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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: October 7, 2003
Contact: Christa Skiles
Public Relations Director
513-345-2242, ext. 232

CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE LAUNCHES STAGE LEFT, A NEW PROGRAM SERIES TO ENGAGE YOUNGER ADULTS IN THE THEATRE

(CINCINNATI) – The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park is launching a new series specifically designed to attract and engage audience members under the age of 40. The Stage Left series will include six events throughout the course of the Playhouse’s theatre season, each of which will include a social aspect and/or a behind-the-scenes component in addition to a performance of a show, all at a discounted price.

The Playhouse has been on the leading edge of providing fun, attractive events for the under 40 crowd with its House Party program (now in its tenth year) and alteractive Monday evening performance series. Stage Left adds a new option to the mix, this time with a chance to go behind-the-scenes to learn how productions come to life on the Playhouse’s two stages.

For each event, the Playhouse will partner with an existing young professional organization in the city. Its members will serve as hosts for each program, offering participants not only the chance to enjoy great theatre, but also to network with others who share their interests. Members of the Mt. Adams Business Guild also will partner with the Playhouse to serve as host locations for some pre- and post-show events.

“Young professional audiences can be notoriously difficult to reach due to their hectic lifestyles and to the fact that many of these individuals are just beginning to establish their careers and their families,” says Edward Stern, Playhouse Producing Artistic Director. “We want to find ways to remove the barriers that may keep them from becoming theatre patrons at this stage in their lives. Stage Left provides opportunities for participants to network with others their age and to introduce their friends to the arts. Our hope is that we not only will build new audiences for today but also for the future.”

The schedule of events features:

  • METAMORPHOSES: Sunday, October 26 at 6:15 p.m.
    See the regional premiere of this critically acclaimed Broadway smash, and then find out how the Playhouse put a nearly 30-foot swimming pool on the stage of the Marx Theatre. Playhouse Technical Director Stirling Shelton will offer insight into the challenges of re-creating Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses world. Stay for this informative and entertaining post-show discussion, then head up the Mt. Adams hill to Crowley’s for drinks. This program is hosted with Enjoy the Arts/START.
  • A CHRISTMAS CAROL: Sunday, December 7 at 5:30 p.m.
    Take a break before the rush of the holiday season to learn how to be a kid again. This program features a pre-show demonstration in which participants will view the preparations of the stage and special effects for the Playhouse’s technically complex production of A Christmas Carol. Then, our holiday party includes a Secret Santa drawing, a feast of Christmas cookies and eggnog and other fun surprises before heading into the theatre for the 13th annual presentation of Charles Dickens’ holiday classic, presented by Gradison McDonald and KeyBank. This program is hosted with PACT: Professionals Advancing Cincinnati Together.
  • GOING GONE: Sunday, January 18 at 5:00 p.m.
    Who says sports and arts can’t go together? They do in this world premiere drama of assimilation and ascension in America, and as participants join old friends and make new ones before the show with drink specials at Yesterday’s Old Time Saloon. Follow the process of playmaking from the page to the stage while learning the unique challenges involved in producing a world premiere play from Playhouse Producing Artistic Director Edward Stern. This event is hosted with The Jewish Sport and Social Network as part of the Jewish Community Center’s Day at the Playhouse.
  • BLUE: Sunday, February 29 at 5:00 p.m.
    Music plays an integral role in the lives of the affluent African-American Clark family in this hit off-Broadway play of hot passions and sweet jazz. So, socialize and enjoy some blues and drink specials before the show at Longworth’s. The Stage Left program for Blue is hosted with INROADS Alumni Association.
  • HIDING BEHIND COMETS: Sunday, March 21 at 6:15 p.m.
    After the production of this world premiere play, participants can meet and talk to Hiding Behind Comets director Michael Evan Haney and fight director Drew Fracher. Over drinks at the Mt. Adams Bar and Grill, they’ll discuss the challenges of staging a play that features complicated fight sequences. This event is hosted with Give Back Cincinnati.
  • SING HALLELUJAH!: Wednesday, June 9 at 5:30 p.m.
    Sing Hallelujah! is a celebration not only of great African-American gospel music, but also of African-American culture. Before the show, further explore this culture by joining the Stage Left group at the Cincinnati Art Museum for guided tours of works by African-American artists. Then enjoy drink and appetizer specials in the Museum Café before seeing the show. This program is co-hosted with the Cincinnati Art Museum and the Young Professionals Network of the Urban League.

Tickets for each Stage Left event are on sale now individually or as a series package. Individual events are $25 each ($20 for Enjoy the Arts/START members). Tickets for the entire series can be purchased for the discounted price of $120 when paid in advance. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the Playhouse box office at 513/421-3888 or toll-free in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana at 800/582-3208. Call 513/345-2248 for TDD accessibility. Information also is available on the Playhouse web site at www.cincyplay.com.

Playhouse 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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