FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: August 21, 2003
Contact: Christa Skiles
Public Relations Director
513-345-2242, ext. 232

CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK COMMISSIONS TWO NEW PLAYS FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES AS PART OF THIS YEAR'S OUTREACH TOURING SEASON

(CINCINNATI) – The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park has expanded its commitment to the Tristate’s young theatre audiences by commissioning two new plays as part of this year’s education and outreach touring season. Cherie Bennett will adapt her award winning novel Life in the Fat Lane as the winner of this year's Lazarus-Macy’s New Play Prize For Young Audiences. David Gonzalez’s Four Walls/Open Sky tells the compelling stories of people who came to this part of the country in search of a better life. Both world premiere shows will tour to Tristate area schools this spring.

Life in the Fat Lane is the story of Lara, a teenager who seems to have the perfect life. She’s a beauty queen and a classical pianist who comes from the best family. But then Lara suddenly and mysteriously begins to gain weight. No amount of dieting or exercise helps and, in a matter of months, Lara has gained 100 pounds and is unrecognizable as her former self. While her boyfriend struggles with the demise of his “trophy” girlfriend, Lara’s relationship with her parents also heads into a tailspin. Life in the Fat Lane is a thought-provoking and engaging portrait of how teenagers struggle with self-image in a society obsessed with appearance.

Cherie Bennett emerged in the 1990s as one of the country’s most provocative writers on teen themes, working in the areas of young adult fiction and playwriting. Her novel Life in the Fat Lane was the winner of the 1999 American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults award. Other works include Anne Frank and Me (which spent three months on the Los Angeles Times' Children’s Bestseller List), Zink and Searching for David's Heart.

Ms. Bennett is the author of the weekly teen advice column “Hey, Cherie!,” which is syndicated nationally in sixteen newspapers. She is also a two-time winner of the Kennedy Center’s biennial New Visions/New Voices competition.

This is the fifth straight year that a national playwright has been chosen by the Playhouse to create a new work specifically for younger audiences as the recipient of the Lazarus-Macy’s New Play Prize, made possible by the generosity of the Lazarus-Macy’s Fund of the Federated Department Stores Foundation. Produced by the Playhouse's Skilken/Brown Touring Company, Life in the Fat Lane will tour area schools for grades seven to 12 from March 15 to April 16.

The Playhouse commissioned renowned storyteller David Gonzalez to create Four Walls/Open Sky as part of the celebration of the opening of Cincinnati’s new Underground Railroad Freedom Center. The show is a one-man play with music that will be drawn from oral histories of Cincinnati area residents as well as historical and cultural research conducted by Mr. Gonzalez this fall. With compassion and with humor, Mr. Gonzalez will bring to the stage the powerful real stories of the strivings, sacrifices and dreams of local individuals.

David Gonzalez is one of this country’s most talented and sought after storytellers. He has performed to more than 2,500 audiences across the globe, including several appearances on Broadway, as well as at London’s Royal National Theatre, the Smithsonian Institution, Lincoln Center Theatre and in hundreds of schools. He has been honored with the Helen Hayes Performing Artist of the Year Award. Four Walls/Open Sky is made possible thanks to a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Four Walls/Open Sky will tour area schools and community groups for grades seven to 12 this spring from May 3 to May 14. It also will receive two public performances as part of this year’s Rosenthal Next Generation Theatre Series for children. The show will be performed in the Rosenthal Plaza at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park on April 17 at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. for audiences ages 12 and up.

For more information about the Playhouse's education and outreach programs, contact Bert Goldstein, Playhouse education director, at 513/345-2242.

Artists fly to and from Cincinnati on Delta Connection COMAIR, the Playhouse’s official airline.

The Playhouse is supported, in part, by the generosity of the tens of thousands of individuals and businesses that give to the Fine Arts Fund.

The Ohio Arts Council helps fund the Playhouse with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

The Playhouse also receives funding from the City of Cincinnati.

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