Urban Stages Presents 20th Anniversary Celebration OCTOBERFEST, Now thru Nov 4

Urban Stages brings its award-winning ON TOUR Series Off-Broadway. For more than 20 Years, Urban Stages has brought free original productions that are family-friendly, educational and extremely entertaining to libraries and schools throughout NYC's five boroughs. Urban Stages 20th Anniversary celebration, OCTOBERFEST, will take place from today, October 7- November 4, 2012 at Urban Stages Theatre (259 W 30 Street). All these performances are FREE to the public (with a suggested donation). Tickets reservations can be made by emailing urbanstages.education@gmail.com.

OCTOBERFEST selection of shows and performances will include:

Four plays In Rep:

· Sacagawea: Bird Woman by Williams S Yellowrobe Jr. (Oct 22, 25, & Nov. 4)

· Up and Up: The Dr. Mae Jemison Story by Antoinette Mullins (Oct 23, 30* & Nov 3)

· Frida Liberada by Brigitte Viellieu-Davis (Oct 26, 29, and *Nov 2)

· Warriors Don't Cry (Melba Patillo Beals, Little Rock Nine) by Eisa Davis (Oct 24, 27 & Nov. 1)

The plays all focus on the lives of heroic women and bring to the stage the courage, determination and fortitude of some of the women who have helped define our history. Additionally, Urban Stages' will present a very wide variety of original family programming on Sundays throughout October

Urban Stages ON TOUR travels to all five boroughs, reaching more than 55 New York City districts, 120 library branches, and 7,500 audience members of all ages from 1 to 100. Currently 25 shows are in repertoire. Over the years, Urban Stages has recruited such writers as Lucy Wang, Eisa Davis, Kitty Chen, Guillermo Reyes, Arthur Giron, Jon Picardi, Karen Jones Meadows , Chungmi Kim and Velina Hasu Houston to write culturally-rich stories. Several exciting new writers include Antoinette Mullins, Brigitte Viellieu-Davis, and William S. Yellowrobe, Jr.

Special OCTOBERFEST Events include:

October 30th at 7:30PM: Patrons' Benefit Night (Dinner and a performance of Up and Up: The Story of Dr. Mae Jemison , along with special entertainment by US outreach artists including: a magician, puppets, Irish Dancing and more. Tickets are $110)

November 2nd at 7:30PM: Young Supporters of Art, Theatre and Education Night (Under 35 years old). Unlimited margaritas, a Mexican buffet and a special performance of Frida Liberada. Tickets are $40 each, $75 for two, available only at www.urbanstages.org.

URBAN STAGES OCTOBER FEST performances run October 7-November 4, 2012. Urban Stages is located at 259 West 30 Street. Tickets are FREE to the public (with suggested donation except for benefit/party nights). Tickets reservations can be made by emailing urbanstages.education@gmail.com or calling 212-421-1380. For more information, go to www.urbanstages.org.

URBAN STAGES OCTOBER FEST (schedule)

Sunday, October 7th at 1:30pm
South of the Border: Latin American Folktales by Liz Parker and Rachel Sullivan - Puppets, masks, and dance fill this trio of bilingual stories from Ecuador, Peru, and Cuba. Performed by Flor Bromley.

Sunday, October 7th at 3:30pm
Abracadabra - Children's magician, Evan Paquette, shares a few tricks of the trade in a mini lesson and magic show.

Sunday, October 14th at 1:30pm
Blown Away By Poetry - by Liz Parker and Rachel Sullivan. After Wendy Windstorm blows the Poetry out of Poetsville she enlists the help of her puppet friends and young poets' in the audience to solve the problem.

Sunday, October 14th at 3:30pm
Harvest Moon - The Colorado Sisters share some of their favorite stories in this collection of Native American Indian tales. Performed by Elvira and Hortencia Colorado.

Sunday, October 21 at 1:30pm
Rhythm and Sound - In this interactive workshop, percussionist Rex Benincasa brings audience members to the stage to play percussive instruments from around the world.