The Acting Company to Perform O Pioneers!

News Release

Contact Professor H.G. Young, 304-424-8248.

Its alumni include actors Kevin Kline, Patty Lupone, David Ogden Stiers and James Earl Jones. Founded by John Houseman, The Acting Company is recognized as America’s foremost touring repertory theater and arts education program. The ensemble will perform Willa Cather’s "O Pioneers!" on Saturday, Feb. 10, at West Virginia University at Parkersburg.

The 8 p.m. program will be held in the multi-purpose room at the college. This is the third of four programs featured in the 2000-2001 Distinguished Performance Series sponsored by WVU Parkersburg.

The New York City-based Acting Company performs in over 50 cities to audiences of 65,000 and reaches more than 15,000 students each year. Since its founding in 1972, the company has performed 77 plays for over two million people in 48 states and nine foreign countries.

The ensemble is launching The American Century series this year. It is a five-year program to commission, develop and produce new American plays adapted from classical American literature. The first production of the series is Cather’s "O Pioneers!", adapted by Darrah Cloud with music by Kim D. Sherman. "O Pioneers!" is the soaring tale of an immigrant woman’s struggle to define a new life on the American frontier.

Drawing actors from the nation’s finest training programs, the company presents superior productions of classical and contemporary plays in small towns and rural communities across America as it contributes to the preservation and extension of the country’s cultural heritage. The Acting Company has received the Obie Award, the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, Citibank’s Excellence in Education Award, two Audelco Awards, and two Tony Award nominations.

Tickets for the production are available in the college’s business office. Any remaining tickets will be sold at the door beginning at 7 p.m. the night of the performance. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for non-WVU Parkersburg students. WVU Parkersburg students may purchase special advance tickets for $2. There are no reserved seats.

For additional information, contact the college at 424-8000.

The Distinguished Performance Series is presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History and the National Endowment for the Arts with approval of the West Virginia Commission on the Arts, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation and the WVU Parkersburg student activity fee and academic affairs budget.

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For additional information, contact:
Connie Dziagwa
Director, Communications and Public Relations
WVU Parkersburg
(304-424-8203)