October 11, 2011
Join Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen for “A Hometown Evening” at Flagstaff’s Orpheum Theater on Saturday, November 5 and a Sunday Brunch on November 6 at the Museum of Northern Arizona—two benefit events in support of MNA’s Edward B. Danson Chair of Anthropology Fund.
The evening event will feature a dramatic reading by Danson and Steenburgen, with Ted’s daughter Kate Danson and sister, Jan Danson Haury, of Tales of the Dansons, drawn from the dairies and writings of MNA’s second director, Edward “Ned” Danson and his wife Jessica Danson. Ted will also talk about his life growing up in Flagstaff and beyond. Film clips of Danson and Steenburgen acting together will be shown, and the Nuvatukya’ovi Sinom Hopi Dancers will perform. Capping off the evening, guests can mingle and dance to the live music of the Voluntary String Band.
Ticket options for the 7:30 p.m. evening event (doors open at 7:00 p.m.) are $22 for the lounge area and balcony seating, $35 for general floor seating, and $125 for a limited-availability VIP package, which includes seating in the first rows, admission to a 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. personal pre-show event with Ted and Mary, heavy hors d’oeuvres, and a silent auction of Danson and Steenburgen film memorabilia. Tickets for the VIP package must be purchased in advance at MNA’s Museum Shop, Animas Trading Company, Rainbow’s End, Bookmans, Stage Left Sub-Shop, orpheumflagstaff.com, or musnaz.org. (Ticket processing fees may vary between outlets).
At Sunday’s 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Brunch at the Museum, Edward B. Danson Chair of Anthropology Dr. Kelley Hays-Gilpin will give a short presentation about her research at MNA. Danson and Steenburgen will read selections from Tales of the Dansons, focusing on Ned and Jessica’s collecting trips for the Museum’s annual Hopi and Navajo festivals and their excursions with artist Jeffrey Lungé, brother-in-law to Jessica and Ned. There will be an exclusive live and silent auction of Danson family items and artwork, including signed original Lungé paintings of the Southwestern lands loved by the Dansons. An exhibit of Lungé’s art will be on display, accompanied by the release of an illustrated book, Jeffrey Lungé: Visions of the Southwest. Designed by Ted’s cousin Pam Lungé, the book includes essays by anthropologists Dennis Gilpin and Kelley Hays-Gilpin and an introduction by Katherin L. Chase, a previous curator of art at MNA. It was published by Copper Cliffs Press and will be available for purchase during the Brunch, at the MNA Bookstore and through local and regional outlets.
Available at both events will be a recently released biography Edward Bridge Danson—Steward of the New West by Ned Danson’s grandson Eric Penner Haury. Published by the Museum, it includes a foreword by Ted Danson and Jan Danson Haury, and an introduction by MNA Director Dr. Robert Breunig. An archaeologist, Dr. Ned Danson was a professor at the University of Arizona; assistant director under the Museum’s co-founder and first director, Harold S. Colton, and then director of MNA for 20 years from 1956 to 1975. The biography is available at MNA’s Bookstore for $50 hardback and $20 paperback; the paperback is also available at shops.musnaz.org and through Amazon.com.
Business sponsors of the event include, for Saturday night’s performances, KNAU and the Orpheum Theater, and for Sunday’s Brunch KNAU and KindVines|Sustainable Packaging Solutions. All proceeds of ticket and book purchases will go to the Edward B. Danson Endowed Chair of Anthropology Fund at the Museum of Northern Arizona, Inc. (MNA), an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
For more information about the Museum of Northern Arizona, visit musnaz.org or call 928.774.5213. For information about the Danson/Steenburgen events, contact development@mna.mus.az.us or call 928.774.5213, ext 270.