Join the Madison Morgan Cultural Center this weekend for the fifth annual Storytelling Festival, March 24-25.
This isn’t your grandmother’s storytelling festival unless your grandmother was the one around the dinner table telling about all the trouble she used to get into to, or how things were better in the “good ole days,” or passing on a crazy anecdote about life. All of the tellers are engaging, original, creative and guarantee to make you laugh. All of their stories are hand-crafted, and, well…most of them are true!
Meet the 2017 tellers:
Donald Davis was born in a Southern Appalachian mountain world rich in stories. A retired Methodist minister and featured at festivals throughout the U.S. and world, Davis is also known as a prolific author, producer of books and CDs and as a guest host for NPR’s Good Evening. Davis is a recipient of the NSN ORACLE Circle of Excellence and Lifetime Achievement awards. The L.A. Times raves that "Davis (is)...among the most popular figures on today's storytelling circuit."
Bil Lepp has taken audiences all across the country, from grade schools to corporate execs to the Comedy Central’s Hudson stage by storm! Audiences have been delighted by Bil’s mirthful tales and delightful, witty insights into everyday life. Bil’s books and audio collections have won awards including the PEN Steven Kroll Award for Children’s Book Writing, Parents’ Choice Gold awards, and awards from the National Parenting Publications Assoc., and the Public Library Assoc.“Lepp is a side-splittingly funny man,” affirms The Smithsonian Center for Folk Life.
Andy Offutt Irwin, is equal parts mischievous schoolboy and the Marx Brothers, peppered with a touch of the Southern balladeer. He is a regular Featured Teller at the National Storytelling Festival and received the Oracle 2013 Circle of Excellence from the National Storytelling Network. The Atlanta Journal / Constitution raves that he is “a fiendishly clever union of Tom Lehrer’s topicality… cut with Bobby McFerrin-style mouth music. Andy Offutt Irwin’s shows are good quirky fun!”
Regi Carpenter, award-winning performer, has toured nationally and internationally. Her tales celebrate the glorious and gut-wrenching lives of her family raised on the Saint Lawrence River in NY. Regi is the recipient of the JJ Reneaux Emerging Artist Award, a Leonard Bernstein Teaching Fellowship Award, the Parent’s Choice Gold Award, the Parents’ Guide to Children’s Media Award and the Storytelling World Award. This is her first year at our Do Tell! Festival.
This Festival features something for everyone with four sessions, you’re bound to find something you’ll love. All four sessions take place in the MMCC Auditorium, and feature all four tellers. Tickets are available in advance and at the door. Admission: $10/Adults, $5/Students.
Festival Schedule:
Friday March 24, 7 p.m. – Opening Performance
Saturday March 25, 10 a.m. – Family Performance
Sat Mar 25, 2:30 p.m. – Afternoon Session
Sat Mar 25, 7 p.m. –Grand Finale
For more information and tickets, please visit www.mmcc-arts.org or contact the Center directly at (706) 342-4743.
