SPECIAL EVENT #1
HIROSHIMA MAIDEN
Created by Dan Hurlin
Original Music Composed by Robert Een
New England Premiere
Saturday, February 21, 2003 at 8PM
Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street)

Dan Hurlin’s newest theatrical endeavor is centered on the true story of the Hiroshima Maidens – a group of 25 women disfigured by the nuclear blast at Hiroshima – and their infamous visit to the U.S. in 1955 to undergo reconstructive surgery. The climax of their bizarre odyssey occurred when they met face to face with the pilot of Enola Gay on the television program This is Your Life. Performed in style of Japanese Bunraku puppetry, The Hiroshima Maiden involves nine puppets and set pieces manipulated by four puppeteers and five dancers. The gorgeous life-like puppets, created by Hurlin, possess an astonishing range of emotion. Composer Robert Een’s original score borrows from Haiku poetry. VIEW the Japanese press release for Hiroshima Maiden. (Acrobat plugin required.)

The New Haven Advocate has hailed Hurlin’s work as “…the most caring, big-hearted, open-minded, celebratory theater work imaginable.”

SPECIAL EVENT #2
AN EVENING WITH AL FRANKEN
Featuring Al Franken
Saturday, March 27, 2004 at 8PM
Woolsey Hall (Located on the corner of College and Grove Streets)

Franken’s new bestseller, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, battles the conservative movement head on with incisive wit. Franken is also the bestselling author of Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations, Why Not Me?, Oh, the Things I Know!, and I’m Good Enough, I’m Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me! Franken is well known for his work as a comedian and satirist, on SNL, having received four Emmys for his writing on SNL and a fifth for producing. In 1988, he provided commentary for CNN at the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta. The New York Post called him “the Walter Cronkite of the 90’s.” He is also a frequent guest on Politically Incorrect, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Late Show with David Letterman.