Producer

Casey Biggs is producing River of Dreams.

Casey is a graduate of the Juilliard School. He is a professional director and actor and is the president of The Greene Arts Foundation. The Greene Arts Foundation was created to to help create a cultural economy in Greene County and transform our area into a world class arts destination while at the same time helping to foster and support the next generation of artists and audience.

Casey has appeared on stage, in film , and television and continues to do so. He teaches directing at the New School University in New York City. He is thrilled to be able to help create the River of Dreams and looks forward to seeing what the students of Greene County will bring to the stage to help commemorate Henry Hudson and the great river we live on and near.

The Author of River of Dreams

Author Hudson Talbott is a nationally known, award winning children's book author.

Hudson has written more than a dozen books for young readers including United Tweets of America and has illustrated Show Way (by Jacqueline Woodson), a Newbery Honor book.

Hudson visits schools, conferences, and civic centers throughout the year giving presentations on the subject matter of his books and coordinated with the current curriculum standards.

Hudson's books include:

Tales of King Arthur series, Forging Freedom, Leonardo's Horse, O'Sullivan Stew, Amazon Diary/ Safari Journal among others.

Hudson is a creative force in  our area having championed and revitalized the Catskill Community Center that provides programs and events that stimulate and inspire the citizens of Catskill and Greene County. 

COVER

This is the cover of Hudson Talbott's book.  We will be using this book for inspiration to work on creating the show. It is, in itself, evocative of the past and the future. Hudson will be appearing on the radio on NPR, WAMC 90.3, in January talking about the book and the project. We will let you know the exact date soon.

TALENT

At the present time we have one hundred and thirty students signed on to start the workshops for River of Dreams!

Director David Little will begin the workshops starting in February and they will be once a week for eight weeks. We will then take a break to work on the script and go back into rehearsal in April to rehearse for the opening of the show May 15th.

I will post the bios of all of the professionals next.

The Beginning

This blog will be used to chronicle the process of the River of Dreams Project.

 The River of Dreams Project is a multi media theater event using Hudson Talbott's latest childrens book, River of Dreams, as an inspiration to create a theater piece with the students of Greene County New York in commemoration of the quadricentennial of Henry Hudson's sail up the Hudson River.

Here you will be able to follow the progress and process of this amazing journey of creation with the students and professionals who will lead them finally to a production in May of 2009. We will post bios and stories and photos of the work and keep you informed as to how it all is turning out. We look forward to you taking this journey with us!