Asheville Youth Mission

Thursday night the AYM drama team, Many Voices, gave their debut performance of their first production, The Strength In Me.  The folks at The Garage in Biltmore Village turned their rock and roll venue into a “rock theatre” for a full crowd of youth and adults from the Asheville area.  Covering topics of adolescence like identity, pressures, expectations, sexuality, dating, and more, a main cast of 6 teen girls and a supporting cast of 4 teen guys shared their experience of being youth in today’s world.  From drama to rap, step dance, and a cappella music, they wowed the audience and gave them plenty to think about.

After the performance, the “second act” of the show was a discussion between the audience and cast.  Audience members posed questions to the actors regarding the topics covered in the play and about their experience of writing and performing it.

Some photos of the first night are in the Many Voices gallery.

We hope to see you Saturday at 2pm for the final Asheville show!

Want Many Voices to perform in your town?  Contact Bill Buchanan and ask about adding a stop on the Many Voices tour!

Some of you have been asking about directions to The Garage for the Many Voices Production, “The Strength In Me.”  Directions are below.  You can also find out more about The Garage by visiting, www.thegarageatbiltmore.com.

From Downtown Asheville

Take Biltmore Ave. South to Biltmore Village.  Turn left at McDonald’s onto Lodge St. (25A-S).  Make left at first light onto Fairview Rd.  (Behind the Polar Bear).  Cross the RR tracks and look for the first building on the right, French Broad Brewing Co.  The Garage is in the same building, next to the brewery.

From Interstate 40

Take exit 50, Biltmore Estate.  Remain in the right hand lane.  Turn right at McDonald’s onto Lodge St. (25A-S).  Turn at the second left onto Fairview Rd.  Cross the RR tracks and look for the first building on the right, French Broad Brewing Co.  The Garage is in the same building, next to the brewery.

The shows will be Thursday, Jan. 27, at 7:00pm and Saturday, Jan. 29, at 2:00pm.  (We plan to hold the Saturday show approximately 15 minutes to allow students from Asheville Middle School and Asheville High School to arrive after Saturday School.)  Tickets are $8.

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The AYM drama team, Many Voices, will be doing a portion of their first production, The Strength In Me, on WMYA 40 (channel 9 in Asheville) during their 9am show on Monday, Jan. 24.  Aimee and Bill Buchanan will also be on the show, doing a short interview about the production.

Also be on the lookout for a feature article about Many Voices this week in the Asheville Citizen-Times!

Despite snow, ice, and high winds, Resurrection Dance Theatre from Port au Prince, Haiti performed two fantastic shows in Asheville.  Friday night the group danced at Diana Wortham Theater, a great venue that has hosted actors, singers, and dancers from around the world.  The performance concluded with a reception hosted by the YMI Cultural Center and the audience was able to greet the cast.  Saturday RDTH played The Orange Peel and rocked the house!  Didi stole the show with his “Beat It” solo, and Lele amazed everyone by playing the drum with his feet and head as well as his hands!  The Peel can add RDTH to their list of great acts that have played there, including Ladysmith Black Mombazo, Bob Dylan, Smashing Pumpkins, and Lauryn Hill.

Sarah Heaton, a senior high from Asheville, was the official AYM photographer for the Asheville part of the tour.  Her pics will be posted as an AYM gallery.  Thanks, Sarah!!

And thanks to all the people and organizations that helped make this tour happen, including:The YMI Cultural Center, Montreat Conference Center, Jubilee! (especially Donna, Mary Ann, and Marcus), South Carolina House in Montreat, Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, Black Mountain Presbyterian Church, The crew at Diana Wortham, Liz and the crew at the Peel, plus Josh, Emily, Kent, and Nick!

Most of all, thanks to the folks who bought tickets and who braved the weather and came out to see the shows.  Because of you  RDTH has added thousands of dollars to their funds to rebuild their facilities in Haiti!

AYM’s youth drama team, Many Voices, performs tonight at The Blaze.  The Blaze is a continuing education event for youth workers and is held at Montreat Conference Center.  Tonight’s performance will be a segment of worship and will be two scenes from their original debut production, The Strength In Me.

Many Voices will perform the full production of The Strength In Me on Thursday Jan. 27 at 7pm and on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 2pm at The Garage at Biltmore.  For advance tickets, contact Bill Buchanan at billbaym@gmail.com or 231-4634.  If you would like to host a Many Voices performance, Bill would love to talk to you about that too!

Asheville Youth Mission is partnering up with the YMI Cultural Center to sponsor an Asheville tour of Resurrection Dance Theater.  RDTH is a troupe of dancers and drummers from St. Joseph’s Home for Boys in Port au Prince Haiti.  They are touring the Carolinas to raise funds to rebuild their facilities that fell in the 2010 earthquake.  The first performance will be Friday, Jan. 7, at 7pm at Diana Wortham Theater.  Tickets can be purchased online, www.dwtheatre.com.  The second performance will be Saturday, Jan. 8, at The Orange Peel at 1pm.  Tickets can be purchased online at www.theorangepeel.net.  Donations can be made to Hearts with Haiti, the non-profit that supports St. Joseph’s and their other facilities Wings of Hope and Trinity House.  AYM is thrilled to be part of this project!  Some things to look out for are:

-an interview with Bill Nathan Tues. Jan. 4 at noon on WCQS in Asheville

-an article in the Mountain Express by Lorin Malorie

-an article in Take 5 (the weekend mag of the Asheville Citizen-Times)

Hope you will come out and see one of the shows!  RDTH will also be doing shows in Clemson, Columbia, Charleston SC, Charlotte, and Hickory.

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