June 23, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Julia Rubens, rubens_ja@mercer.edu or 478-301-2933
Outdoor Pop-Up Theatre and Film Event at The Grand
Highlights Georgians Living with Disabilities
MACON – A free outdoor film and pop-up theatre event called Treasure Maps: The Georgia Storytelling Roadshowwill take place at The Grand Opera House this Saturday, June 26 at 7:30 PM. The event includes local celebrity hosts, food trucks, and storytelling that will feature 10 Georgians living and thriving with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
The feature of the roadshow evening will be a screening of Treasure Maps, a film collage of experiences with an up-close and personal viewpoint into what it’s like navigating the complex webs of life in our communities as a person with a developmental disability. Themes include starting your own business, friendship, going to college, alienation and acceptance, dealing with the physical aspects of disability, and how transformative living a full inclusion life can be.
The show is touring in six cities across Georgia, and chose Macon as one of the spots to advocate and present the free performance. Appearing alongside StoryMuse Founder/Creative Director Shannon Turner is local co-host George McCanless, President/CEO of United Way of Central Georgia with show marshal Tamika Woods of River Edge Behavioral Health.
Before the show, there will be food trucks serving barbecue, shaved ice, and snacks, as well as music from BluePrint Productions and a moment honoring local music legend Newton Collier. Gates open at 7:30 PM with the show starting at 9 PM.
Irene Turner of the Treasure Maps team notes, “Watching these stories all together is so fun; they create a gorgeous patchwork quilt, revealing pieces of the beautiful complexity of what it’s like to live with a disability in this state.”
Treasure Maps is proudly presented by the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities and L’arche Atlanta. Free tickets can be reserved here.
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The Grand Opera House is a vibrant community-assembly resource for all residents of Macon-Bibb County, as well as a draw for cultural tourism that significantly impacts the success of Macon’s downtown and corresponding economic vitality. It is our mission to nurture an appreciation of the arts in all citizens of Central Georgia, especially its youngest citizens, through attracting the presentation of quality productions as well as an immersion into a treasured architectural artifact that reflects 133 years of Macon’s history. And finally, as a performing arts center of Mercer University, the Grand Opera House seeks to champion excellence as the premiere theatrical venue in Central Georgia.