Stephen Collins in Unlaunch’d Voices, an Evening With Walt Whitman September 10, 2010

Unlaunch’d Voices, an Evening With Walt Whitman
with Stephen Collins, actor
The Mercury Café presents Stephen Collins in Unlaunch’d Voices, an Evening With Walt Whitman, on Friday, September 10 and Saturday, September 11 at 7:30 p.m. at the Mercury Café, 2199 California St, in Denver, Colorado. Tickets are $10.00. For reservations call 303- 294-9258.
Since the late 1990's, Stephen's performances have captured the attention of the press. It is not just the stunning resemblance to Walt Whitman himself, which many of the reviews notice, but the portrayal of the character and the essence that he brings within arm's reach to the audience that makes the poet come to life. It is not surprising that in some reviews, the writer switches Collins' name and Whitman's interchangeably. A true compliment to a performance well appreciated.

The Play
Unlaunch’d Voices, an Evening With Walt Whitman opens with the elderly Whitman on the evening of his seventieth birthday. The audience is a visitor in his room as he prepares for his birthday celebration. Whitman begins to reminisce and to question his success as a man and a poet. He tells us his work has proved to be "less than a failure...." He remembers a mystical experience he had in his thirty-seventh year that inspired him to write poetry.

During the telling, Whitman transforms into his young vibrant self and we begin to trace back along with him the experiences that led to the creation of Leaves Of Grass, his lifetime work. The first part of the performance explores Whitman's preoccupation with the self and his resolve to write with "free and brave thought..." We revel with him as he celebrates his body and himself and are confidants as he shares his struggle with his sexual self.
In the second part of the performance, Whitman's life is changed forever by the occurrence of the Civil War. It is here that he finds "... the most important work of my life..." nursing the wounded soldiers in the hospitals. Through poetry and readings of actual letters, we experience Whitman's movement from selfishness and selflessness and his growth into a mature artist who is at peace about "himself, God and death."
From the moment "Walt" appeared, Collins had the audience in the palm of his hand. Pat Elliot - Chair, Department of English and Writing, Regis College
Stephen Collins: Renaissance Man
Stephen Collins grew up in Cambridge, and received a BA in Literature from UMass Boston. After twenty plus years in a sales career, he is back doing what he truly loves - performing and teaching. Recently he has been teaching seminars on Whitman, Hardy, Shakespeare, Frost, and Contemporary Poetry at various locations throughout the country. He also works as a professionally licensed tour guide doing narrated historical tours of Boston. His Whitman performances have taken him all over the country. He now has five one-man shows and five courses where his teaching style has been described as a hybrid between lecture and performance.
More information at http://www.unlaunchedvoices.com/
The Mercury Café presents Stephen Collins - Unlaunch’d Voices, an Evening With Walt Whitman - Friday, Sept. 10 & Saturday, Sept. 11 - 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10.00. Mercury Café, 2199 California St, in Denver, Colorado. For reservations call 303- 294-9258.