Kathleen Chalfant Joins MORE BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH

TONY Award-Nominee Kathleen Chalfant has been announced to join Matthew Modine and Melissa Errico in the cast of MORE BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH.

On Saturday, December 17th at 8:00pm at The Abigail Adams Smith Auditorium, 417 E. 61st St. between First and York Avenues Salon/Sanctuary Concerts presents MORE BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH: Thomas Jefferson, Maria Cosway, and the Music and Philosophy of the Enlightenment.

Internationally renowned actor, Golden Globe Winner, and multiple Emmy Nominee Matthew Modine, OBIE, Drama Desk, Outer Critics, and Lucille Lortel Award Winner and TONY-Award Nominee Kathleen Chalfant, and TONY-Award Nominee and Broadway Star Melissa Errico star in a unique dramatic presentation drawn from the passionate letters of Thomas Jefferson and painter/composer/musician Maria Cosway, intertwined with the performance
of music mentioned in their correspondance, including works by Sacchini, Hewitt, Corelli, Duphly, and rarely performed compositions by Cosway herself.

with Members of the Clarion Society Orchestra

Featuring performances by
Jessica Gould, soprano and Karim Sulayman, tenor

Stage Direction by Erica Gould

A Benefit for Americans United for Separation of Church and State

Protean genius and primary architect of the Doctrine of Separation of Church and State, Jefferson was also an accomplished violinist and four-year resident of Paris before he became our third President. His romance with the married, Italian-born painter/composer/musician Maria Cosway during his post as Minister Plenipotentiary to France leaves a trove of letters which render the soundscape of the French Revolution with startling precision. This performance will combine a theatrical presentation of excerpts from their passionate correspondence, which continued for forty years, interwoven with performances of the music they heard. Repertoire will include selections from Sacchini’s opera Dardanus, songs by James Hewitt, and rare compositions by Cosway herself. More Between Heaven and Earth is part of a larger artistic endeavor to "reclaim the Founding Fathers from the Tea Party." A portion of the proceeds from the performance will be donated to Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

DATE:
Saturday, December 17th, 2011

TIME:
8:00pm

LOCATION:
The Abigail Adams Smith Auditorium
417 East 61st Street Between 1st and York Avenues
Part of the Mount Vernon Hotel, Museum, and Garden
built in 1799

TICKETS:
$100 front seating, $50 rear seating, $35 students with ID

http://www.mbhe.charityhappenings.org

A portion of ticket price is a tax-deductible contribution to Americans United for Separation of Church and State

Acclaimed stage actress KATHLEEN CHALFANT was nominated for Broadway's 1993 TONY Award as Best Actress for her role in Tony Kushner's Angels in America: Millennium Approaches. Her other Broadway and West End credits include Wit, Angels in America (Tony and Drama Desk nominations), M. Butterfly, Racing Demon, and Encores! Series Bloomer Girl. For her searing performance as Vivian Bearing in Margaret Edson's play Wit, Chalfant was awarded the Outer Circle Critics, Drama Desk, Obie, and Lucille Lortel awards, among others. In 2003, he won a second Obie Award and Outer Critics Award for her performance in Alan Bennett's Talking Heads. Her Off-Broadway credits also include The Vagina Monologues, Sister Mary Ignatius..., Henry V, Nine Armenians (Drama Desk nomination), Twelve Dreams, Dead Man's Cell Phone, and End Game, for which she won an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Performance.

Her film work includes Kinsey, Murder and Murder, Five Corners, Side Streets, A Price Above Rubies, and the upcoming independent feature film, Isn't It Delicious? In 2009, Chalfant performed in The People Speak, a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States.” Television: Rescue Me, The Laramie Project, A Death in the Family (American Masterpiece Theatre), Law & Order, Spin City, Steven King's Storm of the Century, Voices from the White House and Laurie Solt in The Guardian.

In addition to being an internationally renowned actor, MATTHEW MODINE is also a filmmaker, writer, and photographer. He has worked with many of the film industry’s most acclaimed directors on films which include Birdy, Full Metal Jacket, Married to the Mob, and Shortcuts, and more recently, Showtime's Weeds. He has been nominated for multiple Emmys and is the recipient of a Golden Globe Award, Venice Film Festival Volpi Cup and Golden Lion for his work as an actor. Last year he starred as the iconic Atticus Finch in a theatrical adaptation of Harper Lee’s classic novel, To Kill A Mockingbird at the Hartford Stage, which proved to be the most successful hit production in Hartford Stage's 45-year history. He most recently was seen in the Broadway revival of The Miracle Worker. He is currently filming the The Dark Knight Rises.