'North' with Heather Christian & The Arbonauts at LaMaMa Premieres 1/18

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club proudly presents North, a new work created, conceived and directed by Heather Christian, and performed by Heather Christian & The Arbornauts. Performances run from January 18 to February 2, 2008 in a limited engagement at La MaMa e.t.c. in NYC. Previews begin January 18 for a January 20 opening.

La MaMa e.t.c. is located at 74A East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue & Bowery in NYC. Performances run Thursdays-Saturdays at 10pm and Sundays at 5:30pm. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors and can be purchased by calling 212-475-7710 or visiting http://www.lamama.org. Visit http://www.myspace.com/heatherchristian for more info, music and to watch a preview video of the show.

"In North, Heather Christian and her kitchen sink orchestra 'The Arbornauts' lovingly hybridize pre-1700 classical pieces, original music and post 1960's pop. The unique Baroque infused setting is a crystalline outdoor living room with a moving visual circus of oddities and silhouettes that includes 12 narrating television screens, a puppet show and a moving arboretum. North is a multi-media, multidisciplinary production about storytelling and love and distance, featuring a wide array of music from Carmina Burana to Cyndi Lauper along with Christian's own work," explain press notes.

Daughter of a go-go dancer and a blues musician, Christian has a highly theatrical sense of musicality. She whispers and coos, screams and gurgles, pulling both from classical form and good old fashioned feeling. Christian is a core member of Witness Relocation Co. (WRC) and performed in their production of Dancing vs. The Rat Experiment ("Magnificent" ~ The New Yorker) at La MaMa, which won 3 NY Innovative Theater Awards including Best Performance Art Piece and Best Choreography. She's performed with Annie-B Parson's Big Dance Theater at Dance Theater Workshop in The Other Here ("A talented group" ~ TimeOut NY, "Deeply brilliant" ~ NY Times, "Daring, funny, smart and unexpectedly moving" ~ Washington Post), at The Ohio with WRC in In A Hall in the Palace of Pyrrhus and at The Flea in Len Jenkin's Margo Veil. Christian is a recent graduate of NYU's Experimental Theatre Wing.

Featuring 'The Arbornauts' Chris Giarmo, Hannah Heller, Mike Mikos (member Witness Relocation & Theater of a Two-Headed Calf, performed in Drum of the Waves of Horikawa at HERE) and Raky Sastri on a variety of instruments/objects including an accordion, glockenspiel, harmonium, megaphone, melodica, typewriter and violin.

The design team consists of Obie-Winner Jay Ryan (Lighting Design), Pandora Andrea Gastelum (Costume Design), Courtland Premo and Colin Campbell (Set Design) and Heather Christian & the Arbornauts (Choreography).

Photo (L-R): Heather Christian, Chris Giarmo (sitting), Raky Sastri (standing) and Mike Mikos. Photographer: Courtland Premo

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