WVTC and Watts/Century Latino Organization Present MEET ME @METRO II, 7/2-10

Building upon the success of last year's Metro Me @Metro, Watts Village Theater Company (WVTC) in association with Watts/Century Latino Organization presents Meet Me @Metro II, a theatrical journey on Los Angeles' Metro Rail featuring daring, site-specific performances curated by WVTC Artistic Director Guillermo Avilés-Rodríguez and Associate Curator Rita Cofield from Obie Award winner Rick Burkhardt, eight innovative Long Beach and Los Angeles-based theater companies and a myriad of solo performers. Meet Me @Metro II will take place July 2-10, 2011 with performances on Saturdays and Sundays at 11:00am beginning and ending at the Watts Towers Arts Center.

Originally inspired by interactions with the youth of Watts who had never traveled outside a 10 mile radius of their community, the inaugural Meet Me @Metro attracted over 5,000 ticketed and incidental audience members and employed over 100 local artists and staff. Now, with the continued support of Los Angeles County's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and endorsements from Mayor Villaraigosa and the Honorable Mark Ridley-Thomas, Second District Supervisor, Meet Me @Metro II has expanded its route, performance schedule and artistic vision.

With a "Traveling Circus" theme, Meet Me @Metro II features performances from eight cutting-edge, professional Long Beach and Los Angeles-based theater companies as well as a dazzling array of solo performers who will join the sideshow caravan. The theatrical journey begins at the Watts Towers Arts Center and runs along the Blue Line, south to Long Beach and back. With colorful and inspiring performances happening all along the way, audiences will be immersed in theater, dance, puppetry, music and spectacle-all highlighting the historical, cultural and artistic significance of South Los Angeles and Long Beach.

"Meet Me @Metro II represents a synergy between art and transit, art and sustainability," remarks Guillermo Avilés-Rodríguez, Artistic Director of WVTC. "It's a way to get people both out of their cars and to the theater, or better still, a way to bring the theater to them."

Check out last year's Meet Me @Metro on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MVQfBjaOS0

Meet Me @Metro II is made possible by the generous support of the James Irvine Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Bank of America, United Latino Fund, LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, 2nd District, California Community Foundation, Transit TV, Metro Art Docent Council and California Green Press.

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EVENT DETAILS

What: Meet Me @Metro II

Location: The Watts Towers Arts Center
1727 East 107th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90002

When: July 2-10, 2011. Saturdays and Sundays at 11 a.m.

Tickets: $11; Available online at www.wattsvillagetheatercompany.org

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IMAGES, INTERVIEWS AND PRESS PASSES

Hi-res images, interviews and limited press passes are available upon request.

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PARTICIPATING COMPANIES

Watts Village Theater Company (WVTC) is a multicultural urban company that seeks to inspire its community with an appreciation of all cultures through new works about contemporary social issues. WVTC infuses communities with tolerance for differences and create an appreciation for all cultures through the collaborative art of theatrical play production. WVTC produces and develops new plays by Los Angeles-based artists that address sociopolitical issues pertinent to Watts and the greater Los Angeles area, and promotes literacy and self- empowerment amongst the youth of Watts through internships, volunteer opportunities and education in the performing arts. For more information, visit www.wattsvillagetheatercompany.org

Rick Burkhardt is an Obie-award-winning playwright, performer, composer, and songwriter whose original chamber music, theater, and text pieces have been performed in over 40 US cities, as well as in Europe, Mexico, Canada, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand. He is a founding member of the Nonsense Company, a touring experimental music / theater trio, and songwriter / accordionist for the Prince Myshkins, a political cabaret / folk duo. In 2011 he was listed as an "Off Off Broadway Innovator to Watch" by Time Out New York. www.rickburkhardt.com

The gangbusters theatre company has been staging the modern classics with their original speed & violence for 10 seasons. They've rained down blood & thunder on stages from Hollywood to New York City and back again. Dangerous, intense and a threat to artistic complacency - their work has been nominated by every major Los Angeles awards committee. Free beer ain't so bad, either. To view some of the best theatre trailers you've ever seen, go to www.gangbusterstheatre.com

Incisive, inclusive...and always a little bit subversive, The Found Theatre was established in Long Beach in 1974 by Cynthia Galles in order to provide the community with low-cost, intimate, quality alterNative Theatre with a social conscience and a sense of humor. Producing all original work, the company is comprised of writers, actors, directors and technicians of all ages and backgrounds who share a desire to refine their craft, experiment, learn from each other, and grow as artists. For more information, visit www.foundtheatre.org

KILLSONIC is an East Los Angeles-based 25-piece experimental jazz orchestra, co-founded in 2001 by Michael Ibarra (bari sax, upright bass) and princessFrank (drums). The group's original opera, Tongues Bloody Tongues, debuted in July 2010 at the REDCAT in Disney Hall in downtown Los Angeles. A rave review in the Los Angeles Times said that the production "soars on wings of absurdity." Killsonic has also staged formal tours of the NYC subway and L.A.'s Metro Red Line. For the last decade, Killsonic has been killing it in the underground music and art scenes of Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. For more information, visit www.killsonic.org

The Long Beach Theatre Arts Collaborative (LBTAC) is a new theatre organization empowering theatre companies and audiences in the greater Long Beach area. Several theatre companies are actively participating, including: Alive Theatre, The Garage Theatre, Long Beach Playhouse, Long Beach Shakespeare, California Repertory Company, University Players, White Lotus Collective, Long Beach Repertory, and Act Out Mystery Theatre. Individual artists and theatre advocates are also welcomed in hopes of a more collaborative, creative Long Beach. For more information, visit LBTAC Facebook page.

24th Street Theatre/Teatro Apolo is a professional theatre that has been bringing music, theatre, dance and visual art to Exposition Park and Greater Los Angeles since 1997. The organization prides itself as a leader in arts education, community outreach, and quality professional theatre for young and old alike. For more information, visit www.24thstreet.org

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) is unique among the nation's transportation agencies. It serves as transportation planner and coordinator, designer, builder and operator for one of the country's largest, most populous counties. More than 9.6 million people-nearly one-third of California's residents-live, work, and play within its 1,433-square-mile service area. For more information, visit www.metro.net

 

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