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About "LITTLE LOST ARTS"...

Founded in 1994, "LITTLE LOST ARTS" has been regarded as a small, off-beat, performing arts center where young people are gently encouraged to revel in the arts, in a nurturing atmosphere without fear of rivalry. Today, "LITTLE LOST ARTS" runs one of Sussex County's most industrious little community theaters, producing plays, musicals, and affordable family fare, with youth, and youth/adult casts. Their Community Outreach Project delivers educational programs with historic, folk/cultural, social awareness, and literary themes to various organizations, with the help of sponsors and volunteers. In addition, classes, summer camps, master workshops, concerts, story-telling events, and even a senior citizens' theater troupe are offered on-site and off.

Originally conceived from an eclectic blueprint, due to an unusual spectrum of performance arts studied and taught by founder, Sheri Flannery Verrilli, "LLA" students are now re-discovering ritual theater, puppetry, historic dance, and many "lost" art forms not taught in conventional classrooms. With 35-plus years of performance experience, Ms. Verrilli also formerly owned a dance studio, and was a member of her family's puppetry theatre troupe, "The Mermaid's Tale". She was fortunate to continue her studies and research (through traditional and non-traditional channels) on a world-wide basis, via a 15 year airline & tourism career, networking with folk practitioners, whose skills had been passed down, generation to generation. Today, you'll find these "lost" arts incorporated into many of Little Lost Arts' contemporary projects - thus prompting a younger generation to realize that...

"EVERYTHING OLD REALLY IS NEW AGAIN!"

Appropriately enough, LITTLE LOST ARTS has called the "Ratsch Theater," a converted 19th century blacksmith's barn (now a blackbox theater), "home", for almost a decade. It is in this venue that the mission and heart of "LITTLE LOST ARTS" remains its gentle philosophy… "We seek not to train 'performers', but to foster in young people an appreciation for all performance arts, while striving to keep the more traditional art forms alive within our community."

GRANTS -

From 1996-1998, Ms. Verrilli, in cooperation with Rutgers University Extension, created two cultural/historic Programs for county youth, and the general public, both funded by grants from the SC Arts & Heritage Council, and NJ Council on the Arts.

HONORS -

Ms. Verrilli is listed in "WHO'S WHO AMONG AMERICA'S TEACHERS", 2003-2004 edition, and 2004-2005 edition.

PUBLISHED WORKS -

Ms. Verrilli's holiday comedy, "Scrooge Makes Up!" is currently available through Pioneer Drama (www.pioneerdrama.com). Her collection, "Christmas Skits for Girls" is available from Brooklyn Publishers (www.brookpub.com).

NOTABLE "LITTLE LOST ARTS" PERFORMANCES
  • "FOX-TV, "GOOD DAY, NY!" featured LLA's Colonial Dancers at Waterloo Village.
  • "COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG, VA,"
    LLA Colonial Dancers performed with Colonial Williamsburg's famed historic dance troupe.
  • "TARA CIRCLE", NY, 2001. At this famous Celtic venue, LLA performed L. De Sena's drama, "Pendulum Moon".
  • "MUSEUM OF EARLY TRADES & CRAFTS", Conducted puppetry, and historic dance workshops and demos.
  • "A CHILDREN'S REMEMBRANCE OF THE HOLOCAUST" (2001). Audited by the NJ Holocaust Commission, endorsed by the SC Board of Education, this touring program on terrorism was based on the writings and culture of children interred in concentration camps.
  • "OLD DUTCH PARSONAGE", Somerville, NJ - LLA Colonial Dancers performed.
  • "HISTORIC WALLACE HOUSE", Somerville, NJ - LLA Colonial Dancers performed.
  • BARNES & NOBLE, Ledgewood
  • MACY'S, Rockaway Mall
  • MACY'S, Morristown
  • J.M. TOWNE, Willowbrook Mall
  • J.M. TOWNE, Caldwell
  • ROWE MANSE EMPORIUM, Clifton
  • SEASONS RESORT, Vernon
  • FAIRYTALE FOREST, Jefferson
  • "PBS-TV'S "CHILDREN'S DAY AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER" . (LLA's Colonial Dancers performed historic dance & sword rituals.)
  • "PEN AND BRUSH SOCIETY", NYC, May 2001. At this elite, legendary writers' haven, LLA performed "Pendulum Moon" by playwright, Laura De Sena.
  • "WATERLOO VILLAGE", Stanhope, NJ. Performed for NJN's documentary film produced onsite.
  • "NW JERSEY FOLKLIFE PROJECT'S INVITATIONAL ARTS EXPO" (1998, & 1999) Warren County. Conducted puppetry & dance demos and workshops, via a grant from WC Cultural & Heritage & Geraldine R. Dodge Commissions, & NJ Council on the Arts.
  • "20th ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM ON THE YOUNG CHILD," at William Paterson University. With Kim Flannery, conducted a puppetry construction and demo workshop for educators.
  • "VOICES OF BRANCHVILLE" (2002). Written by Ms. Verrilli, this fictional "ghost" play was based on old interviews and the local history of Branchville's most prominent residents. Sponsored by the Culverbrook Foundation and a grant from the SC Historic Society.
  • "NEW FACES OF '95" , introduced to the county by The Sussex County Arts & Heritage Council
  • "A DAY OF HISTORY", for the Sussex County Historical Society "

 

AVAILABLE FOR CONTRACT WORK:

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Please contact Sheri and "Little Lost Arts" at (973) 875-5111.