First Stage partners with Luther Manor in multi-generational performance project

First Stage students and Luther Manor Terrace residents present an original theater production The Generation Project, the culmination of an eight-week collaborative program including writing, acting exercises and rehearsal.

Performances will take place on March 27, 2015 at the Lippold Faith and Education Center Lippold Faith and Education Center on the Luther Manor campus located at 4545 N. 92nd Street, Wauwatosa at 2 and 7 p.m. An encore performance will take place on March 28 at 4:00 p.m. at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, located at 325 W. Walnut Street, Milwaukee.  Performances are free and open to the public. All are welcome to attend.

The play, which is as of yet untitled, is a completely collaborative effort by the two theater groups and was entirely conceived, written and performed by residents and students. First Stage Academy Director Jenn Adams is the director, and First Stage Teaching Artist Liz Faraglia is the Assistant Director. The Luther Manor residents participating include: Joyce Heinrich, Alice Humphrey, Rusty and Sharon Tym, Mary Henricks, Pat Tesh, and Pat Paskel. First Stage students are: Emily Kellner, Ananda Bluhm, Elizabeth Batory and Clare Zempel.

"Our objective is to tell vignettes of what we have experienced in our lifetime, from very young to very old," said resident Rusty Tym, who has been involved in a variety of theatrical productions at Luther Manor as an actor, writer and director. "None of us are quite sure what direction we're going, and it's interesting to be in that predicament."

“This is the pilot year of this collaboration with Luther Manor and we hope to work together on new works going forward,” said Academy Director Katie Cummings. “The opportunity for our student writers and actors to gain perspective from the residents is invaluable.” 

Learn more about this project. For more information about First Stage Theater Academy, click here.