Glades Stories To Become Musical Theater

MOORE HAVEN, FL. -- The Core Ensemble (cello, piano, and percussion) has received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Florida Humanities Council to create a new music theatre piece, A Harvest of Glades Voices. The Lake Worth-based ensemble, a nationally-touring "chamber music theatre" company will collaborate with Dallas, Texas-based actor and playwright Akin Babatunde, to collect stories from Glades County residents. The stories will be woven into a one-man play with music. For the past several years, the Core Ensemble has performed educational programs for students at West Glades School and Moore Haven Jr.-Sr. High School.

Florida History scholar Andrew Frank of Florida Atlantic University will oversee the collecting of stories from interviews. Babatunde will shape them into a theatrical work with the Core Ensemble�s members, cellist Tahirah Wittington, pianist Hugh Hinton and percussionist Michael Parola. The actor is looking for stories from a wide range of Glades County residents, and is hoping to cull histories from people of all lifestyles and backgrounds as well as tales from those who remember the city�s original pioneers. Performances will be held in August, 2007.

The Core Ensemble has produced nine music theatre works and has toured for the past ten years to every region of the United States. International touring has brought the ensemble to venues in Australia, Russia, Ukraine, the Caribbean and England. The Core Ensemble is the recipient of many grants, awards and prizes, including the Eugene McDermott Award for Excellence awarded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Glades County residents who have stories to share about their lives, their heritages, or the history of the community are encouraged to participate in the upcoming story gathering phase of A Harvest of Glades Voices. For more information, call Core Ensemble Managing Director Margot Emery, 561-582-0603, or email, margot@core-ensemble.cc.