Mummenschanz Returns To NYC This Winter For Holiday Run 12/20-1/8/2011

World-renowned Swiss performance troupe MUMMENSCHANZ announced today plans for a special three-week holiday engagement in New York City at The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, from December 20 through January 8. The limited run marks the celebrated group's first return to the United States since 2003, and is part of a national tour traveling to several U.S. cities from
October 2010-January 2011.

Tickets go on sale on Monday, August 2, 2010 at 12 noon ET. (Tickets $45-$75; show running time 70-80 minutes, without intermission.)

Co-presented by Mummenschanz Foundation and The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, the three-week engagement is one of the highlights of the upcoming season, and the family-friendly entertainment will be included in the theater's popular Big Red Chair Family Series. Included among the yuletide shows is a Christmas Eve matinee at 2:00 pm ET, and two specially scheduled performances on New Year's Eve, at 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm ET.

The 22 performances being staged in New York's Greenwich Village are the centerpiece of a multi-city, three-month North American tour stopping in cities from coast to coast this fall and winter, with a program showcasing some of Mummenschanz's most beloved, imaginative and humorous characters from over the years and some newer pieces.

Ticket Information
To purchase tickets online, go to http://skirballcenter.nyu.edu/calendar/mummenschanz. To order tickets by phone, call 212.352.3101 or 866.811.4111 (weekdays, 9am-9pm; Saturday and Sunday,
10am-6pm). Tickets will also be on sale at the NYU Ticket Central box office, located in the lobby of 566 LaGuardia Place, at Washington Square South (Tuesday-Saturday 12-6 pm, and two hours prior to show time). Beginning August 24, tickets will be available for sale in person at the Skirball Center Box Office (566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square) in NYC open Tuesday-Saturday 12:00 noon-6:00 pm.

For nearly four decades, Mummenschanz has captivated audiences worldwide with its groundbreaking visuals and transformative, non-verbal theater. The troupe creates a playful and uniquely memorable experience through an inventive use of forms, shadow and light, and creative manipulation of sculptural, expressive masks.

In the surreal, comic, wordless universe of Mummenschanz, the ordinary becomes extraordinary when common materials and everyday objects--such as wires, tubes, boxes, and even toilet paper--all spring to life as fantastical characters. Abstract shapes and forms also interact in surprising ways to reveal some timeless truths about human connections and relationships. The result is a wonder-filled, visually stunning spectacle and family entertainment that sparks the imagination and
transcends cultural barriers.

"Mummenschanz has always had a powerful connection with American audiences, and with New York theatergoers, in particular," said Bernie Schürch and Floriana Frassetto, two of the show's founding members and featured performers on the tour. "New York City has even more special meaning for us, since it is here that we initially enjoyed our first big breakthrough with a long-running show on Broadway at the Bijou Theatre."

Both artists will participate in a series of lively and informative "Talk Back" events following select performances, to give audiences a chance to interact with the legendary troupe and hear firsthand about the techniques used to create its unique artistry.

For more information on Mummenschanz, visit the troupe's official website, available at http://www.mummenschanz.com. To become a Facebook fan, join at http://facebook.com/mummenschanz. Click on http://youtube.com/mummenschanztour to watch video links to several live performance sequences. For personal information and tour updates, follow the troupe's featured artists on http://twitter.com/mummenschanzUS.