WAM THEATRE 10th ANNIVERSARY GALA FEATURES INAUGURAL COLLABORATION BETWEEN TEEN & ELDER ENSEMBLES
Midsummer Cocktail Gala Heads to New Location for 10th Anniversary Season
LENOX, MA (June 4, 2019) – The popular Stationery Factory in Dalton, MA, will welcome WAM Theatre’s 10th Anniversary Gala on Wednesday, July 24, at 5:30pm.
“All of us at WAM are so excited to celebrate our first ten years with this anniversary gala! We look forward to spending time with the WAMily toasting our first decade and looking forward into the next decade. ” enthused Kristen van Ginhoven, Co-Founder and Producing Artistic Director of WAM Theatre.
The evening’s guests will be the first to learn about the beneficiary for WAM’s fall Mainstage production of PIPELINE by Dominque Morisseau, directed by Dawn M. Simmons, and produced in partnership with BRIDGE, and will get an exclusive premiere performance of the 2019 inter-generational collaboration between WAM’s Teen Ensemble and their new Elder Ensemble.
This is WAM’s fifth Teen Ensemble cohort – with many performers returning for their second or third time – and they will be joined by the new eleven member Elder Ensemble. Comprised of performers from all around the Berkshires, this inter-generational cohort will be devoting three intensive weeks to creating a brand new performance on the theme of dreams and dreaming.
“We are thrilled to welcome back the WAM Theatre Teen Ensemble and to introduce the cohort of extraordinary women who make up WAM’s brand new Elder Ensemble,” said Talya Kingston, WAM’s Associate Artistic Director. “Since WAM began as a dream for a new way to integrate theatre and activism, we thought it was apt to center our ensemble performance this year on the act of dreaming. We can’t wait to share this new work with our gala audience. Come and dream with us!”
For the second year, Berkshire favorite Ty Allan Jackson is the host for the evening. Jackson is a children’s book author, publisher, literacy advocate, and three-time TEDx speaker who travels across the country inspiring children of all ages to dream big and teaches the joy and power of reading through his own publications and his two literacy programs, Read or Else and the Danny Dollar Academy.
The WAM gala will again be coordinated by Only In My Dreams Events, with hearty hors d’oeuvres catered by The Marketplace, and everyone’s favorite cider donuts brought over especially for the WAM gala from Hilltop Orchards.
For the first time the Gala will be held at The Stationery Factory on Flansburg Avenue in Dalton, MA, a former Crane & Co. factory containing several businesses that serve the local community, along with an innovative event space, an art gallery, and a music venue.
The evening will culminate in a Raise the Paddle event to raise funds for WAM’s 10th anniversary season of productions and education programs. With a mission to use theatre as philanthropy, WAM Theatre has provided paid work to more than 200 theatre artists and donated more than $65,700 to 17 local and global organizations taking action for women and girls in areas such as girls education, teen pregnancy prevention, sexual trafficking awareness, midwife training and more.
Tickets start at a reasonable $75 Ally level. For those who are able, attendees can also support WAM’s work at $150 Advocate or $250 Activist level tickets as well. All funds go directly to WAM’s 10th anniversary season of productions and education programs. Please join us on July 24!
https://www.wamtheatre.com/wam-gala-2019/
AT A GLANCE
JULY 24
WAM Theatre’s 10th Anniversary Gala
Wednesday, July 24 at 5:30pm
at The Stationery Factory
63 Flansburg Avenue, Dalton, MA 01226
Tickets:
$75 Ally
$150 Advocate
$250 Activist
http://www.wamtheatre.com/wam-gala-2019/
ABOUT GALA HOST, TY ALLAN JACKSON
Ty Allan Jackson is a children’s book author, publisher, literacy advocate and three-time TEDx speaker. Ty travels across the country empowering children of all ages about the joy and power of reading. His books have been used by companies such as Google, The YMCA, The Boys and Girls Club, The United Way as well as numerous financial institutions and countless schools across the country inspiring children to dream big. He is also the co-founder of the Read Or Else movement, created to shine a light on the problem of illiteracy and to provide books to children in homeless shelters across America. And along with an economics professor from Northern Kentucky University he has also founded Danny Dollar Academy. A program created to educate elementary school students from low-income communities about the importance of finance and entrepreneurship through his best-selling book Danny Dollar Millionaire Extraordinaire. You can learn more about Ty and his mission to make the world more literate at BigHeadBooks.com and ReadOrElse.com
ABOUT THE STATIONERY FACTORY
The Stationery Factory on Flansburg Avenue in Dalton, MA, is a former Crane & Co. factory containing several businesses that serve the local community, along with rentable event space, an art gallery, and a music venue. The building is currently being developed by a partnership established with the vision of developing this iconic place into a thriving marketplace and small business location that will compliment existing local offerings in the central Berkshires and enhance the community of Dalton.
https://stationery-factory.com/
WAM 10th Anniversary Sponsors
WAM’s 2019 sponsors include Adams Community Bank, Annie Selke, Baystate Financial, Berkshire Gas, Berkshire Hand to Shoulder Center, Berkshire Magazine, Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing, Blue Q, Blue Spark Financial, Brabson Library & Educational Foundation, Canyon Ranch, Chez Nous, Custom Business Solutions, Dr, Jay Wise, DDS and Dr. Casey Jones, DMD, The Dylandale Foundation, Frankie’s Ristorante Italiano, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Guido’s Fresh Marketplace, Haven Cafe and Bakery, Health Professional Coaching, Heller & Robbins, Interprint, J.H. Maxymillian, Inc., Lee Bank, Maggie Barry, New England Public Radio (NEPR), Massachusetts Cultural Council, Only in My Dreams Events, Onyx Specialty Papers, OUTPOST, RB Design Co., The Rogovoy Report, The Rookwood Inn, Salisbury Bank, T Square Design Studio, Toole Insurance, and a. von schlegell & co.
WAM Theatre is also supported in part by grants from the Alford-Egremont Cultural Council, Cultural Council of Northern Berkshires, Hinsdale-Peru Cultural Council, Lenox Cultural Council, New Marlborough Cultural Council, Otis Cultural Council, Richmond Cultural Council, Sandisfield Cultural Council, Sheffield Cultural Council, Washington Cultural Council, West Stockbridge Cultural Council– local agencies that are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
LADY RANDY was sponsored in part by an anonymous donor and PIPELINE is sponsored in part by Carolyn Butler.
ABOUT WAM THEATRE
Based in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, WAM Theatre is celebrating its 10th anniversary of being a place Where Arts and Activism Meet. The company was co-founded in 2010 by Canadian director, actor, educator, and producer Kristen van Ginhoven. WAM’s vision is to create opportunity for women and girls through the mission of theatre as philanthropy.
Inspired by the book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, WAM donates a portion of the proceeds from its theatrical events to organizations that benefit women and girls.
Since 2010, WAM Theatre has provided paid work to more than 200 theatre artists and donated more than $65,700 to 17 local and global organizations taking action for women and girls in areas such as girls education, teen pregnancy prevention, sexual trafficking awareness, midwife training and more. In addition to the main stage productions and special events, WAM Theatre’s activities include a comprehensive educational outreach program and the Fresh Takes Play Reading Series. For more information, visit www.WAMTheatre.com