REMEMBER ME Presented by Operatic Heat to Air on PBS Starting August 2, 2009

Operatic Heat presents Parsons Dance and the East Village Opera Company (EVOC) in REMEMBER ME, a dance/rock opera on public television beginning August 2, 2009.

REMEMBER ME made its world premiere, live on stage in New York City, in January, 2009, to sold-out audiences at The Joyce Theater. As a result of its enormous popular success, REMEMBER ME will be broadcast across the nation as a public television pledge special with the first listed performances scheduled as:

KQED, San Francisco, CA - 8/2 at 8pm (also on KTEH/San Jose and KQET/Monterey), 8/3 at 2pm
WGBH, Boston, MA (presenting station) - 8/2 at 8pm, 8/5 at 3am and 3pm, 8/6 at 7:30pm
KCET, Los Angeles, CA - 8/7 at 3:30pm
AETN, Conway, AR - 8/9 at 8pm
WUSF, Tampa, FL - 8/9 at 8pm and 8/15 at 3:30pm
KLRU, Austin, TX - 8/10 at 8pm
WMHT, Albany, NY - 8/10 at 8pm
WLIW, New York - 8/13 at 8pm

"Awesome dancing and a backbeat to knock it all home. Eye-popping digital effects. Excellent showbiz-savvy performers. Perpetually smoldering. Lusty, sensual movement." - Deborah Jowitt, The Village Voice

Choreographed and directed for the stage by David Parsons, REMEMBER ME is a high-energy mix of contemporary American dance, opera and rock music. It combines the athleticism of Parsons Dance with the exhilarating live vocal performances of Decca/Universal recording artists EVOC. David Parsons, Tyley Ross (lead male vocalist and co-founder of EVOC) and AnnMarie Milazzo (lead female vocalist) created a storyline that connects EVOC's signature operatic arias (from songs recorded on the band's Grammy-nominated albums) with David Parsons' original choreography. REMEMBER ME is a thoroughly modern re-telling of a classic story of tragic love. With contemporary dance, live and recorded music, video projections, complex digital lighting and visual effects, REMEMBER ME is the most ambitious production created by Parsons Dance in its 22-year history. The live stage production of REMEMBER ME will tour North American in the Fall of 2009.

Costumes for REMEMBER ME are by New York City-based fashion designer Austin Scarlett, who competed in the first season of Project Runway.

PARSONS DANCE is committed to building new audiences for contemporary dance by creating American works of extraordinary artistry that are engaging and uplifting to audiences throughout the world. The company tours regionally, nationally and internationally.
PARSONS DANCE HISTORY
Since 1985, Parsons Dance has toured an average of 32 weeks per year, to a toal of more than 235 cities, 30 countries, six continents and millions of audience members. Many others have seen Parsons Dance on PBS, Bravo, A&E Network, and the Discovery Channel. Millions watched Parsons Dance perform live in Times Square as part of the internationally broadcast, 24-hour Millennium New Year's Eve celebration. In New York City, Parsons Dance has been featured at The Joyce Theater, City Center, New Victory Theater, Central Park Summerstage, Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art and The World Trade Center.

The New York Times called David Parsons "one of the great movers of modern dance." New York Magazine referred to him as "one of modern dance's great living dance-makers."

East Village Opera Company (EVOC) was formed in New York City's East Village in 2004 by Canadians Peter Kiesewalter and Tyley Ross. The East Village Opera Company turned the heads of New York's music community with a series of electric genre defying shows at Joe's Pub, the intimate venue housed by The Public Theatre. Initially meant as a one-off project, they were quickly signed to Decca/Universal records and met with universal praise from both classical and rock critics and fans. The Washington Post proclaimed that "Opera crossover acts are becoming a veritable cottage industry, but the East Village Opera Co. is markedly different." They have toured the world with a unique live show, combining a seemingly incongruous classical string section with a powerhouse rock band. Time Out New York stated that the group "electrifies the classics for a new generation." The Associated Press mused the band was "dramatic" and "mesmerizing" while the Wall Street Journal agreed, noting "The band rocks hard, and deranges the opera stuff with savvy skill." In a rare feat not many artists can claim, EVOC headlines around the world in both eclectic rock clubs as well as some of the most prestigious classical concert halls. The band's appeal is evident in both cases. The Chicago Tribune raved "Nobody puts a fresher, friskier contemporary spin on opera's greatest hits than the East Village Opera Company." The band has also performed at esteemed events such as the Sundance Film Festival, the Miss USA pageant (nationally televised on NBC), and the world-premiere of "The Da Vinci Code" in Hong Kong. EVOC's PBS Special "EVOC LIVE" was celebrated with an Emmy at the 2006 Emmy Awards. Their most recent Decca album entitled Olde School was nominated for a Grammy in the Classical Crossover Album category.

Executive Producers: Bruce Marcus, Joe Locarro, David Harrison.
Director: Joe Locarro.

For more information, please visit www.myspace.com/evocparsonsrememberme.

For more information about Parsons Dance, visit parsonsdance.org; for more information about EVOC, visit eastvillageoperacompany.com.

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