Brenda P. Schleunes Presented with O. Henry Award 2009

Three community service awards are presented each year at the Greensboro Partnership Annual Dinner - the Thomas Z. Osborne Award, The Athena Award and The O.Henry Award. The O.Henry Award is presented jointly by the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce and the United Arts Council of Greensboro. It is given to recognize an individual's outstanding contribution to the arts and cultural development of the community. The 2009 award was presented to Brenda P. Schleunes, Producing Artistic Director of Touring Theatre of North Carolina, for her contribution to the performing arts and her willingness to delve into timeless social issues on the stage.

Ms. Schleunes' work through Touring Theatre of North Carolina is unmistakably unique. As stated by Jeanie Duncan, United Arts Council of Greater Greensboro President and CEO, Touring Theatre has, in essence, "created a new medium." Touring Theatre productions, for the past 28 years, have touched so many lives because of Ms. Schleunes' insight into cultural issues that impact people from every walk of life. She has an astute ability to extract key emotional components from literature and historical documents and then translate them into engaging, powerful theatre experiences. Organizations then present these educational theatre documentaries to help advance their own educational missions.
Corporations also find the work of Touring Theatre useful in engaging employees in dialogs on work place diversity, tolerance and race.

To quote Ms. Schleunes, "Often the power of the production comes from the audience's opportunity to walk around in the hearts of the characters."

The Annual Dinner of the Greensboro Partnership was held January 29, 2009 at the Koury Convention Center/Sheraton Four Seasons. The event is held to highlight the 2008 accomplishments of the Greensboro Partnership and to provide a forum for the business community to hear from prominent speakers about the issues impacting Greensboro. The program featured keynote speaker Kelly King, CEO of BB&T, and special remarks by Maurice "Mo" Green, Superintendent of Guilford County Schools. Approximately 700 guests attended.

Helping to support Ms. Schleunes in receipt of her award were friends and members of the TTNC Board of Trustees (from left): Steve Sumerford, Brenda Schleunes, Donna Bradby, Donna Fairfield, Vivienne Mays, Cindy Ensley, and Amy Conley.

Touring Theatre Announces Auditions

Touring Theatre is announcing auditions for its Spring production, Piece Work, based upon Barbara Presnell's poetry anthology of the same name.

Rehearsals will begin in March, 2009.

The Piece Work project is funded through generous grants from the American Express Foundation and the North Carolina Humanities Council and with in-kind support from the Greensboro Public Library and Guilford Technical Community College. Performances of Piece Work will be presented at 10 North Carolina community colleges during the 2009-2010 academic calendar year.

Touring Theatre is also considering actors for its other productions in rep for the 2009-2010 academic year. Please visit the production page of TTNC's website for more information regarding these shows.

Criteria for actors include:
• Flexible schedule for rehearsals and touring performances
• Ability to travel easily to and from Greensboro, NC
• Singing experience preferred
• Professional acting experience preferred
• Multi-ethnic casting
• Character age ranges: 21-60

Auditions will be held, by appointment only, on February 26 from 7pm to 9pm. To schedule an appointment, please email headshot and resume to performs@ttnc.org.

Jeff Aguiar, Production Coordinator, will be contacting auditionees regarding time slots.