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News Releases 
"We really had an angel in our house and I forgot to make new curtains for the windows." -Elisenda, A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings 
For Immediate Release: August 2, 2002
Minneapolis, MN - The Children's Theatre Company's 2002/2003 season continues with the world premiere of A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, based on a tale for children by Gabriel Garcia Marquez with stage adaptation and lyrics by Nilo Cruz and music by Victor Zupanc. The production is directed by ten-time Tony® Award nominee Graciela Daniele, with set design by Chris Barreca, costume design by Toni-Leslie James, lighting design by Peggy Eisenhauer, music direction by Victor Zupanc and puppet design by Janie Geiser. A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings will run in repertory with A Year with Frog and Toad.
One night in a town that was forgotten in time, somewhere close to the Caribbean Sea, La Luna, the moon, descends through the sky to ride her blue bicycle through the streets. Her magnetism draws gypsies and hurricanes, clouds of miracles, and a very old man with enormous wings - a mysterious creature who falls from the sky. Although Fefe and Momo, the two children who find him, are at first afraid, when they look into his eyes, they know he means them no harm. He can't speak, yet they understand him. They believe he is an angel. Once discovered by other villagers, the old man becomes a symbol of what they want or need him to be - he is at once angel and freak, an answer to prayers and a money-making sideshow. The story explores the powerful faith and imagination of children, what a father will do to support his family, and the kind of magic that exists in every day reality.
"It is an enormous treat for us to be able to combine the talents of these extraordinary artists to create this world premiere," says Peter C. Brosius, CTC artistic director. "I have admired their individual accomplishments and have wanted to work with them. Each shines as a unique talent, but together, Nilo Cruz and Graciela Daniele will bring the beauty of Marquez's work, and the richness and power of Latino culture to the CTC stage."
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings was developed in CTC's new play lab, THRESHOLD and is Nilo Cruz' first play for young people. It is based on a fable for children by Nobel Prize Laureate Garbiel Garcia Marquez from a collection entitled Leaf Storm and Other Stories, published in 1955. Financial support for the development of A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings was provided in part by the Rockefeller Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
In an artist's statement, Cruz wrote, "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings is close to my heart. I am attracted to Master Marquez's work because of his use of lyrical images. Like Garcia Marquez, I make use of magic realism in my plays, although I call it realism that is magical. My characters usually leave their immediate reality through the imagination. The whole landscape of Mr. Marquez's work lends itself to grand and fantastic theater. He has a way of capturing both adult and young audiences with his whimsical and humorous imagination."
Award-winning author Gabriel García Márquez was born on March 6, 1928 in Aracataca, a town in Northern Colombia. He studied law for two years before changing direction and pursuing journalism. He has lived and worked all over the world writing for newspapers and magazines, and publishing serials, short stories, novels, and political essays. In 1975 Marquez helped to found the Colombian party "Firmes," and formed HABEAS, an organization dedicated to the assistance of political prisoners. In 1982 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Playwright Nilo Cruz's work has been produced at prestigious theaters across the U.S., including the Magic Theatre in San Francisco, the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, the New York Theatre Workshop, and The Public Theatre and New York Shakespeare Festival in New York. He has held residencies at The Royal Court Theatre and at The Public Theatre/New York Shakespeare Festival. He holds an MFA from Brown University. Born in Matanzas, Cuba, Mr. Cruz was raised in the U.S. and currently resides in New York. Victor Zupanc has been the Resident Music Director at CTC since 1989. His previous composing credits for CTC include Alice in Wonderland, Dragonwings, Pippi Longstocking, Whale, and Afternoon of the Elves. He has composed music for more than 170 plays at theaters all over the world. He has received two Hollywood Dramalogue Awards for Best Score, two Theater Critics Circle Awards, and two McKnight Composer Fellowships.
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings is directed and choreographed by Graciela Daniele, an award-winning director and choreographer who came to the United States from Argentina to study dance and landed work as a dancer on Broadway almost immediately. She was an assistant to legendary choreographer/directors Michael Bennett and Bob Fosse and performed in the original Broadway productions of Follies and Chicago. She has directed on Broadway, at Lincoln Center, the Public Theater and at regional theaters across the country and earned ten Tony® Award nominations and six Drama Desk nominations. In addition to numerous productions on Broadway, she choreographed three of Woody Allen's films, including Mighty Aphrodite and Everyone Says I Love You, for which she won the 1996 and 1997 Fosse Awards, respectively. She is the recipient of the 1998 Mr. Abbott Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Director/Choreographer.
Scenic designer Christopher Barreca has worked on Broadway, Off Broadway, at the Guthrie Theater, and the Minnesota Opera, among others. He received the American Theater Wing Award in 1996, the Drama-Logue Award, and an Arts in America Grant from NEA. Toni-Leslie James has designed costumes for many productions on Broadway and Off-Broadway, earning nominations for an American Theatre Wing Award, a Tony® and two Drama Desk Awards. She has also worked in Enland, and numerous regional theaters throughout America. Peggy Eisenhauer, has designed lights for the Lincoln Center Theater and the Broadway productions of Ragtime and Cabaret. She has worked on numerous benefit productions such as Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, The Children's Blood Foundation, and People for the American Way. Janie Geiser, shadow puppet designer is a filmmaker and experimental puppet theater artist whose work has been performed and screened internationally at the International Festival of Puppet Theater and locally at the Walker Art Center. CTC's resident sound supervisor Chris Heagle has created the soundscapes for productions at Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, Interlochen Center for the Performing Arts, Times Theatre Company, and Illinois Repertory Theatre.
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings is performed by a 24-member cast, which includes five guest artists, five CTC resident company members, four CTC performing apprentices, and 10 student actors. Julio Monge extensive Broadway credits includes roles in the original productions of Fosse (recently broadcast on PBS' Great Performance Series), Twelfth Night at Lincoln Center Theater, Paul Simon's The Capeman, Victor/Victoria, Jerome Robbins' Broadway, and Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Other New York credits include Antony and Cleopatra and Henry VIII at the New York Shakespeare Festival/Joseph Papp Theater. CTC Resident Company Member Gerald Drake will play Afar, the very old man with enormous wings. Drake has been with The Children's Theatre Company for 31 seasons, in more that 150 productions. In that time he has played just about everything, from the young King Arthur to the wicked stepmother in Cinderella. Nathan Barlow plays Momo, the boy who finds the angel. He was last seen on the CTC mainstage as Tommy in Pippi Longstocking. He has been in the Guthrie Theater's A Christmas Charol every year since 1999, as well as productions at SteppingStone Theatre and StageCoach Theatre Arts School. Sonja Parks plays Fefe, the girl who finds the angel with her brother. She has a B.F.A. from the University of Texas and has been in several productions at the Penumbra Theater and the Guthrie Theater, as well as Off-Broadway and guest appearances on television. Elesinda, the mother, is played by Austene VanWilliams Clark, who was most recently in Smokey Joe's Café at the Hey City Theater. Other local work includes many productions at Penumbra Theater, Mixed Blood Theatre, the Great American History Theater and the Guthrie Theater, as well as several regional theaters. Pelayo, the father, is played by Pedro R. Bayón, a native of Puerto Rico who has been seen in numerous productions at Teatro Latino de Minnesota, as well as the Great American History Theatre, the Frank Theatre, and Teatro del Pueblo.
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings previews September 3-5, opens September 6, and runs through October 19, 2002. Ticket prices are $9-22 for children, seniors, and students, and $15-28 for adults. Discounts are available for groups of 15 or more. For more information, call the CTC Ticket Office at 612-874-0400. The Children's Theatre Company is located at 2400 Third Avenue South in Minneapolis.
Photos will be available at www.ctcpix.org soon.
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