59E59 Adds Shows To CAPTAIN FERGUSON’S SCHOOL FOR BALLOON WARFARE

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) announces an added performance for CAPTAIN FERGUSON'S SCHOOL FOR BALLOON WARFARE . The show, which was scheduled to close on Saturday, September 3, adds a 3:30 PM matinee performance on Sunday, September 4th.

On the eve of the US involvement in World War I, Captain Thomas Ferguson must transform a ragtag assembly of hayseeds and dropouts into a battalion of agile, tactically minded reconnaissance balloonists. Unconcerned about the tactical limitations of his balloons, and believing that the new "airplane" created by his friends Orville and Wilbur is a passing fad, Ferguson pitches himself and his men headlong against military convention, the German Army, and his superiors' orders. But with the Great War surging into France, Ferguson learns firsthand the price of hubris.

Called "At once triumphant and tragic" by the New York Post, this ode to patriotism and misguided genius was inspired by the true story of Captain Charles deForest Chandler, the first head of the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps, which later became the United States Air Force.

CAPTAIN FERGUSON'S SCHOOL FOR BALLOON WARFARE is written by Isaac Rathbone, directed by Philip Emeott and produced by Oracle Theatre, Inc. CAPTAIN FERGUSON'S SCHOOL FOR BALLOON WARFARE is running through Sunday, September 4 at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison). The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7:30 PM; Friday at 8:30 PM; Saturday at 2:30 PM & 8:30 PM; and Sunday at 3:30 PM. Tickets are $18 ($12.60 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.