Metropolitan Playhouse Opens THE FESTIVAL OF THE VEGETABLES 2/6

Metropolitan Playhouse presents the acclaimed music-dance-theater piece by Rachael and Michael Kosch, THE FESTIVAL OF THE VEGETABLES. Performances run Saturdays and Sundays at 11 am, February 6 - 21, 2010 at the Metropolitan Playhouse: 220 E 4th Street, between Avenues A and B. Tickets are $10 for children twelve and under; $12 for all adults.

Designed for children and their families, composer/librettist Michael Kosch and choreographer/costume designer Rachael Kosch have created a suite of savory dance-poems for this, the fourth annual performance at Metropolitan of THE FESTIVAL OF THE VEGETABLES. A troupe of dancers and actors will perform a series of brief, lighthearted poems and dances that reveal the secret life of vegetables.

The scene is set in a vast supermarket where a toddler, shopping with mom, nods off to sleep. The child dreams of vegetable adventures -each story introduced by a couple of bumbling yet eloquent produce clerks. Vegetable-people of all varieties jump and whirl in a whimsical salad: a giant Brussels Sprout chases strollers in Central Park... lean Red Cabbage swaggers his way across the brunch table... passionate Prince Potato courts sweet Princess Tomato...lithe String Bean fiddles and spins...wobbly, bobbly Eggplant tips, trips and dips ...sad Brother Lettuce sweeps across the stage, swirling leaves of silk.

Costumes are a combination of soft-sculpture-like original creations by Rachael Kosch, and haute couture vintage gowns. Bright, vivid, vegetable hues color the stage. A splash of rhinestone sparkle adds visual tickle.

Composer/librettist Michael Kosch has written operas, orchestral works, and chamber music. He wrote the incidental music for the Metropolitan's production of The Scarecrow in 2005. His dance-play, Tetherfop, played at the theater in its January 2008 Hawthornucopia festival.

Choreographer Rachael Kosch's work has appeared in operas, musicals, and plays. She has created ballets for her company The Kangaroo Garden and for New York Theatre Ballet. She works with child dancers at The Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and at Ballet School New York.

Known for exploring American identity through our literary and historical past, Metropolitan Playhouse continues its growing series of performances for children and families, inviting audiences of the future into its intimate downtown home. The Festival of the Vegetables is the second family program of the 09-10 season, following December's Adventure Theater. The next production for children will be Singer/Songwriter Ivan Ulz scheduled for May 2010. Recent successes in the company's adult programming have included: Under the Gaslight, The Contrast, It Pays to Advertize, Anna Christie, The Pioneer, Margaret Fleming, Denial, The Octoroon, The Truth, The Melting Pot, Inheritors, The Scarecrow, and Missouri Legend, as well as the popular Poe-Fest, Twainathon, Hawthornucopia, and Melvillapalooza.

Metropolitan Playhouse Presents
February 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21
Saturdays and Sundays at 11 am

For Children Ages Five to One Hundred and Five

Ticket Prices:
$10 Children 12 and Under
$12 Adults
Reservations: 212/995-5302
www.metropolitanplayhouse.org

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