2014-320 Arts - The Arts Center for Spring 2014 Arts Grant Agreement $1,500

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2014-2015 Arts Program Grant—Spring 2 Orange County Arts Commission The ArtsCenter: School Show Series Our season is comprised of literary, curriculum- and character-education based classics that are as entertaining as they are educational. From historical productions like Heroes of the Underground Railroad to character-education based works like The Lady of Bullyburg and Sadie's Spectacular Saturday, Bright Star offers something for everyone. In fact, this year we have thirty different productions hitting the road with our season including puppets, science and nutrition shows for the first time ever! The founder of Bright Star Touring Theatre, David Ostergaard, is no stranger to the theatre world. Committed to professionalism, he has assembled a talented and dedicated team of actors, directors and designers. Information from artist's website (www.brightstartheatre.com) GIZMO GUYS: Performing as the Gizmo Guys, Allan Jacobs and Barrett Felker have amazed and amused audiences around the world. They work in a great variety of venues including theaters, corporate functions of all types, cruise ships.... you name it, they've done it. Sure, they've made numerous television appearances, won international juggling competitions, and taught at top circus schools. But what makes their act so appealing is their uniquely winning combination of dazzling technique and infectious humor. The Gizmo Guys' rapid-fire act exhilarates and inspires sidesplitting laughter in audience members of all ages. Information from artist's website (http://thegizmoguys.com/) DAVID GONZALEZ: David is the proud recipient of the 2011 International Performing Arts for Youth "Lifetime Achievement Award for Sustained Excellence." He was also named the Joseph Campbell Foundation Fellow for 2010. Mr. Gonzalez was nominated for a 2006 Drama Desk Award for "Unique Theatrical Experience" for his production of The Frog Bride at Broadway's New Victory Theater. He has created numerous productions, including the critically acclaimed iSofrito!with The Latin Legends Band, and Mytholojazz, both of which enjoyed sold-out runs at New Victory Theater. David is currently working on Wounded Splendor, a two-year residency and commission from the University of Maryland that celebrates the natural world and our responsibility to it. Sleeping Beauty, co-commissioned by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Brooklyn College, and The McCallum Theater, premiered in March 2010. David was a featured performer at the 2007 National Storytelling Festival, and has performed at festivals in Spain, Switzerland, France, Costa Rica, Norway, Puerto Rico, and throughout the United States. He also appeared for three seasons at the Royal National Theatre in London. Mr. Gonzalez' work Double Crossed: The Saga of the St. Louis toured nationally, including a run at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1998. The same year, David was honored with the Helen Hayes Performing Artist of the Year Award.As If the Past Were Listening, a suite of creation myths, was selected for Lincoln Center Institute's repertory for three seasons (2002-2004). David's Latin Jazz poetry project City of Dreams was commissioned by the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and premiered at New Yorks' La Mama Theater. He wrote Finding North, a one-man play based on Underground Railroad hero John Parker that was commissioned by the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and performed at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center;Aesop Bops!; and co-wrote Mariel, an Afro-Cuban musical set in the turbulent times of the Mariel boat-lift from Cuba, with Grammy-nominated songwriter John Forster. Mariel is the winner of the Macy's "New Play Prize for Young Audiences." David is also the author of the opera libretto Rise for Freedom!, produced at the