Vagina Monologues opens Edwards & Angell Off-Broadway Series
Contact: Amanda Savio (860) 987-6068; e-mail: amanda_savio@bushnell.org
MAY 18, 2002 Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues, the celebrated and provocative play that has become a phenomenon worldwide, will come to The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts' Belding Theater July 9-14, 2002. The show stars Glynis Bell, Rhonda Ross and a third performer to be announced. Tickets are $40.00-$45.00 and are available at The Bushnell Box Office, located at 166 Capitol Avenue in Hartford or by calling (860) 987-5900. Tickets are also available online at www.bushnell.org. Groups of 10 or more may contact (860) 987-5959.
In The Vagina Monologues, Eve Ensler has given voice to a chorus of lusty, outrageous, poignant, brave, highly original and thoroughly human stories. Based on over 200 interviews with a diverse group of women, the play explores the humor, power, pain, wisdom, outrage, mystery and excitement hidden in vaginas. Having seen The Vagina Monologues, no one - woman or man - will look at the world the same way again.
The Vagina Monologues has grown from an Off-Broadway hit into an international phenomenon and has been performed in over 40 countries along with two North America touring companies, currently booked in over 140 cities in the US & Canada, and has been translated into over 35 different languages. Here in the U.S., the play has entered the popular consciousness and has been referenced on several hit television programs, including "Will & Grace," "Ally McBeal," "Sex and the City," "Dharma and Greg," "Saturday Night Live," and "Everybody Loves Raymond." It also has been a hot topic on national talk shows including "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and "The View" and featured in top media outlets including CNN, The New York Times, Newsweek, Time, The Washington Post, Marie Clarie, People, Entertainment Weekly, and O-Magazine among others. During appearances to promote her engagement in the Off-Broadway production, Calista Flockhart tried unsuccessfully to get David Letterman to say the word "vagina," but did join with Kathie Lee Gifford in getting the studio audience of "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee" to chant the word. The Vagina Monologues raises millions of dollars to stop violence against women and girls. In 1998 as an out growth of the success of the show, V-Day was born. V-Day is a non-profit organization that funds grassroots groups working to stop violence against women and girls and helping those who are survivors of violence. The text of The Vagina Monologues is the centerpiece of V-Day benefit performances.
EVE ENSLER (Playwright) is an award-winning playwright, activist and screenwriter. Her many works for the stage include The Depot, Floating Rhoda and the Glue Man, Extraordinary Measures, Ladies, Scooncat and Lemonade. Her play Necessary Targets has had benefit performances on Broadway, at the National Theatre in Sarajevo and at the Kennedy Center, and recently was presented at Hartford Stage Company prior to an Off-Broadway production. Her play Conviction was commissioned by Music-Theatre Group and was first performed at the Berkshire Theatre Festival. The Vagina Monologues won a 1997 OBIE Award and was nominated for Drama Desk and Helen Hayes awards. The world tour of The Vagina Monologues initiated V-Day, a global movement to stop violence against women. Ms. Ensler's best-selling book of The Vagina Monologues was published by Villard Books. Necessary Targets and her new book, The Good Body, will be published by Random House. The 1999 recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship in Playwriting, Ms. Ensler filmed her performance of The Vagina Monologues for HBO.
About The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts The Bushnell is Connecticut's premier performing arts center, hosting more than 450 events yearly, including major Broadway tours, symphony orchestras, family presentations, local arts and community events. In November 2001, The Bushnell completed a $45 million expansion project that added a second, 907-seat theater to the existing historic structure. The new, state-of-the-art performance hall allows for expanded arts, entertainment and community offerings. The Bushnell's nationally-recognized arts-in-education program, PARTNERS (Partners in Arts and Education Revitalizing Schools), is a cross-community educational effort serving 40 schools in 17 districts throughout the Greater Hartford area. The Bushnell opened in January 1930 and is a non-profit organization. For more information, call The Bushnell at (860) 987-6000, The Bushnell Box Office at (860) 987-5900 or visit our website at www.bushnell.org.