Mount Laurel Arts Center
And the Tom Ridge Pavilion
Bushkill, PA
Tickets

The Mountain Laurel Center for the Performing Arts is a multi-venue cultural arts facility located on 675 wooded acres. It features world-renowned performances in classical and contemporary music, dance and Broadway theatre.

The Mountain Laurel Center will afford visitors the opportunity to enjoy multiple events in the same day at The Center’s many venues. The existing facilities include the Theatre, renovated with seating for 1,200 patrons, the Boathouse, home to cabaret performances with seating for 500 and the 50,000 square foot Cultural Arts Center and Benefactors Building which houses art galleries, dining facilities an administrative offices.

Performances will be varied and include classical, pops, country, folk and jazz musical programs as well as ballet, modern and ethnic dance performances. The Center will also reach the community in many other ways. Educational opportunities will include school-age programs, summer camp programs and adult education series and lectures. The Center will also be seeking the input of local arts leaders and organizations with plans to form an arts advisory council.

Mountain Laurel Center Continues its 2007 Arts-in-Education Program
From Cowboy Music to Jazz to Dance, Local Students Will Experience Five Outstanding Programs by Nationally Acclaimed Performers Including the Kennedy Center Touring Production of “Alice by Whoopi Goldberg”

Bushkill, PA —- Elementary, intermediate and high school students from throughout the Pocono Mountains will have the opportunity to experience outstanding performances by nationally recognized artists as the Mountain Laurel Center for the Performing Arts continues its 2007 Arts-in-Education program that began last month with two performances by The Acting Company of William Shakespeare’s most poignant love scenes.

MLCPA President & CEO Richard T. Bryant announced that the upcoming education lineup will range from choral music to cowboy music, to jazz, contemporary dance and theater. Most performances will be offered at assembly halls and classrooms in Pike and Monroe Counties. A special daytime opening of the Tom Ridge Pavilion on May 23 will feature The Kennedy Center touring production of “Alice by Whoopi Goldberg.”

“We are delighted to offer this vital programming to the young people of this region,” said Bryant. “The experience of seeing and hearing the performing arts can affect and even transform young lives in a uniquely positive way. Groundbreaking research has proved that the arts have a profound impact upon enhancing student achievement in all aspects of the classroom, but especially in their effect upon creative thinking. We believe that each of the artists on our 2007 Arts-in-Education roster has this transformative power — to communicate, to teach and to inspire.”

Thursday, April 26: Renowned cowboy ensemble Riders in the Sky gallops in to offer two performances at local elementary schools, teaching the downright clean and honest “Cowboy Way,” the history of the Old West and the culture of the singing cowboy. The Riders — Ranger Doug (“The Idol of American Youth”), Woody Paul (“King of the Cowboy Fiddlers”), Too Slim (“A Righteous Tater”), and Joey (“The CowPolka King”) — are two-time Grammy Award winners for Best Children’s Musical Album for their contributions to the soundtracks of the animated classics Toy Story 2 (1999) and Monsters Inc. (2001).

Wednesday, May 2: Wand’ring Minstrels, the touring outreach company of New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players, will conduct a unique program led by its artistic director Albert Bergeret, at a high school to be announced. Over a 30-day period, Mr. Bergeret will visit the school several times to conduct master classes for choral students who will later join the New York-based professional singers in an all-school performance of some of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most popular music.

Wednesday, May 23: A modern-day Alice in Wonderland is the focus of “Alice by Whoopi Goldberg,” based on the beloved actress’s best-selling children’s book. Presented for elementary and intermediate classes at MLCPA’s Tom Ridge Pavilion, this light-hearted story follows the adventures of a young girl who thinks that being rich will bring her a giant house, fun times and lots of friends. When she wins a mysterious sweepstakes and tumbles into an adventure in a topsy-turvy world with a cast of colorful characters, Alice finds out the best jackpot in life isn’t money, after all.

September 25-28: Internationally regarded jazz saxophonist and Delaware Water Gap musician Dave Liebman will present a week of master classes for high school musicians. The programs, which will include jazz appreciation and composition, are open to players of all instruments.

October 15-16: Ailey II — the touring outreach company of the famed Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater — will give two performances of their high-energy choreography for intermediate and high school students. The group’s distinctive repertory has included works by Alvin Ailey, Talley Beatty, Judith Jamison and Donald Byrd, among many others. The in-school performances will include a lecture, plus a demonstration period that allows students to ask questions and watch the company demonstrate their celebrated Ailey technique. Ailey II will also teach master classes to interested students.

Richard Bryant initiated MLCPA’s Arts-in-Education program upon arrival here in 2004 by re-opening the Tom Ridge Pavilion for East Stroudsburg High School North’s graduation. In 2005-06 MLCPA launched a series of in-school tours and master classes including songwriting workshops led by composer Jim Papoulis; dance workshops by Paul Taylor II and Pilobolus II; and a full-week residency by Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Afro-Latin Jazz ensemble that culminated in a performance at the Tom Ridge Pavilion that also featured the top jazz musicians from Pocono Mountain High School West, East Stroudsburg North and South High Schools, and Delaware Valley High School.

Other schools participating in MLCPA’s Arts-in-Education programs have included Delaware Valley Elementary School, Pocono Mountain Charter School, Pocono Mountain High School East, Wallenpaupack Area High School, Lehman Intermediate School, Bushkill Elementary, and East Stroudsburg University.

Advising on the roll-out of the 2007 Arts-in-Education program have been MLCPA Education Advisory Task Force members Dr. Kenneth Koberlein, Director of Education at the Shawnee Academy and Beacon School; Annelle Prefontaine, Director of Federal Programs and Grants for the East Stroudsburg Area School District; Dr. Angelo Senese, Education Consultant and Professor at East Stroudsburg University; and Sandy Stalter, artistic entrepreneur, vocalist and director.

MLCPA’s Education Manager is Steve Lastra.

Special thanks to Dr. Rachael Heath and Assistant Superintendent Gregory Naudascher of East Stroudsburg Area School District for their unwavering encouragement and support and to the leadership faculty and staff of the East Stroudsburg High School North.

Mountain Laurel Center’s Arts-in-Education programs are made possible, in part, by the Pocono Mountain Vacation Bureau, The Wolfington Companies, Pocono Produce Company Inc., and the ongoing participation and support of the center’s patrons and friends.

About MLCPA’s Education Programs:

Mountain Laurel Center provides comprehensive, interactive educational programs that are deeply integrated into the region’s schools. Through direct collaboration at all grade levels, MLCPA aspires to help the many school districts meet core curriculum standards for the performing arts, while introducing students to a wide range of artistic offerings from numerous cultures and disciplines.

To book MLCPA Arts-in-Education events for your school or for additional information, please call Steve Lastra, MLCPA Education Manager, 570.426.2090, or visit mountainlaurelcenter.com.

About Mountain Laurel Center:

Mountain Laurel Center for the Performing Arts (MLCPA) is a nonprofit performing arts center located in Bushkill, PA, serving the beautiful Pocono Mountains and beyond. Its principal venue, the Tom Ridge Pavilion, offers 2,500 covered seats and room under the stars for up to 3,000 more on its comfortable lawn. MLCPA is dedicated to serving the region by providing world-class artists and entertainers through an ongoing series of performances and educational programming. Planning for the 2007 season is underway and will be announced later this spring. For additional information about the Mountain Laurel Center, please call 570-426-2084 or visit mountainlaurelcenter.com.