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About "LITTLE LOST ARTS"...

Founded in 1994, "LITTLE LOST ARTS" is a small, off-beat, performing arts center where young people can revel in the arts, in an encouraging atmosphere almost devoid of rivalry. As one of Sussex County's most industrious little community theaters, "LLA" produces plays, musicals, and affordable family fare about every 8 weeks, with all-student casts, as well as mixed casts of youth and adults. Various classes, summer camps, master workshops, concerts, dance programs, story-telling events, and a senior citizens' theater troupe are offered on-site and off. In addition, a Community Outreach Project brings LLA educational programs with historic, cultural, social awareness, and literary themes to various organizations, through the help of sponsors.

Originally conceived from an eclectic blueprint, due to a wide spectrum of unusual 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 was a member of her family's puppetry troupe, "The Mermaid's Tale", and operated a modern dance studio and troupe. Her studies and research (through traditional and non-traditional channels) were supplemented via a 15 year airline, travel & tourism career, allowing her to network with folk practitioners, whose skills had been passed down, from 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 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 diverse 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 the general public, funded by grants from the SC Arts & Heritage Council, and NJ Council on the Arts.

HONORS -

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 playwright, Laura De Sena's"Pendulum Moon".
  • "MUSEUM OF EARLY TRADES & CRAFTS", Conducted puppetry, and historic dance workshops at this museum.
  • "A CHILDREN'S REMEMBRANCE OF THE HOLOCAUST" (2001). Audited by the NJ Holocaust Commission, and endorsed by the SC Board of Ed, 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.
  • "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 demonstration 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.