Three Day Circus Spectacular Highlights 25th Anniversary Celebration - September at Wells Fargo Center for the Arts

"Birdhouse Factory" Features Cirque du Soleil Style Performance
by World Renowned Circus Stars

Subsidized Ticket Prices and FREE Tickets Say "Thank You"
to Sonoma County for a Quarter Century of Support!

Santa Rosa, CA (August 18, 2006) - Prepare to be amazed and thrilled by the critically-acclaimed circus spectacular, the "Birdhouse Factory" - coming September 22-24 to the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa. Featuring former circus stars from Cirque du Soleil and the Nanjing Acrobatic Troupe, the Birdhouse Factory by Cirque Works transports audiences to a magical factory where every machine is used for one fantastic circus act after another! Made possible in part by a generous gift from Basin Street Properties, the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts' presentation of the Birdhouse Factory provides quality family entertainment at subsidized ticket prices. Approximately 800 tickets will also be donated to low income members of our community through the Arts Center's ArtReach program. With five performances over three days, the Birdhouse Factory circus spectacular is presented as a special community celebration in honor of the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts' 25 th anniversary.

Called "world-class talent" by Spectacle Magazine, and "genius" and "inventive," by the San Francisco Chronicle, the Birdhouse Factory performance will transport you to a factory in San Francisco where circus acrobatics and early 20th Century machines come together. It's a place where numb factory workers become extraordinary purveyors of love and life. Interconnected by their roles on an assembly line which produces uninspired widgets, the workers are magically transformed when a hapless bird flies into one of the machines, forever altering their lives and the factory's future.

Suddenly the workers are taken from the dreary and mindless to the vibrant and meaningful. Sit back in awe as the flying hoop of an aerialist is lifted up by a factory worker who powers a strange trolley in a giant wheel. Imagine a beautiful contortionist performing on a turntable energized by unicyclists, while two acrobats improvise a vertical tango on a steam pipe. All of a sudden, the factory workers launch into a wild drumming jam session on the assembly line! "Together the balancing, tumbling, contorting and death-defying tricks make for the kind of spectacular eye candy that could earn millions in Vegas," said Michael Leaverton of Guardian Magazine.

The show was inspired in part by Diego Rivera's Detroit industry murals, the outrageous machine illustrations of Rube Goldberg and by Charlie Chaplin's film Modern Times.

Birdhouse Factory is brought to life thanks to the vision of its director Chris Lashau, his inventive machines, and the talent of its international cast, former members of the world renowned Cirque du Soleil and the Nanjing Acrobatic Troupe.

"The beauty of "Birdhouse" lies in (how) acts are layered upon each other and the superb integration of circus skills with music, light and choreography. And the glory. is in the excellence of its performers," said Robert Hurwitt of the San Francisco Chronicle. The seamless blend of mechanics and art tell a story of laughter, love, flight, loss, and birdhouses.

A SPECIAL 25TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT 
Birdhouse Factory by Cirque Works
September 22, 23 & 24 at 8pm & September 24 at 2pm $18, $45, $58 
September 23 at 2pm (60-minute abbreviated Family Series performance)
$15-Child, $20-Adult

Tickets are available at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts Box Office, 50 Mark West Springs Road in Santa Rosa , by phone at 707-546-3600, or online at www.wellsfargocenterarts.com .
Groups and Wells Fargo Center for the Arts' Members receive significant discounts.

Print quality artist images available at:

http://www.wellsfargocenterarts.com/docs/contact/media.html

The non-profit Wells Fargo Center for the Arts is the North Bay's premier arts organization presenting world-class performances, contemporary sculpture, festivals, and events to 500,000 residents and visitors each year. Together with its resident companies, the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts provides more than 100 annual performances, serves to present intriguing contemporary art, and is one of California's largest providers of arts education programs for children. Located in the heart of the Wine Country, the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts campus features spacious auditoriums, an intimate cabaret, and outdoor festival grounds with a big-top tent. Unlike many similar organizations, the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts is not aligned with any federal, state, or municipal entity-such as a city or university. The Center was created by and is supported by the community it serves, making it uniquely positioned as an independent, entrepreneurial-focused, non-profit arts organization. We serve to Enrich, Educate and Entertain - Connecting Our Community through the Arts.