MI CASA TU CASA Comes to Dreamcatcher As Part Of The Stages Festival

New Jersey Theatre Alliance and Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre present Mi Casa Tu Casa at Oakes Center, 120 Morris Avenue in Summit, on Friday, March 9 at 6:30 p.m. This event is part of the Alliance's Stages Festival, the state's largest annual theatre festival that provides free and discounted theatre events for all ages throughout the month of March. This event is free and open to the public.

Mi Casa Tu Casa is a bilingual blend of music and folktales for the entire family. Musicians and storytellers are your guides on this journey through time, place, and imagination. Mi Casa Tu Casa was co-created by Michael Aquino, Deivis Garcia, Jane Mandel, and Dania Ramos. The original version, a holiday show, premiered at Luna Stage in December 2011. The touring version of Mi Casa Tu Casa offers favorite tales and songs in an hour-long show that celebrates joy and magic found throughout the year. The current production, directed by Jane Mandel, features Michael Aquino, Alicia Rivas, and Louis Vetter.

Mi Casa Tu Casa will also be presented at three other venues during the 2018 New Jersey Theatre Alliance's Stages Festival this March: South Street School in Newark, NJ, on March 15; the Institute of Music for Children in Elizabeth, NJ, on March 17, and at the Newark Public Library (North End Branch) in Newark, NJ on March 21. For information about any of the shows, visit: www.stagesfestival.org. For more information about Mi Casa Tu Casa, visit: micasashow.wordpress.com. Reservations are required for the March 9 performance at Dreamcatcher; call 908-514- 9654 to reserve.

The Stages Festival offers dozens of performances, workshops, classes, and events at theatres, art centers, libraries, schools, senior centers, and other community venues throughout the state. The program was developed to encourage New Jersey's residents to attend their local professional theatres by making the experience affordable, accessible, and fun. Since its inception, the program has served over 190,000 people.

"Stages is all about theatre access," said John McEwen, Executive Director of the Alliance. "For 21 years we have enjoyed bringing theatre to all pockets of the state, offering it free or at a deep discount. We're encouraged to hear that after experiencing a Stages event, the vast majority of attendees want to make theatre an ongoing part of their lives."

Since 1997, New Jersey State Council on the Arts ("NJSCA") has been partnering with the Alliance to make Stages possible. Nicholas Paleologos, Executive Director of NJSCA, remarked: "Everybody's got a cell phone. They can watch whatever they want. Yet last year Broadway had the highest attendance ever. Why? Because in 2,500 years there's never been a decent substitute for the soul-satisfying human experience of live theater. And nobody does it better than New Jersey. Which is why we are proud, enthusiastic supporters of the Stages Festival."

Dreamcatcher was founded in 1994 as a non-profit professional ensemble of actors, a subset of whom perform in every production. The mission of our professional ensemble of actors is to build community with our audience by sharing contemporary, life-affirming stories that challenge, energize and entertain. We seek to expose theatregoers to ideas and lives like and unlike their own, to awaken their imaginations and create empathy for others. The company focuses on deepening the experience of our patrons by supplementing the performances with personal contact through receptions, talkbacks and interactive programs.

Dreamcatcher's core company of professional local actors performs contemporary work that entertains and challenges, and has at its heart a belief in the essential goodness of people. The company's activities include mainstage productions, improv comedy and cabarets, new play readings and a variety of educational and senior outreach programs.

Dreamcatcher's programs are funded by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; Dramatist Guild Fund; The Summit Area Public Foundation; the Manley-Winser Foundation; and many other corporations, foundations and individuals. Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre is an Equity Producing Theatre member of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.

Founded in 1981, New Jersey Theatre Alliance was the first statewide service organization for professional, not-for-profit theatre companies in the United States, and is now a leader in developing model programs that foster collaboration, cooperation, and audience development. The Stages Festival is a project of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and New Jersey Theatre Alliance. Major funding is also provided by Bank of America, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, and PSEG Foundation. Additional support is provided by individuals, corporations, and foundations such as The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, F.M. Kirby Foundation, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Fund for the New Jersey Blind, and George A. Ohl, Jr. Trust.

To post a comment, you must register and login.