EmpireAttractions.com

Press Release - TheatricalElements-PR.pdf Size: 1.6 MB

Theatrical Elements at the Sterling Renaissance Festival

Sterling, NY, May 2009- From the moment you step through the gates of the Sterling Renaissance Festival, the pressures and reminders of the 21st century life vanish into the cool wooded landscape, and the transition to the year 1585 and to the place of Warwick, England begins. Visitors enter a Renaissance world of discovery and adventure, a place of pleasure, creativity and enchantment.

To create this illusion, a cast of professional entertainers invents a zany cross-section of characters from lords, ladies, beggars, wenches, minstrels and even Queen Elizabeth herself. While remaining true to their characters in dress, mannerism and dialect, the talented troupe provides over 100 stage acts and street performances daily. While scheduled performances of live Shakespearean comedy, spectacular jousting, pageantry, swordplay, comedy, and the timeless grace and beauty of Elizabethan and Celtic music and dance await, many special performances and surprises are purely spontaneous, and happen all around!

The Festival’s fifty member professional acting company, the Bless the Mark Players, provide the serendipitous happenings that make you feel as though you have just stepped into Shakespeare’s backyard. The troupe is cast through national auditions that take place each spring. Approximately 2,000 actors are auditioned for the 50 roles in the troupe. The group is lead by Gary Izzo, Creative Director, veteran Disney Show Director and author of The Art of Play and Acting Interactive Theatre.

After many weeks of full-time rehearsal and training, they employ their considerable skill in comic improvisation and interactive theatre to weave a tapestry of captivating encounters with visitors that is sure to loosen their grip on the 21st Century. Visitors are never strangers in the village of Warwick— everyone plays the role of the Queen’s subject.

The Bless the Mark Players also present throughout the day scheduled scenarios designed to include the visitor such as, the Opening Ceremonies, Trial & Dunke, Human Chess Match, and Wench & Bloke Auctions. The Bless the Mark Players are joined by independent performing groups who fill the stages with excitement and wonderment. The Bless the Mark Players will also perform at The Wyldwoode Theatre, on the festival grounds. Three different plays will be performed each day in one of upstate New York's only outdoor Shakespearean theatres; The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and a Commedia Del’Arte.

The Festival Grounds Stay Alive After The Renaissance Festival Ends! Plug in and pipe up at the Sterling Celtic Rock Festival, a weekend of heart-pounding live music, authentic food and drink and outstanding Celtic crafts, debuts August 22 and 23, 2009, the weekend directly following the Sterling Renaissance Festival. Details are available at SterlingCeltic.com.

The Sterling Renaissance Festival, presented by Empire Attractions, is located at the Sterling Festival Grounds in Sterling, NY, just 45 minutes north of Syracuse and just west of Oswego. Festival dates are Saturdays and Sundays only, July 4th through August 16th, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., rain or shine. Free parking is available. Sorry, no pets allowed. For festival details, discount ticket information, driving directions and important notices regarding special events, visit our website at SterlingFestival.com or call 1.800.879.4446.

Empire Attractions, New York’s premier themed events and entertainment provider, proudly owns and operates a variety of venues throughout the State, including the Sterling Renaissance Festival, the Sterling Celtic Rock Festival and Screamers’ Hollow located at the Sterling Festival Grounds in Sterling, NY; Sylvan Beach Amusement Park, Yesterday’s Royal and the Sylvan Beach Screamer Speedboat Thrill Ride, located along Oneida Lake in Sylvan Beach, NY; and Santa’s Workshop at North Pole, NY, located on Whiteface Mountain in North Pole, NY. For more information on Empire Attractions and its upcoming events, go to EmpireAttractions.com.

CONTACT: Doug Waterbury, Owner, Empire Attractions, LLC, 315.593.9677