WALK ACROSS AMERICA Comes To La MaMa ETC, Previews 1/15

THE WALK ACROSS AMERICA FOR MOTHER EARTH - the newest work from Taylor Mac whose epic THE LILY'S REVENGE was a smash hit Off-Broadway last year - will be given its world-premiere in a production presented by La MaMa ETC in association with the renowned, Obie Award-winning theatre company The Talking Band, with previews beginning January 15, 2011 prior to its official opening night on Thursday, January 20 at the Ellen Stewart Theatre (66 E. 4 St.) in Manhattan. The January 15th and 16th preview performances are part of the Under the Radar Festival, with a special ticket price of $20.

A play with music written by and starring Taylor Mac, with music by Ellen Maddow, THE WALK ACROSS AMERICA is directed by Paul Zimet, artistic director of Talking Band.

Mr. Mac heads the 12-member cast of THE WALK ACROSS AMERICA, which also features Will Badgett, Viva DeConcini, Daphne Gaines, Francis Jue, Ellen Maddow, Steven Rattazzi, Tina Shepard, Jack Wetherall and Nikki Zialcita.

Taylor Mac's celebrated theatricality comes to life in this exuberant tale based on his experiences in 1992 at age 18 when - eager to escape his conservative, suburban upbringing -- he joined a ragtag group of political activists on a nine-month protest walk across America from New York to the Nevada Nuclear Test Site. Itself a virtual melting pot comprised of aging hippies, baby hippies, punks, anarchists, dykes, radical fairies, men, women, senior citizens, children and an unlikely gaggle of Belgians, the group of marchers discovered during their trek that community, common purpose and camping out in America's Heartland do not necessarily equal unity - and that being an
activist is, in fact, not a cakewalk.

THE WALK ACROSS AMERICA FOR MOTHER EARTH is a theatrical pastiche of humor, Chekhovian introspection, pageantry, heartbreak and coming-of-age as written by Taylor Mac and brought to the stage by Talking Band, one of the country's leading experimental theatre companies. The Talking Band, in fact, commissioned Mr. Mac to write THE WALK ACROSS AMERICA.

In trademark Mac-style, THE WALK ACROSS AMERICA will have costume design by Mr. Mac's LILY'S REVENGE collaborator Machine Dazzle, along with scenic design by Anna Kiraly and lighting design by Lenore Doxsee.

Taylor Mac is a playwright, actor, singer-songwriter, and sometime director and producer. Time Out New York has called him, "One of the most exciting theater artists of our time" while American Theater Magazine says, "Mac is one of this country's most exciting, heroic and disarmingly funny
playwrights." Taylor's play, THE LILY'S REVENGE was a 36 cast-member extravaganza that
he wrote, starred in, and co-produced with the HERE Arts Center. It was rated the best play in 2009 by Time Out New York and Paper Magazine and appeared on the top ten lists of many other publications including The New Yorker and The New York Post. In his review of LILY'S REVENGE, Charles Isherwood wrote in the New York Times that the show is "a scrappy spectacle that splashes across the stage."

Other recent plays written and performed by Taylor Mac in include THE YOUNG LADIES OF, RED TIDE BLOOMING and THE BEAST OF TAYLOR MAC. Mr. Mac has performed his work in The Sydney Opera House, The San Francisco MOMA and Opera House, New York's Public Theater, Stockholm's Sodra Teatern, The Spoleto Festival, The Bumbershoot Festival, The Time Based Arts Festival, Dublin's Project Arts Center, London's Soho Theater, and literally hundreds of other theaters, museums, music halls, cabarets, and festivals around the globe. He has acted in many original plays (by others), dozens of revivals, and in
featured roles on television with The BBC2, BBC4, MTV, and The Sci-Fi Channel.

The Talking Band's original interdisciplinary performance work has been a cornerstone of New York City's avant-garde theater community for 35 years. Founded in 1974 by Paul Zimet, Ellen Maddow, and Tina Shepard (all former members of Joseph Chaikin's seminal Open Theater), the company has produced over 40 new works marked by a commitment to radical collaboration and a fusion of diverse theatrical styles and perspectives. American Theater named Talking Band "one of the most exceptional theater companies in the country," and collectively, the founders have earned 11 OBIE awards recognizing their work. At the heart of the Talking Band is its Performance Lab, an ongoing and evolving workshop, which draws new artists and ideas into the company, experiments with theatrical form, and cultivates the seeds of new plays. The company has performed at nearly all of New York City's celebrated downtown venues, including LaMaMa ETC, PS 122, Theater for the new City, Dance Theater Workshop, The Ohio Theater, The Flea Theater and HERE Arts Center, and has toured its works internationally to 14 countries. Talking Band productions of note include: BITTERROOT, RADNEVSKY'S REAL MAGIC, PAINTED SNAKE IN A PAINTED CHAIR, BLACK MILK QUARTET, THE THREE LIVES OF LUCIE CABROL, and HOT LUNCH APOSTLES.

Paul Zimet has written and directed Talking Band's productions of NEW ISLANDS ARCHIPELAGO, IMMINENCE, BELIZE, THE PARROT, STAR MESSENGERS, PARTY TIME, BLACK MILK QUARTET and NEW CITIES. He directed Part 1 of Taylor Mac's LILY'S REVENGE at HERE Arts Center. He also wrote Shadow Passports and Bone Room, episodes 2 and 8 of The Talking Band's serial mystery drama, THE NECKLACE. He received a 2003 Village Voice OBIE award for his direction of The Talking Band production of PAINTED SNAKE IN A PAINTED CHAIR by Ellen Maddow. He has also won three OBIE awards for his work with the Open Theater and the Winter Project, both directed by Joseph Chaikin.

Ellen Maddow is a founding member of The Talking Band, and has composed for and performed in most of its works. She was a member of The Open Theater. Works that she has written and composed include PANIC! EUPHORIA! BLACKOUT!, FLIP SIDE, episodes of THE NECKLACE, DELICIOUS RIVERS, PAINTED SNAKE IN A PAINTED CHAIR, for which she received an Obie award, TILT , BROWN DOG IS DEAD and FERN AND ROSE. She wrote the scores for Talking Band's NEW ISLANDS
ARCHIPELAGO, BELIZE, THE PARROT, BLACK MILK QUARTET, THE PLUMBER'S HELPER, NEW CITIES and STAR MESSENGERS.

Tina Shepard is a founding member of Talking Band, appearing in numerous productions with the company, and winning an Obie Award for her performance in it's THREE LIVES OF LUCY CABROL. Will Badgett and Steven Rattazzi have appeared in numerous productions with both Talking Band and Target Margin Theatre.

Viva DeConcini has performed her popular ROCK AND ROLL BURLESQUE around NYC. Daphne Gaines appeared at La MaMa ETC in YOKASTAS REDUX.

Francis Jue has appeared on Broadway in PACIFIC OVERTURES, THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE and M BUTTERFLY; he received an Obie and Lortel Award for his performance in YELLOW FACE.

Jack Wetherall has appeared in several Talking Band productions, and appeared on Broadway in the title role of ELEPHANT MAN. He is best-known for his role on the television series "Queer as Folk." Nikki Zialcita has appeared in the works of choreographer Faye Driscoll at Dance Theatre Workshop.

Scheduled through January 30, THE WALK ACROSS AMERICA FOR MOTHER EARTH will perform Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m. There will be an alternate performance schedule on Sunday, January 16 with performances at 2:30pm and 7:30pm. Tickets are $25 ($20 for students/seniors) and can be reserved by calling 212 475 7710 or online at lamama.org. Tickets can also be purchased ahead of time at the La Mama Box Office (74A E. 4th Street) or in the Ellen Stewart Theatre lobby on the night of the performance (66 E. 4th St., 2nd Floor)

THE WALK ACROSS AMERICA is produced in association with Under the Radar Festival and The Exchange, and is part of Exchange NYC 2010-11, a city wide season of new work by America's most innovative theatre companies, including The Civilians' recent, widely-acclaimed premiere of IN THE FOOTPRINT: THE BATTLE OVER ATLANTIC YARDS. Discounted tickets for THE WALK ACROSS AMERICA are available as part of the X-Pass, Exchange NYC's flexible season pass. For more information and to purchase the X-Pass: www.exchangenyc.org

THE WALK ACROSS AMERICA FOR MOTHER EARTH was originally commissioned by the Talking Band (Paul Zimet, Artistic Director) with funding from the New York State Council on the Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts, The MAP Fund, and The Mental Insight Foundation.

THE WALK ACROSS AMERICA FOR MOTHER EARTH was developed and produced with support from the Playwrights' Center's McKnight Commission and Residency Program, Minneapolis, MN.

The play was workshopped as part of the Creativity Fund, a program of New Dramatists, as well as the Orchard Project, New York Theatre Workshop, and New York University's Experimental Theater Wing.

La MaMa Experimental Theatre is a world-renowned cultural organization led by founder Ellen Stewart. For 48 years La MaMa has passionately pursued its original mission to develop, nurture, support, produce and present new and original performance work by artists of all nations and cultures. We believe that in order to flourish, art needs the company of colleagues, the spirit
of collaboration, the comfort of continuation, a public forum in which to be evaluated and fiscal support. Since La MaMa's doors first opened in 1961, our primary dedication has been to new works. Many of the best plays and playwrights of the 60's and 70's have come from our lower East Side stages and workshops. The face of Theatre as we now know it on Broadway and beyond was
influenced by and infused with the spirit and work of La MaMa artists.

Under the Radar Festival 2011 is produced by The Public Theater, festival producer Mark Russell. Major funding provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Ford Foundation. Under the Radar Professional Symposium 2011 is a program of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, and is held in conjunction with APAP Conference NYC 2010.