Kaatsbaan Cultural Park Presents THE PORCH This Month

Kaatsbaan Cultural Park presents The Porch on Saturday, April 29, 2023 at 7pm. Tickets are $25 general admission. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://kaatsbaan.org/calendar/2023/4/29/storytelling-the-porch.

The Porch is a live storytelling series where assorted local characters tell true stories to an audience of their friends and neighbors. This evening of spoken stories is a refreshing alternative to screen entertainment and has drawn a loyal following of Hudson Valley residents. The Porch has held sold-out events at local venues ranging from a town library to a friend's barn, from an indie movie theater to The Spiegeltent, Bard's popular summer arts venue - and now The Porch is excited to have its first show after a long hiatus at Kaatsbaan! Unlike an open mic, the stories are curated in advance and are sure to inspire. So pull up a chair and join us on The Porch!

Confirmed storytellers include:

McCaleb Burnett - a graduate of NYU's Graduate School of Acting and of Brown University, McCaleb's theatre performances include appearances at The Public Theatre & The Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, The McCarter, Hartford Stage, Los Angeles' Geffen Theatre and many others. Television work includes appearances on Daredevil, The Good Fight, Blue Bloods and Nurse Jackie, and numerous film credits include the upcoming "Midday Black Midnight Blue" starring Merrit Wever, and the drama Ain't It Though.

Nath Ann Carrera - Described as "heavenly" (The New York Times) and "wonderful, striking," with "essayistic songs about female revenge and politics" (Hilton Als, The Paris Review), Nath Ann Carrera has had solo shows at Joe's Pub, Wild Project, the Afterglow Festival, La MaMa, sings as WITCH CAMP with Amber Martin, performs with Justin Vivian Bond, opened for Martha Wainwright at City Winery, and has sung at P.S. 122, The Kitchen, Abrons Arts Center, Le Poisson Rouge, SFMOMA, MoMA PS1, Lincoln Center, and The Kennedy Center, as part of Joe's Pub's 'What's Your Safe Word?'

Jane Brien - A graduate of Bard College, Jane has been The Director of Alumni/ae Affairs at Bard College for over 14 years and is involved in all aspects of alumni/ae relations. She organizes events, plans reunions, writes for the college magazine, manages volunteers and staff, raises funds for the college, connects current students to alumni/ae professional network, brings alumni/ae to campus, organizes exhibitions highlighting alumni/ae work and recommends alumni/ae for college awards. She also works closely with Bard College Fund, publications, admissions, the faculty and President of the College.

Beth Broun - Beth is a born and raised New Yorker, now living in Woodstock. She has acted for most of her life working in theater, stand up, soap operas, and two seasons of Saturday Night Live. She now does storytelling in different venues and is working on a new TV show titled FINGERED. Diagnosed with MS 8 years ago, Beth's fight every day is to take one step in front of the other.

Jim O'Grady - Jim is a contributor to NPR's Planet Money podcast. He worked for 11 years as a reporter and editor at WNYC. He's the host of the nine-episode podcast Blindspot: The Road to 9/11, a co-production of HISTORY and WNYC Studios. He was a reporter for The New York Times for six years.

Mick Lynch - Originally from Dublin, Ireland, Lynch is an accomplished artist, having recorded several records as a part of the band Storyman as well as The Guggenheim Grotto. As a solo artist, Mick Lynch can be found playing stages all over New York City, the Hudson Valley and beyond.

Nicole Quinn - an accomplished playwright, screenwriter, teacher and actor, Nicole has written for John Singleton, HBO, Showtime, the networks, and Jodie Foster's Egg Pictures. Quinn's 'SLAP&TICKLE' was a finalist and her stageplay 'THE TORMENT' was a semi-finalist at the Moondance Film Festival. Quinn's 'HAIR IS CRUCIAL' won the 'Spirit of Moondance' award for best short story at the Moondance Film Festival and 'Racing Daylight' won the 'First Fifteen' at the Tanglewood Film Festival 2003.

And a video presentation of a previously told Porch story by Paul LaFarge:

Paul La Farge (November 17, 1970 - January 18, 2023) was a novelist and essayist. He authored five novels: The Artist of the Missing (1999), Haussmann, or the Distinction (2001), The Facts of Winter (2005), Luminous Airplanes (2011), and The Night Ocean (2017), all of which, particularly Haussmann, earned positive critical attention. His essays, fiction and reviews have appeared in publications such as The Believer, The Village Voice, Harper's, and The New Yorker.