Pillsbury House Theatre Presents NAKED STAGES, 4/1-4/17

Pillsbury House Theatre presents multi-disciplinary performances in NAKED STAGES April 1st through the 3rd and April 15th through the 17th with preview performances on March 31st and April 14th.

All performances begin at 7:30pm and take place on the Pillsbury House Theatre Mainstage located at 3501 Chicago Ave S in Minneapolis. Ticket prices range from $10 to $15 with a Pay What You Can option on Wednesdays. Information and tickets can be obtained by phone at 612-825-0459 or online at www.pillsburyhousetheatre.org.

Intermedia Arts NAKED STAGES has found a new foster home at Pillsbury House Theatre for the 2009-2010 season. Pillsbury House Theatre is pleased to develop this partnership and support emerging performance artists through this nine-month creation process. NAKED STAGES is being led by Laurie Carlos as the Artistic Director and supported by Molly Van Avery as the Administrative Director as well as PHT's co-artistic director Noel Raymond and Artistic Program Associate Kurt Mattsen.

NAKED STAGES artists Julia Elizabeth Babb (A Fool's Paradox) and Julian McFaul (Disappearing Trick)will each present their own original live performance pieces at the April 1st through 3rd performances and Kelley A Meister (Seducing Those Who Are Afraid) and Miré Regulus (KnotDrawn: My Goodness, the Milk, and the Daddy(body)) will present April 15th through the 17th. Discount ticket packages are available for audiences wishing to see all four NAKED STAGES artists.

NAKED STAGES is an intensive multi-disciplinary program designed for emerging performance artists and funded by the Jerome Foundation. The uniqueness of NAKED STAGES as a commissioning opportunity is that it is a period where performance artists are encouraged to focus on their process of creation, as opposed to the final product. Artists meet monthly to show each other work and learn how to give and receive feedback that is artist centered, meaning they are supporting one another to make the kind of work they want to make by, for, and of themselves. In addition to showings, the artists participate in workshops with local creators like Hijack, Pramila Vasudevan, and creative intensives with nationally renowned artist Sharon Bridgforth. Once a month artists also have production meetings concentrating on the business side of art where the focus is on things like audience development, press materials, and working with technical support teams. The final NAKED STAGES performances are just one element of a multi-layered program that is designed to empower artists and prove that when the focus is on process, the final product is inevitably more powerful for both artists and audiences.
"I first participated in NAKED STAGES in 2001, and it continues to impact who I am as an artist," states Molly Van Avery, NAKED STAGES Program Administrator. "I have watched artists grow tremendously through their participation and witnessed the wide web of artists who continue to make compelling new work after receiving this opportunity. It is an honor to watch the artists strip away layer after layer as they discover who they are. The work that is made through NAKED STAGES involves risk not just for the artists but for audiences too."

ARTISTS BIOS

Julia Elizabeth Babb - A Fool's Paradox
Julia received the Jerome/Minnesota Book Arts Center's Fellowship for Non-Book Artists in 2006, with mentor Paulette Myers-Rich; and with mentor Jantje Visscher, participated in the Women's Art Registry of Minnesota Mentor Program's 2007-2008 cycle. A Minneapolis-based artist, Julia has been a member of the Longfellow 7 Artist Collective for 2+ years, and worked primarily with photography and collage for the past ten. She has been a poet and calligrapher most of her life. This is her inaugural foray into the realm of performance art.

Julian McFaul - Disappearing Trick
Julian McFaul is an actor, teacher and sculptor. A founding member of Bedlam Theatre, he was a leading actor and designer for the company's first ten years, where he wrote, directed and designed Terminus (2002). Julian has been involved as an actor notably with Mabou Mines, Improbable Theatre, Open Eye Figure Theatre, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Children's Theatre Company and In the Heart of the Beast's "Mayday Celebration." He is looking forward to several productions with Theatre Novi Most in 2010. Julian McFaul continues his kinetic approach to both acting and sculpture, this time in a piece that attempts to put both acting and sculpture simultaneously to the task of performing. Joy, Liberation, Trash, Deception are continual themes of exploration for Julian who relishes peeling away onion-skin-layers of trickery and truth on the perhaps noble but ultimately unachievable crash toward truth and existential authenticity.

Kelley A Meister - Seducing Those Who are Afraid
Kelley is a founding member of the radical multi-gendered, sex-positive, queer-positive, feminist political performance troupe BenchPress Burlesque. For two years, ze [sic] traveled and performed with BPB throughout the Midwest and the upper east coast. Concurrently, Kelley worked on hir [sic] MFA in Visual Studies from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and created a mixture of video, performance, and site-specific installation work. Presently, Kelley has joined forces with two other former BenchPress Burlesque members to create Wreck Family Productions. The trio performs around Minneapolis at myriad queer performance cabarets, including Dykes Do Drag, Queertopia, and the Dirty Queer Show. Kelley creates site-specific time-based media installations that merge spontaneity, accessibility, and a hand-crafted aesthetic.

Miré Regulus - KnotDrawn: My Goodness, the Milk, and the Daddy(body)

KnotDrawn marks Miré Regulus' return to art-making and performing. Past projects include @rkology, a spoken word/music group, Red Eye's Works In Progress, June Wilson's Circle of Choice Dance Company, performances at Patrick's Cabaret, the Center for Independent Artists, and at Laurie Carlos's original Late Nite series. Miré has directed a staged reading at the College of St. Catherine and performance art pieces at C4IA. She participated in the Change Exchange program on L.A.'s Skid Row - one of her most intense artistic experiences.

TICKETS
Tickets to NAKED STAGES are available at the door, by phone at 612-825-0459 or online at www.pillsburyhousetheatre.org.

Wednesday, March 31st @ 7:30pm (Elizabeth Babb and Julian McFaul) - Pay What You Can Preview Performance
Thursday, April 1st @ 7:30pm (Elizabeth Babb and Julian McFaul) - $15 for Adults; $10 for Students & Seniors
Friday, April 2nd @ 7:30pm (Elizabeth Babb and Julian McFaul) - $15 for Adults; $10 for Students & Seniors
Saturday, April 3rd @ 7:30pm (Elizabeth Babb and Julian McFaul) - $15 for Adults; $10 for Students & Seniors
Wednesday, April 14th @ 7:30pm (Kelley A Meister and Miré Regulus) - Pay What You Can Preview Performance
Thursday, April 15th @ 7:30pm (Kelley A Meister and Miré Regulus) - $15 for Adults; $10 for Students & Seniors
Friday, April 16th @ 7:30pm (Kelley A Meister and Miré Regulus) - $15 for Adults; $10 for Students & Seniors
Saturday, April 17th @ 7:30pm (Kelley A Meister and Miré Regulus) - $15 for Adults; $10 for Students & Seniors

Two-Show Ticket Packages are available to see all four NAKED STAGES artists. For only $20 for adults or $15 for students and seniors, audience members can get a ticket to a performance on April 1, 2 or 3 and a ticket for April 15, 16 or 17.

The mission of PILLSBURY HOUSE THEATRE is to create challenging theatre to inspire choice, change and connection.
PILLSBURY HOUSE THEATRE
3501 Chicago Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55407
612-825-0459
www.pillsburyhousetheatre.org

Photo: Miré Regulus - KnotDrawn: My Goodness, the Milk, and the Daddy(body)