Chicago's 500 Clown Theater Company has received $28,000 from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Ensemble Theatre Collaborations Grant program. The award will support the partnership between 500 Clown and the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at Maryland, which commissioned 500 Clown's newest production, "500 Clown and the Elephant Deal," to premiere December 11-14, 2008. In this original clown-theater-music production, 500 Clown joins forces again with Chicago composer and lyricist John Fournier to launch a musical missile aimed at corruption, dehumanization, and identity. "500 Clown and the Elephant Deal" is inspired by Bertolt Brecht's "The Elephant Calf" and "A Man's a Man," the Fratellini Clowns, "Hair" (the musical), "Hamlet," and the unprecedented gap between civilian and military life in the United States. The company will lead a residency at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center over nine months, involving University of Maryland Department of Theatre students as supporting cast members and creative participants in formulating the show.
This is 500 Clown's first major national grant since becoming a non-profit organization in 2007. According to the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Ensemble Theatre Collaborations Grant program, the award recognizes 500 Clown for doing "leading ensemble theater work in the country." In June 2009, "500 Clown and the Elephant Deal" will premiere in Chicago at Steppenwolf in the Upstairs Theatre as part its Visiting Company Initiative.
Since its very successful run of the highly-acclaimed "500 Clown Macbeth" and "500 Clown Frankenstein" in repertory at Steppenwolf last summer, the company has taken Manhattan by storm with a run of Frankenstein and "500 Clown Christmas" at PS122 in December 2007. The New York Times called the Christmas show "ribald and exhilarating," and the Village Voice pronounced Frankenstein "frightfully funny."
In May 2008, 500 Clown performed "500 Clown Frankenstein" to sold-out audiences at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, California, and they have been invited to return next year with "500 Clown Macbeth." 500 Clown has also extended its touring dates, with upcoming performances scheduled October 31, 2008 in Crystal Lake, IL, at the Raue Center for the Arts ("500 Clown Frankenstein"), December 19-23 in Naperville, IL, at North Central College's Meiley- Swallow Hall ("500 Clown Christmas"), Maine and New Jersey.
MORE ABOUT 500 CLOWN
500 Clown uses action-based performance, improvisation, and circus arts to tell long-form dramatic stories that catapult the performers into extreme physical and emotional risk. The work shifts the audience from passive to active observers and creates a charged environment that celebrates the unpredictable power of the moment. They rapidly move between planned elements and improvisation, leaving their audiences excitedly uncertain as to what is and is not planned. 500 Clown theater is raw, bold, and generous with audiences in accessibility and spirit. The company members are also educators, offering classes and workshops for professionals, nonprofessionals, college and high schools students.
MORE ABOUT THE ASSOCIATION OF PERFORMING ARTS PRESENTERS
The Association of Performing Arts Presenters (Arts Presenters) is the largest national service and advocacy organization for the performing arts, dedicated to bringing artists and audiences together through presenting and touring. With more than 1,900 members worldwide, Arts Presenters is committed to increasing community participation, promoting global cultural exchange, and fostering an environment for the performing arts to thrive. The performing arts presenting industry in the U.S. reaches more then 300 million audience-goers each year and has a national economic impact of more than $8.5 billion annually (the $9 billion is not an economic impact figure; it's the U.S. industry's spending power only; impact has not been measured but would be much higher). For more information, visit www.artspresenters.org.
MORE ABOUT THE DORIS DUKE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
The mission of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is to improve the quality of people's lives through grants supporting the performing arts, environmental conservation, medical research and the prevention of child maltreatment, and through preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke's properties. www.ddcf.org
MORE ABOUT THE CLARICE SMITH PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center transforms lives through sustained engagement with the arts. Through extended residencies, the Center forges relationships between extraordinary guest artists, faculty, students and the wider community, creating multiple avenues for learning and illuminating the creative process. Providing transformational experiences both onstage and off, the Center supports and develops provocative work that represents diverse perspectives, sparking dialogue and reflection. Located on the University of Maryland, College Park campus between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, the Center serves as home to the UM School of Music, Departments of Dance and Theatre, and the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library.
MORE ABOUT STEPPENWOLF'S VISITING COMPANY INITIATIVE
Steppenwolf's Visiting Company Initiative provides the opportunity for other theater companies to present work in all three of the Steppenwolf theatres. These residencies are supported by the artists and staff at Steppenwolf. In creating relationships with Visiting Companies, Steppenwolf enriches the artistic dialogue among its artists and audiences.
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