Introducting Hank Murta Adams

Hank Murta Adams (also known as brother to our Artistic Director, Abbey Adams!), has created beautiful glass pieces for our shows in the past, include the stars hung above the Theophilus North set, which are now hung in the upper lobby of our Main Stage.  He is currently creating a huge backdrop of glass and steel for our upcoming production of Legacy of Light.  Read on to learn more about him!

Hank Murta Adams, Studio Creative Director of Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center
Hank Adams was a student of Dale Chihuly at the Rhode Island School of Design. He graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with a B.F.A. in painting in 1978, and continued his education at Tennessee Technological University, Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina and Pilchuck Glass School in Washington. While continuing to work as an independent artist, Hank also served as head designer for the Blenko Glass Company for six years. Adams has also worked consistently over the years as an educator at schools and universities ranging from the Toledo Museum School; UrbanGlass in Brooklyn, NY; Univ. of Hawaii; the Center for Creative Studies, in Detroit; the Chicago Art Institute, the Ox-Bow School in Saugatuck, MI; the Pilchuck School in Stanwood, WA; and most recently as a visiting professor at Middlebury College, VT. In his current role as Studio Creative Director at Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center,  Hank facilitates numerous individual and collective projects for a diverse artist community, while serving as an educator and mentor for numerous young artists working as assistants and interns.

Adams has been awarded three Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and was recipient of an Individual Artist Fellowship award from the New York State Arts Council. He was awarded a Fellowship at the Creative Glass Center of America in 2001, and is a member of the Creative Glass Center of America Advisory Board. His work has been featured in numerous one-man exhibitions ranging from J&L Lobmeyr Glass in Vienna, Austria; Remnant: Hank Adams, at The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Troy, NY; the Elliot Brown Gallery in Seattle; Heller Gallery in NYC,  the Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, WI and the Hunterdon Museum of Art in NJ. Adams’ work was also selected for Creativity and Collaboration: Pilchuck Glass School at 30 in Seattle, WA, in 2000. Other group shows range from the triennial traveling exhibition, Americans in Glass, to World Glass Now, held in 1988 at the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, Japan; and the Glass Skin, a traveling exhibit organized by the Corning Museum of Glass.

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To learn more about Wheaton Arts, click here!

ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST Discovery Guide

This Discovery Guide gives you more information on our production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. It includes costume designs and resources for educators, as well as character biographies and a self-guided tour of the play for teens.  Click here to check it out!

CUCKOO'S NEST Design Blog Post #4

Our Resident Dramaturg, Elizabeth Pool, keeps a blog specifically for the artistic team for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.  Most of her posts include "top secret" material, but she has graciously shared a few of them with us so we can let you in on a little of what inspires the designers for the show.  Enjoy!

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THE TITLE

The title One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is derived from a Mother Goose nursery rhyme called Vintery, Mintery, Cutery, Corn. The full text is as follows:

Vintery, mintery, cutery, corn
Apple seed and apple thorn;
Wire, briar, limber lock,
Three geese in a flock.
One flew east,
And one flew west,
And one flew over the cuckoo's nest.

CUCKOO'S NEST Design Blog Post #3

Our Resident Dramaturg, Elizabeth Pool, keeps a blog specifically for the artistic team for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.  Most of her posts include "top secret" material, but she has graciously shared a few of them with us so we can let you in on a little of what inspires the designers for the show.  Enjoy!

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SONGS IN THE SCRIPT

“My Horses Ain’t Hungry”
This is a folk song with many different variations. You can find similar versions under the titles "Wagoner's Lad," "Texas Cowboy," and "Pretty Polly." McMurphy's rendition is much more informal than any that I found. I think this song may, like Bromden's nursery rhyme, have been passed down to the character through oral tradition.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m5efwGm1C4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5gJK0kvFuY
http://maxhunter.missouristate.edu/songinformation.aspx?ID=485


"Does Your Spearmint Lose it's Flavor (on the Bedpost Overnight)"
This song was written by Marty Bloom, Ernest Breur, and Billy Rose in 1924 and though its original title was "Does Your Spearmint Lose Its Flavor (On the Bedpost Over Night)." it seems to have quickly become "Chewing Gum" instead of "Spearmint." The song was made popular by Lonnie Donnegan & His Skiffle Group (1959). Here's their version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXp0i7Y1eVo


"Roving Gambler"
Another old folksong. Here's a version from 1956:
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=HuEOGMzSLoQ&feature=related
And one with no description but a wonderful sound:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEYlR6-Uf-I


"Sweet Georgia Brown"
Here's a great (wordless) version by Louis Armstrong:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUoGsobfSHE&NR=1


The Wildroot Theme
Here's the original commercial!
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xq3qa_wildroot-hair-tonic-1957_ads
And here's another Wildroot commercial purely for kicks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSb_5oQBrBM&feature=PlayList&p=7E4A31D177F93F23&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=35

CUCKOO'S NEST Design Blog Post #2

Our Resident Dramaturg, Elizabeth Pool, keeps a blog specifically for the artistic team for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.  Most of her posts include "top secret" material, but she has graciously shared a few of them with us so we can let you in on a little of what inspires the designers for the show.  Enjoy!

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THE COLUMBIA RIVER INDIANS

Celilo Falls ("echo of falling water" or "sound of water upon the rocks") is the name of a large waterfall that was part of a connected series of waterfalls and cascades along the Columbia River, located on what is now the border between Oregon and Washington. (See Google map link at the bottom of this post.) This roughly 15-mile stretch of chutes, rapids, eddies, and small islands created ideal fishing sites. The falls were the sixth-largest by volume in the world, and among the largest in North America. The tremendous roar could be heard many miles away.

A half dozen tribes had permanent villages between the falls and where the dam now stands. As many as 5,000 people would gather to trade, feast, and participate in games and religious ceremonies. Wooden platforms were built out over the water and the salmon were caught with dip nets and long spears on poles as they swam up through the rapids and jumped over the falls. Historically, an estimated fifteen to twenty million salmon passed through the falls every year.

Elders and chiefs regulated the fishing, permitting none until after the first salmon ceremony. Each day, fishing started and ended at the sound of a whistle. There was no night fishing. And when a fisherman was pulled into the water during his pursuit - most who fell did not survive - all fishing ceased for the day. In later years, each fisherman was required to tie a rope around his waist, with the other end fastened to the shore. Old people and others without family members able to fish could take what they needed from the catches. Visiting tribes were given what they could transport to their homes. The rest belonged to the fishermen and their families

In the 1930s and 1940s, civic leaders advocated for a system of hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River. They argued that the dams would improve navigation for barge traffic from interior regions to the ocean; provide a reliable source of irrigation for agricultural production; provide electricity for the World War II defense industry, shipbuilding and aluminum production; and alleviate the flooding of downriver cities.

Congressional hearings about the proposed dams began in 1947. The government had existing treaties from 1855 with the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, and the Walla Walla, Umatilla, and Cayuse, which guaranteed their right to fish in the area. Those groups were compensated 26.8 million for the loss of the falls. They retained their fishing rights, but their livelihood and a central aspect of their lives was lost. The project was authorized in 1950, work commenced on the dam in 1952, and on the morning of March 10, 1957, the massive steel and concrete gates of The Dalles Dam closed and choked back the downstream surge of the Columbia River. Six hours later and eight miles upstream Celilo Falls, the age-old Indian salmon fishery, was under water.

 This map of Celilo Falls fishing grounds shows sites named by James Selam, a former resident of the village of Skin. At Celilo and other tribal fisheries on the Columbia River, specific sites traditionally belonged to individuals and families who granted permission for others to use them.

Map of Celilo from the Lewis and Clark expedition

 Fishing over the falls

 Fishing with nets

 This information has been unabashedly Frankensteined from these very helpful websites:
Celilo Falls on Wikipedia
Destruction of Celilo Falls
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission

See the location of Celilo Falls on Google maps:
Google Maps

CUCKOO'S NEST Design Blog Post #1

Our Resident Dramaturg, Elizabeth Pool, keeps a blog specifically for the artistic team for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.  Most of her posts include "top secret" material, but she has graciously shared a few of them with us so we can let you in on a little of what inspires the designers for the show.  Enjoy!

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GREAT PBS MOVIE - THE LOBOTOMIST

Check out this fascinating (and slightly disturbing) movie called THE LOBOTOMIST. Copy and paste the link into your browser to watch.

PBS Video: THE LOBOTOMIST

A Day in the Life - Liz Gardner, Audience Services Manager!

Usually for A Day in the Life, we ask an actor to photograph events in his or her day--this time, we asked a staff member to do it!  Liz Gardner is our Audience Services Manager (which in layman's terms means she's the person you ask for comp tickets, or for donation tickets, or the person you call when you want to gush about what an awesome night at the theatre you had!).  Like the actors we've posted in the past, Liz gets up early and works hard all day--check it out!  (Captions by Liz herself.)

Good morning!

 

The saving grace of my morning.

The worst light ever.

Modern day bag lady??

The many things that need to get done.

My commute (the back way).

 

The Fightin' Phils Win 9-3!

A big group of PLTC box office and administrative staff attended Tuesday night's AWESOME Phillies game against the Giants.  The Phils won 9-3 and we couldn't have had a better time!  Check out some photos that our talented staff took:

The PLTC Box Office Is Offically Open!

 That's right, no rest for the weary!  09/10 is over, and we are officially open for the 10/11 season.  We're looking forward to an exciting season full of classics, men in dresses (for the 7th year in a row!), and some fantastic family shows including Kidnapped! and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Click here to view our season brochure.

Peter DeLaurier & Mark Lazar visit the NBC10 show!

Without giving away the "secret," actors Peter DeLaurier (Sherlock Holmes) and Mark Lazar (Dr. Watson) were interviewed on the NBC10! show.  Check it out!