Date: Thu, 1 May 2003 13:45:55 -0700 (PDT)
From: Gretchen Van Lente <gretchen-AT-dramaofworks.com>
Subject: Re: PUPT: A Puppet Opera


--0-796716733-1051821955=:21020

Hey Ken: God would I love to come up and see the show, but alas I am stuck in my own theatrical hell here. I looked at almost all the photos on the UConn website, it looks just damn great. Good luck, and I hope to see you around sometime soon! Love and peas, Gretchen

Ken Berman <dramatontheater-AT-hotmail.com> wrote:

There are still seats available for the last four performances of "The
Painted Rose: A Puppet Opera". Presented April 30 and May 1, 2 & 3 in the
Studio Theater in the Drama/Music building at The University of Connecticut
this ghost story is the creation of Ken Berman. Please help us spread the
word about this production!

"The Painted Rose: A Puppet Opera" is an original opera performed with rod
and shadow puppetry that will run at University of Connecticut's Studio
Theatre on the Storrs campus April 26 - May 3, 2003. Written, designed,
built and directed by Ken Berman, the show is about a painter who does not
allow himself to admit the love he holds for Rose, his teacher's daughter.
His mounting and stifled desire eventually gives life to a spirit borne
from the student's paintings. This embodiment of the unfulfilled captures
Rose and returns to the canvas with her, leaving the painter at a
crossroads of reality and imagination...and the choice to realize his love
or let it slip away.

"The Painted Rose: A Puppet Opera" is inspired by a ghost story, "Schalken
the Painter", written by JS LeFanu in 1830. The performance creates a
surreal world without gravity, inhabited by articulate three foot high rod
puppets adorned in flowing silk costumes, operated by shrouded puppeteers
and accentuated by handheld fans. The performance also makes use of Czech
Black Theater lighting in which the puppets perform in a curtain of light.
The story is conveyed through wordless action, accentuated by a female
operatic voice coloring the story with emotional tones and accompanied by
an original avant-garde score on piano and violin. The story combines
elements of melodrama, opera, Chinese rod puppetry, Japanese Bunraku and
dance; simultaneously merging a classical sense with an avant-garde
esthetic.

The script, which has been in development since March of 2000, has been
work-shopped in part at the O'Neill Puppetry Conference (2001 and 2002) and
at University of Connecticut in September of 2002. It represents the
culmination of a 3 year intensive process in Drama and Puppetry
Performance, collaboration between puppeteers, dancers, and directors from
all around the world attending the Puppet Arts Program at University of
Connecticut. "The Painted Rose: A Puppet Opera" will debut at University of
Connecticut where it will be presented in partial fulfillment of Ken
Berman's MFA Thesis in the Puppet Arts. Ticket reservations and information
can be obtained by calling the Box Office at (860)486-4226.

This is a unique performance: simultaneously contemporary and classical.
The story is expressionistic in format while the use of an operatic
colorateuse and accompanying score harkens to classic melodrama. The use of
materials and movement are beautifully executed with an original
avant-garde esthetic. These seemingly disparate influences are assembled to
create a coherent, rich and evocative experience. The performance is
designed to flow both conceptually and physically in tandem with the drama.

The audience perspective is that of a fixed camera in front of which set
elements rotate and transform, revealing new sight lines and changing
settings in ways that correspond with the action. The blurred line between
reality and the imagined is seen and, furthermore, it is experienced by the
audience.

The company of puppeteers includes a Canadian, Brazilian, Japanese and four
Americans-all bringing a tangible chemistry to the production.



Ken Berman
Dramaton Theater




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Gretchen Van Lente, Executive Artistic Director
Drama of Works
397 Bridge Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
917-531-0057
gretchen-AT-dramaofworks.com
www.dramaofworks.com
--0-796716733-1051821955=:21020

HTML VERSION:

There are still seats available for the last four performances of "The
Painted Rose: A Puppet Opera". Presented April 30 and May 1, 2 & 3 in the
Studio Theater in the Drama/Music building at The University of Connecticut
this ghost story is the creation of Ken Berman. Please help us spread the
word about this production!

"The Painted Rose: A Puppet Opera" is an original opera performed with rod
and shadow puppetry that will run at University of Connecticut's Studio
Theatre on the Storrs campus April 26 - May 3, 2003. Written, designed,
built and directed by Ken Berman, the show is about a painter who does not
allow himself to admit the love he holds for Rose, his teacher's daughter.
His mounting and stifled desire eventually gives life to a spirit borne
from the student's paintings. This embodiment of the unfulfilled captures
Rose and returns to the canvas with her, leaving the painter at a
crossroads of reality and imagination...and the choice to realize his love
or let it slip away.

"The Painted Rose: A Puppet Opera" is inspired by a ghost story, "Schalken
the Painter", written by JS LeFanu in 1830. The performance creates a
surreal world without gravity, inhabited by articulate three foot high rod
puppets adorned in flowing silk costumes, operated by shrouded puppeteers
and accentuated by handheld fans. The performance also makes use of Czech
Black Theater lighting in which the puppets perform in a curtain of light.
The story is conveyed through wordless action, accentuated by a female
operatic voice coloring the story with emotional tones and accompanied by
an original avant-garde score on piano and violin. The story combines
elements of melodrama, opera, Chinese rod puppetry, Japanese Bunraku and
dance; simultaneously merging a classical sense with an avant-garde
esthetic.

The script, which has been in development sin ce March of 2000, has been
work-shopped in part at the O'Neill Puppetry Conference (2001 and 2002) and
at University of Connecticut in September of 2002. It represents the
culmination of a 3 year intensive process in Drama and Puppetry
Performance, collaboration between puppeteers, dancers, and directors from
all around the world attending the Puppet Arts Program at University of
Connecticut. "The Painted Rose: A Puppet Opera" will debut at University of
Connecticut where it will be presented in partial fulfillment of Ken
Berman's MFA Thesis in the Puppet Arts. Ticket reservations and information
can be obtained by calling the Box Office at (860)486-4226.

This is a unique performance: simultaneously contemporary and classical.
The story is expressionistic in format while the use of an operatic
colorateuse and accompanying score harkens to classic melodrama. The use of
materials and movement are beautifully executed with an original
avant-garde esthetic. These seemingly disparate influences are assembled to
create a coherent, rich and evocative experience. The performance is
designed to flow both conceptually and physically in tandem with the drama.

The audience perspective is that of a fixed camera in front of which set
elements rotate and transform, revealing new sight lines and changing
settings in ways that correspond with the action. The blurred line between
reality and the imagined is seen and, furthermore, it is experienced by the
audience.

The company of puppeteers includes a Canadian, Brazilian, Japanese and four
Americans-all bringing a tangible chemistry to the production.



Ken Berman
Dramaton Theater




_________________________________________________________________
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http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail



--- Personal replies to: "Ken Berman"
--- List replies to: puptcr it-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu
--- Admin commands to: majordomo-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu
--- Archives at: http://lists.village.virginia.edu/~spoons