Minneapolis, Minn. January 30, 2012 The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts is thrilled to work with Illusion Theater and playwright Allison Moore as they bring Willa Cather's vibrant character of Antonia Shimerda to life on the stage in a remount of the world premiere of "My Antonia". The Ivey Award winning production will grace The Goodale Theater February 17th 19th. In 1918, author Willa Cather made the gutsy choice to write about the 1880's European immigrants who came here to make their American dreams come true. They endured bitter winters and struggled to make things grow in the hardscrabble soil of the windswept Nebraska prairie. Allison Moore's adaptation is told through the memories of narrator Jim Burden, who after twenty years of living in the East returns to his small prairie town to see Antonia, the Czech immigrant girl who shaped his understanding of life. The story is wrapped up in an environment of the changing prairie created by the actors, set, and sound.

Join Illusion Theater and The Cowles Center for the first theatrical production of The Cowles Centers Inaugural Season. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by call 612.206.3600 or going online to www.thecowlescenter.org.

About Illusion Theater

Illusion Theater was founded in 1974 and presents its season on the 8th floor of the Hennepin Center for the Arts at The Cowles Center in downtown Minneapolis. Since the beginning, Producing Directors Michael Robins and Bonnie Morris have led Illusion Theater in illuminating the illusions, myths and realities of our times and in using the power of theater to catalyze personal and social change. In 38 years, Illusion has generated more than 500 plays, developed thousands of artists and created ground-breaking educational works. Plays developed at Illusion have been produced in theaters throughout the world. Illusions work has catalyzed conversations in living rooms, kitchens, coffee houses, and boardrooms, and has led to transformations in policy, in organizations, in students, and in individuals.

About The Cowles Center

The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts is the Twin Cities' newest arts center and the flagship for dance in Minnesota. Centrally located in downtown Minneapolis, The Cowles Center includes the newly refurbished 500-seat Goodale Theater; the Hennepin Center for the Arts, home to 20 leading dance and performing arts organizations; the state-of-the-art Target Education Studio, housing The Cowles Centers distance learning program; and the new U.S. Bank Atrium. The Cowles Center fills the need for a place that is a catalyst for the creation, presentation, education, enjoyment and celebration of dance and the performing arts in the Twin Cities. www.thecowlescenter.org.

Illusion Theater

My Antonia

Thursday, February 16 10am (preview) ($10)

Friday, February 17 8pm (Opening Night)

Saturday, February 18 8pm

Sunday, February 19 7pm

Single tickets - $20

Location: The Cowles Center for Dance & the Performing Arts

528 Hennepin Avenue South at 6th Street, Minneapolis

Tickets: The Cowles Center Box Office

612.206.3600

11:00 a.m. 5:00 p.m. Tuesday Friday and Saturday & Sunday two hours prior to performances

Online anytime at www.thecowlescenter.org

Single tickets - $10-18 (group discounts available)

FEBRUARY AT THE COWLES CENTER

Black Label Movement

Visceral

Friday, February 10 8pm (Opening Night)

Saturday, February 11 8pm

Sunday, February 12 7pm

Single tickets - $22

Beyond Ballroom Dance Company

Friday, February 3 8pm (Opening Night)

Saturday, February 4 8pm

Sunday, February 5 7pm

Single tickets - $24-27

Illusion Theater

My Antonia

Thursday, February 16 10am (preview) ($10)

Friday, February 17 8pm (Opening Night)

Saturday, February 18 8pm

Sunday, February 19 7pm

Single tickets - $20

Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theatre

Zorro in the Land of the Golden Breasted Woodpecker (Moningwunakauning)

Friday, February 24 8pm (Opening Night)

Saturday, February 25 8pm

Sunday, February 26 2pm

Single tickets - $28

Aegis Foundation presents Oscar Night America

Sunday, February 26 5:30pm

General Admission - $50-65

VIP - $130-160

Contact: Andrea Tonsfeldt

612.206.3631

atonsfeldt@thecowlescenter.org

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