This one-man show will delight theater and comedy fans Saturday night, February 11 at 7:30 pm at Creative Cauldron. Part of the "Passport to the World Festival" as it travels to Italy.

On Saturday, February 11 at 7:30 pm, Faction of Fools Artistic Director Matthew R. Wilson will perform “The Great One-Man Commedia Epic,” a one-man show in which he performs 12 different characters drawn from the historical commedia dell’ Arte canon. The piece was originally commissioned in 2004 for Italy’s 20^th annual Stage Internazionale.  Young lovers have their lives thrown into chaos as their wedding plans are threatened by squabbling fathers, boasting war heroes and a host of well-meaning but dim-witted servants.  The entire town is drawn to the brink of tragedy before love prevails, normalcy is restored and comedy triumphs. This one-man show is a treat for avant-garde theater fans, scholars of dramatic history, and the fun-loving child in all of us.

On Sunday, February 12 at 2 pm, the Faction of Fools troupe will present a fun-filled commedia version of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” In this Helen Hayes Award Recommended show, you will see the Faction of Fools’ high octane version featuring five actors in a one-hour perfromance.  They will bring physical spectacularity to Shakespeare’s poetry, highlighting tragedy by juxtaposing it with humor.

And the finale of this weekend trip to Italy will be an Italian Village Dance Workshop led by Celest DiPietrapolo, Rosina DiPietrapolo and Marie Cocco at 4 pm Sunday, February 12.  Audiences will be introduced to traditional music and dance from small villages throughout Italy and will learn several dances. Family friendly so bring the kids and the grandparents.

Tickets for either of the Faction of Fools shows are $20 for adults and $18 for students and seniors.  The dance workshop tickets are $10 each.  Order online in advance at www.creativecauldron.org or by calling 571-239-5288.

Creative Cauldron at ArtSpace is located at 410 S. Maple Avenue in the Pearson Square building.  Free parking is available in the garages at 410 and 400 S. Maple Avenue.

Tickets are $10.  Creative Cauldron is located at 410 S. Maple Avenue in the Pearson Square building.  Order in advance at www.creativecauldron.org or by calling 571-239-5288

October 9, 2011

Creative Cauldron has launched its 2011-2012 season with the critically acclaimed musical Nevermore that uses Edgar Allan Poe’s poetry and short stories as its base to tell the story of Poe’s obsessions with the women in his life.

Headlining the Nevermore cast is equity actor Sean Thompson in the role of Edgar Allan Poe.  Thompson has appeared regionally in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Philadelphia’s Mauckingbird Theatre Company; at Signature Theatre as Artie in Sunset Boulevard and Charles in And the Curtain Rises; and as Alex in The Little Dog Laughed at Philadelphia’s Flashpoint Theatre Company.  The women in Poe’s life are played by Priscilla Cuellar, Dani Danger Stoller, Mary Payne Omohondro, Katie Culligan and Karissa Swanigan-Upchurch.

Directed by Matt Connor, who also composed the music, the Creative Cauldron production of Nevermore features a live orchestra.

The production runs weekends through October 30 at ArtSpace Falls Church, 410 S. Maple Avenue. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, Saturdays at 2 pm and Sundays at 4 pm.  Tickets are $25 for adults, $22 for seniors/students.  Seating is limited.  Tickets can be reserved on-line at www.creativecauldron.org or by calling 571-239-5288.

On Friday, October 7, the anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s death, Creative Cauldron will launch its 10th anniversary season with the critically acclaimed musical Nevermore. This imaginative musical uses Poe’s poetry and short stories as its base and his shifting obsession with the women in his life as its catalyst.

The production will run weekends through October 30 at ArtSpace Falls Church, 410 S. Maple Avenue. Performances are Fridays at 8:00pm, Saturdays at 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm, and Sundays at 4:00 pm. Tickets are $25 for adults, $22 for seniors/students.  Seating is limited so advance purchase is encouraged. Tickets for Nevermore can be reserved on-line at www.creativecauldron.org or by calling 571-239-5288.

Nevermore premiered at Signature Theatre in 2006, winning praise from The Washington Post for its “romantic music, ablaze with feeling.” Matt Conner, who will direct Nevermore, also composed the music, adapting lyrics from the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. Grace Barnes wrote the book.

Guiding a professional cast through what Conner describes as a work about “love, death, and acceptance of one’s self,” he adds “while Poe has more often than not been depicted as a dark, depressed monster, in this work you will see him in all his vulnerability and humanity.  You will be transported back to a time when poetry and letters were supremely valued… when one simple word held immense power and meaning.”

The Nevermore cast features equity actor Sean Thompson in the role of Edgar Allan Poe. Thompson has appeared locally at Signature Theatre as Artie in Sunset Boulevard and Charles in And the Curtain Rises.  His other regional theater credits include Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Philadelphia’s Mauckingbird Theatre Company; the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance, Curly in Oklahoma! and Paul in Barefoot in the Park at Missouri’s Maples Repertory Theatre; Alex in The Little Dog Laughed at Philadelphia’s Flashpoint Theatre Company; and Bill Sykes in Oliver! at MediaTheatre.

The women in Poe’s Life will be played by Priscilla Cuellar (Mother), Dani Danger Stoller (the Whore), Mary Payne Omohondro (Muddy), Katie Culligan (Virginia) and Karissa Swanigan- Upchurch (Elmira).

Conner has more than 15 years of experience working as a musical director, performer and teaching artist in the DC metropolitan area. But it was Nevermore that launched his career as a musical theater composer.  In 2008, he was one of six composers to receive Signature’s American Musical Voices: The Next Generation award funded by the Shen Family Foundation.Conner’s newest composition The Hollow, an adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, opened Signature’s 2011-2012 season.

The Nevermore production team includes Creative Cauldron Producing Director Laura Connors Hull, Music Director Amy Massey, Assistant Director Danny Tippett, Scenic Designer Margie Jervis, Lighting Designer Paul Spiegelblatt, and Wig Design by Jonathan Jackson.

The workshop is an opportunity to obtain the skills necessary for producing programming for FCC-TV. It will feature a basic overview of television production in remote locations. Subjects include: lighting in the field; audio; field camera operation; on-camera reporting; storytelling; and tripod use.

Space is limited but additional workshops may be scheduled if there is enough interest.

The registration fee for the workshop is $50 for FCC-TV members and $60 for non-members, payable in cash or checks made out to FCCAC (Falls Church Cable Access Corporation).  Fees will be due at the time of registration.  Space in the workshop cannot be held until fees have been paid.

For more information contact Michael Palmrose, FCC-TV Supervisor, palmrosem@fccps.org or 703-248-5692.

What better way for students to spend summer break than to tap into their creative talent and vie for a cash prize? Students with a still or video camera can do just that and compete for one of two, $250 Bob Morrison Prizes. This annual contest was created by the TV station’s Cable Access Board in memory of longtime board member Bob Morrison.

“Bob was a wonderful talent and a Falls Church icon,” said Cable Access Board President Barbara Cram. “He never left home without a camera, and as a result, he left us a treasure trove of golden memories. Through this contest, we hope to encourage young artists, as Bob often did, to take their best shot and capture the spirit of The Little City.”

The contest is open to students in grades K-12 (during the 2010-2011 school year) who live or attend school in Falls Church City. Students may submit photographs or videos illustrating the theme of “Falls Church City – My Hometown.” Entries will be judged on theme, quality and creativity by a three-person judging panel. The first place winner in each category will be awarded the $250 cash prize during the Falls Church Cable Access Corporation Annual Meeting in October.

Entry requirements can be found on the Falls Church City Television web site, www.fcctv.net. All entries must be received by 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 30. For more information call Mike Palmrose, 703-248-5692.

On Friday, June 10, students get in free to the 7:30 pm performance of “Tinner Hill: Portraits in Black and White“ at ArtSpace Falls Church, 410 S. Maple Avenue in the Pearson Square building.  This is a special performance for Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School students, faculty, staff and their families.  Diener & Associates will cover the price of tickets for students from MEHMS and GMHS. Also, $5 from every adult ticket sold to the Friday night show will be donated to the MEHMS PTA.  Everyone is welcome to attend the benefit performance.

This is the last weekend of performances of  “Portraits in Black & White,” a 90-minute original work of theater “ that tells the stories of Falls Church’s earliest settlers including educator Mary Ellen Henderson, the Brown family, Joseph Tinner and E.B. Henderson.

Remaining performances of Tinner Hill: Portraits in Black and White are Friday and Saturday, June 10 and 11 at 7:30 pm, Saturday, June 11 at 2 pm and Sunday, June 11 at 2 and 6 pm.  Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students and seniors.  Purchase tickets in advance at www.creativecauldron.org or call 571-239-5288.

The final weekend of performances of Tinner Hill: Portraits in Black and White is this Thursday through Sunday, June 9 – 12 at ArtSpace Falls Church.  The Friday, June 10 at 7:30 pm show is a special performance for Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School students, faculty, staff and their families.  Through a generous donation from Diener & Associates, students can attend FREE on Friday and Creative Cauldron will donate $5 from every adult ticket to the MEHMS PTA.  You need not be associated with MEHMS to attend Friday’s performance.  Everyone is welcome.

MEHMS students get in FREE to the Friday, June 10 performance of "Tinner Hill: Portraits in Black & White" through a donation from Diener & Associates. The 90-minute play continues Thursday through Sunday at ArtSpace, 410 S. Maple Avenue.

Through a series of monologues, ensemble scenes and music, Portraits in Black and White engagingly tells the history of early local civil rights activists E.B. Henderson and Joseph Tinner and educator Mary Ellen Henderson. 

Performances of Tinner Hill: Portraits in Black and White are Thursday, Friday and Saturday, June 9, 10 and 11 at 7:30 pm, Saturday, June 11 at 2 pm and Sunday, June 11 at 2 and 6 pm.  The Thursday evening performance is “Pay What You Can.”  Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students and seniors.  Purchase tickets in advance at www.creativecauldron.org or call 571-239-5288.

Creative Cauldron at ArtSpace is located at 410 S. Maple Avenue in the Pearson Square building.  There is free parking during performances in the garages at both 410 and 400 S. Maple Avenue.

Preview performances of Tinner Hill: Portraits in Black and White will be Thursday and Friday, June 2 and 3 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, June 4 at 2 pm at ArtSpace Falls Church.  The opening night performance is Saturday, June 4 at 7:30 pm. 

Creative Cauldron is restaging this original work of theater. The play runs Thursday through Sunday, June 2 - 5 and June 9 - 12 at ArtSpace Falls Church, 410 S. Maple Avenue. Thursday night performances are "Pay What You Can."

Creative Cauldron, in collaboration with the Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation, is remounting this original work of theater based on the stories of local African American civil rights heroes.  Developed through funding from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Arts Council of Fairfax County, the show played to standing ovations when it premiered last season.

Additional performances of Tinner Hill: Portraits in Black and White are Sunday, June 5 at 2 and 6 pm, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, June 9, 10 and 11 at 7:30 pm, Saturday, June 11 at 2 pm and Sunday, June 11 at 2 and 6 pm.  The Thursday evening performances are “Pay What You Can.”  Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students and seniors.  Reserve tickets at www.creativecauldron.org or call 571-239-5288.

Through a series of monologues, scenes and blues-inspired music, the production tracks the journey of resistance and resilience that began before the Civil War and continued well into the late 20^th Century.  Hull said “the play explores a history that doesn’t appear in official textbooks and helps us come to better understand the experience of being an African American in the early days of a growing and changing Virginia community.”  Some people will recognize the names of the people whose stories are told in Tinner Hill: Portraits in Black and White: E.B. Henderson, Joseph Tinner and Mary Ellen Henderson.

Tinner Hill was named for Charles and Mary Tinner, an African American couple who bought land there in the 1800s.  Their son, Joseph Tinner, organized the Colored Citizens Protective League in 1915 in response to a local ordinance that divided Falls Church into segregated black and white communities.  Tinner joined forces with local educator and civil rights leader E.B. Henderson to resist the measure.  Later, Falls Church became the first rural chapter of the NAACP, paving the way for other chapters across the South.

Creative Cauldron at ArtSpace is located at 410 S. Maple Avenue in the Pearson Square building.  There is free parking during performances in the garages at both 410 and 400 S. Maple Avenue.

"Queen of the Sun" is a documentary about the global bee crisis. The film will be screened at 7:30 pm on Thursday, May 26 at ArtSpace Falls Church, 410 S. Maple Avenue. Tickets are $20 and all proceeds will benefit Creative Cauldron.

“The Queen of the Sun: What are the Bees Telling Us?”  documentary film will be screened at 7:30 pm on Thursday, May 26 at ArtSpace Falls Church, 410 S. Maple Avenue.  The film, directed by Taggart Siegel, gives an alternative look at the global bee crisis.  Taking the audience on a journey through the catastrophic disappearance of bees and the mysterious world of the beehive, this engaging and ultimately uplifting film weaves an unusual and dramatic story of the heartfelt struggles of beekeepers, scientists and philosophers from around the world including Michael Pollan, Gunther Hauk and Vandana Shiva. Together they reveal both the problems and the solutions in renewing a culture in balance with nature.  

There will be a pre-screening reception at 7 pm.  Tickets are $20 and all proceeds will benefit Creative Cauldron, the nonprofit arts organization that is based at ArtSpace.  Advance purchase may be made at www.creativecauldron.org.

ArtSpace is located at 410 S. Maple Avenue in the Pearson Square building.   Free parking in the garages at 410 and 400 S. Maple Avenue.