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History
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Mohonk Mountain Stage Company was founded in 1994 by Robert
Miller to bring unique and exciting theatrical presentations
to New York's Hudson Valley. Mohonk Mountain Stage Company
(MMSC) consists of three branches: The Readers Theatre Group
(RTG) and The Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) and MMSC Publications.
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The Theatre for Young Audiences Company
performed plays for grades pre-K through 3 in a unique participation
format. The troupe was dedicated to creating exciting productions
which amazed and entertained young people, their teachers
and families. Productions strove to appeal to the creative
imaginations of children and to speak to their very special
needs.
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The TYA Company toured in schools and theaters
in seven states throughout the Midwest and along the East
Coast as well as performing in residencies at the Brooklyn
Academy of Music in New York and the Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts in Washington D.C. The company was invited
to return to the Kennedy Center for three consecutive years
with its productions of Jungle Book, Frog
Prince and Brave Little Tailor.
Although the TYA Company still performs readings for young
and family audiences, the touring component was discontinued
in 1998.
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The Readers Theatre Group performs actively
from the works of playwrights, authors, and poets. Fifty plays,
including many Hudson Valley premieres and over 250 literary
evenings have been presented at venues in New Paltz, Woodstock,
Poughkeepsie, Rosendale and Rhinebeck. Literary evenings
include readings from the works of Whitman, Joyce, Bishop,
Thurber, Twain, Parker and Updike among others.
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MMSC's production of Taking Sides was named
"Drama of the Year" in 1997 by the Times Herald
Record , and Picasso at the Lapin Agile
was runner up for the Taconic News "Best Production"
of 1998. More recent productions include a five-play Celebration
of A.R. Gurney and Hudson Valley premieres of Collected
Stories, Art, Left,
Holy Days, Mother Hicks,
Dinner With Friends, The Laramie
Project, Copenhagen, The
Waverly Gallery and The Guys . In
2003 The Kingston Freeman called MMSC the "best
repertory company in the Valley, with or without sets."
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Special Note on Readers Theatre: Readers
Theatre is a performance format for actors and audiences whose
passions for theatre and literature intersect. It accommodates
all forms of literature and celebrates the finest that has
been written. It is a performance style where the word, and
all concomitant ideas, purpose, and realizations, become the
focus.
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As a theatre company dedicated to celebrating the written
word, Mohonk Mountain Stage Company recognizes its responsibility
not only to revel in the work of gifted authors past and present,
but to contribute to the development of a body of literature
yet to be written. Hence, MMSC Publications
produces Prologue, a monthly informative newsletter
(in both print and electronic form), and Vanguard Voices
of the Hudson Valley, a semi-annual literary journal
which focuses on the development of new plays and a regional
poetry competition. |
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