MEET ME @METRO II: A THEATRICAL JOURNEY ON LOS ANGELES’ METRO RAIL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Los Angeles, California, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) June 8, 2011 -- WATTS VILLAGE THEATER COMPANY IN ASSOCIATION WITH
WATTS/CENTURY LATINO ORGANIZATION PRESENTS

MEET ME @METRO II
A THEATRICAL JOURNEY ON LOS ANGELES’ METRO RAIL

Featuring performances by Obie Award winner Rick Burkhardt, eight innovative Long Beach and Los Angeles-based theater companies as well as a myriad of solo performers

(June 3, 2011/Los Angeles, CA) Building upon the success of last year’s Metro Me @Metro, Watts Village Theater Company (WVTC) in association with Watts/Century Latino Organization presents Meet Me @Metro II, a theatrical journey on Los Angeles’ Metro Rail featuring daring, site-specific performances curated by WVTC Artistic Director Guillermo Avilés-Rodríguez and Associate Curator Rita Cofield from Obie Award winner Rick Burkhardt, eight innovative Long Beach and Los Angeles-based theater companies and a myriad of solo performers. Meet Me @Metro II will take place July 2–10, 2011 with performances on Saturdays and Sundays at 11:00am beginning and ending at the Watts Towers Arts Center.

Originally inspired by interactions with the youth of Watts who had never traveled outside a 10 mile radius of their community, the inaugural Meet Me @Metro attracted over 5,000 ticketed and incidental audience members and employed over 100 local artists and staff. Now, with the continued support of Los Angeles County’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority and endorsements from Mayor Villaraigosa and the Honorable Mark Ridley-Thomas, Second District Supervisor, Meet Me @Metro II has expanded its route, performance schedule and artistic vision.

With a “Traveling Circus” theme, Meet Me @Metro II features performances from eight cutting-edge, professional Long Beach and Los Angeles-based theater companies as well as a dazzling array of solo performers who will join the sideshow caravan. The theatrical journey begins at the Watts Towers Arts Center and runs along the Blue Line, south to Long Beach and back. With colorful and inspiring performances happening all along the way, audiences will be immersed in theater, dance, puppetry, music and spectacle—all highlighting the historical, cultural and artistic significance of South Los Angeles and Long Beach.

"Meet Me @Metro II represents a synergy between art and transit, art and sustainability,” remarks Guillermo Avilés-Rodríguez, Artistic Director of WVTC. “It’s a way to get people both out of their cars and to the theater, or better still, a way to bring the theater to them."

Meet Me @Metro II is made possible by the generous support of the James Irvine Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Bank of America, United Latino Fund, LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, 2nd District, California Community Foundation, Transit TV, Metro Art Docent Council and California Green Press.

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EVENT DETAILS

What: Meet Me @Metro II

Location: The Watts Towers Arts Center
1727 East 107th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90002

When: July 2–10, 2011. Saturdays and Sundays at 11 a.m.

Tickets: $11; Available online at www.wattsvillagetheatercompany.org

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IMAGES, INTERVIEWS AND PRESS PASSES

Hi-res images, interviews and limited press passes are available upon request.

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MEDIA CONTACT:
Joleen Deatherage
310 422-4146

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