Acorn Announces PHYZGIG VAUDEVILLE FESTIVAL, Opens 12/26

Acorn Productions 13th annual Phyzgig festival, a celebration of physical comedy and variety entertainment for the family, will take place in downtown Portland between Christmas and New Year's Eve 2010. The week includes 6 mainstage vaudeville shows at the Portland Performing Arts Center (including 2 shows on New Year's Eve), and 8 Phyzkidz shows at SPACE Gallery. The highlight of the week is a rare appearance by Phyzgig's Artistic Director and Peaks Island resident Avner the Eccentric, who will be performing his full-length show for the first time in 4 years in Portland. Over its first 12 years, Phyzgig has evolved into a well-known event that attracts audience members from throughout the region to Portland each holiday season, and the 2010 edition includes a few new faces along with favorites from previous incarnations of the popular family festival.

Phyzgig features 8 to 12 variety entertainers who are selected from a competitive application process that attracts interest from both national and international acts. As Phyzgig audiences have come to expect, these entertainers will create a full-blown week of zany insanity, featuring clowning, juggling, magic, slapstick humor, and other acts that defy classification. The event not only offers Portland audiences a rare look at form of entertainment with a rich and honored tradition, but has also helped to put Maine on the map as a state that nurtures the spirit of vaudeville. Phyzgig features two types of performances: Phyzkidz shows take place at SPACE Gallery and feature 3 performers in a format and venue designed for younger audience members, while mainstage variety shows showcase 4 performers and the live Phyzgig band, appealing to audiences of all ages. Tickets to Phyzgig are a very reasonable $8 to $20, making the event one of Greater Portland's most accessible holiday events.

Acorn is thrilled to be able to share the talents of Avner the Eccentric when he performs Exceptions to Gravity on Tuesday, December 28th at 8 p.m. Avner is an internationally-touring performer who makes his year-round home on Peaks Island. He has not performed in Portland since he appeared at John Ford Auditorium in 2006, and this benefit show provides a rare opportunity to see a legendary performer at the height of his craft. Avner's show "Exceptions to Gravity" has been internationally acclaimed, delighting audiences throughout Europe, Asia, South America as well as becoming a hit of the 1984-1985 Off-Broadway season. Avner Eisenberg, is the silent comic best known as the lovable holy man, the "Jewel" in The Jewel of the Nile, co-starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. Before becoming a world-class performer, Avner trained for two years in Paris under master-teacher Jacques LeCoq. In addition to his performances, Avner currently teaches clowning workshops all over the world, including an annual two-week event at the Celebration Barn in South Paris, Maine.

Phyzgig is presented by Acorn Productions, an organization dedicated to nurturing and developing the performing arts community in Southern Maine. Although the festival continues to showcase the work of performers from around the country, the focus continues to be on Maine artists who trained with the famed master of mime Tony Montanaro at the Celebration Barn Theatre in South Paris, Maine. Tickets for Phyzgig will go on sale November 15th when the final line-up of performers is announced. Call Acorn Productions at 854-0065 or visit www.phyzgig.org.

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