Cambridge, Mass. — The American Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.) is pleased to welcome the return, in time for the holidays, of the brilliant artist Aurélia Thierrée in Aurélia’s Oratorio, written and directed by Victoria Thierrée Chaplin, presented at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge. Performances run from Friday, November 28 through Saturday, January 3.
Behind the red velvet curtain lies a topsy-turvy world of surreal surprises, tricks, and transformations, where dreams come to life and the impossible happens before your very eyes…. Aurélia Thierrée was first seen on the A.R.T. stage as a young girl, performing in the Le Cirque Imaginaire with her parents. Now an actress and acrobat in her own right, Charlie Chaplin’s granddaughter has charmed audiences around the world with this dazzling display of stage illusion, inspired by the magic of music hall and circus, and co-created with her mother Victoria Thierrée Chaplin. The production also features Jaime Martinez (from November 28-December 12 and Julio Monge (from December 13-January 3). As in the old music hall and variety acts, the artists’ aim is to entertain with a fantasy world of images and music.
Aurélia’s Oratorio is an ideal holiday treat for the whole family, suitable for children 8 to 100.
“An absolute spellbinder . . .an enchanting dream, and like most vivid reveries, it momentarily colors the way you see the waking world.” — London Daily Telegraph
“Charm is a much-abused word but Aurélia’s Oratorio has it in spades... an upside-down, topsy-turvy world that Aurélia opens up, a world where the magic is all in the detail.” — Metro London
“A show of wit and beauty, with haunting stage images.” — Variety
Victoria Thierrée Chaplin appeared three times at the A.R.T. to great acclaim with her productions Le Cirque Imaginaire and Le Cirque Invisible, both created and performed with her husband Jean Baptiste Thierrée. Born in Santa Monica, California, she was the last offspring of her parents prior to their exile to Europe. She studied ballet and music in Switzerland, and in 1969 she met Jean Baptiste Thierrée whom she later married, and together they have worked on the development of a new form of circus, Le Cirque Bonjour, which was invited to the Festival d’Avignon in 1971 and toured France. As the Thierrées moved towards a more personal approach of the circus world Le Cirque Imaginaire was born, with the two artists and their two children, Aurélia and James, which toured the world for ten years, followed by another show, Le Cirque Invisible. In addition to her own acts, Ms. Chaplin created most of the costumes herself, and chose the music for the productions. Recently, she worked with her son James Thierrée on the design and costumes for his productions Junebug Symphony, La Viellée des Abysses, and Au Revoir Parapluie. L’Oratorio d’Aurélia is her latest creation.
Aurélia Thierrée has been performing on stage since early childhood. She began her career in her parent’s Le Cirque Imaginaire and Le Cirque Invisible, during which time she learned to combine a developing sense of the surreal with the demands and discipline required. During recent years she has worked with a number of film artists, including Milos Forman, Coline Serreau, and Jacques Baratier. For several years, she toured with The Tiger Lillies in The Tiger Lillies Circus. She has also worked in variety and cabaret in Berlin. Inspired by medieval drawings that depict worlds upside down and inside out, she collaborated with Victoria Thierrée Chaplin to create L’Oratorio d’Aurélia for the stage.
Jaime Martinez was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and was raised in Columbia, SC. where he began his training with Ann Brodie and Naomi Calvert. He furthered his training on a Nancy Reynolds Scholarship at the North Carolina School of the Arts, as well as a scholarship from the American Dance Machine and American Dance Festival. Mr. Martinez was a Founding member of The Parsons Dance Company in 1987 has taught over 400 master classes, including residencies at SUNY Purchase, The Juilliard School, and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He has staged numerous works by David Parsons the Ballet du Rhin, Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal, Carte Blanche Dance Company of Norway, Ballet National de Nancy, Pennsylvania Ballet, New York City Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet and Roland Petit Ballet National de Marseille, and is a recipient of a 1998 New York Dance and Performance Bessie. He is a founding member of Mark Dendy Dance & Performance and has worked with Diane Martell, Pearl Lang, Ruby Shang, Douglas Wright, Uris/Barr and Dancers, Robin Becker and Pooh Kaye’s Excentric Motions.
Julio Monge appeared on Broadway in Jerome Robbins' Broadway (original cast), Lincoln Center's Twelfth Night (starring Helen Hunt), Fosse (available on DVD), Man of La Mancha, Paul Simon's The Capeman (starring Ruben Blades, Marc Anthony, and Ednita Nazario), and Chronicle of a Death Foretold (directed by Graciela Daniele). Other NY credits include Pericles, Henry VIII, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, and Anthony and Cleopatra (directed by and starring Vanessa Redgrave), The Public Theater. Television: Law and Order, 100 Center Street, and Mad About You. Films: Moving Mike, which made its debut this fall at the Williamstown Film Festival.
The performance schedule of Aurélia’s Oratorio is as follows:
November 28, 29, December 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20, 26, 27, January 2, 3 at 8:00pm; November 30, December 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 30, 31 January 1 at 7:30pm; November 30, December 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, 28, 31 at 2:00pm. Special performances for Out at A.R.T. for the GLBT community will take place on Friday, December 5 and Under 35 Night on Thursday, December 4. The bar will remain open following both performances on these dates.
Single ticket prices range from $25-$79, with a $10 discount for seniors. Student discounts include the $60 Student Pass for 5 performances (at $12 a seat); single tickets at $25 advance purchase, and $15 day of performance. Other discounts include 50 @ 15 at noon ($15 tickets on sale at noon on the day of performance; in person only, based on availability) and Pay What You Can (50 tickets available for every Saturday matinee performance of the season at the Loeb Drama Center for patrons to purchase at whatever amount they can afford (based on availability). Group rates, with extra savings for senior citizens and student groups are also available.
The balance of the A.R.T. 2008-09 Season includes The Seagull by Anton Chekhov, directed by János Szász (January 10 — February 1, Loeb Stage); Endgame by Samuel Beckett, directed by Marcus Stern (February 14 — March 15, Loeb Stage); the world premiere of Trojan Barbie by Christine Evans, directed by Carmel O’Reilly (March 28 — April 22, Zero Arrow Theatre); and Romance by David Mamet, directed by Scott Zigler (May 9 - 31, Loeb Stage).
The A.R.T. is offering various plans for the season — including choose-your-own and flex plans — with a host of benefits, including free Zipcar membership; free tickets to A.R.T. Institute productions; discounts on parking, on books at the Harvard Coop, fine dining, and tickets to other theatres; a child-care series (Saturday matinee), and pre-performance and post-performance discussion series (Saturday matinees).
To learn more about this production and the A.R.T.’s upcoming season, log onto the A.R.T. website at www.amrep.org or call the A.R.T. InfoLine at (617) 547-8300. The InfoLine is also available 24 hours a day to provide directions to the theatre; to order brochures, calendars, and newsletters; and to allow direct access to the A.R.T. Box Office (hours are noon to curtain time on performance days, noon to 5 pm on non-performance days, closed on Mondays).
The AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATRE (A.R.T.) is one of the country’s most celebrated resident theatres and the winner of numerous awards — including the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize, and locally numerous Elliot Norton and I.R.N.E. Awards; it was recently named one of the top three theatres in the country by Time magazine. Over its twenty-eight-year history the A.R.T. has welcomed major American and international theatre artists whose singular visions generate and define the theatre’s work, presenting a varied repertoire that includes new plays, progressive productions of classical texts, and collaborations between artists from many disciplines. The Company has performed throughout the country, and worldwide in twenty-one cities in sixteen countries on four continents. This fall the organization welcomes its new Artistic Director, Diane Paulus, who begins plans for its 2009-10 Season, the Company’s 30th in Cambridge.
The A.R.T., located at the Loeb Drama Center at 64 Brattle Street, and at the Zero Arrow Theatre at the corner of Arrow Street and Massachusetts Avenue, Harvard Square, Cambridge, are accessible to persons with special needs and to those requiring wheelchair seating or first-floor restrooms. Deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons can also reach the Theatre by calling the toll-free N.E. Telephone Relay Center at 1-800-439-2370.
Public transportation and discount parking are available nearby.
Behind the red velvet curtain lies a topsy-turvy world of surreal surprises, tricks, and transformations, where dreams come to life and the impossible happens before your very eyes…. Aurélia Thierrée was first seen on the A.R.T. stage as a young girl, performing in the Le Cirque Imaginaire with her parents. Now an actress and acrobat in her own right, Charlie Chaplin’s granddaughter has charmed audiences around the world with this dazzling display of stage illusion, inspired by the magic of music hall and circus, and co-created with her mother Victoria Thierrée Chaplin. The production also features Jaime Martinez (from November 28-December 12 and Julio Monge (from December 13-January 3). As in the old music hall and variety acts, the artists’ aim is to entertain with a fantasy world of images and music.
Aurélia’s Oratorio is an ideal holiday treat for the whole family, suitable for children 8 to 100.
“An absolute spellbinder . . .an enchanting dream, and like most vivid reveries, it momentarily colors the way you see the waking world.” — London Daily Telegraph
“Charm is a much-abused word but Aurélia’s Oratorio has it in spades... an upside-down, topsy-turvy world that Aurélia opens up, a world where the magic is all in the detail.” — Metro London
“A show of wit and beauty, with haunting stage images.” — Variety
Victoria Thierrée Chaplin appeared three times at the A.R.T. to great acclaim with her productions Le Cirque Imaginaire and Le Cirque Invisible, both created and performed with her husband Jean Baptiste Thierrée. Born in Santa Monica, California, she was the last offspring of her parents prior to their exile to Europe. She studied ballet and music in Switzerland, and in 1969 she met Jean Baptiste Thierrée whom she later married, and together they have worked on the development of a new form of circus, Le Cirque Bonjour, which was invited to the Festival d’Avignon in 1971 and toured France. As the Thierrées moved towards a more personal approach of the circus world Le Cirque Imaginaire was born, with the two artists and their two children, Aurélia and James, which toured the world for ten years, followed by another show, Le Cirque Invisible. In addition to her own acts, Ms. Chaplin created most of the costumes herself, and chose the music for the productions. Recently, she worked with her son James Thierrée on the design and costumes for his productions Junebug Symphony, La Viellée des Abysses, and Au Revoir Parapluie. L’Oratorio d’Aurélia is her latest creation.
Aurélia Thierrée has been performing on stage since early childhood. She began her career in her parent’s Le Cirque Imaginaire and Le Cirque Invisible, during which time she learned to combine a developing sense of the surreal with the demands and discipline required. During recent years she has worked with a number of film artists, including Milos Forman, Coline Serreau, and Jacques Baratier. For several years, she toured with The Tiger Lillies in The Tiger Lillies Circus. She has also worked in variety and cabaret in Berlin. Inspired by medieval drawings that depict worlds upside down and inside out, she collaborated with Victoria Thierrée Chaplin to create L’Oratorio d’Aurélia for the stage.
Jaime Martinez was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and was raised in Columbia, SC. where he began his training with Ann Brodie and Naomi Calvert. He furthered his training on a Nancy Reynolds Scholarship at the North Carolina School of the Arts, as well as a scholarship from the American Dance Machine and American Dance Festival. Mr. Martinez was a Founding member of The Parsons Dance Company in 1987 has taught over 400 master classes, including residencies at SUNY Purchase, The Juilliard School, and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He has staged numerous works by David Parsons the Ballet du Rhin, Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal, Carte Blanche Dance Company of Norway, Ballet National de Nancy, Pennsylvania Ballet, New York City Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet and Roland Petit Ballet National de Marseille, and is a recipient of a 1998 New York Dance and Performance Bessie. He is a founding member of Mark Dendy Dance & Performance and has worked with Diane Martell, Pearl Lang, Ruby Shang, Douglas Wright, Uris/Barr and Dancers, Robin Becker and Pooh Kaye’s Excentric Motions.
Julio Monge appeared on Broadway in Jerome Robbins' Broadway (original cast), Lincoln Center's Twelfth Night (starring Helen Hunt), Fosse (available on DVD), Man of La Mancha, Paul Simon's The Capeman (starring Ruben Blades, Marc Anthony, and Ednita Nazario), and Chronicle of a Death Foretold (directed by Graciela Daniele). Other NY credits include Pericles, Henry VIII, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, and Anthony and Cleopatra (directed by and starring Vanessa Redgrave), The Public Theater. Television: Law and Order, 100 Center Street, and Mad About You. Films: Moving Mike, which made its debut this fall at the Williamstown Film Festival.
The performance schedule of Aurélia’s Oratorio is as follows:
November 28, 29, December 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20, 26, 27, January 2, 3 at 8:00pm; November 30, December 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 30, 31 January 1 at 7:30pm; November 30, December 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, 28, 31 at 2:00pm. Special performances for Out at A.R.T. for the GLBT community will take place on Friday, December 5 and Under 35 Night on Thursday, December 4. The bar will remain open following both performances on these dates.
Single ticket prices range from $25-$79, with a $10 discount for seniors. Student discounts include the $60 Student Pass for 5 performances (at $12 a seat); single tickets at $25 advance purchase, and $15 day of performance. Other discounts include 50 @ 15 at noon ($15 tickets on sale at noon on the day of performance; in person only, based on availability) and Pay What You Can (50 tickets available for every Saturday matinee performance of the season at the Loeb Drama Center for patrons to purchase at whatever amount they can afford (based on availability). Group rates, with extra savings for senior citizens and student groups are also available.
The balance of the A.R.T. 2008-09 Season includes The Seagull by Anton Chekhov, directed by János Szász (January 10 — February 1, Loeb Stage); Endgame by Samuel Beckett, directed by Marcus Stern (February 14 — March 15, Loeb Stage); the world premiere of Trojan Barbie by Christine Evans, directed by Carmel O’Reilly (March 28 — April 22, Zero Arrow Theatre); and Romance by David Mamet, directed by Scott Zigler (May 9 - 31, Loeb Stage).
The A.R.T. is offering various plans for the season — including choose-your-own and flex plans — with a host of benefits, including free Zipcar membership; free tickets to A.R.T. Institute productions; discounts on parking, on books at the Harvard Coop, fine dining, and tickets to other theatres; a child-care series (Saturday matinee), and pre-performance and post-performance discussion series (Saturday matinees).
To learn more about this production and the A.R.T.’s upcoming season, log onto the A.R.T. website at www.amrep.org or call the A.R.T. InfoLine at (617) 547-8300. The InfoLine is also available 24 hours a day to provide directions to the theatre; to order brochures, calendars, and newsletters; and to allow direct access to the A.R.T. Box Office (hours are noon to curtain time on performance days, noon to 5 pm on non-performance days, closed on Mondays).
The AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATRE (A.R.T.) is one of the country’s most celebrated resident theatres and the winner of numerous awards — including the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize, and locally numerous Elliot Norton and I.R.N.E. Awards; it was recently named one of the top three theatres in the country by Time magazine. Over its twenty-eight-year history the A.R.T. has welcomed major American and international theatre artists whose singular visions generate and define the theatre’s work, presenting a varied repertoire that includes new plays, progressive productions of classical texts, and collaborations between artists from many disciplines. The Company has performed throughout the country, and worldwide in twenty-one cities in sixteen countries on four continents. This fall the organization welcomes its new Artistic Director, Diane Paulus, who begins plans for its 2009-10 Season, the Company’s 30th in Cambridge.
The A.R.T., located at the Loeb Drama Center at 64 Brattle Street, and at the Zero Arrow Theatre at the corner of Arrow Street and Massachusetts Avenue, Harvard Square, Cambridge, are accessible to persons with special needs and to those requiring wheelchair seating or first-floor restrooms. Deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons can also reach the Theatre by calling the toll-free N.E. Telephone Relay Center at 1-800-439-2370.
Public transportation and discount parking are available nearby.
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