Amy Virginia Buchanan's THE MICHAEL SHOW Begins Today at the Tank

Amy Virginia Buchanan's THE MICHAEL SHOW is a moving one-woman show inspired by Buchanan's real life brother, Michael, who has Down Syndrome.

Wrestling with conflicting emotions brought on by her relationship to Michael, Buchanan mines the deeply personal experiences with her family and fraught sibling relationship to uncover universal truths. Combining monologue, song, and story, Buchanan uncovers how even when you think you have loved past your limit, the human soul in fact possesses hidden depths that are infinite. And when words don't suffice, song can communicate the unspeakable.

"I initially wanted to write THE MICHAEL SHOW because no one knows how to talk about people with special needs," say Buchanan, observing how she's spent her past 29 years being the sibling of a young man with Down Syndrome and occupies a unique perspective due to her life circumstances.

"The show relays the genuine experience of being raised with Michael, how it affects me and our family," she says. Ultimately THE MICHAEL SHOW opens up a dialogue about not only about special needs but also about living with those who have them. "Having Michael as my brother has been wonderful, terrifying, exhausting, and the best thing to have ever happened to me. He's the best character I know, so why not have a whole show about him?"

THE MICHAEL SHOW is written and performed by Amy Virginia Buchanan (Spring Street Social Society) and directed by Drew Petersen (Trusty Sidekick Theater Company).

THE MICHAEL SHOW was created in the Fresh Ground Pepper playwright group, and presented as a workshop performance at South Oxford Space in December of 2014.

IF YOU GO:

THE MICHAEL SHOW

Performance Schedule:
April 8th 7pm
April 9th 7pm
April 10th 3pm* (matinee)
April 15th 7pm
April 16th 7pm
April 17th 3pm* (matinee)

THE MICHAEL SHOW is performed at the Tank (151 West 46th Street b/w 6th Ave and Broadway).

Tickets: $15 in advance, $18 at the door

More info at www.thetanknyc.org/theater/494-the-michael-show

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Amy Virginia Buchanan (writer/performer)
Amy Virginia Buchanan is a Brooklyn based musician, theatre artist, and cultural curator. She serves as artistic director of Spring Street Social Society, which she cofounded with her creative partner, Patrick Janelle. As a musician, Amy has written and produced two albums, and is presently working on her third, Not Us, scheduled to be released this May. As a performance artist, Amy has a multidisciplinary background in classical theatre, clown, and personal narrative. She has presented short works at Little Theatre, LaMama, and Cloud City. Her first full length play, On Fonts, was staged in 2013. As a collaborative artist, she has presented work at the Incubator Arts Project, 14th Street Y Black Box, Dixon Place, Triskelion, HERE, the Drama Bookshop, the Brooklyn Lyceum, the People's Improv Theatre, the Brooklyn Navy Yards, the Brick, and the New Whitney Museum.

Drew Petersen (director)
Drew Petersen is a Brooklyn based artist and educator. He currently is an educator with Park Avenue Armory, The New Victory Theater, Brooklyn Academy of Music. As an artist, he is the associate artistic director for Trusty Sidekick Theater Company, a theater company devoted to creating high quality, original work for young audiences and their families. Most recently, he was a lead artist and playwright for an original piece of theater for children on the autism spectrum at Lincoln Center Education and co-wrote and directed an immersive theater piece for the Kennedy Center at the United States Botanic Gardens. He has also created work at Park Avenue Armory, New Victory Theater, PACE University and Curio Theater Company in Philadelphia.

The Tank is a non-profit arts presenter serving emerging artists engaged in the pursuit of new ideas and forms of expression. Our goal is to foster an environment of inclusiveness and remove the burden of cost from the creation of new work for artists launching their careers and experimenting within their art form. We serve over 1,000 artists every year in over 400 performances, and work across all disciplines, including theater, comedy, dance, film, music, public affairs, and storytelling. All programming is selected from open submissions. The heart of our services is providing free performance space in the intimate 62-seat blackbox that we operate in Manhattan, and we also offer a suite of other services such as free rehearsal space, promotional support, and a cut of the box office. We keep ticket prices affordable and view our work as democratic, opening up both the creation and attendance of the arts to all.

This season's successes have included the New York premiere of Manual Cinema's ADA/AVA and the world premiere of Mac Wellman's The Offending Gesture, both New York Times and Time Out New York Critics' Picks.

Pictured: Michael and Amy Virginia Buchanan