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FROGS LIZARDS ORBS & SLINKYS   IMAGO PRESS KIT

Sponsor Please Note: The press release and stories in this press kit are not intended to be used "as is", but should be typewritten double- spaced on plain paper or on your own letterhead, using one side of the page only, with appropriate local information inserted in the blank spaces as indicated. Be sure to indicate also when you would like the story used, e.g., "FOR RELEASE NOVEMBER 2" OR "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE." Do not feel you use these materials verbatim. Stories may be considered, expanded, combined or rewritten altogether, as you wish. Our objective is to furnish you with sufficient material and information on which you can build and with which you can conduct the most successful advance promotional campaign possible. We also include press reviews and stories upon which you may draw for material in creating press stories or advertising copy of your own. Our aim, as yours surely is, is to do all necessary to insure a full house for this attraction. GOOD LUCK! IMPORTANT REQUEST! WILL YOU PLEASE MAIL A COPY (ORIGINALS PLEASE) OF EACH PRE-PERFORMANCE STORY AND EACH REVIEW PUBLISHED IN LOCAL PAPERS ABOUT THE SHOW, AS WELL AS ANY ADVERTISEMENT IN LOCAL PRESS. INCLUDE A NOTE IF YOU WILL, DESCRIBING YOUR OWN REACTIONS TO THE PERFORMANCE. IMAGO PRESS EXCERPTS THE NEW YORK TIMES: " a madcap revue... Thanks to their masks and their mastery of dance, mime, and acrobatics, they became a multitude of curious critters...Their efforts left everyone, including this dancegoer, feeling giggly." SUNDAY MORNING POST: (Hong Kong) "...remarkable... innovative... impressive and funny..." THE STRAITS TIMES: (Singapore): "...amazingly evocative...with their masks, costumes and superbly subtle limbs...we wander willingly into their wild, weird and whimsical world...The curious thing about the visual tricks of IMAGO is that although your brain can see how they are done, your eyes think otherwise." SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: "...a kind of special smorgasbord of mask, mime, dance...the masks are quite wonderfully rendered...the performers are obviously well trained, especially in physical humor, and quite talented..." ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS: "Magic...and lots of laughter to go with it...whimsy and cleverness, originality and sentimentality...a comfortable often comical journey through life and fantasy...each piece was different, yet the masks and movements spoke a language with meaning for both child and adult." SEATTLE POST INTELLIGENCE: "The Theatre Mask Ensemble are special kinds of fools...if there is something that can be done with a mask that these performers fail to do, it's hardly worth considering...entrancing and clever." THE OREGONIAN: "Theatre Mask Ensemble gives humor a bright new face...next time (they are) playing within 50 miles, gather up the children and go." PRESS RELEASE #1 IMAGO BRINGING THE MAGIC OF MASK (Name of city) is proud to host IMAGO, the nationally known theatre mask ensemble. Combining mask, mime and movement, IMAGO has entertained audiences across the country with their unusual images and creative critters. Performances will be (dates and times) at (address of performances). Tickets are available at (location) and are (prices). For more information call (telephone number). The Portland, Oregon-based company uses the Jacque LeCoq method to create a stunning array of characters whose actions are always surprising! Up may be down, arms may be legs and masks are not just for the face. IMAGO also uses multimedia materials such as music and film to create an atmosphere that is fantastic yet still reflects human experience. Appropriate for kids from 3 to 103, IMAGO's performances have garnered them praise from San Francisco to Singapore. The New York Times said of IMAGO's performance: a "madcap revue" in which "a multitude of curious critters" leaves everyone "feeling giggly." The Seattle Post Intelligencer called IMAGO "entrancing and clever" and The Oregonian said "next time (they are) playing within 50 miles, gather up the children and go." IMAGO PRESS RELEASE #2 IMAGO, THE MASK MAGICIANS, TO PERFORM Come see for yourself what the New York Times called "...a madcap revue". IMAGO, the theatre mask ensemble, will be presenting their unique and nationally known style of mime, movement and mask at (location) on (dates and times). Tickets are available at (location) or by calling (phone number). A spectacular program of unique images and creative critters, IMAGO's presentation will surprise kids from 3 to 103. Arms are really legs, up is down and back is front in this presentation. Entertaining since 1978, co-founders and directors Carol Triffle and Jerry Mouawad draw upon their training in the Jacque LeCoq method to create characters that are both fantastic and touchingly human. In addition to being adept in theatrical movement, Triffle and Mouawad are also talented in the plastic arts. Using any and all materials, the pair create masks that defy definition, incorporating not only the face but the body as well. Additional use of music and multimedia effects combine for a truly unique theatrical experience. American imagination and flair has allowed this company to travel the world entertaining audiences in Europe, Asia and America with their blend of multimedia and theatrical ingenuity. Their program has drawn the praise of critics from San Francisco to Singapore. The New York Times said IMAGO's performance "left everyone...feeling giggly". The Seattle Post Intelligencer called IMAGO "entrancing and clever," and The Oregonian said, "next time (they are) playing within 50 miles, gather up the children and go." IMAGO PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT (15 Seconds) Movement, mask and mime combine to create a world that's entirely IMAGO's. Now you can share in the unique theatrical experience that The New York Times said "left everyone...feeling giggly" This nationally known theatre mask ensemble will be performing their creative blend of multimedia theatre this (date) at (location) at (time). Come experience the magic that is IMAGO. Call (telephone number) for more information. PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT (60 Seconds) Are you a kid between the ages of 3 and 103? Do you remember how to laugh and how to imagine? Are you ready to visit a new world? If you answered yes, come join IMAGO, the theatre mask ensemble, as they journey through the land of imagination, where up is down, arms are legs and what you see with your eyes may not be what you see with your heart IMAGO, the nationally known theatre mask ensemble, is bringing their unique blend of movement, mime and mask to (location) on (date, time). In IMAGO's world, rock's roll, insects are acrobats, and frogs frolic. Using music and surprising visual effects, IMAGO delivers a multimedia experience that's sure to be enjoyed by the whole family. Call (telephone number) for tickets to IMAGO on (date) at (location) and remember how to be a kid again. IMAGO FEATURE STORY #1 "FROGS, LIZARDS, ORBS, AND SLINKYS" is the production that made IMAGO known worldwide. The show has appeared on television specials, on stages in practically every city and town in Oregon, through all fifty states and in three continents. It began in 1979 when Carol Triffle and Jerry Mouawad began to collaborate combining their skills and interest in visual and performing arts. Why is "FROGS, LIZARDS, ORBS AND SLINKYS" IMAGO's most popular production? Why is a show that combines amphibians with abstract shapes such a worldwide hit? Jerry Mouawad, co-creator says, "It's vaudeville. I saw a movie in which a depressed suicidal comic-tragic character went to a Marx Brothers film and from laughing at the Marx Brothers he reawakened to the whimsy and lighter side of life. It changed his life and he was able to return to his tragic laden world. Comedy, especially physical comedy, is reawakening. It reawakens our bodies to a giggly, uplifting sensation. A physical connection between performer and the audience can be delightful and life altering. Seeing the finest of physical and clown theatre has changed my own life." Triffle and Mouawad's most skillful and deceptive creation is the "Larvabatic". The challenge of the "Larvabatic" was to create an illusion of a worm performing acrobatic feats. In designing the "larvabatic" they were trying to integrate the human form with a mask worm on a special part of the human body - the bottom. Triffle and Mouawad began by studying one position of the human form and its locomotive maneuvering. After considering line, form, weight of the position as it moved, the image of the creature emerged. Several prototypes were first created before settling on the final entity. One prototype was even a two-headed creature. "Orbs" began as Triffle's dream in which gigantic billiard balls took the stage. After she discovered a material that gave the creature it's anthropomorphic life (which remains an IMAGO secret) the Orb became more than just a ball. The Orb changes as the actor within changes. With rhythmic change and voice work, the Orb responds accordingly to his partner, the actor. Triffle describes it this way, "the Orb is like a giant mask. Here at IMAGO when one performs in partnership with a mask, the actor and mask join to bring a new creature to life, we call this 'to carry a mask.' Both the actor and the mask metamorphose into something new. That is, the actor and the mask have both entered a new world, a pretend-yet-real-other world." It is this "other world" that draws the masses to this acclaimed production and why it appeals to such a wide age range. This pretend-yet-real-other world is something all humans, each and every one, no matter how old or different, strive to enter.

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