FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE…April 21, 2003
Contact David Turner 518-798-7479
For Time Warner Cable  Peter Taubkin 518-242-8839

Ninth Adirondack Theatre Festival to present
four shows in five different venues while new theater is under construction in Glens Falls!

World premiere play THE LAKE’S END to be performed outdoors overlooking Lake George.

East Coast premiere of hilarious musical BINGO to be presented in a Glens Falls church Parish House. 

Regional premiere of THE UNEXPECTED MAN by Yazmina Reza (author of ART and LIFE x 3) to be performed in Glens Falls warehouse. 

World premiere solo performance IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING being presented in Glens Falls and North Creek.

ATF welcomes Capital District office of Time Warner Cable as major media sponsor of Festival 

The Adirondack Theatre Festival’s ninth season will run June 18 – July 27, presenting four shows in five different venues throughout the Glens Falls/Lake George region.  ATF is also pleased to welcome Time Warner Cable as a media sponsor for the 2003 Festival.

“This season represents a great way to show off the Festival’s versatility as we present new and contemporary theater throughout our entire region” says Artistic Director Martha Banta.  “From an R.V. Park in Lake George to a vacant Woolworth in Glens Falls, we’ve built our reputation using unconventional spaces.  As a new theater for us begins construction in Glens Falls, this summer will celebrate the many environments in which live theater can provide unique and essential representations of the world: from a romantic drama set on the shores of Lake Como, Italy overlooking our own Lake George, to a musical comedy about a group of Bingo-mad women set in a church parish House in Glens Falls, as well as a new solo performance and a regional premiere of a play by the author of ART.” 

First up will be ATF’s first performance outdoors in it’s nine year history: the world premiere of THE LAKE’S END, a play by Anton Dudley which will be directed by ATF Artistic Director Martha Banta and run June 18 - 28.  The play is set in pre-WWII Italy as a group of expatriate English try and navigate romance, beauty and passion as fascist clouds descend on Europe.  Anton Dudley is a playwright fellow at Manhattan Theater Club in New York City and is currently represented Off-Broadway by his play SLAG HEAP at the Cherry Lane Theater.  ATF will present THE LAKE’S ATF END outdoors at the Lake George Recreation  Center, with a dramatic view of Lake George as a backdrop.  A  special weather-related ticket policy will be in effect for all performances of THE LAKE’S END which will allow patrons to re-schedule or receive a voucher good for future ATF performances if a performance is cancelled due to weather. 

While THE LAKE’S END is running in Lake George, ATF will present the first of two engagements of IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING, a world premiere solo performance by mime artist Bill Bowers who has appeared on Broadway in THE LION KING.  Presented as a reading last summer at ATF with the title MY LIFE IN TIGHTS, this funny and touching solo show tells Bowers’ story of coming from a small town in Montana to be a professional mime in New York City, and the unique role which he has found silence to play in life.  IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING will be directed by Martha Banta and will play at the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls June 26-28, as well as an engagement at the Tannery Pond Community Center in North Creek, NY July 9-11.  This will be the first professional Actors Equity Association performance at this new theater which opened last summer in North Creek.

In addition to his performance in IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING, ATF is pleased to be providing two Children’s Workshops lead by Bill Bowers for area kids age 8 and up: Saturday June 28 1-3pm at the Hyde Collection, and Saturday, July 12 10am-12pm in North Creek.  For more information on Bill Bowers and his extensive credits working with children see www.bill-bowers.com.

ATF’e third show will be the East Coast premiere of BINGO, a musical comedy by Michael Heitzman, Ilene Reid, and David Holcenberg which runs July 2 - 13.  This hilarious show reveals the dreams, obsessions, and rivalries of a group of bingo-crazed women and the one man who tries to keep the game under control.  BINGO will be directed by Glenn Casale, whose directing credits include PETER PAN starring Cathy Rigby on Broadway and on tour.  ATF will be taking over the Parish House at The Church of the Messiah on Glen Street in Glens Falls for this environmental production where the audience might even get to play a card!

ATF’s final offering will be the first production in our region of THE UNEXPECTED MAN, a play by Yazmina Reza, the Tony Award-winning author of ART (ATF 2001) and LIFE X 3 which is currently playing on Broadway.  THE UNEXPECTED MAN will run July 17 –27 in a converted warehouse owned by Adirondack Scenic, Inc. at 20 Elm St. in Glens Falls.  This play takes two strangers on a train, one a famous author and one a devoted fan who, and makes a train trip from Paris to Frankfurt into an adventure of the mind with “elegance and wit” according to the New York Times.

ATF is pleased to welcome Time Warner Cable as a new media sponsor of the Festival for its 2003 season.  “ATF has built a reputation for being on the cutting edge of drama” says ATF Producing Director David Turner, “and we are pleased to be supported by Time Warner Cable which provides the cutting edge in Broadband technology to our region.” "We're excited about the opportunity to link our history of commitment to the Arts with the ATF," said Peter Taubkin, Vice President for Time Warner Cable's Albany Division.  "The diversity of performances offered during the course of the festival is a tribute to all involved and something that all audiences should look forward to experiencing and enjoying this summer."

Time Warner Cable's Albany Division operates one of the most sophisticated cable systems in the nation and is home to New York's first two-way digital network. The system provides high-speed online access for residential customers, schools and businesses; digital cable with 240 cable ATF channels, including on-demand services, interactive programming guides, 24-hour local news and popular, award-winning, locally-produced programming. The division serves more than 320,000 customers in and around Albany, Troy, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Glens Falls, Schenectady, Amsterdam and Gloversville/Johnstown, NY, and Pittsfield and Athol, MA. Time Warner Cable owns and manages the most technologically advanced, best-clustered cable television operations in 27 states with more than 90 percent of its 10.9 million customers in systems of 100,000 subscribers or more.  It is a division of AOL Time Warner Inc. To learn more about Time Warner Cable’s services or community involvement, please visit us on the web at www.twalbany.com.

The Adirondack Theatre Festival’s ninth season will run June 18– July 27, at venues throughout the Glens Falls/Lake George region.  Discount season subscriptions are now on sale for $51 for three shows and $64 for the entire season and can be ordered by calling 798-7479, mailing checks to ATF, PO Box 3203, Glens Falls, NY 12801, or going 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, the Tannery Pond Community Center,  and the Lake George Rec Center are now available at our press page.