‘Heroes’ to be performed April 22

A celebration of women who changed history and changed our lives

This performance will be at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 22, at the Recital Hall of Performing Arts Center of St. Cloud State University. Heroes features Ann Reed, Aimee K. Bryant, Leslie Ball, Dan Chouinard, Joan Griffith, Thomasina Petrus, also Denise Tabet and a local chorus as a tribute to women’s contributions and accomplishments.

This performance is a tribute to the lives and actions of Sojourner Truth, Eleanor Roosevelt, Katherine Hepburn, Sally Ride, Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman, Annie Sullivan, Gertrude Stein, Coretta Scott King, Amelia Earhart, Lillian Hellman, Eartha Kitt, Sacagawea, Ella Fitzgerald, Golda Meir, Dorothea Dix, Louisa May Alcott, Billie Jean King, Emily Dickenson, Lucy Stone, Margaret Sanger, Clara Barton, Billie Holiday, Juliette Low, Elizabeth Blackwell, Rosa Parks, Lena Horne, Beverly Sills, Barbara Jordan, Hellen Keller, Indira Gandhi, Agnes DeMille, Corazon Aquino, Gloria Steinem, Rachael Carson, Joan of Arc, Babe Zaharies, Marlene Dietrich, Anne Frank, Simone de Beauvoir and many more!

Ticket Prices: General Public tickets are $19 and Student or Senior tickets are $10 (65 and over). Tickets may be purchased at the SCSU Women’s Center or online at www.annreed.com. Extra donations to the Women’s Center are tax deductable and appreciated!

About Heroes: Heroes, a song written and performed by Ann Reed (1991) was her response to hearing a call-in show on the radio and reading several articles arguing that there were no real role models left for children or adults. Remembering her history classes and that little was mentioned of women’s accomplishments, she went to work. Starting with a long list of women from all over the world and a variety of careers, she chose 40 women. They were chosen without regard to nationality, political ideology or religious affiliation but rather for the place they hold in history. Another important factor from a songwriter’s point of view was the ability of their name to blend into the rhyming and pacing of the song.

The song struck a universal chord and grew to anthem proportion. The next step for Ann was to expand the concept of the song into something larger and enhanced by mixed media. In 2007 that dream came to fruition when she completed the play Heroes: A Celebration of Women Who Changed History and Our Lives, and cast a host of talented performers and enlisted a local choir. The first performance was produced by Minnesota Public Radio and recorded on CD and DVD and received critical acclaim. Dream Part II was not far behind-could Heroes find support for a touring production? Happily, the answer was yes. In 2012 Heroes will tour to the following Minnesota communities: Dawson, Staples, Minneapolis, Glenwood, Fergus Falls, Zumbrota and, fortunately, St. Cloud!

This activity is funded, in part, by the Minnesota arts and cultural heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the Legacy Amendment vote of the people of Minnesota on Nov. 4, 2008.

For more information, please contact the Women’s Center at (320) 308-4958, or jolsen@stcloud

state.edu.