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Local playwright Kuracina offers world premiere chronicling life of NYC model and North Country resident
10.08.09
Even if you never met her in person, you may have seen her dotting some of the most famous spots in New York City.
The likeness of Audrey Munson, a Mexico, NY, native who modeled in New York City and then spent 65 years at the Ogdensburg Psychiatric Center, was the muse for the sculptures in front of the Plaza Hotel, at the entrance of the New York City Public Library and atop City Hall.
Munson’s 105-year life will be chronicled as local playwright and actress Elaine Kuracina and SUNY Potsdam’s Department of Theatre and Dance team to bring “American Muse: The Story of Audrey Munson” to the stage on October 23, October 24, October 29, October 30 and October 31 at 8 p.m., with an afternoon showing on October 25 at 2 p.m. All performances will take place in the SUNY Potsdam’s College Theater in Satterlee Hall.
Pre-performance conversation with Kuracina, Director Kimberley A. Bouchard and Choreographer Robin Collen will take place Sunday, Oct. 25, at 1 p.m. and Thursday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. in the Black Box Theatre in Satterlee Hall.
This original multimedia play tells the story of the woman considered the “Belle of the Artists’ Studios” in New York City from 1906 until the 1920s. Munson became the preferred model for many notable American sculptors and her figure is the basis of most public female statuary from this period.
According to Kuracina, Munson had the perfect look and proportions for the Beaux Arts aesthetic. She was also dependable, had stamina and she could hold still for hours in the poses the artists wanted.
With a scandal of a murder, the change in art style and lack of work, she moved back with her mother to Syracuse and eventually was deemed depressed and paranoid. She was then sent to what was then known as the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center in Ogdensburg, where she remained for 65 years.
She is buried in an unmarked grave near her hometown.
“Audrey’s struggles are everyone’s struggles: Mother and daughter issues, being alone, trying to find work, frustration with losing work, loss of a father, wanting to be successful, wanting to be loved,” Kuracina said.
Kuracina wrote and developed the script for the 2010 Campus Festival “Footprints in the North Country: Pathways on the Planet” that will take place in April.
It features SUNY Potsdam student actors and dancers, as well as local residents Nancy Horan, in the role of the older Audrey, Ed Clark and Bruce Brownlee.
The play features strong roles for actors but also the dance of the period that was groundbreaking in style and form. Choreographer, Dr. Robin Collen, has created new dance pieces for the production that feature the styles of Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, Loie Fuller, Isadora Duncan and the Ziegfeld Follies.
Scenic and lighting designer Todd Canedy has created a set with visual fluidity that incorporates the imagery of the rivers and the mystique of the artists’ studios where Audrey spent so much time in her youth.
The costumes, designed by Julia Ferreri, recreate the richness of the period and the shifting styles of post-Victorian to the 1920s.
“It is a rare opportunity to find a play that integrates dance with acting to this extent,” said Bouchard. “The ensemble of actors and dancers creates a seamless, kaleidoscopic story of this remarkable woman’s life.”
To create the characters in the play, Kuracina interviewed nurses at the Ogdensburg Center who remembered Munson, a niece who was in contact with her in her later years and Oswego historian Justin White, whose great aunt lived with Munson’s mother.
“I see these sculptures and know there was an amazing real woman who inspired them. Her life and perseverance inspired me to create this play for the Footprints festival,” Kuracina said. “Audrey Munson left a very large and beautiful ‘footprint’ on the world through her statuary.”
Kuracina said she created the play specifically with the Department of Theatre and Dance in mind. “I wanted to create a piece that used the fabulous creativity of the students and faculty in both programs.”
“The Department of Theatre and Dance has given me so much,” said Kuracina. “I have studied dance with Robin (Collen), appeared in several productions and taken classes. Kim (Bouchard) coached me for a New York City appearance I had last year. I feel so lucky to continue my passions for theatre and dance at Potsdam.”
Kuracina wrote, produced and toured the United States in her one-woman musical “Lillian Russell - 1890s Broadway Star.” With the Grasse River Players, she created the multimedia theatre event “Forever Crows,” for Canton's Bicentennial.
She has performed with Pendragon, the Grasse River Players and SUNY Potsdam Theatre and Dance productions. Kuracina has appeared in an episode of “Sex and the City.”
Tickets are available at CPS Box Office in the Sara M. Snell Music Theater lobby, by calling (315) 267-2277, by e-mailing cps@potsdam.edu and at the door on the evenings of performance.
Tickets are $10 for general admission, $8 for SUNY Potsdam faculty and staff and $5 for students.
For information about the production, call (315) 267-2556.
Contact:
CPS Box Office
(315) 267-2277 | cps@potsdam.edu