Ira Glass and Monica Bill Barnes & Co. Bring THREE ACTS, TWO DANCERS, ONE RADIO HOST to The Town Hall, Now thru 9/12

Monica Bill Barnes & Company and Ira Glass, host of This American Life, will present their show Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host at The Town Hall (123 West 43rd Street) for a three-night-only run, tonight, September 10, through September 12 at 8pm. Since April 2013, they've been on a 30-city national tour, appearing in one or two cities per month.

The show combines two art forms that -- as Glass puts it -- "have no business being together - dance and radio." The result is a funny, lively and heartfelt evening of dance and stories that has brought down the house wherever it's been performed, starting with its first test run at Carnegie Hall in 2013.

Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host includes radio interviews restaged as theatrical dance pieces, plus stories from the lives of each of the three performers: Ira Glass, Monica Bill Barnes and Anna Bass. "What makes it work is a shared sensibility." Glass says, "As dancers, Monica and Anna are these amazingly relatable and funny storytellers without words." Bass notes, "I think it's still blowing Ira's mind to see some of the radio pieces remade this way, with props and costume changes and lighting cues." Barnes adds, "Combining these art forms has led to a show that's unlike anything I've ever choreographed before."

As the title indicates, the show is in three acts. Act one is about the job of being a performer. Act two: falling in love and what it means to stay in love. Act three: nothing lasts forever. "People who like This American Life will probably like this," says Glass, "because it's just like the radio show, um, if you picture dancing during all the stories."

Performances of Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host will take place September 10-12 at 8pm at The Town Hall, located at 123 West 43rd Street. Tickets are currently available at $25-$80 and can be purchased by visiting ticketmaster.com, calling 800.745.3000 or in person at The Town Hall box office. The running time is 90 minutes with no intermission.

Ira Glass is the creator and host of the public radio show This American Life, which is heard on over 500 public radio stations; its podcast most weeks is the most popular podcast in America. Monica Bill Barnes & Company is a contemporary American dance company dedicated to celebrating individuality, humor, and the innate theatricality of everyday life. MBB&CO has performed at more than 30 venues in New York City including New York City Center, The Joyce Theater, Joe's Pub, and Upright Citizens Brigade, and at out-of-town venues including Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, the American Dance Festival, and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

For more information, visit 3acts2dancers1radiohost.com.

Following The Town Hall engagement, Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host will resume its national tour, including these cities:

September 20, Society for the Performing Arts, Cullen Theater, Houston, TX.
September 28, Center for the Arts, Produced by Days and Nights Festival, Carmel, CA
October 11, Mesa Arts Center, Ikeda Theater, Mesa, AZ
October 18, University of Iowa, Presented by Hancher Performances, Iowa City, IA
November 1 & 2, Washington University, Edison Theater, St. Louis, MO
December 6, Carpenter Performing Arts Center, California State University Long Beach Saturday, Long Beach, CA
January 17, The Smith Center For the Performing Arts Saturday, Las Vegas, NV
January 24 & 25, Citi Shubert Theatre, Boston, MA
February 7, Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, CA
February 28, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Saturday, Pittsburgh, PA
March 7, Weber State University, Ogden, UT
March 14, Anchorage Concert Association, Atwood Concert Hall, Anchorage, AK
March 28 Mondavi Center for the Arts, Davis, CA
April 11, Seattle Theatre Group, The Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA
April 18, Michigan State University, Wharton Center for the Performing Arts, East Lansing, MI
April 25, Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington, VT
May 2, 2015, in Cleveland, OH
July 11, 2015 in Dallas, TX
December 5, 2015 in Austin, TX

The Town Hall production of Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host is presented by Monica Bill Barnes & Company and Ira Glass. The national tour of Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host is exclusively co-represented by Steven Barclay Agency and Pomegranate Arts.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Monica Bill Barnes (Director/Choreographer) is the Artistic Director of Monica Bill Barnes & Company (MBB&CO), a New York City based contemporary dance company founded in 1997. MBB&CO has performed in more than 50 cities throughout the United States, been commissioned and presented by The American Dance Festival, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival and has performed all over New York City in venues ranging from Upright Citizen's Brigade to Lincoln Center. Barnes has been an invited guest artist at many universities, has choreographed for various theater productions and has been commissioned by Parsons Dance and The Juilliard School. Since 2006, Barnes has been making duets for herself and Anna Bass with the goal of reaching audiences beyond dance venues. They have performed in comedy festivals, films and at literary events. Barnes began working with Ira Glass in 2012 when she created a solo for David Rakoff and performed with MBB&CO as a part of This American Life Live!. This is the first show where she has let anyone speak on stage.

Anna Bass began working with Monica Bill Barnes & Company in 2003 and now serves as Associate Artistic Director. She has performed Barnes' work all over the country and on stages ranging from public fountains and city parks, to New York City Center and Carnegie Hall. Bass and Barnes began their duet work in 2006 and have been dancing side by side ever since. She assists Barnes with dance works, commissions (her favorite being David Rakoff's solo for This American Life Live!) and theater work. Bass was the Assistant Choreographer for The Jammer at The Atlantic Theater, Goodbar at the Under the Radar Festival at The Public Theatre and These Paper Bullets! at Yale Repertory Theatre. She also teaches master classes and workshops for MBB&CO and has been a guest artist at several universities. Bass is originally from Virginia, has studied almost every dance style from classical ballet to country line dancing and holds a BA in Dance and Theater from James Madison University. She lives in Brooklyn.

Ira Glass is the host and creator of the public radio program This American Life. The show is heard on more than 500 public radio stations in the U.S. and most weeks it's the most popular podcast in America. It airs on public radio in Canada and Australia. Under Glass's editorial direction, This American Life has won the highest honors for broadcasting and journalistic excellence; a television adaptation of the program ran on the Showtime network for two years, winning three Emmys. The American Journalism Review declared that the show is "at the vanguard of a journalistic revolution." The radio show has put out its own comic book, greatest hits compilations, live stage shows, two feature films, a "radio decoder" toy, temporary tattoos and a paint-by-numbers set. This is Glass's professional dance show debut.

Under the artistic direction of choreographer Monica Bill Barnes, Monica Bill Barnes & Company is a contemporary American dance company that celebrates the individuality, humor and innate theatricality of everyday life. The Company is committed to bringing dance to a diverse audience through public performances, touring, artistic and teaching residencies, and innovative projects that expand the possibilities for dance. MBB&CO is a four-member company of long-standing collaborators: Monica Bill Barnes (Artistic Director/Performer), Anna Bass (Associate Artistic Director/Performer), Jane Cox (Lighting Designer) and Kelly Hanson (Set/Costume Designer). This team has created over 30 shows for stages large and small, formal to site specific, producing work together for over a decade.

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