12th ANNUAL EUGENE O’NEILL CELEBRATION
Friday, September 30th, and Saturday October 1, 2011
Waterford, CT—The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center will host its 12th Annual Eugene O’Neill Celebration on Friday, September 30th and Saturday, October 1st. The O’Neill Celebration commemorates the work of America’s only Nobel Prize winning playwright and one-time resident of New London, Eugene O’Neill. This year’s program, O’Neill in Adaptation will feature free tours of the Monte Cristo Cottage, a dance adaptation of The Emperor Jones performed by the Jose Limón Dance Company, performances of songs from musicals adapted from O’Neill’s works, a panel of experts discussing the challenges of adapting O’Neill’s works to other mediums, and an outdoor screening of the film Long Day’s Journey Into Night starring Katherine Hepburn.
New exhibits will also be on display at the Monte Cristo Cottage during the duration of the Celebration. Exciting memorabilia from the private collection of Kathy and Carlos Heiligmann will be shown, including a rare, original lobby cards from movie adaptations of O’Neill’s works. New additions to the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s collection will also be on display.
Events will be held at the Monte Cristo Cottage, summer boyhood home of Eugene O’Neill, Connecticut College--Palmer Auditorium, and the Hygienic Art Park in downtown New London.
The O’Neill Celebration has been made possible through a generous gift from The Frank Loomis Palmer Fund.
Schedule of Events
Friday, September 30th:
8:00 p.m. Jose Limón Dance Company performing The Emperor Jones, La Cathedrale Engloutie, Chaconne and There is a Time--Palmer Auditorium on the Connecticut College Campus. Tickets can be purchased by calling 860.439.2787 or online at www.onstage.conncoll.edu
Saturday, October 1:
10:00 a.m Songs from O’Neill. Broadway singers and actors entertain with exciting selections from musical adaptations of Eugene O’Neill classics.—Monte Cristo Cottage, Free Event
10:45 a.m. “O’Neill in Adaptation.” Panel Discussion featuring Zander Brietzke (Columbia University), Paulette Haupt (Artistic Director, the O’Neill’s National Music Theater Conference), and Carla Maxwell (Artistic Director, Limón Dance Company) moderated by Rob Richter.—Monte Cristo Cottage, Free Event
12:00 p.m. Keynote Address. Remarks from Jeanine Tesori on her collaboration with Tony Kushner on their new opera A Blizzard at Marblehead Neck.
1:00 p.m. Tours of the Monte Cristo Cottage. Free tours of the Monte Cristo Cottage featuring new memorabilia including original movie cards of O’Neill adapted work.—Monte Cristo Cottage, Free Event
7:00 p.m. Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Outdoor screening of the iconic film set in New London. Starring Katharine Hepburn, Jeanne Barr, Jason Robards, Ralph Richardson, and Dean Stockwell.—Hygienic Art Park, Free Event
To register for the event, please call Jillian Baker at 860.443.5378 ext. 211 or email development@theoneill.org by Monday, September 26th. All events at the Monte Cristo Cottage and Hygienic Art Park are free and open to the public. Tickets for the Jose Limón Dance Company may be purchased by calling 860.439.2787 or visiting www.onstage.conncoll.edu.
The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, founded in 1964 in honor of Eugene O’Neill, four-time Pulitzer Prize Winner and America’s only playwright to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, is the recipient of two Tony Awards, in 2010 for Regional Theatre, and in 1979 for Theatrical Excellence.
The O’Neill is the country’s preeminent organization dedicated to the development of new works and new voices for the American theater. It has been home to more than 1,000 new works for the stage and to more than 2,500 emerging artists. Scores of projects developed at the O’Neill have gone on to full production at other theaters around the world, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, and major regional theaters.
O’Neill programs include the National Playwrights Conference, National Music Theater Conference, National Critics Institute, National Puppetry Conference, Cabaret & Performance Conference, and National Theater Institute which conducts semester-long intensive theater training programs and Theatermakers, a six-week summer program; academic credits are awarded for all NTI programs.
In addition, the O’Neill owns and operates the Monte Cristo Cottage as a museum open to the public. Childhood summer home of Eugene O’Neill, the Cottage is a National Historic Landmark.
It addition to its Tony recognition, the O’Neill has received the National Opera Award, the Jujamcyn Award for Theatre Excellence, and the Arts and Business Council Encore Award. For more information, visit www.theoneill.org or email theaterlives@theoneill.org.