Explore Japanese Culture at GCC

"Tales" Bring Unique Stories to Stage

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On stage photograph of “Tales of Japan”

BATAVIA, NY (04/09/2014)(readMedia)-- Genesee Community College Forum Players Children's Theatre ensemble is pleased to present "Tales from Japan," a unique collection of traditional Japanese stories written by Patricia Montley and produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc. Performances are at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, April 25 - 26, 2014 with a Sunday Matinee on April 27, 2014 at 2 p.m. in the Stuart Steiner Theatre at GCC's Batavia Campus.

In addition to the performances at GCC's Batavia Campus, the following community performances are scheduled.

• Thursday, May 1, 10 a.m., Springville Center for the Arts, 37 N. Buffalo St, Springville

• Saturday, May 3, 2 p.m. at Wyoming Village Hall, Academy St. (Route 19), Wyoming

• Saturday, May 3, 7 p.m. at GCC's Dansville Campus Center, 31 Clara Barton St., Dansville

• Sunday, May 4, 2 p.m. at Theatre 101 located at 110 Main St., Mt. Morris

The traditional tales presented in the show bring to life subtle and surprising aspects of Japanese culture. Treasure is discovered in unexpected places, beauty is found in all aspects of nature and even the most unassuming characters are heroes. The exciting stories feature a variety of interesting characters from an old woman using her wisdom and wit to save a kingdom from tyranny to a young girl fighting a horrific undersea dragon and a peach boy defeating the village monster.

"These tales speak to all ages. Because they are folkloric, they speak meaningfully to the spectrum of emotions and human experience," said director Norm Gayford, English professor at GCC.

Special performances of "Tales from Japan" are also scheduled for students from area schools. Batavia, LeRoy, Geneseo, Alexander, Perry and Pavilion, and also homeschool students are being bussed or transported to GCC's Stuart Steiner Theatre in Batavia on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, April 23 - 25, 2014 for two shows, 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. each day. While most of these school group performances are sold out, there are still plenty of seats available at the public performances listed above.

"Our children's theatre program has always been very well received, and this year is no exception" said Maryanne Arena, director of Fine and Performing Arts at GCC. "Last year we performed for more than 2,000 people at our theatre and on location. We reach dynamically into the GLOW area with performances in Wyoming, Mt. Morris, Dansville and Springville.

The cast of "Tales from Japan" includes: William Rupp of Batavia, Kayli Wilson of Canastota, Amber Lively of Barker, Christian Hoffman of Hilton, Kathleen Kwasniewski of Alexander, Tony Heard of Fillmore, Ryan McKenrick of Rochester, Brianna Jones of Batavia, David Wysocki of Hamburg, Courtney Amesbury of Bergen, Jerry Jordan of the Bronx, Cameron Pollard of Mount Vernon, Sania Hyatt of NYC, Kaori Shinchi of Japan, GCC paralegal instructor Karyn Bryson and Jordan Griffiths of Milford who is also serving as stage manager for the show. Ali Scharvella of Copake Lake, NY is assistant stage manager. William Rupp has served as Tai Chi and Katana trainer as well as mask maker, and Kaori Shinchi as language consultant.

Tickets for the show at the Batavia Campus in the Stuart Steiner Theatre are $8. GCC students with ID and children pay $3. Seniors and GCC faculty/staff are $5. GCC alumni receive $2 off with ID. Contact the Box Office for more information at (585) 345-6814 or boxoffice@genesee.edu.

For more information, visit http://www.genesee.edu/campuslife/arts/calendar.cfm.

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Editor's Note:

For on stage photographs of "Tales of Japan" please go to:

http://marketing.genesee.edu/images/talesofjapan1.jpg

http://marketing.genesee.edu/images/talesofjapan2.jpg

In addition, please note a photo opportunity with "Tales from Japan" cast in costume is scheduled in the Stuart Steiner Theatre on the GCC Batavia campus on Wednesday, April 16, 2014 at 6 p.m.