MORE OR LESS I AM To be Presented Around NYC for 9/11 Anniversary, 9/8-9/11

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of September 11th, Walt Whitman's America will be brought to life throughout his beloved New York in a stirring music-theater adaptation of "Song of Myself," the poet's eloquent tribute to a nation's ideals on the brink of civil war.

From September 8-11, Compagnia de' Colombari will present MORE OR LESS I AM for free in venues throughout the city, starting at Pier 46 in Hudson River Park (September 8th) and culminating at the Old Stone House, a colonial-era landmark in Park Slope (September 11th).

The traveling production will offer New Yorkers a timely reminder of America's diversity, interdependence, and optimism as they reflect on the events of ten years ago and the ways in which it both unified and polarized the country. The production was hailed as a "joyous jamboree" by The New Yorker when it was first presented in spring 2010.

The play is conceived and directed by company founder Karin Coonrod and features original music composed by Colin and Eric Jacobsen, members of the genre-defying string ensemble Brooklyn Rider, and Kyle Sanna. The cast includes David PatRick Kelly, Michael Rogers, and Jorge Rubio.

Coonrod, whose work has been hailed by the New York Times as "prodigiously inventive," has received numerous awards for her innovative staging of classical plays for the New York Shakespeare Festival, The Public Theatre, and Theatre for a New Audience. This fall, she will direct William Shakespeare's LOVE'S LABOR'S LOST at The Public Theater in New York.

"This anniversary offers New Yorkers an opportunity to re-imagine what it is to be American, to listen to what our poet laureate wrote when the country was extremely polarized and on the brink of civil war," said Coonrod. "Whitman's declaration of interdependence is more relevant now than ever. We hope to inspire audiences that even more powerful than our greatness as individuals is our greatness as a group."

Reflecting Whitman's celebration of American diversity as encapsulated in New York City, an international mix of actors, musicians, and children will speak and sing Whitman's words. Members of the audience will also be encouraged to play a role. Following select performances, audiences are invited to join the cast and crew for a celebratory reception, with food and drink for all to share.

Cast members include: Dietrice Bolden, Ayeje Feamster, David PatRick Kelly, Nicole Mitchell, Giovanni Pucci, Michael Rogers, Jorge Rubio, Leigh Wade, Cheyanne Young, Colin and Eric Jacobsen, Kyle Sanna, and Alex Sopp.

"More Or Less I Am" performance schedule:
8 September (Thursday) 7PM: Pier 46 in Hudson River Park (at Charles Street, Manhattan)
9 September (Friday) 7PM: Calhoun School (433 West End Avenue at 81st Street, Manhattan) - reception after
10 September (Saturday) 2PM: Brooklyn Historical Society (128 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn) - reception after
10 September (Saturday) 8PM: Park Avenue Christian Church (1010 Park Avenue, Manhattan) - reception after
11 September (Sunday) 3PM: Old Stone House (336 3rd Street, Brooklyn) - reception after

About Compagnia de' Colombari
Compagnia de' Colombari is an international collaborative of performing artists born in Orvieto, Italy, and based in New York City. Colombari is dedicated to new and old works from diverse traditions and cultures, creating spectacles for the public free of charge. The Company is named after the colombari-dovecotes-etched high into the cliff on which Orvieto is poised. The dovecotes, networked one to another against the brutal elements, demonstrate a synergy between the individual and the collective. Colombari plays at the intersection and clash of cultures celebrating the intrinsic kinship of humankind alongside its extraordinary diversity. Generating theater for a new century, Colombari believes that every place is a space for the sacred architecture of theater experience, which ignites performer and audience. For more information, visit http://www.colombari.org/.