Area Residents Organize Tsunami Relief Benefit Geared for Families on Saturday, February 12

An afternoon of music and entertainment featuring a variety of performers will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. this Saturday, Feb. 12 at Portland High School to help with the Tsunami relief effort.

The event, which features five different children’s acts and performers, was organized by a group of Maine residents called Families for Tsunami Relief. A suggested donation at the door of $10 for adults and $5 for children will go directly to the American Red Cross.

Performers for the day, who have all donated their services, include Wayne from Maine, a children’s musician and recording artist, The Odd Company, one of the Northeast’s top comedy and juggling ensembles, Leland Faulkner, whose “World of Wonder” includes a variety of mime and hand shadows, Michael Lane Trautman, whose work incorporates magic, juggling, mime, storytelling and improvisation and Antonio Rocha, a native of Brazil who puts on a unique show of stories and mime. A more detailed list of performers is below.
For more information: tsunamirelief@maine.rr.com or call Jan Reale-Hatem at 799-2457, Rachel Rodrigues at 781-7830 or Laurel Rousseau at 846-4631.

Raffle items will include: a Trek bike donated by Cyclemania of Portland, Dinner for two donated by Azure Café in Freeport; a $20 gift certificate donated by Books Etc., tools donated by CCB Inc., a construction company in Westbrook; a basket of books set in India and Southeast Asia donated by Curious City; an overnight stay for two at the
Eastland Park Hotel in Portland; a “Bitty Baby” American Girl doll donated by Falmouth House of Pizza; a gift certificate for a Chocolate Amaretto cake at the Good Table restaurant in Cape Elizabeth; Marisol, an American Girl doll, donated by Harborview Investments in Portland, a Playmobil toy donated by Imagine Toys for Learning in Portland, items from Sri-Lanka, donated by Jim Pinfield, a ceramic rooster watering can and five piece set of Oxford gardening tools donated by Sebago Gardens of
Windham; silver and pearl earrings donated by Silpada Designs, a Tonka truck
donated by Toys R Us in South Portland; an autographed Book “Kokopelli and the Butterfly” donated by Treehouse Toys in Portland, Maine.

Other sponsors who have donated items include:

Azure Cafe

CCB Inc., construction company in Westbrook, Maine

Attorney Peter L. Hatem
Scarborough, Maine

Portland High School

Talbot Freeman & Associates, Inc.
Ft. Lauderdale, Fl

Varney Agency
Bangor, Maine

Wal-Mart

Wolfe Public Relations
Scarborough, Maine

FOOD DONORS

Big Sky Bakery
Portland, Maine

Domino’s Pizza

Dunkin Donuts

One Stop Party Shoppe
South Portland, Maine

Shaws Supermarkets

Shipyard Brewing Company
Portland, Maine

Tyson Foods, Inc.
Springdale, AK

• Doors open at 12:00 noon. The event will also feature food, and a raffle of donated items and door prizes. For more information: tsunamirelief@maine.rr.com or call Jan Reale-Hatem at 799-2457, Rachel Rodrigues at 781-7830 or Laurel Rousseau at 846-4631.


All proceeds go directly to the American Red Cross Tsunami Relief Fund.

More info on Performers:

Wayne from Maine
As a children’s performer for the young and the young at heart, Wayne has been performing and recording children’s music for over a decade. Wayne’s music is an adventure through various musical styles. Wayne, along with his percussionist JimmyJames the KoongaBoonga Man invite volunteers to the stage to play various percussive instruments or sing along. He has traveled up and down the east coast delighting audiences with his very own brand of “Edu’Tainment”.

The Odd Company
The Odd Company, one of the Northeast’s top comedy and juggling ensembles, brings together three international variety artists: Fritz Grobe, a four-time gold medallist at the International Jugglers Festival and founder of the juggling and dance ensemble “blink”, Amanda Huotari from the Boston Improv comedy troupe “Juice”; and Mike Miclon, comic host of the Maine sell-out phenomenon “The Early Evening Show”. The members of the Odd Company have performed around the world. They have also appeared on Maine PBS and on CBS Sunday Morning.

Far from the ordinary or expected, the Odd Company has been called “seriously amazing and dangerously funny.”

Leland Faulkner
Leland Faulkner is recognized for his elegantly woven performances that stir the imagination. By performing theatre that celebrates life and cultural diversity, the performances bridge race and custom with creative spirit.

Celebrate the differences in world cultures with performance artist Leland Faulkner.

Leland’s “World of Wonder” program is designed for the whole family, theatre that charms audiences of all ages with the actors imagination, the mime’s skill and illusion of conjurer’s craft. Using the amazing and lost art of hand shadows, Leland conjures up a menagerie of silhouettes using only his hands.

Leland Faulkner has been a touring artist for over fifteen years. As an independent theatre artist he has taught and performed at schools, colleges, theatre festivals, cultural exchange programs, and in private workshops.

Michael Lane Trautman
Michael Lane Trautman has performed his multi talented skills of magic, juggling, mime, storytelling and improvisation all over the world. His originality as a performer and rapport with audiences round and old has brought him a reputation as a performer who is both hilariously funny and profoundly moving.

He has been featured at the New York Clown Theatre Festival, The Edmonton International Children’s Theatre Festival, The Calgary International Children’s Theatre Festival and The Winnipeg International Children’s Theatre Festival. Most recently, Michael was the star clown in “The Big Apple Circus Stage Show”, touring throughout the U.S. in 1999-2000.

Antonio Rocha
Antonio Rocha is a native of Brazil. Using the versatile yet simple nature of mime and storytelling , Antonio brings the audience to activate their imagination through rich symbolism and imagery. His unique shows of stories and mime have been performed all over the world.

Antonio began his career in the performing arts in 1985. In 1988 he received a Partners of the Americas grant to come to the USA to perform and deepen his mime skills with Master Tony Montanaro. Since then he has earned a Summa Cum Laude Theater BA from USM (University of Southern Maine) and studied with master Marcel Marceau. Mr. Rocha's unique solo shows of stories and mime have been performed from Singapore to the Yukon and many places in between. Some of the venues include The Singapore Festival of the Arts, Aruba Intl Dance Festival, The National Storytelling Festival, The Kennedy Center, The Smithsonian Institution, The National Geographic, The Tales of Graz in Austria, Dunya Festival in Holland as well as many other Storytelling Festivals and educational institutions around The USA and Canada. Mr. Rocha is a member of the Maine Arts Commission, The New England Foundation for the Arts and the National Storytelling Association.
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