Whidbey Island Center Presents THE KENTUCKY CYCLE- PART TWO Thru 4/24

Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, under the leadership of Executive Director Stacie Burgua, is proud to present The Kentucky Cycle: Part One and Part Two at WICA, 565 Camano Avenue, Apr 09 - 24, 2010.

This sweeping epic of three families in eastern Kentucky spans 200 years of American history from 1775 to 1975. Fast-paced and finely drawn, Robert Schenkkan' s stunning six-hour, nine-play cycle (with 33 actors playing 80+ characters) examines the myths of the American past.

"As I played out the history of these families over this broad expanse of time, the play seemed to become less and less about the history of eastern Kentucky or even the history of Appalachia. It was about America. It had become an unintended exploration of the process of 'myth making': that alchemy of wish fulfillment and political expediency by which history is collected and altered and revised, by which events become stories, and stories become folklore, and folklore becomes myth. Ultimately, I realized that the play was about American mythology..." - Robert Schenkkan
Exploring violence as a part of American life -- whether that violence is racial, gender-based, or environmental -- and how each generation deals with and works through the American tendency to use force first and ask questions later.
"A cautionary parable about American character..." - Joe Adcock, Seattle P-I

"Thanks to some very fine staging by Barker, the rich language of Schenkkan's play, a simple and evocative set, and a cast with the ability to send this play home, "The Kentucky Cycle"... has all the ingredients for a tour de force." - Patricia Duff, South Whidbey Record
Tickets range in price from $12 to $28, with discounts available for seniors, military, youth and groups, and are available from www.WICAonline.com or 360.221.8268 - 800/638.7631.

The Artists.

The Creative Team

Michael Barker (Director), Jim Scullin (Assistant Director), Susan Melman (Dramaturg), Valerie Johnson (Costume Design), Ann Deacon (Lighting Design), Katie Woodzick (Properties), Bristol Bloom (Hair Design), Caitlin Goldbaum (Music Consultant / Education Assistant), Mikkel Hustad (Choral Director), Mike McVay (Fight Director), Damien Cortez (Weapons Master), Chris Spencer (Projections), Serena Hill (Stage Manager - Part One), Robert W. Prosch (Stage Manager - Part Two)

The Cast

Bob Atkinson, Ethan Berkley, Bristol Bloom, Laura Boram, Matt Bursell, Tony Caldwell, Carrie Carpenter, Tom Churchill, Barton Cole, Adrian Cook, Jameson Cook, Damien Cortez, T. Addelle Dierking, Gail Fleming, Hairston Hamby, Sommer Harris, Eric Hood, Mikkel Hustad, Kent Junge, Paul Mathews, Pat McVay, Shellie Moore, Laura Persaud, Daniela Rose, Ryan Ramie Rose, Zachary Schneider, Rob Scott, Jim Scullin, Eric Vanderbilt-Mathews, Erick Westphal, Larry Woolworth, Dwight Zehm, and Jenny Zisette.

The Musicians

Ron Swenson (guitar, banjo), Eric Vanderbilt-Mathews (concertina), Mira Yamamoto (violin)

The Schedule.

Fri @ 7.30pm Sat @ 7.30pm Sun @ 2pm

Apr 09 - Part One Apr 10 - Part One Apr 11 - Part One

Apr 16 - Part Two Apr 17 - Part Two Apr 18 - Part Two

Apr 23 - Part One Apr 24 - Part Two

Tickets.

Part One adult $16 senior/military $14 youth $12 (25 and under)

Part Two adult $16 senior/military $14 youth $12

Cycle Pass** adult $28 senior/military $24 youth $20 **see both Part One and Part Two
Tickets range in price from $12 to $28, with discounts available for seniors, military, youth and groups, and are available from www.WICAonline.com or 360.221.8268 - 800/638.7631.
Special Events.

Apr 09 Opening Night Reception

Hosted by Edgecliff Restaurant (following the 7.30 pm performance)

Apr 18 @ 11am A Conversation with Robert Schenkkan

WICA is proud to welcome Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Robert Schenkkan, to Whidbey Island. Please join us for an informative and engaging discussion with The Kentucky Cycle author. Admission is free to The Kentucky Cycle ticket-holders. For more information, please visit www.WICAonline.com or call 360/221.8268.
Biographies.
Robert Schenkkan (playwright) was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina but grew up in Austin, Texas. As a Plan II Honors student, he received a BA in Drama from the University of Texas at Austin (Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude, and Friars' Society) and an MFA in Theatre Arts (Acting) from Cornell University.

Schenkkan is the author of ten full-length plays. The Kentucky Cycle was the result of several years of development, starting in NYC at New Dramatists and the Ensemble Studio Theatre. The two-part epic was later work shopped at the Mark Taper Forum, EST-LA, the Long Wharf Theatre, and The Sundance Institute. The complete "cycle" was awarded the largest grant ever given by the Fund for New American Plays and had its world premier in 1991 at the Intiman Theatre in Seattle (Liz Huddle, producer) where it set box office records. In 1992, it was the centerpiece of the Mark Taper Forum's 25th Anniversary Season. There it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama; the first time in the history of the award that a play was so honored which had not first been presented in NYC. It also won both the PEN Centre West and the LA Drama Critics Circle Awards for Best Play. In 1993, it appeared at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and opened on Broadway in November of that year where it was nominated for a Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle awards.
Lewis and Clark Reach the Euphrates had its world premier at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in December 2005. By the Rivers of Babylon first appeared at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in February 2005. The Marriage of Miss Hollywood and King Neptune had its world premier at the University of Texas at Austin in November 2005. Handler premiered at the Actors Express Theatre. Heaven on Earth premiered off-Broadway at the WPA Theatre and won the Julie Harris/Beverly Hills Theatre Guild Award, and was a participant in the Eugene O'Neill Playwright's Conference. Final Passages premiered at the Studio Arena Theatre. Tachinoki (Critic's Choice, LA Weekly) premiered at the Ensemble Studio Theatre in Los Angeles.

Schenkkan has written two plays for children, The Dream Thief and The Devil and Daniel Webster. The Dream Thief had its premiere at Milwaukee's First Stage and is published by Dramatic Publishing. The Devil and Daniel Webster premiered at the Seattle Children's Theatre in February 2006.

Schenkkan has written numerous one-acts that are collected together and published by Dramatists Play Service as Conversations with the Spanish Lady. Among them is The Survivalist which premiered at ATL's Humana festival, went on to the EST Marathon in NYC, Canada's DuMaurier Festival, and the Edinburgh Festival where it won the "Best of the Fringe" award.

Schenkkan's film work includes "The Quiet American" directed by Phillip Noyce. For television, he wrote the miniseries "Crazy Horse" (TNT), "Spartacus" (USA NETWORK) and "The Andromeda Strain". He has written films for Sidney Pollack, Oliver Stone, Denzel Washington, Ron Howard, and Kevin Costner among others. He is currently writing a film, "The Rules", for DreamWorks, and is a writer/ producer for Steven Spielberg/Tom Hanks and HBO's epic miniseries, "The Pacific".

Schenkkan is the recipient of grants from New York State, the California Arts Council, and the Vogelstein and the Arthur foundations. He is a New Dramatists alumnus and a member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre and the National Theatre Conference. He lives in Seattle with his wife, the author, Maria Dahvana Headley, and his two children, Sarah Victoria and Joshua McHenry.
Michael Barker (director) began his Whidbey Island directorial debut shortly after arriving as a transplant from Southern California with the performance of A Thousand Clowns at Whidbey Children's Theatre. His extensive Southern California professional directorial credits include his favorites; The Kentucky Cycle, Midsummer Night's Dream, The Boor, Candy and Shelley Go to the Desert, American Century, No Exit, The Tempest, Ring Lardner Adaptations and Dorothy Parker Adaptations. He has won several Dramalogue awards for directing particularly in ensemble work. Michael received his theatrical training at The American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. He worked extensively at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum as both a director and actor in over 30 productions. He has a special fondness for these roles at TB: the Gentleman Caller in A Glass Menagerie, the writer in A Good Doctor, Kulygin and Tusenbach in Three Sisters, Tranio and Lucentio in Taming of the Shrew and Mark Twain in Americana. He had numerous roles and served on the board of directors at Theatre West in Los Angeles. Long forgotten television credits include everything from "Rockford Files" and "Archie Bunker's Place" to "Young and the Restless" and God forbid anyone saw his performances in "C.H.I.P.S. He directed The Good Doctor last year at WICA. Michael also leads the Improv Group "Wake Up Laughing", Whidbey's only performing Improvisational Theatre Troupe.

The Creative Team, Cast, and Crew biographies are available at

http://www.wicaonline.com/2009-2010/BIOS.html 

The Kentucky Project.

The Kentucky Project is an exploration of the process of 'myth making': that alchemy of wish fulfillment and political expediency by which history is collected and altered and revised, by which events become stories, and stories become folklore, and folklore becomes myth.

The Project combines the songs and stories of American history and offers opportunities for complex and inclusive civic dialogue. The music and drama, at times vivid and revealing, provide direct links to our national heritage and to the social and political struggles we have overcome or continue to face. The goals of The Project are to produce great art and to engage community members about the interconnectedness between themselves, their collective stories, and the ongoing struggles of our society.
The Kentucky Project is comprised of three productions: Simple Gifts: The Music of America, a WICA Conservatory Choir concert; Play Party: Songs and Stories of Appalachia, a Family Series presentation; and the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama The Kentucky Cycle (Apr 09 - 24).
The Project also features Special Events and Community Partnerships such as Ties that Bind: The Biggs, Rowen, and Talbert Families, an exploration of the ancestry and relationship of the fictional (The Kentucky Cycle) Biggs, Rowen, and Talbert families, and the real events that shaped lives of the people of Appalachia - and our nation. This event is presented in partnership with the Genealogical Society of South Whidbey Island; and Our Lives, Our Land: The Kentucky Cycle Stories in the Good Cheer Garden. "Our Lives..." includes Prologues (30-minute educational programs with audience participation), a Community Discussion led by AmeriCorps volunteers, a sampling of food from Good Cheer Garden, and a performance by the WICA Chamber Singers.

Whidbey Island Center for the Arts has stepped out of a conventional theater role to become even more connected with its community. Through The Kentucky Project, WICA strives to cultivate civic engagement, and to encourage an investment and ownership in local, regional, national, and global communities. The Project's exploration of American content will encourage audiences to take a thoughtful look at our nation's cultural heritage.
We invite you to review the following pages that describe, in detail, the scope and scale of The Kentucky Project.

You may also visit www.WICAonline.com to learn more about this extraordinary venture.

Special Events and Community Partnerships.

Our Lives, Our Land: The Kentucky Cycle Stories in the Good Cheer Garden.
Whidbey Island Center for the Arts and Good Cheer invite community members to Our Lives, Our Land: The Kentucky Cycle Stories in the Good Cheer Garden at Good Cheer Food Bank, 2812 Grimm Road, (Bayview) on Apr 17, 2010 at 2.00pm.
The event will feature Prologues for The Kentucky Cycle - Part One and Two: a 30-minute presentation with extensive audience participation. Attendees will be invited to read Narrator and character roles from the play. The Prologues will walk the audience through the entire nine-part cycle with an explanation of the different characters and the action in each.
In addition to the Prologues, a Community Discussion will be led by AmeriCorps members Caitlin Goldbaum and Molly Zeiger about three of the major themes in the Kentucky Cycle: the quest for the American dream, the dark side of American history, and nature and the environment.

Other activities include a sampling of food from Good Cheer Garden, a performance by WICA Chamber Singers, and a raffle.

All proceeds are to benefit the Good Cheer Food Bank.

Admission is free.

A Conversation with Robert Schenkkan.

Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, under the leadership of Executive Director Stacie Burgua, is proud to welcome Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Robert Schenkkan, to Whidbey Island. Please join us for an informative and engaging discussion with The Kentucky Cycle author on Apr 18, 2010 at 11.00am.
Admission is free for The Kentucky Cycle ticket-holders.

Ties that Bind: The Biggs, Rowen, and Talbert Families

Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, in partnership with the Genealogical Society of South Whidbey Island, will present an exhibition, Ties that Bind: The Biggs, Rowen, and Talbert Families, at WICA, 565 Camano Avenue, Apr 09 - 24, 2010.
The exhibition will explore the ancestry and relationship of the fictional Biggs, Rowen, and Talbert families, and the real events that shaped lives of the people of Appalachia - and our nation. Patrons are also encouraged to share their family trees.

"As I played out the history of these families over this broad expanse of time, the play seemed to become less and less about the history of eastern Kentucky or even the history of Appalachia. It was about America. It had become an unintended exploration of the process of 'myth making': that alchemy of wish fulfillment and political expediency by which history is collected and altered and revised, by which events become stories, and stories become folklore, and folklore becomes myth. Ultimately, I realized that the play was about American mythology..." - Robert Schenkkan
The study of family histories provides a window into the past that provides understanding of the present-day, and how individuals, nations, and the global community might develop in the future. Genealogy informs how societies came to be and examines cultural, political, social, and economic influences across time and space. It also builds the personal understanding of how we as individuals are the sum of a vast range of past experiences and actors ourselves in the process of historical change. The study of our genetic past helps lead to greater personal insight and comprehension of each person's place in the grand sweep of the human story.

Simple Gifts: The Music of America

The WICA Conservatory Choir, under the direction of Robert W. Prosch, presents Simple Gifts: The Music of America, at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, 565 Camano Avenue, Langley, WA, on Sunday, March 14, 2010 at 7.00pm.

Whidbey Island's finest (and largest) choral ensemble, the WICA Conservatory Choir, invites you to celebrate our nation's musical traditions through classics such as Aaron Copland's Old American Songs, Down by the Riverside, Water is Wide, Shenandoah, and Amazing Grace.

Tickets are $10 and available from www.WICAonline.com or 360.221.8268 - 800/638.7631.

The Songs.

Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning arr. Philip Kern; Amazing Grace arr. John Coates, Jr.; Stephen Foster Medley Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair, Camptown Races, My Old Kentucky Home, Beautiful Dreamer, Oh, Susanna; Old American Songs I Bought Me a Cat (children's song), Simple Gifts (Shaker song), At the River (hymn tune), Ching-a-Ring-Chaw (minstrel song) Aaron Copland; Down by the Riverside arr. John Rutter; Red River Valley arr. Ruth Elaine Schram; Moon River Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini, arr. Steve Zegree; Zion's Walls arr. by Glenn Koponen; Peter Gunn Henry Mancini, arr. Jeff Funk; The Water is Wide arr. René Clausen; Shenandoah arr. Darmon Meader; Bile Them Cabbage Down arr. Mack Wilberg

The Artists.

The Creative Team

Robert W. Prosch (Conductor), Jess Foley (Choir Accompanist), Caitlin Goldbaum (Assistant to the Conductor)

The Musicians

WICA Conservatory Choir Vocalists

Les Asplund, Al Benson, Gay Bitts, Morgan Bondelid, Tony Caldwell, Jane Caveny-Brown, Kimberly Cerra, Melisa Colby, Ann Deacon, Norma DeMerchant, Carol Douthitt, Bruce Forbes, Patricia Friedman, Rocco Gianni, Sarri Gilman, Caitlin Goldbaum, Dayle Gray, David Gray, John Hastings, Dave Haworth, Anne Hayden, Tonya Henny, Kiana Henny, Linda Irvine, Ken Kortlever, Ben Kortlever, Kathleen Landel, Diane Lantz, Kevin Lungren, Mary Magill, Rebecca Maher, Paul McClintock, Linda McLean, Mary McLeod, Kris McRea, Ann Mercer, Dorothy Moffat, Christina Parker, Sarah Parker, Kathy Parks-Chambers, Ann Marie Pember, Katharine Pfeiffer, Ambria Prosch, Mona Reardon, Chris Rose, Kyle Stevens, Carolyn Sundquist, Joan Todd, Ed Walker, Carrie Walker, Norman Walker, Marcia Wiley, Leslie Woods, Jill Workman
WICA Chamber Singers

Les Asplund, Al Benson, Morgan Bondelid, Tony Caldwell, Melisa Colby, Carol Douthitt, Caitlin Goldbaum, Dave Haworth, Anne Hayden, Linda McLean, Christina Parker, Ambria Prosch, Chris Rose Carolyn Sundquist, Norman Walker

Play Party: Songs and Stories of Appalachia

Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, under the leadership of Executive Director Stacie Burgua, is proud to present Jill Johnson's Play Party: Songs and Stories of Appalachia at WICA, 565 Camano Avenue, on Friday, Mar 19, 2010.

Come share a rollicking good time with storyteller, Jill Johnson, and her special guests Steve Showell and Bruce Rowland and the Shape Note Singers. Together, they will evoke an older, simpler time and invite the audience to participate in some "old-timey" fun. Jill will spin yarns, Steve will play his fiddle and banjo, and they will bring back the songs and stories of America's first frontier. Bring the whole family and get ready to listen, sing, stomp, clap, and play; it's a Play Party!

"Play Party: Songs and Stories of Appalachia" is a WICA Family Series presentation.
Tickets range in price from $12 to $15, with discounts available for seniors, military, youth and groups, and are available from www.WICAonline.com or 360.221.8268 - 800/638.7631.
MORE --

What's a Play Party?

A play party is a social event in which people gather to sing and dance. Play parties began in the 1830s in the United States. They were a route around the strict religious practices banning dancing and the playing of musical instruments. Folk songs, many of English origin, were used as means to give the attendants choreographed movements for each phrase. No instruments were played at the events, as the religious movements of the area banned them. Singing and clapping were used to convey each song. Because dancing was banned, the movements took on the quality of children's games.

Do you (or did you) sing "Skip to My Lou," "B.I.N.G.O.," "Pop Goes the Weasel," or "Old Dan Tucker"? These songs were born out of the play party!

The Stories.

"When we reached the old unpainted house at the top of Beech Mountain in North Carolina, Ray Hicks was in the middle of a story. There were no greetings, no handshakes, just head nods which said ‘sit there' -- so I did.
Ray sat in an old upholstered chair in front of the ancient wood stove. At first, I had trouble understanding him; his speech still had traces of his English/Irish/Welch ancestry, people who settled there over a hundred years ago.

This tall (six feet seven!) lanky man in blue denim overalls was telling stories he'd learned from those ancestors. As I listened, I realized I was witnessing a piece of living history. I watched, fascinated, as he rolled a cigarette without missing a beat. At funny moments, his face would crinkle up with glee and he'd laugh with us. This was FUN!
That was my introduction to traditional Appalachian storytelling. There were others: "Cuz", who told stories with his guitar and his wife, Jan, at the Dillsworth Diner in Jonesborough, Tennessee, "Treetop" who spun fanciful yarns and poignant true stories. So many of them... and I owe them all more than I can possibly repay. These are the people who taught me what it means to be a storyteller. This program is for them." -- Jill Johnson

"Jack and the Two Bullet Hunt" - A Jack Tale

A Jack Tale, a type of folk tale that was created in the Appalachian Mountains. The hero of these stories, Jack, invariably gets himself into trouble, but with his resourcefulness, courage -- and just plain dumb luck -- he manages to get out of it. The stories were passed down (orally) from generation to generation from folk tellers who came originally from England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. The stories were adapted to the new Appalachian environment and now are told by storytellers everywhere.
"Whitebear Whittington"- An Appalachian Fairy Tale

"Whitebear Whittington" is an Appalachian adaptation of well-known tales told in England, Scotland, Germany, and Norway. A girl marries a magical bear/man and then betrays his trust. She embarks on a long journey and faces many challenges to win him back. It is a gentle, poetic story, full of love and magic and redemption.

"Ray"
"Ray" is the story of a nationally known traditional storyteller who grew up in the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina. Ray grew up poor, but "rich" in the cultural traditions of the mountain people. In later life, he shared those traditions with millions of people through performance, recordings, and books and articles about him. Jill Johnson lived in Appalachia for five years and knew Ray and the story of her development as a teller is intertwined with Ray's story.
The Artists.

Jill Johnson began her storytelling career in Jonesborough, Tennessee, the home of the annual National Storytelling Festival. "For five years," says Jill, "I sat - and listened to - and learned from - tellers from all over the world. Talk about an opportunity...!" Since then, Jill has performed and given workshops all over Puget Sound and in Oregon, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Connecticut, and overseas. Little, But OH My!, her story of Berte Olson, ferryboat captain, premiered at WICA in 2003 and she has appeared in several WICA productions: Barnstorming, Little Women, This Child, Rabbit Hole, and A Child's Christmas in Wales. "But," says Jill, "it is a special joy to be able to share some of what I experienced in Tennessee."

Judy Magidson has been playing guitar since being inspired by the Up With People movement back in Junior High School. An accomplished musician, she plays anything from folk to classical to fiddle tunes and bluegrass to sacred music and klezmer. She has also played guitar for many theatrical productions across the country including Man of La Mancha, Godspell, and Jesus Christ Superstar. The banjo started calling to her heart while in college, with her favorite styles being Clawhammer and Frailing (what creates that "mountain" Appalachian sound). Moving to Whidbey Island from Denver, CO in 2003, she hooked up with Steve Showell playing guitar, banjo and bass for various bands including Band DuJour, Swing Nettles, The Island Contra Band, and the Testing Testing House band. Her favorite pass-time activities these days include "doing serious foot-stompin" (pickin' & grinin') for any occasion and co-hosting the weekly Langley (WA) Acoustic Music Jam.
Steve Showell has been playing his fiddle and mandolin at music festivals, farmers markets, street fairs and local stages for the past 30 years. Steve picked up his first fiddle in 1976 and found his first tune, Turkey in the Straw, it is still one of his favorites. Steve has played with The Dead Goat Dirt Band, The Swinging Nettles, The Island Contra Band and spent time playing with The Testing Testing House band. Recently Steve performed as a guest on Tim Noah's "Kaddywompas Radio Show". With a repertoire of hundreds of fiddle tunes Steve Showell is always ready to have a great time playing for any occasion.
Bruce Rowland and the Shape Note Singers

Bruce Rowland has sung in a number of choirs but his heart lies in a musical tradition of singing from shape note hymnals called "Sacred Harp", an acapella community singing tradition dating back to the early 1800s and kept alive mainly in the rural south. He has sung with the Seattle and Portland Sacred Harp singers for 20 years but was introduced to the sound by his grandparents in Haleyville, Alabama (hardwired before he could talk), where the Denson "Sacred Harp" was published for many years.

Tickets range in price from $12 to $15, with discounts available for seniors, military, youth and groups, and are available from www.WICAonline.com or 360.221.8268 - 800/638.7631.