National Authors and Presenters
National Authors & Presenters are available to travel across the country. These performers are willing and able to travel to your state to be a part of your program (as negotiated).
Allyson Adams
P.O. Box 95, Virginia City, MT 59755
Phone: 406-843-5258
Email: adamsallyson@hotmail.com
Website: www.allysonadams.com
Website: www.peaceisawomansjob.com
Performance Description: Peace is a Woman's Job, Jeannette Rankin
(1880-1973) was the first woman elected to Congress in 1916 and is one of
the world's foremost historical peacemakers. Rankin risked her political
career twice by controversially voting against U.S. entry into WWI and WWII.
She is the only person to vote no against both world wars. Imagine a
Montana political rally, the halls of Congress, a Georgia farm, Gandhi's
India and the streets of America during a Vietnam War protest. History
comes alive with this great program for all ages. Adams' mastery of the
stage and keen insights into Rankin does more than entertain and inform- it
changes lives. Q&A discussion to follow performance. Artist residency
available.
Availability: National
Jenny Aldrich
2019 Chippawa, Sarasota, FL 34234
Phone: 941-953-6623; or Toll-free: 888-339-1033
Email: costars@comcast.net
Website: www.costars.net
Performance Description: Women Masters. Celebrating women, art and life, these programs use the magic of theatre to bring these artists to your audience. While displaying reproductions of their work, the artists discuss their subjects and style. Often in their own words, they describe the people and events that shaped their lives and art. Mary Cassatt, known for her frankness, describes her life in France during the birth of Impressionism. Georgia O’Keeffe conducts a tour through her sensational flowers and abstracts to the vastness of the American West. Lilla Cabot Perry discusses her friendship with Claude Monet and the story of Giverny, the “cradle of American Impressionism.”
Availability: National
Dale Allen
Phone: 203-331-6164
Website: http://www.inourrightminds.com
Email: dale@daleallenproductions.com
Performance Description: In Our Right Minds™ has been igniting audiences at universities, conferences, executive women’s meetings, healing centers and theaters nationwide. This passionate message guides women to their strength as leaders, and restores in men and women, the validity of right-brain, “feminine” strengths. It is a fun, dynamic, multimedia 1 hour 15 minute performance piece featuring history, myth, original songs, art, artifacts, characters and comedy. Dale Allen, a 15-year veteran of corporate and commercial communications, gives voice to a brilliant, long-forgotten intelligence that is within each of us – the intelligence of the right hemisphere of the brain, the “feminine gatherer-nurturer” side.
In an accessible and inclusive way, In Our Right Minds™ explores the goddess archetype as a metaphor for our right-brain wisdom. Without an understanding of this archetype, women have been left with no clear model to guide them to their strength and wholeness, and men have been forced to suppress vast parts of their own intuitive, emotional and nurturing natures. Leadership for a new era will be based on the integration of the feminine, as expressed through both women and men. “The Mother has left a memory in us all.”
Availability: National
The American Magic-Lantern Theater
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin
PO Box 44
East Haddam, CT 06438
Phone: 860-345-2574, fax: 860-345-7578
Website: www.magiclanternshows.com
Email: tborton@magiclanternshows.com
Performance Description: Historically authentic re-creation of an 1890s magic-lantern show of
H. B. Stowe’s
classic Uncle Tom’s Cabin-the book Lincoln said started the Civil War. Victorian Magic-Lantern Shows combined projected images, live drama, and live music, and were the direct ancestor of today’s movies. UTC was the single most popular show in the magic-lantern repertoire. It can b e presented alone, in reference to Stowe, and/or as part of AMLT’s Civil War Show. AMLT has been touring nationally and internationally for 15 years. National Public Radio says, “They’re an incredible experience…IF they come to your town, don’t miss them. They’re a living national treasure.”
Availability: National
Carrie Sue Ayvar
1829 NE 179 St., N. Miami Beach, FL 33162
Phone: 305-945-4804
Website: www.storynet.org/tellers/CarrieSueAyvar.htm
Website: www.writeonspeakers.com/carrie_sue_ayvar.htm
Email: cayvar@aol.com
Performance Description: Everyone’s heard of Miami Beach! See it through the eyes of Rose Weiss: Mother of Miami Beach, who transformed it, with persistence and a smile, from a sparsely populated sandbar (where Jews like her could only live in the southernmost tip) into the world famous multicultural metropolis it is today. Or you can meet trailblazing Doc Anner: Petticoat Doctor of the Everglades, 2nd female doctor in Florida. Artist, physician, pharmacist, wife, mother (and even veterinarian when called upon) she braved alligators, rattlesnakes, violent outlaws and chauvinism to help and heal her patients. Q&A sessions follow with storyteller, performance artist and Chautauqua Scholar Carrie Sue Ayvar.
Availability: National
Margaret Arner
418 Freedom Blvd, Coatesville, PA 19320
Phone: 610-384-3131
Email: mother_jones@hotmail.com
Performance Description: Mother Jones: My Life and Times - Mary Jones (1830-1930) was a union organizer who fought the capitalist system on behalf of poor workers. Her address was like her shoes it traveled with her all over this country. Union, non-union or socialist; men, women or children it didn’t matter. If it was on behalf of the workers she went. Arner takes you through Jones’s courageous life from her humble birth in Cork, Ireland; the death of her family to Yellow Fever; and her funeral in Mt. Olive, Illinois - 15,000 people attended. Performances are adapted for middle-school through senior-citizen audiences.
Availability: National
Alison Baker
229 Sullivan Street, Apt 4A
New York, NY 10012
Website: www.alisonbaker.info
Email: alisonbak@aol.com
Description: Alison Baker is a writer and oral historian living in New York City. Her latest book, It’s Good To Be a Woman: Voices from Bryn Mawr, Class of ’62 (publication date: March 31, 2007) tells the stories of a group of women who came out of Bryn Mawr College determined to have lives of their own, to find meaningful work, to make a difference. (For more information on Alison Baker and the book, please visit the website, www.alisonbaker.info)
2007 is turning out to be a good year for women’s college graduates. First, Nancy Pelosi (Trinity College, ’62) took up the gavel as Speaker of the House, next Drew Gilpin Faust (Bryn Mawr College, ’68) was appointed president of Harvard University. (And who knows, 2008 may be even better, with Hillary Rodham Clinton (Wellesley, ’69) now a declared candidate.) The 2007 NWHP theme of “Generations of Women Moving History Forward” fits right in what is happening, and so does It’s Good To Be a Woman. The generation of the class of ’62 is coming into its own, witness Nancy Pelosi. And women of the class of ’62 were pioneers, the spearhead of a feminist movement opening doors for women entering the professions. The Bryn Mawr links are quite evident: Faust succeeded Matina Horner (Bryn Mawr, ’61) as Dean of the Radcliffe Institute, and has now gone on to break the glass ceiling as the first woman president of Harvard.
It’s Good To Be a Woman is Baker’s second book, following Voices of Resistance: Oral Histories of Moroccan Women (Albany, NY: SUNYPress, 1998), about Moroccan women who played an active role in the struggle against French colonialism, and a video, “Still Ready: Three Women from the Moroccan Resistance.”
Availability: National
Annette Baldwin
629 South Yale
Addison, IL 60101
Phone: (630)-279-0856
Website: www.staginghistory.com
Email: staginghistory@yahoo.com
Description: First-person historical characterizations, in costume and in action, to entertain, inspire and educate. Meet American Civil War spy Elizabeth Van Le, fashion designer Coco Chanel, social activist and peace advocate Jane Addams, journalist Dorothy Thompson, and in one production Carrie Chapman Catt, Alice Paul, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony. Miss Anthony also travels alone. Historian, actor, lecturer, and Humanities Councils' Chautauquan, Annette Baldwin, has been producing and performing stories of courageous, unconventional women since 1986 to libraries, colleges and universities, professional associations, community organizations, historical societies and museums, including the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.
Availability: National
Roberta Bassin
PO Box 3724, Granada Hills, CA 91394
Phone: 818-366-7288
Email: roberta@uclalumni.net
Performance Description: Amelia Earhart: In Her Own Words: It is 1937, Lae, New Guinea. Emmy-submitted actress, Roberta E Bassin, brings to life famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart as she is about to leave on the last leg of her round-the-world flight reflecting on her childhood, passion for flying and her flight for the rights of women, "A pilot is a pilot." The show culminates with an exciting audience Q and A for discussion. Amelia Earhart: In Her Own Words has thrilled, delighted and inspired audiences at luncheons, museums, corporations, libraries, schools, conferences, playhouses, colleges, and benefits. "It is a must see."
Availability: National, CA
Dr. Barbara Bernstein
DanceInTimeProductions
Bowie, MD
Website: http://www.danceintime.com
Email: BarbBtalks@aol.com
Phones: 301-9806043 home 301-4646244 cell
Performance Description: Women Take The Lead!
This fun, lively, and inspiring dance presentation is based on the principle of women's capability and their innate equality. The show is constructed around an all-women dance team (from DanceInTime.com) which presents Latin dances with women playing both the leaders' and the followers' role. In some cases, the ladies even switch roles so that someone who starts out leading ends up following and vice versa.
Traditionally in partnership dancing, men lead the dance, deciding what moves to lead, how to initiate and style, them, etc. Women simply acquiesce and follow whatever is led. In professional level dancing, the steps that leaders do can be quite complex and require a lot of practice and memory. But all those challenges belong only to the leaders.
However in this lively all-ladies Latin dance team, ladies step up to the plate and learn this material themselves, demonstrating that women can lead very capably, too!
Every time this show is done, it's uniquely designed to best suit each venue/audience. However, the show would generally be constructed to include any or all of these components, according to what is desired:
1. Performance by two dancers.
2. Performance by a dance team.
3. Instruction for anyone in the audience who might like to try some moves.
4. Brief talk about how dance roles reflect societal roles, and the tradition-breaking work done by this dance group.
5. Brief discussion about the history of Latin dances (and others) including the growth of their popularity world-wide. Also comments about the role of percussion in Latin/Salsa music, styles of Salsa that are popular, etc.
Availability: National
Lisa Frederiksen Bohannon
849 Middle Ave., Menlo Park, CA 94025
Phone: 650-327-9935
Website: http://www.lfbohannon.com
Email: lfredbohan@aol.com
Description: Lisa Frederiksen Bohannon has published several books and articles drawing on her longtime interests in feminism, politics and history. Three of her books are biographies of leaders of the Women's Rights Movement: Betty Friedan, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Frederiksen Bohannon offers the following presentation based on her books:
The 155+ Year Campaign for Women's Rights: Are We There, Yet?
Who would have guessed that the struggle to secure a woman's basic civil rights -- equal pay for equal work, access to an equal education, legal protection from sexual harassment and domestic violence, the right to practice birth control, the right to sit on a jury or before a jury of her peers, the right to work during and after pregnancy, the opportunity and right to play competitive sports and the right to own one's own property or secure one's own credit without a mail co-signer -- "officially" began in 1848? Or that the legislation to mandate these rights took until the last one-third of the 20th century? Or that legislative and societal efforts to erode some of those basic rights are underway, today? And, what is the impact of that erosion -- not only on women, but on men, daughters, sons and the American family?
Lisa Frederiksen Bohannon takes attendees of her program through the highlights of this campaign using a dynamic powerpoint presentation and readings from three of her biographies, Women's Rights and Nothing Less: the Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Failure is Impossible, the Story of Susan B. Anthony and Women's Work, the Story of Betty Friedan. As a woman who "came of age" during the legislative period of the 155+ year campaign for women's rights and a parent to six teens now facing their own futures, Frederiksen Bohannon brings a unique perspective to the program's concluding discussion, "Are we there, yet?
Frederiksen Bohannon also offers presentations on the women honored annually by the National Women's HIstory Project. Please check the Project's website, www.nwhp.org, for honorees and theme.
For more information visit http://www.lfbohannon.com
Availability: National
Mary Jane Bradbury
A View of the Past
1430 S. Milwaukee St.,
Denver, CO 80210
Phone: 303-722-8786
Website: www.biosinhistory.com
Email: mj@biosinhistory.com
Performance description: Living History for all ages: Hear Jeanette Rankin, suffragist and lifelong pacifist, tell of her journey from grassroots reformer to first woman elected to Congress. Journey to the Colorado frontier with Augusta Tabor, courageous pioneer, shrewd businesswoman and first wife of Silver Baron Horace Tabor. Explore the Rocky Mountains with 19th century naturalist and taxidermist Martha Maxwell, a pioneer in all respects, who represented Colorado at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History - have some fun with the adventurers, reformers and no-nonsense mavericks that inspire us today with this lively romp. Chautauqua scholar, actor and educator Mary Jane Bradbury brings history to life through compelling storytelling for all ages. Availability: National
Elaine Bromka
146 Montclair Ave., Montclair, NJ 07042
Phone: 973-509-9665
Website: www.teaforthree.com, www.elainebromka.com
Email: elainebromka@aol.com
Performance description: Tea for Three: Lady Bird, Pat & Betty - Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon and Betty Ford. This unforgettably vivid one-woman show about three former first ladies stars Emmy Award-winning Elaine Bromka. Critically acclaimed for its blend of wit, intimacy, and passion: "Brilliant acting"..."Delightfully sly"..."This thought-provoking perspective... adds dimension and complexity, joining the women in a sympathetic bond of womanhood." Relive the journey of three women who suddenly found themselves celebrities -- in what Pat Nixon called the hardest unpaid job in the world! Go to www.teaforthree.com. A film, TV, Broadway and Off-Broadway veteran, Bromka starred opposite Rich Little as eight of the first ladies across the country and for PBS. Her Acting on Camera Workshop is also available as part of a residency. Theaters, art centers, colleges, museums, clubs, fund raisers.
Availability: National
Mary Burkin
The Road Show
2113 Maple Street
Burbank, CA 91505
8185213969
Website:www.rsho.com
Email:
mburkin@hotmail.com
Performance Description:
Lively and entertaining one woman shows on some of the most fabulous women of our past: Susan B. Anthony, or Clara Barton, or Victoria Woodhull, or Dame Shirley of the Goldfields. Or you and your group can enjoy an afternoon tea with Jane Austen and her brother Henry, sharing neighborhood gossip or reading from Jane's novels. Or for a younger audience, invite Louisa May Alcott to talk about her childhood, and join with her audience in acting out an interactive fairy tale. Written and researched by performer/playwright Mary Burkin. Call for details.
Availability: National
Jane Curry
5048 37th Ave. So., Minneapolis, MN 55417
Phone: 612-729-6457
Website: www.janecurry.com
Email: jane@janecurry.com
Performance Description: Five one-woman shows that use a sense of history and humor to educate and entertain. Samantha "Rastles" the Woman Question: 19th-century farm wife and rustic philosopher. Just Say Know: Educating Females for the 21st Century - a satire about formal education for women. Nice Girls Don't Sweat: women and sports. Miz Wizard's Science Secrets: women and math/science/invention. Sisters of the Quill and Skillet: women's domestic lives and the domestic humorists' response to gendered expectations of the home.
Availability: National
Ellen M. DiMaggio
2300 Rebsamen Park, E207, Little Rock, AR 72202
Phone: 901-217-0596
Website: http://www.speakingofladies.com/
Email: mail@speakingofladies.com
Performance Description: Miss Ellie is an historical character created by
Ellen DiMaggio to discuss women of the 19th century America. Drawing from her
extensive research, DiMaggio's characterizations are historically accurate.
Women's Influences on the Civil War : unconventional roles women embraced,
including espionage and military. Anna Belle Leah: style & fashion of Civil
War. From Corsets to Congress, 1860-1980 features a time in American history when
women's roles erupted and shook up all forms of up all forms of the status
quo. The Wound Has Never Healed is a moving documentary on Arkansas women of
the Civil War. Also check the new website for the soldier's side of the Civil War...www.19thcenturyhistory.us
Check website for age recommendations for each program.
Availability: National
M. Kay duPont
Loving Mr. Lincoln
2137 Mt. Vernon Road, Atlanta, GA 20228
Phone: 770-395-7483
Website: http://www.marytlincoln.com
Email: kay@LovingMrLincoln.com
Performance Description: The author of Loving Mr. Lincoln: The Personal Diaries of Mary Todd Lincoln, will enthrall you with stories from one of the strongest, yet most tragic, relationships in history. Mary Lincoln reveals her pain and frustration when Abraham left her at the altar, when her sons died, and when Abraham's political career seemed to be over. She explains how and why she pushed her quiet husband toward greatness, and shares the joy of finally reaching the White House. You'll also be reminded of values that never change, no matter what century you're in: love, determination, patience, and hard work. The business version of this program also includes ten learning points that tie the past to the present.
Availability: National
Karen Eterovich
Love Arm’d Productions
Times Square Station,
P.O. Box 2668,
NEW YORK, NY 10108
Phone: 212-967-7711 x.4667
Email: karen_eterovich@hotmail.com
Web: http://www.lovearmd.com
Performance Description: Two solo plays: (1) Cheer from Chawton: A Jane Austen Family Theatrical, an hilarious audience participation piece about Jane Austen, her family, writing and adventures as a flirtatious butterfly in rural England and (2) Love Arm’d, Aphra Behn & Her Pen, restoration playwright Aphra Behn reveals the most intimate secrets of her turbulent life in this entertaining multi-media show. Cheer from Chawton was hailed as the “hit of the Jane Austen Festival” in Regency World Magazine and Love Arm’d was called “a polished jewel” by the British Theatre Guide.
Availability: National
Susan Marie Frontczak
3664 Chase Court, Boulder, CO 80305
Phone: 303-442-4052
Email: susanmarie@storysmith.org
Website: http://www.storysmith.org
Performance Description:
Meet First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in 1937, during her husband's second term as president. Behind a public life of striving for women's rights, civil rights, world peace, and against child labor is the story of a little girl who lost both parents before the age of ten, and a debutante who felt trapped by society's expectations. Hear Eleanor Roosevelt's views on what makes life worth living and how we can each make a difference in the midst of a strife-filled world – views at least as relevant today as they were 70 years ago. Other living history personae include Marie Curie , who not only changed our world through the discovery of radium and radioactivity, but opened the doors of science to women worldwide; and English writer Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, teen-age mother, behind-the-scenes supporter of social reform, romantic, and scholar, whose book Frankenstein asks keen questions about the responsibility of society to its under trodden, and of scientists to their inventions. All programs include a Q&A in character. Frontczak's living histories have taken her to 22 of the United States as well as Scotland and Canada.
Availability: National
Sandra R. Hansen
227 W. 19th St. Holland, MI 49423
Phone: 616 396-5772 or 1800 484-1773 (code 7638)
Email: shansen@wmol.com
Website: www.wmol.com/whalive
Performance Description:"Fantastic!" "Excellent!" are the standard response to Sandra Hansen’s delightful one woman plays that have been performed across the country and even in India! Please call or email Sandra to receive a brochure and CD with 10 minute segments of each of the plays.
- In "Kate’s Pants" Sandra removes eleven layers of clothes to become Amelia Bloomer, Sojourner Truth and Elizabeth Cady Stanton among others.
- "Chewing Gum Junk Shop" is an outrageously silly audience participation program about twentieth century women. A highlight of this program is when the audience does a hula dance to learn about Queen Lillioukalani of Hawaii. Others in this program are Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, Congresswoman Jeanette Rankin, Maria Tallchief, Gertrude Ederle, and Marion Anderson.
- "Civil War Women" is a deeply moving play using diaries and biographies of extraordinary, yet ordinary women. Women included are Emma Edmonds, who disguised herself as a man to become a soldier and spy; Linda Brent, and escaped slave; Harriet Tubman, conductor on the Underground Railroad; Sarah Morgan, a Southern belle who loses everything in the war; and Dr. Esther Hill Hawks, who protests the Federal Army’s mistreatment of the Southern black women.
- In "Miss Fuller’s Letter" a young fictional woman bakes a cake in which she blends in her dreams for college and marriage. Some distinctive 1880s women, Victoria Woodhull, Elizabeth Blackwell, Marietta Holley, and Hetty Green give her a hand and some advice.
- "Michigan Magic" Michigan Magic is filled with magic tricks and the tales, trials, and tribulations of six women in Michigan's history.
- "Mujeres Magnificas" is a PowerPoint presentation on historical women from South America, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Mexico.
Availability: National
Judith Helton
Americana Unlimited
7100 Colbath Ave., Van Nuys, CA 91405-3303
Phone: 818-785-6104
Email: helton1776@adelphia.net
Performance Description: If you could meet Abigail Adams, what would you ask her? You get your chance through this unique program, which is both scripted and improvisational. Abigail Adams: Revolutionary Woman has delighted thousands of adult and school audiences since 1976. Also available: Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the Little House books, telling the stories of her childhood on the prairie. Plus, Lotta Crabtree, child performer of the California gold rush, featuring the music of that era. Judith Helton received a Lifetime Achievement Award from PASA (Professional Artists in Schools Awards) in 1996.
Availability: National
Michele LaRue (AEA, SAG, AFTRA)
The East Lynne Theater Company
c/o 281 Lincoln Ave., Secaucus, NJ 07094
Phone: 201-863-6436
Email: ruedelarue@aol.com
Websites: Listed on michelelarue.com; http://www.eastlynnecompany.org
Performance Description: Presenters have included Chicago’s Newberry Library, D.C.’s National Portrait Gallery, N.Y.C.’s Womenkind festivals, women’s studies programs from Massachusetts to Oklahoma, and international conferences of the Charlotte Perkins Gilman Society and the American Quilter’s Society.
- The Yellow Wallpaper. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s feminist indictment of 19th-century medicine—and one of the finest horror stories ever penned (in 1892). Fully staged—with period costume, recorded Victorian music and sound effects. One hour plus optional talk-back. Reviews: “Extraordinary, haunting”; “incredible”; “moving and anguished portrayal.”
- Someone Must Wash the Dishes: An Anti-Suffrage Monologue. Many women fought against the Vote, but none with more charm, prettier clothes—and less logic—than the fictional speaker in this 1912 satire by pro-suffragist Marie Jenney Howe. Period costume. 25 minutes, plus optional talk-back and/or lecture. Reviews: “Side-splitting”; “enchanting”; “wicked.” This fully costumed production has played more than 100 venues around the country. In an election year that has seen, not only women voting, but one woman running for President, this 96-year-old satire is right on point. (A brief lecture follows the performance, putting the seemingly ludicrous arguments of the "Antis' in historical context.)
- Tales Well Told. Vibrant solo performances of 19th-century short stories, from New England’s Sarah Orne Jewett to the South’s Kate Chopin, from Alice Brown to Edna Ferber. Titles include Dorothy Canfield Fisher’s The Bedquilt and Mary E. Wilkins Freeman’s The Apple Tree and The Winning Lady. Choose a Tale to suit the season or your theme. Reviews: “It’s difficult to find the words to describe the wonder of what you do”; “We could have heard a pin drop!”
Brochures available.
Availability: National
Robin Lane
66 Charles Street, PMB #112, Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 800-881-0349
Email: rlanesprod@aol.com
Performance Description: Actor Robin Lanes' remarkable portrayals of notable women have won her critical acclaim for over a decade. A trailblazer in the arena of the one-person show, Robin Lane dramatizes the lives of women from history and the arts, in venues both large and small, throughout the United States and in Europe. In Ladies First, Lane portrays first ladies Abigail Adams, Rachel Jackson, Julia Tyler, Mary Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt and Jacqueline Kennedy. Art collector Isabella Stewart Gardner is presented in Queen of Back Bay, and painters Artemisia Gentileschi, Mary Cassatt, Frida Kahlo and Georgia O'Keeffe in Artful Lives. Travels throughout the US.
Availability: National
Bonda Lewis
Performances Off the Shelf
PO Box 33094, Los Gatos, CA 95031-3094
Phone: 408-371-0529
Website: www.PerformancesOfftheShelf.com
Email: ravenscarapos@yahoo.com
Performance Description: Take your pick of Warriors Who Changed the World, a series of eight shows exploring the lives of extraordinary writer-activists Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, Isabella Bird, Amelia Jenks Bloomer and Sara Bard Field. These professional, beautifully mounted one-person shows are a wonderful way to introduce audiences to the courage, laughter and political realities of matchless heroes. Or treat your group to The Powder Keg, a trip through the exciting, unpredictable history of the heroic women who between 1809 and 1949 went from camp followers to commissioned officers while nursing the armed forces.
Looking for Lilith Theatre Company
220 Kennedy Court, #3, Louisville, KY 40206
Phone: 502-638-2559, 347-228-6438
E-mail: trina@lookingforlilith.org
Website: www.lookingforlilith.org
Performance Descriptions:
What My Hands Have Touched
“Moving, impressive, excellent, inspiring, important, thought-provoking, educational, brilliant.” Many brave women of "The Greatest Generation" shared with Looking for Lilith their experiences of life in the U.S. during World War II —not propaganda, not war reels, but real stories from real women whose lives changed forever during that war. In What My Hands Have Touched, a dynamic ensemble of three perform these compelling stories, exploring their myriad roles: as factory workers, nurses, pilots, USO performers and homemakers. This play praises women's contributions to the war effort, while also raising important questions about the realities of war.“The stories are so engrossing. . . they are told with tremendous dignity and depth.”
Women Speak: IRAQ
“Fantastic, riveting, powerful, balanced, amazing, important, moving, incredible and brilliant.” This one woman show based on interviews with over 40 women with some connection to the present war in Iraq, including U.S. Servicewomen, peace activists, blue star mothers and Iraqi women, explores women’s history in the making. One audience member commented that, "Seeing the war from so many sides, through one woman, brought home the interconnectedness of all of humanity."
Coming Soon! The Triangle Project (working title), based on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911, the women’s lives that were lost and the labor rights movement of that time period that was further galvanized by this tragedy. Available for touring by late Spring 2009.
Q&A discussion following all performances.
A wide variety of artist residencies are available with our performers, who have over 30 years combined experience doing educational and community outreach with ages 3-93.
Availability: National
Lynne McKenney Lydick
Worcester Women’s History Project
30 Elm St., Worcester, MA 01609
Phone: 508-767-1852
Website: www.wwhp.org
Email: info@wwhp.org
Performance Description: Yours for Humanity—Abby is an inspiring one-woman play based on the letters and speeches of Abby Kelley Foster (1811-1887), radical abolitionist and women’s rights activist. Travel back in time with Lynne and enter Abby’s world—a tumultuous time when social and political differences divided our country and when society demanded that women be silent, submissive, and obedient. Hear Abby’s emotionally powerful orations against slavery and prejudice, which changed the hearts and minds of many. See how one person can effect extraordinary changes in society by sheer determination, perseverance, and hard work. Costume, props. Curricula-linked learning guide available.
Availability: National
Kres Mersky
1607 Linda Rosa Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90041
Telephone: 323.982 1502
Cell: 323.839 4998
Email: kmersky@yahoo.com
Performance Description: The Life and Times of A. Einstein; Isadora Duncan: A Unique Recital. Available for presentation: Kres’ two funny, off-beat, intelligent, one –woman shows; Isadora Duncan: A Unique Recital, a dramatic presentation on the Mother of Modern Dance, “Pure poetry. An exceptional performance - LA Times,” and The Life and Times of A. Einstein, a comedy about a day in the life of Einstein as seen through the eyes of his secretary. “A tour-de-force…truly marvelous.” - Daily Variety.Kres has appeared widely in film, television and theater. Suitable for universities, theatres, museums, libraries, middle school to adult.
Availability: National
Fred Morsell
Fremarjo Enterprise, Inc.
PO Box 382, Emigrant, MT 59027
Phone: 406-333-4970
Website: www.frederickdouglass.org
Email: fremarjo@att.net
Performance Description: Actor Fred Morsell is the premier portrayer of 19th-century abolitionist and women’s rights advocate Frederick Douglass. His play, Presenting Mr. Frederick Douglass, is based on Douglass’s autobiographies. He performs famous Douglass speeches, including “The Meaning of the 4th of July for the Negro” and “The Lesson of the Hour.” Of special interest in 2005 (the 85th anniversary of the 19th Amendment) is Why I Became a Woman’s Rights Man, a combination of Douglass’s speeches and writings highlighting his support for women’s equality and his connections with Stanton, Anthony, Mott, Tubman, and other leaders of the abolitionist and women’s rights movements.
Availability: National
Anne Pasquale
Living History
120 Cabrini Blvd, New York, NY 10033
Phone: 212-740-6201
Website: www.livinghistoryprograms.com
Email: apasqnyc@aol.com
Performance description: Anne Pasquale's Living History Programs. Offers participational Women's History Programs for audiences of all ages. This year's show roster includes:
The Legendary Lady of The Overland, Calamity Jane
America's First Female Reporter, Nellie Bly
The Revolutionary, Deborah Sampson
Helen and Me, the Story of Annie Sullivan Macy and Helen Keller
Liberty Belles, Stories and Songs of Immigration
A free 45 minute walk-about is offered with every assembly. Or with any of our shows you can follow up with a 5-day residency ending in a final primary source presentation created and performed by all participants.
Live music, join-in re-enactments and historical fun, highlight every presentation.
The performers are body-miked and can accommodate audiences up to 500 in number.
Fees prior to travel are: $500.00 for a single program and $700.00 for two performances back to back.
Availability: National
Miriam Reed
One-Woman POWEFUL Women Productions
1320 Prospect Street
Ashland, Oregon 97520
Phone: 917 710-2354
Website: www.miriamreed.com
Email: miriam@miriamreed.com
Performance Description: Miriam Reed's dramatic performances have as
their text the letters and writings of the women she portrays, and in this way
she captures the very essence of these powerful women. Performances are for
eighth grade and above.
"Margaret Sanger: Radiant Rebel" comprises two acts, "1940" and "1916,"
and is a forty- or a ninety-minute show.
"Mrs. Stanton & Susan" is the story of the friendship between Elizabeth
Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony and is a ninety-minute or two forty-minute
shows.
"Louisa May Alcottt: Living Little Women" explores the life of the
author of "Little Women" and is a forty-minute performance.
Fees start at $500 plus expenses but can be negotiated if additional
performances are given in the area.
Availability: National
Lynn Ruehlmann
621 New Hampshire Avenue, Norfolk, Virginia 23508
Phone: 757-625-6742
Website: www.cascadingstories.com
Email: ruehlmann@erols.com
Performance Description: Lynn Ruehlmann does theatrical portrayals of courageous, historically significant women. "Spy! The Story of Civil War Spy Elizabeth Van Lew" is about a Virginian who spied for the Union. Lynn's recording of this show won two national awards. "Steadfast and Spirited: Stories of the American Revolution" reenacts Deborah Sampson (a female Patriot soldier in the war), Peggy Shippen Arnold (Benedict Arnold's Loyalist wife), and Phillis Wheatley (slave turned published poetess). Why is Virginia known as The Mother of Presidents? "It Happened in the White House" covers much of the history of America through human interest stories of the eight presidents who came from Virginia (Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Harrison, Tyler, Taylor, Wilson) and the wives who shared and influenced their political and private lives.
Availability: National
Wanda Schell
"For Ever Zora"
1328 Appletree Ct
Frederick, MD 21703-6001
Phone: 301- 694-3023 (301) 305-6780
Email: WSchell4@verizon.net
Website: www.dramaislife.com
Performance Description: Come along on a fascinating journey with a member of The" Talented Tenth" of the Harlem Renaissance. Meet Zora Neale Huston, novelist, folklorist and anthropologist. Travel with Zora from her hometown in Eatonville as she tries to outwit "Nanny" Follow her down South on Folklore expeditions. Laugh yourself silly as you meet "Big Sweet" and hear some prize-winning folktales. Explore her brush with "Hoodoo" with the grand nephew of Marie Leveau. Meet "Charlotte Osgood Mason, " (Godmother) as Zora and Langston write their controversial play "Mule Bone. This 60 minutes play is told with songs, music, folktales, tears and laughter.
Availability: National
Kathleen Shimeta
44 West 96th Street, Apt 4C, New York, NY 10025-6563
Phone: 212-665-4407
Website: www.kathleenshimeta.com
Email: kshimeta@aol.com
Life! Love! Song! A Visit with Gena Branscombe is performed by mezzo-soprano Kathleen Shimeta. This art song recital/one-woman show featuring fifteen of Canadian/American composer Gena Branscombe's elegantly lyric songs beautifully illuminates her life story, in a vivid first person visit with the composer! Ms. Shimeta's lively enactment has been enthusiastically received from coast-to-coast in America and is to be seen abroad in the future. Negotiable fees. For bookings or information, contact Heike Bachmann at Heike@spessardmgmt.com.
Availability: National
Ellen Emory Snortland
2450 N. Lake Ave. #112, Altadena, CA 91001
Phone: 626-798-8421
Email: Ellensnortland@mac.com
Website: www.snortland.com
Website: www.beautybitesbeast.org
Performance Description: "Now That She's Gone"
Gloria Steinem says, “Ellen says I’m the “grandmother” of this play, but I’m not crazy enough to think that it was my planting of a seed when in fact it is her enormous talent… She has a gift for being serious and funny, making you laugh and understand at the same time. The first time I saw it, I brought two friends who were visiting New York City from Kenya — a mother and a daughter — to see it, and they loved it too; it’s universal.”
"Now That She's Gone" is a one woman play (performed either as a staged reading or theater production) that explores Ellen Snortland's often wacky, irreverent and sometimes torturous relationship with her Norwegian-American mother. "Now That She's Gone" has been described as a Lily Tomlin / Garrison Keillor / Eve Ensler hybrid… passionate, poignant and funny in turns. A memoir piece with the woman's movement, Eleanor Roosevelt, sex, drugs and lutefisk, the play and performance have received rave reviews and standing ovations in California, New York, and Washington, D.C. Snortland’s singing voice is amazing too.
Availability: National and International
Sounds of the Northway, aka Kol Derech Hatzafon
C/O Ann Ruzow Holland
135 Sabousin Rd, Willsboro, NY 12996
Phone: 518-963-7096
Email: aholland@willex.com
Performance Description: Sound of the Northway (AKA Kol Derech Hatzafon_ is a remarkable performing quartet. These talented women use their voices and instruments to celebrate the lives of women from biblical times to American history to contemporary society. They create special musical programs to help celebrate and recognize the amazing lives of women. Since they specialize in customized and thematic musical repertoires, they will customize a repertoire to fit the occasion. The group includes Ann Ruzow Holland, Cathie Davenport, Jennifer Van Ben Schoten, and Sharon Schenkel. Their new CD, Water, Women & Song is available for $18.00, including shipping & handling by contacting Ann Ruzow Holland. Visit their website: soundsofthenorthway.com
Availability: National
Gayle Stahlhuth
121 Madison Ave., #3M, New York, NY 10016
Phone: 212-684-1562
Website: www.eastlynnecompany.org
Email: gaylestahl@aol.com
Performance Description: Gayle Stahlhuth, Artistic Director of the Equity Professional East Lynne Theater Company, brings the following women to life in fully costumed and propped productions that have been well received around the country in places including The Smithsonian Institution, The Arvada Center (CO), and The Manhattan Theatre Club (NYC): Louisa May Alcott, Edna Ferber, Dorothea Dix, Catharine Beecher, Edna Pontellier from Kate Chopin's The Awakening, and Eve from Mark Twain. Lengths vary from 25 - 90 minutes and may include a Q&A. Reviews: "Stahlhuth gave a graceful yet riveting performance." (Atlantic City Press, NJ) and "Stahlhuth's performance was like an evening with an old friend." (The Riverton Ranger, WY)
Availability: National
Kate Campbell Stevenson
Women: Back to the Future
12122 David Dr., Silver Spring, MD 20904
Phone: 301-622-1588
Website: www.katecampbellstevenson.com
Email: KcamStev@aol.com
Performance Description: Inspiring musical drama enthralls audiences with clever onstage costume and makeup changes creating magical transitions between historical periods. 3-5 women featured per show; including Abigail Adams, Sacagawea, Lucy Stone, Bessie Coleman, Rachel Carson, Marian Anderson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Louise Arner Boyd. Each portrayed in the context of her time with song, monologue, poetry, and movement. Q&A after performance. Tours nationwide.
Availability: National
Ann Timmons
4638 South 34th Street, Arlington, VA 22206-1702
Phone: 703-820-9589
Website: www.anntimmons.com
Email: offthewall@anntimmons.com
Performance Description: Off the Wall: The Life and Works of Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Witty and articulate, Gilman crusades daringly for women's rights and social justice at the dawn of the 20th Century. This dramatic one-act reveals an intimate glimpse of the ongoing internal battle between her private demons and public work. Truly a woman with a mission, she strives to make her message heard through poetry, social commentary (Women and Economics) and whimsical as well as dramatic fiction (The Yellow Wallpaper). Gilman's message is relevant to anyone who feels beleaguered by a society that insists on "instant winners," and is sure to generate thoughtful dialogue.
Availability: National
Nan Weber
467 South Post Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84104-1229
Phone: 801-596-1884
Website: www.nanweber.com
Email: nanner333@aol.com
Performance Description: Women’s Words and Women’s Voices Mattie: why is she buried in Yellowstone? Liberty: a salute to women’s Western experience, including Native American, emigrant, homesteader. Rosa Bonheur, animal and American Western landscapes painter.
Availability: National
Suzanne Willett
4706 Tannery Ave., Tampa, FL 33624
Phone: 813.892.7502
Email: booking@suzannewillett.com
Website: www.thefeminazi.com
Website: www.suzannewillett.com
Performance Description: The Feminazi, a one-woman comedy in four characters: the Feminazi, a hilarious holdover from the feminist movement searching for sexist pigs; the Virgin Mary, an angst-ridden Jewish mother; Sarah Whitcomb, a suburbanite deconstructing “making it”; and Fran Schneider, an activist fighting for the visibility of older women. “Willett explores some very serious post-feminist issues with a wit and charm that are hard to resist” –Edmonton Journal. “Four stars”, --SEE Magazine. Suzanne has worked with JJ Walker, won the Talent of Tampa Bay, and was a finalist at California’s Funniest Female contest. Optional Q&A session after performance. Artist residency available.
Availability
: National