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OSWEGO, NY – With the opening of The Orphan Train on May 30 at St. Mary’s Hopkins Hall, Port City Theatre continues a tradition begun with the very first production – Pay-What-You-Can preview.
Tickets for the play written by Aurand Harris are $10 for adults and $8 for seniors, students and children under 9 for regular performances May 30 – June 8.
A family package of $30 for two adults and two children under 9 was added last season.
The final dress rehearsal set for May 29 at 7:30 p.m. has been designated as the traditional pay-what-you-can performance night.
“It is helpful for the cast members and technical crew to have a practice audience on this last dress rehearsal. It helps identify moments of audience reaction to set crucial pacing and prepares the actors to hold for laugh lines. After working with the material for 4-6 weeks, it is refreshing to hear and see from the audience’s perspective. It breathes new energy into the life of the play just at the time when actors are tired from back to back endless rehearsals†said Director Nancy Fox. “It is a perfect time to offer a ticket option for those who enjoy the tension and excitement of the final dress rehearsal before opening night. It is also a great time for those who can’t afford the regular admission to enjoy the play by simply paying what they wish to pay. Even more so with today’s mounting prices on so many essentials when entertainment is often the first item cut from budgets. Pay-What-You-Can offers an alternative and supports a commitment to ‘Buy Local’ while supporting the quality of cultural life in Oswego.â€ÂÂ
The practice has become a regular feature of John, His Story which tours throughout Oswego County in area churches.
Fox continued “There is a better appreciation and sense of ownership in an audience who responds after a performance according to how they were impacted by the production…much like tipping a waiter for good service. It makes live theatre affordable and within reach of some who would not otherwise have the opportunity to enjoy it. Each performance is unique and different.â€ÂÂ
The Orphan Train tells the stories of nine children who rode the orphan train to uncertain futures with new families during America’s largest migration of neglected children.
Over a 75 year period, from 1854 to 1929, more than 200,000 children were taken from New York City streets and orphanages and shipped by train to homes across the country.
Each story is told by the child with a supporting cast of adults.
The play in St. Mary’s Hopkins Hall at West Sixth and Cayuga strets runs May 30, 31, and June 6 and 7 at 8 p.m., June 1 and 8 at 3 p.m., with preview on May 29 at 7:30 p.m.
The play is presented by special arrangement with Anchorage Press Plays, Louisville, Kentucky.
For reservations or ticket information, call Fox at 598-8812.
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