FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE…March 10, 2003 

Ninth Adirondack Theatre Festival
to feature east-coast premiere of hilarious musical BINGO!
to be performed in Glens Falls “bingo-friendly” location TBA

Festival to feature at least four different venues from one end of Warren County to the other while Woolworth Building is under construction; solo performance IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING by renowned mime artist Bill Bowers to debut in Glens Falls and North Creek

The ninth Adirondack Theatre Festival will run June 18 – July 27 featuring four shows in five different venues while the Woolworth Building in Glens Falls is under construction as a future home for ATF and other area arts organizations.  Two shows are currently set: musical BINGO! at Glens Falls location TBA

July 3 - 13 and solo performance IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING which will be the first professional Equity performance at the one-year-old Tannery Pond Community Center in North Creek July 9 – 11.

“This season is a juggling act beyond anything we’ve ever done” says ATF Artistic Director Martha Banta, “and we’ve been juggling now for nine years!  The challenges of lining up four shows with four spaces are hard enough – then throw in artist availability, whether or not a space has air-conditioning, and an uncertain funding climate, and you’ve got our biggest challenge yet. But if we can pull off everything we’re planning I’m confident our audience is in for a great  ride around Warren County this summer”. 

BINGO! is a comic musical by Michael Heitzman, David Holcenberg, and Ilene Reid about a group of bingo-mad women who pursue the game with passion, humor, and great songs.  It has previously been presented at the Hermosa Beach Playhouse in Los Angeles and the Ordway Music Center in St. Paul, MN.  ATF will present the east coast premiere.  “The composer David Holcenberg is the conductor of MAMMA MIA on Broadway, and when he told me about the show last fall I immediately thought of our pending space issues with the Woolworths under construction. Then after I read the musical, I was thrilled at how smart & funny the writing was, thereby making it a perfect fit for ATF” says Banta.  “BINGO! will do for that game what GUYS ON ICE did for ice-fishing last summer.  We are talking with two downtown locations where BINGO! the show and bingo the game would both feel right at home.  We want the audience to be able to pick up a card and join in!”

Banta is also announcing IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING, a world-premiere solo performance by Bill Bowers, an actor who has appeared in the Broadway productions of THE LION KING and THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL as well as two ATF fundraisers.  This show was presented as a work-in-progress last summer at ATF, and audience members who attended the New Stuff at Night performance were enthusiastic.  “Once again the eighty people who came out for a reading at ATF were a big factor in taking this show to the next step” says Banta.  “Last summer most of the presentation was Bill telling stories from his childhood and his career as a mime and actor, and the audience was insistent that we bring him back.   The show is hilarious and touching as it explores the unique role that silence has played in his life, and what that means in our society.”  MY LIFE IN TIGHTS will be performed June 26-28 at The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls.  Banta and Bowers will then take a week to continue developing the play, and perform the show again July 9-11 in North Creek.

“These shows and spaces are hopefully just the beginning of an exciting season” says ATF Producing Director David Turner.  “Besides BINGO! and IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING we’re also planning a contemporary drama which will open the season at a third Glens Falls location for which an occupancy permit is pending, and a world premiere play to close the season at an outdoor location.  We don’t have the performing rights for either of these plays or final permission for the locations, so it would be premature to announce them at this time.  It’s also a tough economic time for us to be planning such an ambitious season, so we’re waiting as long as possible to make sure our donors from past seasons will be back with us.  Our Board Meeting in late March will really decide if we can make all this work.”

Remaining ATF productions, performances, and locations will be announced in mid-April when discount season subscriptions go on sale.

The Adirondack Theatre Festival’s ninth season will run June 18– July 27, with performances throughout the Glens Falls/Lake George region.  Discount season subscriptions will go on sale in mid-April.  To join the Festival’s mailing list and be among the first to receive  a season brochure call 798-7479 or go to www.ATFestival.org.

ATTENTION MEMBERS OF THE PRESS!

High-quality digital photographs from ATF productions can be downloaded directly from our website throughout the season!

Photos of a previous production of BINGO, Bill Bowers, and the Tannery Pond Community Center in North Creek are currently posted on our press page.