Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts

It’s been a very busy Lizzie Summer and Autumn with plays, lectures, re-enactments, house tours, cemetery tours, and much anticipation about the upcoming Parallel Lives.  Warps & Wefts will be on vacation until October 18th in Victorian Cape May- a place where Lizzie would feel right at home.  Victorian week is an annual Cape May attraction and is rated in the top 100 American events not to miss.  http://www.capemaymac.org/content/subpage_main.aspx?id=820

W&W will return on the 18th with photos of all the Victorian fun, fashions and amazing Painted Ladies!

Gallery X will be holding an open exhibit “Lizzie Borden, A Tale of Two Cities”. On August 4, 1892, a terrible crime was committed in the city of Fall River. After all suspects were interviewed, all were cleared except for the youngest daughter of the victims, Miss Lizzie Andrew Borden. The vicious murders and it’s following trial caused the largest media blitz America had ever seen. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Jackson Borden were brutally slain in their home in broad daylight. The trial of Lizzie Borden has lived in the hearts, imaginations, and minds of a larger group of people than one would expect. The crime was committed in the City of Fall River, On June 5, 1893, Ten months later, Lizzie was brought to trial at the Bristol County Superior Court house in New Bedford. After a trial of thirteen days, Lizzie was acquitted for lack of evidence.

The show’s title, “Lizzie Borden, A Tale of Two Cities” is a reference to the connection of these two cities and the national interest the murders in Fall River, and the following trial in New Bedford caused. Nearly every newspaper in the country held front page accounts of the tragedy and it’s proceedings. It seems everyone had their opinion on these bizarre proceedings and the press couldn’t get enough! The exhibit is open to all artists, local and otherwise. All submissions must pertain to Lizzie and/or the Borden tragedy. The limit is three pieces per artist, at $10.00 each. Gallery X will receive A35% commission on any sales. The show opens on October 14, 2009,the opening reception will be on October 17, 2009. The deadline for entries is Sunday October 11,2009 between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Gallery X hours are Wednesday through Friday 11:00 a.m. till 5:00 p.m. , Saturday and Sunday 11:00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m.

LIZZIE BORDEN LIVE

Winner best actress:  JACOBY AWARD

Back by popular demand.  LIZZIE BORDEN LIVE is returning to The Eagle Performing Arts Center, 35 North Main Street, Fall River, MA for two performances in August. Friday the 21st at 8:00 p.m. and Saturday the 22nd at 8:00 p.m.. 117 years ago on these dates Lizzie Borden was sitting in the Taunton County Jail, where she resided for 10 months, awaiting trial.  Tickets ($30).  Purchase on line at www.lizziebordenlive.com (click on Schedule page) or at the door.

Lizzie Borden Live debuted in Fall River at the Eagle in June to a sold out house. Ms. Dalton said, “We are thrilled to finally bring Lizzie Borden Live to Fall River and the response was overwhelming.”  Jerry Donovan, who recently restored the Eagle, said “The play and its sell-out mark the beginning of a new era in the city. ”  Mayor Robert Correla praised the play saying it was powerful and exceptionally performed.  Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter, who attended the play with his wife Dottie. Said, “If she was innocent, that was an incredible price to pay.  If she was guilty, she got what she deserved.  But it raises aspects and a side of this story I never had considered.”

“Jill Dalton, who plays Lizzie and wrote the play stunned audience members with her delivery, which featured many laughs, many somber notes and a compelling tragedy.”  Ric Oliveira, O Journal

On a hot August morning the bodies of Andrew Borden and his wife were found bludgeoned to death.  Their youngest daughter, Lizzie, became the only suspect.  Innocent in a court of law.  Guilty in the court of public opinion.  Condemned by society.  The legend comes to life with humor and insight as the real Lizzie steps on stage.

“Dalton is nothing less than superb in her depiction of the character, as her Lizzie is alternating sweet, innocent, witty and savagely murderous.  The audience is left to decide which Lizzie is the real one.”  Ed Wismer, Cape May Star Wave

 Jill Dalton, (writer/performer) an award winning New York actress with a long list of television and theatre credits, was commissioned by the East Lynne Theater Company in Cape May, N.J. to write the play where it had a successful five week run garnering praise and standing ovations from audiences and critics alike.  Ms Dalton won the 2007 Jacoby Award for her portrayal of Lizzie in Lizzie Borden Live.  Ms. Dalton wants the audience to decide for themselves if Lizzie Borden was guilty of killing her father and step-mother on August 4, 1892.

The true crime thriller is set 13 years after the double murder in Maplecroft, the mansion Lizzie bought with money inherited from her father.  “Dalton gives a compelling performance enacting the humanity, humor, irony and sadness of a woman who’s had time to reflect on horrific events.” Susan Johnson, Red Rock News

Jack McCullough, (director) born in Fall River, said, “We had to get down to the very marrow of the bone, otherwise there’s no point in telling the story.  People come to see Lizzie expecting to see a monster and instead they find themselves.”

 Haunting the performance is music written by Emmy winning and Tony nominated orchestrator and composer Larry Hochman, who created his original pieces based on the script and his personal observations during rehearsals.

 Dalton’s credits include:  Law and Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Rachel Getting Married, Veronika Decides to Die (2009), Wall Street, Another World,  All My Children, One Life to Live, As The World Turns and Saturday Night Live.  Ms. Dalton was also a stand up comic for several years and won the Mary Jo Comedy Show Award for stand-up comedy in NYC. 

 McCullough, a graduate of the Trinity Repertory Conservatory in Providence, R.I., also directed another of Dalton’s solo plays, My Life in the Trenches, most recently at the Kitchen Theatre in Ithaca, NY and at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, the International Midtown Theatre Festival NYC, the One Festival and the 78th Street Theatre Lab in NYC.  As an actor he appeared in Third Watch, Desperate Measures, The Observer, Osmosis Jones, Spenser: for Hire, Mr. North and Providence.

 Seating is limited to 150.  The doors of the Eagle will open at 7:00 PM.   Prior to the performance there will be a cash bar and members of the Mutton Eaters, dressed in period garb, will meet and greet the guests.

  Lizzie Borden Live challenges the audience to rethink the legend that is Lizzie Borden.  Think you know her?  Think again!  

 The Eagle Performing Arts Center

35 N. Main Street

Fall River, MA  02723

 Tickets ($30).  Available at www.lizziebordenlive.com (click on Schedule page) and (CASH ONLY) at the door.

 Press contact:  Jack McCullough (917) 806-3243 or lizziebordenlive@gmail.com

Good things happening in the city. Read the article here: http://www.heraldnews.com/entertainment/x2141119034/Fall-River-featured-in-photo-exhibit

Once again the much-anticipated opening of the True Story of Lizzie Borden attraction in Salem was delayed.  Hoping to open on Lizzie’s birthday on July 19th, the date had to be pushed forward to August 4th, the anniversary of the murders.  The woodwork paint was drying, the local newspapers were touting the opening, and Fall River was getting into the controversy about Lizzie’s presence in Salem-when the August 4th opening never materialized.  Hopefully eager visitors-to-be called ahead, or else there were some murderous prospective guests who must have been disappointed to find closed doors on the day.  Meanwhile, back in old Fall River, August 4th went on as ever. 

Today the word is out that the opening  date of the attraction/museum/exhibit is uncertain due to some difficulties with the city of Salem officials- red tape, paperwork, permits, -something like that.  Makes you wonder if the other famous ladies of the city- those ladies in the pointy hats- are brewing up some spells !  Maybe they don’t want any competition from another woman!

The fifth biennial U.S. conference on Jack the Ripper will take place October 10-12th in Knoxville, Tennessee.  It will be held at the Four Points by Sheraton Knoxville Cumberland House Hotel, which is immediately adjacent to the World’s Fair Park and its distinctive Sunsphere and less than an hour’s drive from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. For more information please visit the website at http://www.ripperology.com/conference/where.html

The Salem local papers announced this morning the date of the long-awaited Lizzie Borden Museum -August 4th, the date of the murders of Andrew and Abby Borden in Fall River. According to Leonard Pickel, the designer of the exhibit “This is going to be very much like a museum. More like the Peabody Essex than the witch museums. Don’t expect to come and be entertained, but come to learn something about the true story of Lizzie Borden.”

It should be interesting to see how the Salem Witch venue will succeed with a Fall River legend.

http://www.salemnews.com/punews/local_story_207000848.html