Tony Montanaro: A Love Story performed by Karen Montanaro with Jack Golden

What: Tony Montanaro: A Love Story performed by Karen Montanaro with special guest, Jack Golden performing The Last Hurrah-Ha

When: May 3, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Where: Shea Theatre 71 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA

Tickets are available at: https://sheatheater.org/ for $20

Eggtooth Productions presents Karen Montanaro’s one-woman, multi-media show, Tony Montanaro: A Love Story, a comical, profound, intimate, and breathtaking account of the personal and professional relationship between Tony and Karen Montanaro.

Tony Montanaro: A Love Story is based upon the creative relationship Karen had with her husband Tony, perhaps the most famous American Mime performer in our history. When Tony and Karen met in 1987, Tony was a world-renowned mime artist and Karen was a professional ballet dancer. Tony was 60 years old and freshly divorced. Karen was 27 years old and the only “relationship” she had ever had was with ballet. Tony was ready to leave his former life, buy an Airstream and hit the road. Karen was at a dead end, suffering from anxiety attacks and a life-threatening malaise. Thus began a relationship that Karen credits with saving her life; imparting grand lessons in vulnerability, artistry, playfulness and more playfulness.

Karen, a world-renowned dancer and mime artist, an award-winning choreographer, and innovator of ‘mimedance,’ said, “Tony’s original vision in 1972 was to build an international school and theater of mime, but pretty soon the word got out that this former horse farm, on the end of a dirt road, in the middle of nowhere (Paris, Maine) was something else altogether. As Jack Golden and I and many other students-of-Tony’s discovered, ‘The Barn’ was a kind of incubator where we broke out of ‘shells’ we hadn't known we were in . . . lots to say on that subject . . .”

David Bruin, executive artistic director of Celebration Barn, which commissioned and produced the piece said, “Tony Montanaro: A Love Story delivers on the promise of its subtitle. As Karen tells it in this intimate and heartfelt show, it all began when a beautiful ballerina caught the eye of a world-weary mime, and from that fairy tale beginning, a decades-long partnership in life and art was born. But there is, of course, more to the story, a story that Karen brings to life with her unique mix of mime, dance, and storytelling. In a world where our deepest affections are leveraged for user data, Karen's show is a moving testament to the power of love—and art—to change our lives and shape our destiny.”

Opening for Montanaro will be long-time friend and collaborator, Jack Golden from Leyden, MA performing The Last Hurrah-Ha. Jack has evolved his own creative alchemy and The Last Hurrah-Ha is the latest episode his one-of-a-kind work.

Drawing on decades of performing, The Last Hurrah-Ha is a look back and a look ahead in the life and times of an actor, clown and active septuagenarian. Melding the base elements of clown, story, and movement, he transforms his vast collection of experiences into surprising inventions that will bring laughter, tears, and recognition.

Jack earned his clown shoes at San Francisco’s renowned Pickle Family Circus (where Bill Irwin got his start), then studied mime, movement and improvisation with Master Physical Theater Artist Tony Montanaro. He was part of the New Vaudeville troupe The Wright Brothers, and then became a solo performer travelling to schools throughout the US, delighting children and delivering an environmental message.

Tony Montanaro: A Love Story is presented in partnership with Celebration Barn.

About Celebration Barn (David Bruin, Executive Artistic Director)

Located in South Paris, Maine, Celebration Barn creates opportunities for physical theater artists to hone their craft and share their work. Each summer, the Barn offers a series of workshops in physical theater, clowning, mime, and experimental theater and performance. In addition, we present a season of live theatrical productions for local audience members. Throughout the year, we bring programming to schools in Western Maine, and we produce workshops and shows in New York City, Las Vegas, and elsewhere. Learn more at: https://celebrationbarn.com/

Following the performance, Jack and Karen will offer a workshop on May 4, 2025 called: THE METHOD, MADNESS, AND GENIUS OF TONY MONTANARO, that teaches the improvisational methods of Tony Montanaro.

Tony Montanaro, master of mime, dance, and improvisation, understood how to unlock creativity by silencing the mind’s inner critic, and how to quiet the mind to awaken the body. In this workshop, folks of all ages and abilities develop new connections and gain confidence while having fun.

Karen Montanaro and Jack Golden, long-time students of Tony’s, offer this workshop for anyone wishing to learn more about the master’s approach to the simple miracle of inspiration. According to Golden, “Tony always said that the best way to be interesting is to be interested.” Using exercises that Tony developed, Jack and Karen help people access their own originality and personal style. The workshop offers the chance to discover physical eloquence while laughing away inhibitions. Space is limited to fifteen participants.

Cost: $35. Sunday May 4, 2025 at the Shea Theater 10AM-12PM

Sign up at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/workshop-method-and-madness-of-tony-montanaro-tickets-1244112165979?aff=ebdsshcopyurl&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term