WINSTON-SALEM, NC - The Open Dream Ensemble, a multi-disciplinary children’s theater group sponsored by the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), presents “Dream Machines,” an original play commissioned by Open Dream Ensemble for premier in the 2009 season tour throughout North Carolina and the southeast.

“Dream Machines” will make its public premier on Thursday, September 3, 6:30 p.m. at the Stevens Center in downtown Winston-Salem. Admission is free.

Open Dream Ensemble, a professional outreach program of UNCSA in its fifth season, brings the power of original live performances that integrate theatre, dance and music to students across the Southeast. Featuring the collaborative skills of professional artists trained at UNCSA, Open Dream Ensemble connects the palpable experience of live performance with artist residencies and educational workshops that align with school curriculum. Having captured the imagination of tens-of-thousands of students, Open Dream Ensemble is a creative force of transformation, affirming that the arts are vital, enthralling and relevant to the well-being and enrichment of young people.

Dream Machines, written and directed by UNCSA graduates Matt Cowart and Isaac Klein, helps tell the amazing story of travel at the turn of the 20^th century through the eyes of Katharine Wright, sister of the famous Wright Brothers. By tying Orville and Wilbur Wright’s dreams of airplanes to Henry Ford’s dreams of automobiles and Octave Chanute’s dreams of trains, the audience discovers how these machines take passengers to extraordinary places. Dream Machines takes flight with an inspiring mix of dance, drama, as well as music written by James Stewart and Joshua Morgan. The play connects with North Carolina Standard Course of Study in social studies, science, guidance, dance, theatre and music and is geared for students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

“We have enjoyed collaborating with our new directing team, Matt Cowart and Isaac Klein, as Dream Machines has taken shape”, said Margaret S. Mertz, Executive Director of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts.  “Their energy, enthusiasm and innovative spirit are the backbone for this new original show.  We’re looking forward to seeing it realized through our amazing 2009 ensemble cast.”

"We are thrilled to be teaming up with Open Dream Ensemble to create this story of planes, trains, automobiles, and people who are always on the move,” said Matt Cowart and Isaac Klein.  “The thing we love most about Dream Machines is the message it sends: you can achieve any dream you have in your heart, even if it may seem impossible, as long as you are willing to supply the work, dedication and determination necessary to get there. By harnessing the awesome power of their imaginations, audiences will behold the impossible becoming a reality, in both the staging and the story that unfolds. 

Open Dream Ensemble is a project of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts, which incubates projects that sustain artists at every point in their creative development through strategic partnerships that capitalize on visionary thinking in the arts.  For more information, visit www.kenanarts.org.

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (www.uncsa.edu) is the University of North Carolina's conservatory for the arts, dedicated entirely to the professional training of students possessing exceptional talents in the performing, visual and moving image arts. UNCSA offers students a focused, intense, professional training at the high school, baccalaureate, and masters levels in its schools of Dance, Design and Production, Drama, Filmmaking and Music.

For more information, visit www.opendreamensemble.com.