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Michael Parent |
March 2008
The Franco-American Collection at
USM/Lewiston-Auburn (USM/L-A) will be hosting a special
performance of “One More Thing,” by Michael
Parent. This one-man show, directed by David Kaye, will
be presented Tuesday evening, March 21 at USM/L-A at
7 p.m.
In “One More Thing,” Michael
Parent portrays Jean-Paul Boisvert, a retired Franco-American
mill worker who is trying to get "back into the
ballgame" of his life. Monsieur Boisvert watches
sports on TV, colorfully berating his beloved Red Sox
and Bruins. He sings old French songs and fields phone
calls from his children and other family members. He
also tells stories, some funny, others poignant.
“One More Thing” premiered
in March, 2004 at the Pontine Theater in Portsmouth,
N.H., and has since been performed at U-Maine, Orono,
the Theater Project in Brunswick, the Norlands Annual
Conference, the South Portland Public Library, the MacArthur
Library in Biddeford, and the St. Lawrence Arts and
Community Center in Portland.
Michael Parent is an internationally
known storyteller-singer, as well as an actor and playwright.
Since 1977, he has told stories in theatrical and non-theatrical
settings. In addition to his performances for a wide
range of audiences, including schools, libraries, and
festivals, Michael also leads storytelling, story-writing,
and performance workshops. He grew up in Lewiston, and
later lived in Virginia where he co-founded and performed
at "Live Arts," a thriving alternative theater
in Charlottesville. Michael returned to his home state
of Maine in 1998, and now lives in Portland. He received
the National Storytelling Network's "Circle of
Excellence" Award in 1999, and was a keynote speaker
at the 2001 National Storytelling Conference in Providence,
R.I.
This performance will be held at 7:00
p.m. Tuesday, March 21, in the function room at USM’s
Lewiston-Auburn College at 51 Westminster Street in
Lewiston. No admission will be charged, and the public
is encouraged to attend. The play is suitable for adults
and young people high school age and older.
The Franco-American Collection is
the largest repository of Franco-American archival material
in the State, with material on history, politics, religion,
education, industry, business, and the arts. Located
in a modern climate-controlled facility, the Collection
includes a state-of-the-art archival storage unit designed
to preserve the large collection of documents, news
clippings, photographs, and artifacts about Franco-American
history and culture. In addition, the Collection houses
the Madeleine Giguere Reading Room, which includes a
large selection of books concerning the French presence
in North America.
The Collection is open to the
public Mondays and Wednesdays 8:30 - 5:00 and Thursdays
8:30-12:30. Please call 753-6545 for more information,
or visit their web site at www.usm.maine.edu/lac/franco.
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