Boulder StoryHealers' A DAY FOR GRACE to Open at Stage Left Studio, 9/6

On Thursday, September 6, Boulder StoryHealers' breathtaking production of A DAY FOR GRACE, a new blockbuster play written and performed by Doug Vincent with a score written and performed by an American Icon of the Music Industry, Sam Llanas, formerly of the BoDeans, will open at Stage Left Studio Theatre (214 West 30 Street - between Seventh & Eighth Avenues).

This will mark Stage Left Studio's first musical project; and it is a mind-blowing true story.

Written and performed by Doug Vincent, the piece was shaped and shepherded at Colorado's newly formed Boulder StoryHealers, a nonprofit organization that uses storytelling to aid in the healing of those dealing with devastating trauma and other adversities.

As Executive Director and one of the founders of Boulder StoryHealers, Mr. Vincent developed A DAY FOR GRACE with director Tanya Taylor Rubinstein through an intensive workshop. Following two special Pre-New York and much-heralded performances in Denver, A DAY FOR GRACE will be featured in The Chicago Fringe Festival August 31 through September 2.

A DAY FOR GRACE will have its New York Premiere on Thursday, September 6, after which it will play through Sunday, September 16, 2012.

The Box Office receipts will benefit the Boulder StoryHealers Organization, The Junior Seau Foundation and American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Watching A DAY FOR GRACE is a like getting struck by lightening. It is the heart-wrenching simple telling of author Doug Vincent's relationship with his suicidal father which pours out of him the night of his daughter Grace's uncertain birth with unforeseen complications. Sam Llanas shares the stage with Mr. Vincent. His thirteen musical numbers, as performed, serve as the evening's emotional touchstone, enthralling Greek chorus and riveting denouement. A DAY FOR GRACE is a true story. One you'll never forget.

Songs by Sam Llanas include: "The Way Home," "A Good Day to Die," "Bully on the Corner," "It Don't Bother Me," "A Little Bit of Hell," "Dying in my Dreams," "Angelina," "Spanish Waltz," "What I Don't Feel," "Time for Us," "Far Far Away From My Heart," "Child Asleep" and "Hey John."

The Theatre at Stage Left Studio is located at 214 West 30th Street (between Seventh & Eighth Avenues). Tickets are $20. Book online at stageleftstudio.com.

THE PLAYING SCHEDULE:
Thursday, September 6 @ 7:30pm
Friday, September 7 @ 7:30pm
Saturday, September 8 @ 7:30pm
Sunday, September 9 @ 7:30pm
Thursday, September 13 @ 7:30pm
Friday, September 14 @ 7:30pm
Saturday, September 15 @ 7:30pm
Sunday, September 16 @ 7:30pm

Born into a humor soaked storytelling small town Virginia family, Doug Vincent quietly absorbed inspired tales from goofy masters. An accomplished improv comedian, he's written and performed with comedy troupes such as ACME Comedy Players, The Traveling Susans, and On the Spot, as well as comedy venues such as Bovine Metropolis, Madcap Theater and Comedy Works. But it was with Tanya Taylor Rubinstein and Project Life Stories that Doug found his true calling as a solo performer. Through his non-profit Boulder StoryHealers, Doug helps people facing trauma, illness and adversity to fully experience their true healing voice through the power, poignancy and humor of honest storytelling in a deeply supportive environment. His business Boulder Solo Shows offers services for all aspects of solo show writing, development and production. From workshops to coaching, directing, marketing and producing, Doug can help individuals develop their solo shows, editing the story down to the bone and infusing it with heart and soul

Sam Llanas is a singer, acoustic guitarist, and songwriter in several rock and roots rock bands active from the 1980s to the 2000s, including the BoDeans and Absinthe. Sam is known for his unusual and distinctive voice. Llanas was one of the founding members of the roots rock band the BoDeans, which he formed with high school friend Kurt Neumann in Waukesha, Wisconsin. In 1985, after adding Guy Hoffman (drums) in 1984 and Bob Griffin (bass), the quartet signed a contract with Slash/Warner Records. Under the guidance of producer T-Bone Burnett, they entered Hollywood's Sunset Sound Factory in October to record their first album. The critically acclaimed debut "Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams" was released in 1986. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band had several singles in the top 40 mainstream rock charts. In the mid-1990s, the band had two top 10 songs in the adult contemporary" charts. The BoDeans took some time off in the late 1990s so Neumann and Llanas could record solo albums. Llanas founded Absinthe, with the help of Milwaukee musicians Jim Eannelli (guitars and bass) and Guy Hoffman (formerly of Oil Tasters and Violent Femmes). They have released one album, 1998's "A Good Day To Die." In 2011 Sam Llanas released "4 A.M. (The Way Home)" on the Inner Knot Records label, left the BoDeans and is now pursuing a solo career.

Tanya is a professionally trained actor and writer who has devoted her professional career to the art of solo performance. In 1984, while studying acting professionally at Emerson College in Boston, Tanya had an encounter that would change the direction of her life. She went to see the late Spalding Gray perform one of his soon to be famous personal monologues. She was nineteen years old and decided as she left the theater that night that the authenticity and intimacy of solo performance was what she wanted to devote her life to. In 1991, Tanya moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico and began to write and perform her own one woman shows. Since then, she has written, performed, produced and directed a vast number of solo shows. Actors, writers and other creative people fly into Santa Fe regularly to work with Tanya to create their own solo shows at her Solo Performance Bootcamp. Currently Tanya is also focusing on training others who want to become solo performance coaches and directors in their own communities. She is also the founder of The Therapeutic Monologue Process which utilizes personal storytelling as a healing modality and it is a key component of her organization Project Life Stories.

Boulder StoryHealers utilizes contemporary storytelling to process and aid in emotionally healing those who have faced trauma, illness and adversity. Participants develop monologues in intensive workshops to fully experience their true healing voice through the power and humor of honest storytelling. In this environment, the group monologues are shared in a culminating public performance that benefits the group and foundations that support their population. Doug Vincent, Boulder StoryHealers Executive Director, facilitates workshops and directs Boulder StoryHealers performances. In addition to Denver, Chicago and New York performances of A Day for Grace, Boulder StoryHealers will produce a benefit performance in November at Boulder's eTown Hall that will enable the group to continue its work, as well as continue to pay it forward to other nonprofits.

 

 

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