A scene from the play, “The Rimers of Eldritch” directed by Fred Friedland. Photo courtesy of the Mariposa County Arts Council
The Mariposa County Arts Council is pleased to announce a new program, the Mariposa Theatre Alliance. The Mariposa Theatre Alliance is an association of producing theater artists formed to foster and promote theatre throughout Mariposa County. In addition to staging productions, the Mariposa Theatre Alliance will provide theatre classes and workshops open to members of the community at large. The Mariposa County Amphitheater will be the Theatre Alliance’s home base, but their programs will be held countywide.
“We are so fortunate to have this amazing cohort of talented, accomplished individuals joining our ranks and providing the community with a solid and varied slate of theatre workshops and productions. The Arts Council is so pleased to be working with the Mariposa Theatre Alliance and we are very excited about the new artistic facets this program will bring to our organization and Mariposa,“ said Cara Goger, Mariposa County Arts Council’s Executive Director.
The Mariposa Theatre Alliance’s founding producing directors are: Audrey Davis (MA in Theatre Arts from CSU Sacramento, 2008), Fred Friedland (Professor Emeritus, Merced College, BA in Theatre Arts, MA in Theatre Production and MFA in Directing from Humboldt State University), Richard Hoffman (formerly the Artistic Director and Managing Director of the Golden Chain Theatre in Oakhurst, BA in Theatre Arts/Communication from San Diego State University, MA in Directing from Humboldt State University, and PhD in Higher Education Leadership from Nova Southeastern University), Bryan Starchman (Head of the Mariposa County High School Drama Department, BA in English from University of California Los Angeles), Connie Stetson (Santa Monica College, University of California Los Angeles, The Groundlings), and Lee Stetson (MA in American Studies and a certificate in Arts Administration from Harvard University).
“After I had worked on several productions in Mariposa, Aaron Marcus, my lighting designer, introduced Richard Hoffman and myself to Connie and Lee Stetson and Bryan Starchman. We decided it would be best if we pooled our resources under the Mariposa County Arts Council. We are very pleased to become one of their programs,” said Mariposa Theatre Alliance co-founder Fred Friedland.
Upcoming programs include: an Acting Fundamental Workshop led by Connie Stetson running June 23 though July 28 at the Yosemite Bug Spa and Resort; a production of The Tramp and the Rough Rider produced by and staring Lee Stetson on July 11th at the Mariposa County High School’s Fiester Auditorium; a Stagecraft workshop taught by Fred Friedland on August 1st at the Mariposa County Park Amphitheater; and this October, a production of the Elephant Man directed by Richard Hoffmann at the Mariposa County Park Amphitheater.
For more information about the Mariposa Theatre Alliance and its upcoming programs or the Mariposa County Arts Council’s other programs, please visit: mariposaartscouncil.org or call the Arts Council’s office at: (209) 966-3155.
The MARIPOSA COUNTY ARTS COUNCIL, INC. is an incorporated not-for-profit organization, created to promote and support all forms of the cultural arts, for all ages, throughout Mariposa County and is funding in part by Mariposa County, the California Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
