UWG
News Item
Contact: University Communications & Marketing
Phone (678) 839-6464, FAX (678) 839-6645
ucm@westga.edu
Rudolph to the Rescue Holiday Show
November 22, 2004
CARROLLTON, GA - Dancers in native costumes perform Cossack, Gypsy and Georgian dances; virtuoso musicians play at pulse-gripping tempos; and a world-renowned singer shares beautiful songs from his Russian homeland. Not your average holiday show, but something far superior!
This
energetic family show coming to the University of West Georgia Townsend
Center for the Performing Arts will feature the Massenkoff Russian Folk
Festival, which brings to life the rich heritage of Russia through Russian
songs, balalaika music and Russian folk ballet. The audience-interactive
program of rousing dances, traditional storytelling and soul-stirring
music will be the highlight of the University’s daylong Rudolph
to the Rescue Holiday Show and Toy Drive on Tuesday, Nov. 30, at 7:30
p.m.
Community giving is the driving force behind the annual Rudolph to the Rescue Holiday Show and Toy Drive. The event combines a brunch, reception and toy drive with two morning presentations of the holiday show for local schoolchildren and the evening performance for the public. It is sponsored by the Townsend Center, the UWG Staff Advisory Council and ARAMARK, the University’s food service provider.
“The event gives UWG faculty, staff and students a chance to give back to the West Georgia community,” said Robert Jennings, director of the Townsend Center.
“UWG just had a very successful A DAY campaign where the community showed its support for us. The toy drive is one way we can give back to the community,” said Jennings. “I’m sure the staff and faculty will be as generous this year as they have been in past years. The gifts we collect will bring much needed joy into the lives of these children.”
The morning will feature a Rudolph to the Rescue Brunch and Toy Drive for faculty and staff from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. An Evening Reception and Toy Drive for the public will begin at 6:30 p.m. Both the brunch and reception will feature live music, festive food and a holiday atmosphere in the Townsend Center lobby.
Admission to the brunch and reception is an unwrapped gift for a child aged infant through 18 years. All the gifts collected will be donated to the Department of Family and Children Services to make Christmas special for the children in their care.
The Massenkoff Russian Folk Festival is a fun-filled collage of Russian performing arts, including peasant and Gypsy melodies, native costumes, engaging storytelling and dynamic dances by the Russian Souvenir Dancers. Musicians playing indigenous Russian instruments involve audience members in the show through intimate dialogue.
As an added holiday treat, the festival’s creator, world-renowned singer Nikolai Massenkoff, will lead the audience in carol singing, a Russian language lesson and participation on stage. Massenkoff’s commanding bass-baritone voice and charismatic stage presence recently earned him the distinction of “Countryman of the Year” in Russia.
The internationally acclaimed Massenkoff ensemble has toured extensively in the United States and abroad for more than 20 years. The troupe has performed with such celebrities as Bob Hope, Julio Iglesias, Brooke Shields and Tony Bennett and always garners rave reviews.
Following a recent performance at the Prairie Center in Schaumburg, Ill., a reviewer exclaimed, “The immensely talented Nikolai Massenkoff was in fine form, his voice and commanding presence even better than I remembered. Our audience was enthralled with exuberant dancing, virtuoso performances on the Russian instruments, and wonderful costumes.”
“The Monitor” in McAllen, Texas, reported, “Massenkoff took 1,776 people on a cultural journey to a distant country, with a brilliant depiction of Russian people!”
Massenkoff has been featured throughout America at Carnegie Hall, the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, the International Showcase at the Epcot Center in Orlando, and the Concord Pavilion on the west coast. He has performed with major symphony orchestras here and abroad, including San Francisco, Baltimore, Honolulu, Palm Beach, London and Edmonton, and on national and international television at Sudwestfunk in Baden, Germany.
Following his performance before 90,000 people at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea, the press honored him with the title of “World Celebrated Singer.”
As the excitement of the holiday season builds, the fifth annual Rudolph to the Rescue Holiday Show and Toy Drive offers families a rare opportunity to participate in an exceptional yuletide experience. Bring the kids, the grandparents and the neighbors out to enjoy its biggest family show ever, holiday food and a chance to help children in need. This one you will have to see to believe!
Tickets for the holiday show are $10 for adults, $7 for seniors and $3 for children. For more show and ticket information, call the Townsend Center at 678-839-4722.
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