Welcome Home Miss Lizzie

 

            “I wanted to give Lizzie a voice to tell her own story following her day in court,” stated Ms. Dalton.  “That’s something she was not able to do when she was doped up on morphine during her famous murder trial.”

 

    Lizzie Andrew Borden was found innocent in a court of law, but judged guilty in the court of public opinion.  She was condemned by society and shunned in her hometown.  Ms. Dalton powerfully evokes Lizzie’s emotional turmoil and psychic trauma. She wrote the play from Lizzie’s point of view so that “the audience can hear her side of the story for the first time.”

 

      The legend comes to life with humor, empathy and insight when Lizzie steps on stage at the Eagle Performing Arts Center on 35 North Main Street at 8 PM on Saturday, June 20th.   This production, sponsored by the Luso American Gallery of Antiquities, is funded in part by grants from the John and Abigail Adams Program of the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Four Cities Collaborative of the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism.  

 

      “In addition to this state support, the Mayor’s Office and the Arts Uniting Fall River collaborative have participated in the planning and promotion of this community event and fundraiser,” noted LAGOA curator, Stephen L. Cabral. “Our organization is committed to promoting the arts, preserving our cultural history and providing scholarship funds for promising students. Lizzie Borden Live will help support these goals.”

 

      Jill Dalton is an award winning New York actress with a long list of television and theatre credits.  She has appeared in Law and Order, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, As the World Turns, All my Children, One Life to Live and Saturday Night Live.   The East Lynne Theater Company in Cape May, New Jersey commissioned this play, which opened to standing ovations from the audience and critics alike.  Ms. Dalton won the 2007 Jacoby Award for her portrayal in Lizzie Borden Live. This dramatic crime thriller is set 13 years after the double murder at Maplecroft, the Highlands mansion Lizzie bought with money inherited from her father.  According to the Red Rock News of Sedona, Arizona: 

 

      “Dalton gives a compelling performance capturing the humanity, humor, irony and sadness of a woman who had time to reflect on horrific events.  She enacts a Lizzie that has never been portrayed anywhere in stage, screen or literature. ”

 

Fall River native son, Jack McCullough, is the director of the show, which has toured New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Arizona.  Mr. McCullough, a graduate of the Trinity Repertory Conservatory in Providence, RI, has also made his mark on stage and screen, but prefers to work behind the scenes of Lizizie Borden Live.  Jack has envisioned this homecoming since the play first opened.  He insists that this production will make the audience think twice.

      “We are very excited about performing on stage in the heart
      of Lizzie’s old neighborhood.  Jill and Lizzie have a compelling
      story to tell.  People come to see Lizzie expecting to find a monster and instead they discover themselves.”
 

    Check your calendar and order your $40 tickets from LAGOA, Inc. by calling 508-673-6624.   Seating is limited to 160 so make your reservations now.  The doors of the Eagle Performing Arts Center will open at 6:30 PM.  Harpist, Judy Mitchell will set the musical tone for the night, and members of the Mutton Eaters, dressed in period garb, will greet and engage the guests at the light buffet and cash bar prior to the show.

    

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

 

Stephen L. Cabral, Ph.D.
Curator/President
Luso American Gallery of Antiquities, Inc. (LAGOA)
484 Highland Avenue, Fall River, MA  02720
Tel.  508-673-6624
www.lagoagallery.org