Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

Hi All,
I just saw my friend Tom Lee's Puppetry show KO'OLAU.  The show is beautifully crafted and made for all audiences. The music is composed by Yukio Tsuji and Bill Ruyle using the hammer dulcimer, acoustic guitar, world percussions, bow on saw, native American flute and shakuhachi. The two veteran theater and dance musicians along with the actors help us enter a world where puppets reveal the beauty of humanity and the sorrow of injustice. There is not a lot of shakuhachi playing, but Yukio's humble approach in this piece invites the audience to experience, IMHO, the essence of the instrument. In just an hour, our hearts are warmed and we are allowed tears. What better way to spend an evening.

Runs until Oct 5, 2008.



Here's a note from Tom:

I'm very happy to announce that KO'OLAU will open next week in the Club at La MaMa.  The piece tells the story
of Kaluaiko'olau, a Hawaiian cowboy from the island of Kaua'i, who in the 1890s rebelled against the provisional
government of the islands. The production uses kuruma ningyo -style puppets and projection of live and
stop motion animation.  Live music is performed by Yukio Tsuji and Bill Ruyle on shakuhachi and hammer dulcimer
among other instruments.

I hope you will come see it.

Aloha,

Tom Lee

www.tomleeprojects.com


La MaMa ETC & Yara Arts Group present

KO'OLAU  a true story of Kaua'i
designed & directed by Tom Lee
music by Yukio Tsuji & Bill Ruyle
lighting by Miranda Hardy
costumes by Kanako Hiyama
assistant designer  Nao Otaka

with Matt Acheson, Marina Celander, Frankie Cordero, Yoko Myoi
live projection by Tom Lee & Miranda Hardy
understudies  Takemi Kitamura, Kiku Sakai

in the Club at La MaMa Experimental Theatre
74A East 4th St. between 2nd & 3rd Ave

September 18 - October 5, 2008
Opening night Thursday Sept 18 at 10pm
Thereafter, Fridays & Saturdays at 10pm,  Sundays at 5:30pm

Tickets $18 student & senior discounts available
212 475 7710 www.lamama.org

This production supported by the Jim Henson Foundation, the Rhodopi International Theater Collective,
Chocolate Factory Theater, TCG/ITI Travel Grant Program, Yara Arts Group, individual donors and, in part,
by public funds from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.