Fräulein Maria premiered at Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater on December 8, 2006, as part of the Dancemopolitan series produced by Robin Staff, Tamara Greenfield, and Sydney Skybetter of DanceNOW[NYC].
Named TEN BEST DANCE PERFORMANCES OF 2009 in The Boston Globe and Cleveland Plain-Dealer and TEN BEST DANCE PERFORMANCES OF 2008 by Joan Acocella in The New Yorker.
Named in DECADE’S BEST DANCE by Deborah Jowitt in The Village Voice (“Fraulein Maria . . . Elkins’s sweet, hilarious, beautifully constructed take on The Sound of Music”)
After touring for 3 years to 17 cities in the US and Canada, Doug Elkins & Friends' Frӓulein Maria concluded its So Long, Farewell Tour by closing Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival's 80th anniversary season in August 2012.
[Fr]auf Wiedersehen!
doug elkins & friends’
FRÄULEIN MARIA
Conceived and choreographed by Doug Elkins
Directed by Barbara Karger and Michael Preston
Music by Richard Rodgers Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II*
Presented in cooperation with Rodgers & Hammerstein: An Imagem Company.
*“I Have Confidence” and “Something Good” Music and Lyrics by Richard Rodgers. All Rights Reserved.
Cast: Hilary Brown, Daniel Charon, Alexander Dones, Doug Elkins, Krista Jansen, Deborah Lohse, Kellie Ann Lynch, Cori Marquis, Meghan Merrill, Donnell Oakley, Joshua Palmer, Michael Preston, John Sorensen-Jolink
Lighting Designer: James Latzel
Lighting Supervisor/PSM: Heather Smaha
Costume Designers: Barbara Karger, Robin Staff
Rehearsal Director: Carolyn Cryer
Dramaturg: Anne Davison
General Manager: Amy Cassello
about Fräulein Maria
Doug Elkins was inspired to create Fräulein Maria after countless viewings of the timeless movie classic The Sound of Music with his young children. Commissioned in 2006 by DanceNOW[NYC] for its Dancemopolitan Holiday Series, produced in partnership with Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater, Fräulein Maria was an immediate hit. Fräulein was reprised at Joe’s Pub in December 2007 and recognized with a coveted New York Dance & Performance (BESSIE) Award.
The citation to Doug reads: “For creating a tender, rollicking excursion at Joe’s Pub called Fräulein Maria, which took us from the snow-capped peaks of Hollywood through the worlds of “downtown” dance, Martha Graham, Willi Ninja, Balanchine, hip-hop, voguing, stepping, stomping, whirling, and flying like wild geese with the moon on their wings.” With the encouragement of arts impresario Bill Bragin and the addition of co-directors Barbara Karger and Michael Preston, Fräulein Maria was expanded and moved uptown for Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors in August 2008. The show, once again produced by DanceNOW[NYC] in partnership with Joe’s Pub, returned to the Pub for a final run there in December 2008. Once at home on a larger stage, Fräulein Maria toured to 17 North American cities from 2009-2012.
Fräulein Maria was made possible through the generous support of Ted Chapin, Bert Fink, and Brian Sherman of the venerable Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization. Initial funding to expand the show was provided by the Vapnek Family Foundation.
This production came to be through a thousand favors. Fräulein Maria is dedicated to the memory of vogue diva Willi Ninja, one of our favorite (Miss) Things; to the many grandparents and parents who took us to see the original movie; and to the children in our lives who keep all of us young at heart. Former and alternate cast members and guest artists who helped shape the show include: Arthur Aviles (our first Fräulein Maria), Ephrat ‘Bounce’ Asherie, Madeline Best, Devin Buchanan, Archie Burnett, Cindy Chung Camins, Therman Christopher, Carolyn Cryer, Alberto Denis, David Dorfman, Moe Felican, Kevin Fitzgerald Ferguson, Niles Ford, Keely Garfield, Halley Gerstel, Mark Gindick, Gui Greene, Jeffrey Kazin, Malcolm Low, Scott Lowe, Lindsey Dietz Marchant, Jennifer Miller, Yuriko Miyake, Johnnie Moore, Alexis Murphy, Lisa Niedermeyer, Jennifer Nugent, Alethea Pace, MiRi Park, David Parker, Hunt Parr, Fritha Pengelly, Lisa Race, Christina Reaves, Charemaine Seet, Amber Sloan, Allison Smith, Nicole Marie Smith, Jennifer Sydor, Nicole Wolcott, and Yin Yue. Special thanks to The Bang Group, David Parker and Jeffrey Kazin, Directors.
