Noa Baum

July Storytelling Live! line-up

Storytelling Live!, the International Storytelling Center’s celebrated 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. The month also includes a workshop, two evening concerts and a children’s concert.

Anne Rutherford of Oregon kicks off the month with performances from July 2-6. Called “one of the finest professional liars in the world” by Portland Tribune, her enchanting, funny and touching performances delight audiences with Pacific Northwest folklore and tales of personal adventure. Her singing and mandolin playing add to the fun, along with vivid vocal and physical characterizations such as her original Wild West alter-ego, the adventurous Clementine Ryder. Anne lends her personality to a special Children’s Concert Saturday, July 6 at 10:30 a.m., where listeners hear an interactive mix of folktales, trickster tales and real-life kid friendly adventures from near and far.

Noa Baum from Maryland arrives for her residency July 9-13. Born and raised in Israel, Baum is an award-winning storyteller who uses her art to build bridges of peace and understanding. Her stories, drawn from diverse cultures but primarily from her own Jewish heritage and personal experience, highlight our similarities, celebrate our differences and encourage curiosity, awareness and acceptance. Baum has performed in Turkey, Sweden, Israel, the U.K., and across the U.S., including the World Bank. Noa leads a workshop Thursday, July 11, from 9:30- 11:30 a.m. Called “Beyond Labels: Bridging Differences through Storytelling,” the workshop offers techniques to deepen listening skills, build community and make connections with others. Baum’s memoir “A Land Twice Promised: An Israeli Woman’s Quest for Peace” is a multiple award-winner.

Award-winning Storyteller Andy Offutt Irwin of Georgia appears July 16-20. With a manic, Silly Putty voice, hilarious, heart-filled stories and amazing mouth noises, Irwin has been described as “The Marx Brothers meet Eudora Welty.” Irwin is a keynote speaker, theater director, songwriter, comedian, newspaper columnist and Shakespearian actor. His appearances have taken him across the U.S., including the Library of Congress and Walt Disney World’s Epcot Center. He is a recipient of the NSN Oracle Circle of Excellence award.

July 23-27 brings Oba William King from Texas. Known as The Poetic Storyteller, King is a motivator, educator and a teller whose energetic storytelling performances are designed to celebrate diversity. Oba offers a rhythm and rhyme story hour in a special children’s Concert July 27 at 10:30 a.m., featuring interactive stories, drum and songs. A member of the National Association of Black Storytellers, he tours nationally presenting his programs that include song and traditional drum. The founder of JUSTUSarts Educational Entertainment, he is an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship Award recipient in Traditional Folk Arts. His appearances include the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library, the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage Family Story Night and the Charleston Tells Storytelling Festival.

Storytelling Live! welcomes Ed Stivender, from Pennsylvania, July 30-Aug. 3. A self-described “full-time daydreamer who moonlights as a storyteller,” he has toured the world since 1981, presenting his one-man shows in Austria, Ireland, New Zealand, Indonesia and in festivals across the U.S. Known for his mixture of whimsy, wit and wisdom, he invites his audience into an interactive dance of the imagination. The author of two books of coming-of-age stories, his writing has appeared in Reader’s Digest, Catholic Digest, and Chicken Soup for the Romantic Soul. Stivender, an NSN Oracle Circle of Excellence award recipient, is also an award-winning Philadelphia Mummer. Saturday, Aug. 3, at 10:30 a.m., he performs a children’s concert, where the young and young-at-heart can enjoy a treasure trove of folklore and literary classics

For more information about Storytelling Live! or to purchase tickets visit www.storytellingcenter.net or call (800) 952-8392 ext. 222 or (423) 913-1276.