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DocuSign Envelope ID:Al 391C8C-C731-4683-B498-D5B7783F86E4
<br /> Orange County Arts Commission Fall 2014 Arts Program Grant 2
<br /> ArtsCenter Stage production of Oh,What a Lovely War
<br /> Proposed Uses Of Grant Funds
<br /> The ArtsCenter is seeking $1,500 in funds from the Orange County Arts Commission to
<br /> provide stipends for four Orange County-based production theater artists collaborating on Oh
<br /> What a Lovely War presented by ArtsCenter Stage in May 2015.
<br /> In 2013 ArtsCenter Stage was cited by Indy Week for Special Achievement in the Humanities
<br /> for its 2013-14 season. Byron Woods stated that ArtsCenter Stage "took a programming risk,
<br /> slating a season of theatrical works to commemorate the Civil War sesquicentennial through
<br /> three different perspectives." The payoff for this programming risk was a five-star review for
<br /> our production of The Whipping Man, raves from audiences for our season and patrons that
<br /> were enlightened, engaged and encouraged to support ArtsCenter Stage's mission.
<br /> ArtsCenter Stage's 2014-15 is capitalizing on this momentum with an even more aspiring
<br /> season highlighting the 100`h anniversary of World War I. For our fall production, a new play,
<br /> Into the Breach, was commissioned to be written by local playwright, Ian Bowater, our holiday
<br /> production, All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914, is a return of an acclaimed production from
<br /> 2012 and this spring we're producing our most ambitious production to date, the musical Oh
<br /> What a Lovely War.
<br /> Oh What a Lovely War is a theatrical chronicle of the First World War, told through the songs
<br /> and documents of the period. Adapted by Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop from Charles
<br /> Chilton's original radio play, The Long, Long Trail, the musical premiered at the Theatre Royal
<br /> Stratford East, London in 1963. It won the Grand Prix of the Theatre des Nations festival in
<br /> Paris that year and has gone on to become a classic of the modern theatre.
<br /> Oh What a Lovely War is a musical satire on World War I and, by extension, of war in general.
<br /> Littlewoods' company developed the production using improvisations and popular songs sung
<br /> by soldiers during the war. The actors assemble as a pierrot troupe to play many parts -
<br /> soldiers, generals, suffragettes, politicians, profiteers and spies, parading before the audience in
<br /> a series of quick-fire scenes. Called one of the "seminal events of modern British theatre" Oh
<br /> What a Lovely War juxtaposes vaudevillian routines with stark projections of life in the war, in a
<br /> thought-provoking multimedia theatrical event.
<br /> Oh What a Lovely War is an ambitious and large production with eleven actors, Ian Bowater,
<br /> Germain Choffart, Sarah Donnell, Marcia Edmundson,John Paul Middlesworth,Julie Oliver,
<br /> Page Purgar, Marleigh Purgar-McDonald,Jeri Lynn Schulke, Geraud Staton, and B. Lazarus
<br /> Simmons, and a production team of fourteen+ including Devon Abdo (Stage Manager),Joseph
<br /> Amodei (Video/Slide Design), Hope Alexander (Director), David Berberian (Technical
<br /> Director), Tracey Broome (Props Design),James Carnahan (Set Design), William Deedler
<br /> (Mask Design), Elizabeth Droessler (Lighting Design), Marissa Erickson (Costume Design),
<br /> Matthew Lubin (Assistant Stage Manager), Killian Manning (Choreographer), Glenn Mehrbach
<br /> (Musical Director), Alex Thompson (Rehearsal Pianist), Nathaniel Wells (Tech Intern) plus
<br /> assorted musicians. Fourteen of these company members (cast & production team) reside in
<br /> Orange County.
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