Photo Flash: 2009 Coming Up Taller Award White House Ceremony

New York's OBIE Award-winning Epic Theatre Ensemble's (Zak Berkman, Melissa Friedman, Ron Russell, Founding Executive Directors) Shakespeare Remix after-school program is being nationally recognized with the prestigious 2009 Coming Up Taller Award. Berkman, Russell, Friedman and youth Remix participant Shana Brown traveled to Washington, D.C., yesterday for a White House ceremony hosted by First LadyMichelle Obama to accept the award.

Coming Up Taller is a national initiative that recognizes and supports outstanding out-of-school and after-school arts and humanities programs for children, especially those with great potential, but limited outlets for creative expression. A project of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH), in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the Coming Up Taller Awards honor programs that offer exceptional learning experiences in the arts and the humanities and that have a tangible effect on the lives of young people as evidenced through improved academic scores, enhanced life skills, and positive relationships with peers and adults. 

Epic Theatre Ensemble's Shakespeare Remix is an after-school youth development program at four NYC Public High Schools in Lower Manhattan, Harlem, the Bronx and Brooklyn, that culminates with students performing alongside professional theater artists in fully produced Shakespeare productions at Off Broadway theatres.

Epic Theatre Ensemble will be presenting four Shakespeare Remix productions this season. The first, Shakespeare Remix Macbeth, can be seen December 17-19, 2009 under the direction of Melissa Friedman and feature students from Chelsea High School and Epic artists Kathleen Chalfant, John Keabler, Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. and James Wallert. All December performances of Shakespeare Remix Macbeth will take place at The Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street). 

The second Shakespeare Remix Macbeth will be February 4-6, 2010 under the direction ofRon Russell and feature students from Bronx High School for Writing and Communication Arts and Epic artists John Keabler and Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. All February performances will take place at The Pregones Theater (571-575 Walton Avenue between 149th & 150th Streets in the Bronx). Two additional productions in Harlem with the Urban Assembly School for the Performing Arts and in Brooklyn with Frances Perkins Academy at Automotive High School will be announced shortly. All tickets to Shakespeare Remix Macbeth are free, however reservations are required and may be made by calling (212) 613-5434.

Epic Theatre Ensemble nurtures active citizenship throughout New York City by producing socially-minded plays Off Broadway and connecting these productions to the New York City Public Schools via ground-breaking, fully-integrated artist residencies. These productions and residencies inspire an electric exchange of opinions and ideas that foster greater understanding and empathy between diverse groups and individuals.

For more information please visit, www.epictheatreensemble.org 

Photo Credit: Steven E. Purcell

Epic's Director of Education and Director of the Shakespeare Remix Program Melissa Friedman, Shakespeare Remix Participant Shana Brown and First Lady Michelle Obama