark").   In addition to creating new productions for Mettawee and other companies, Lee is currently on the faculty of New York University.
 
Mettawee Theatre Company, under the collaborative leadership of Artistic Director Ralph Lee and Managing Director Casey Compton,  was founded in 1975 to create original Theater Productions that incorporate masks, giant figures, puppets and other visual elements with live music, movement and text.   Most shows draw on myths, legends and folklore of the world's many cultures.   Noted in The New York Times: "No one can bring a myth to life quite like Ralph Lee, whose giant puppets and masks seem to evoke an entirely new world."  (Spare Times, September 2008) 
 
For more information, visit: www.mettawee.org

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