Download the lower east side tenement museum and the immigrant theatre

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: ROBIN SUE MARCATO
MAY 15, 2001
212-431-0233 X236
OR BENJAMIN TRIMMIER
212-431-0233 X228
THE LOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT MUSEUM
AND THE IMMIGRANT THEATRE PROJECT PRESENT
“AMERICAN DREAMS”
Opening Thursday, June 7th, 2001 at 8PM
The Lower East Side Tenement Museum is proud to join the Immigrant Theatre Project
in presenting the third annual AMERICAN DREAMS: PLAYS ABOUT NEW YORK
CITY AND THE IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE. Opening on Thursday evening June
7th, the Immigrant Theatre Project will present 10 weeks of performances in the
Tenement Theatre.
June 7th
RETURNER
Written by Stephen F. Kelleher
Directed by Heather Ondersma
Set in the not too distant future, a powerful New York family tries to illegally smuggle its
undocumented, pregnant housekeeper across the border back to Mexico.
June 14th
THE SERPENT
Written by Nelson Rodrigues
Translated and Directed by Natalia de Campos
Love, taboos and the relationship of two sisters pushed to the boundaries of absurdity.
The first reading of an English translation of the acclaimed Brazilian playwright.
June 21st
LULU LOLO TAKES HER HAT OFF TO THE FAIR SEX--UNFAIR VICTIMS
Written & performed by LuLu LoLo
The stories of a murdered prostitute, a seamstress in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and a
woman disguised as a Civil War Soldier are brought to life.
June 28th
INDELIBLE
Written & performed by Florence Yoo with guest artists Julia Cho, bass; Kerry Da Silva,
viola; Jennifer Estaris, flute; and Mas Yamagata, drums.
This new musical chronicles the wild adventures of Florence Yoo as she treks across the
U.S. pursuing rock stardom and contemplating her Midwestern Korean roots.
July 5th
WANDA & ME
Written & directed by Theresa Linnihan
After 60 years in the US, a Swedish woman learns to feel at home with some help from
her Siamese cat. This interactive puppet show uses a variety of puppet styles with actors
and music. Suitable for audiences aged 10 and up.
July 12th
THE FRENCH PLAY
Written by Michael angel Johnson
Directed by Suzanne Bennett
Disturbing secrets mar an African-American family reunion in the seductive countryside
south of France.
July 19th
THINGS I HAVE BELIEVED IN
Written by Trisha Arlin
Directed by Arthur Strimling
Serial stabs at certainty, from Hebrew School to Jewish Socialist Feminism.
July 26th
LUCKY
Written and Directed by Suzen Murakoshi
A beautiful Eastern European woman and a successful American businessman cause an
international incident.
August 2nd
LAS DOS CARAS DEL PATRONCITO
(The Two Faces of the Boss)
Written by Luis Valdez
Directed by Alanna Maharajh
The Teatro Campesino satire about how a Chicano field hand gets even with his
boss during the 1965 grape boycott. Post-Performance Q&A with a
representative from The United Farm Workers.
August 9th
LITTLE ONE, GOOD-BYE
Written by Ralph Sevush
Directed by Sherry Teitelbaum
While making a movie of his grandmother, an actress with the Yiddish Theatre, a man
awakens the spirits that haunt her.
The IMMIGRANTS' THEATRE PROJECT is a Brooklyn-based professional theater
company presenting new theatrical works by immigrants relating the experiences, dreams
and hardships of the immigrant experience.
Founded in 1988 by Marcy Arlin, the company works with professional theatre artists of
over 40 nationalities and ethnic backgrounds to portray the universality of the immigrant
experience: themes of adaptation, inter-generational and inter-cultural relationships,
American identity, and the dreams and realities of life in a new and unfamiliar world.
Also founded in 1988, the mission of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum is: "to
promote tolerance and historical perspective through the presentation and interpretation
of the variety of immigrant and migrant experiences on Manhattan's Lower East Side, a
gateway to America.” All of the Museum’s programs are planned in keeping with this
mission.
The heart of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum is its landmark tenement
building; home to over 7,000 people, immigrants from over 20 nations, between 1863 and
1935. The Tenement Theatre is located in the basement of the building, which once
housed John Schneider's Saloon in the 1860's, a biergarten where political debates and
vaudeville shows were a regular occurrence. In addition to having been a venue for New
York's Annual Fringe Festival, previous performances at the Tenement Theatre have
included the Ladino Players (a group who sings in Judeo-Spanish), The Banshees (an
all-female group from Ireland), Tenement Vaudeville and The Golden Door, a 1940
play about Lower East Side tenement life set against the backdrop of the Triangle
Shirtwaist fire.
AMERICAN DREAMS:
PLAYS ABOUT NEW YORK CITY AND THE IMMIGRANT
EXPERIENCE
At the Tenement Theatre
97 Orchard Street
Thursday evenings beginning June 7th at 8PM
$6.00 admission
Free for Museum Members
Box Office: 97 Orchard Street at Broome
Call 212/431-0233 x 440, for reservations and information
INTERVIEWS AND BIOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST