Andy Offutt Irwin
Storytelling Live!, the International Storytelling Center's teller-in-residence series, continues its season in July. The program features 26 of America's best-loved storytellers, one each week May through October. Each teller appears in matinee performances Tuesday through Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Mary B. Martin Storytelling Hall.
Corrinne Stavish, of Michigan, starts off the month with performances from June 28-July 2. Stavish specializes in personal narratives and biblical interpretative tales that are warm and witty, powerful and poignant, and enhanced by a varied performing style. She has been featured at multiple festivals nationally, including the National Storytelling Festival. She serves on the Board of Directors of the International Storytelling Center; has been a keynote speaker at the National Storytelling Conference; was a Detroit Jewish Woman Artist of the Year; has four award-winning CDs; and contributed to "Chicken Soup for the Jewish Soul" and "The Storyteller's Companion to the Bible." Stavish is a professor in humanities at Lawrence Technological University.
Award-winning storyteller Motoko, of Massachusetts, appears July 5-9. Motoko, who is originally from Osaka, Japan, has performed storytelling and mime professionally since 1993. Her repertoire includes Asian folktales, Rakugo and Zen tales, mime vignettes, as well as personal stories from her childhood in Japan and life as an immigrant in the U.S. Her appearances include PBS' "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" and a tour with the CarnegieKids in Miyazaki project sponsored by Carnegie Hall.
July 12-16 brings Diane Edgecomb, from Massachusetts, as Storytelling Live's resident storyteller. Edgecomb is recognized as one of the most versatile voices in storytelling today. Known for her rich characterizations and zany sense of humor, her performances range from Solstice events rich in seasonal mythology to Celtic tales. Her repertoire includes numerous original and personal stories, including those that chronicle her journeys in the remote mountain villages of the Kurdish region of Turkey. Edgecomb has been featured on NPR and is a Storytelling World Honors award winner for her CDs and book. She is accompanied in Jonesborough by harper and vocalist Margot Chamberlain.
Storytelling Live! welcomes The Storycrafters, of New York, July 19-23. Called "top-notch family entertainment" by Publishers Weekly, Jeri Burns and Barry Marshall have been working together as The Storycrafters since 1991. With a natural energetic style, they specialize in original retellings and modern renditions of world folklore, integrating music and song, poignancy and pizzazz. The Storycrafters have been featured in major festivals and schools across the U.S. and abroad, including the Gimistory Festival in the Cayman Islands and the International Storytelling Festival in Northern Ireland. They have garnered awards from Parents' Choice, the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio and Storytelling World. The Storycrafters offer a special children's concert on Saturday, July 23 at 10:30 a.m.
Rounding out the month, July 26-30, is Andy Offutt Irwin of Georgia. With a manic, Silly Putty voice, astonishing mouth noises, heart-filled stories, and arguably the greatest whistle in the world, Irwin is equal parts mischievous schoolboy and the Marx Brothers, peppered with a touch of the Southern balladeer. He has been artist-in-residence in theatre at Emory University's Oxford College since 1991 and has performed across the U.S., including at the Library of Congress and Walt Disney World. Irwin has recorded multiple award-winning CDs, and is the recipient of the NSN ORACLE Circle of Excellence award. He gives a special evening performance of Road Tales Thursday, July 28 at 7:30 p.m.
For more information about Storytelling Live! or to purchase tickets call 800-952-8392 ext. 222 or 423-913-1276.
