[NEohioPAL]Jacques Brel at Actors Summit - EXTENDED!

Wed May 22 17:03:30 PDT 2002

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For Immediate Release
For additional information contact:                 May 23, 2002
Neil Thackaberry 330-342-0800

Jacques Brel is Alive & Well
Extended at Actors' Summit!
Three weeks of performances added.

Actors' Summit, a professional theater, has extended the run of Jacques Brel=
=20
is Alive & Well & Living in Paris. Three additional weeks of performances=20
have been scheduled for June 13 through 30. Thursday, Friday, & Saturday=20
performances begin at 8:00 PM, with Sunday matinees at 3:30 PM.  The current=
=20
run continues through Sunday, May 26, 2002.=20

"We've sold out five of the first eight performances," said Neil Thackaberry=
,=20
Artistic Director. "There is obviously an audience out there for a high=20
quality production of this classic show."

The Cast
The cast for the extended run will have one new member. Tim Keo will take=20
over the role performed by Scott Plate. "Scott is committed to a production=20
of West Side Story at Caine Park and isn't available for the extension," sai=
d=20
Thackaberry.
=20
Tim Keo returns to Actors' Summit for his third production. He was seen at=20
Actors' Summit in Candida and Romeo & Juliet. Tim has also performed with th=
e=20
Cleveland Opera. He is a full time actor with Kaiser Permanente. He also=20
plays bass guitar and sings with a 50's style rock & roll band, the Bel-Aire=
s.

The other returning cast members include:

Wayne S. Turney helped launch the Actors' Summit season last fall as Sir in=20
The Roar of the Greasepaint, Smell of the Crowd. In March, he presented The=20
Gospel According to St. Mark, his solo performance piece, on the Actors'=20
Summit stage, where his other credits include I Do! I Do! and Oedipus Rex.=20
Wayne is best known to Cleveland audiences for his long-running children's=20
television show, Hickory Hideout. He is a trustee of Actors' Summit, was a=20
member of the Cleveland Play House resident company for many years, and=20
founded the Cleveland Actor's Theater.=20

MaryJo Alexander is associate artistic director of Actors' Summit and has=20
more than 25 years' experience as a professional actress and designer. MaryJ=
o=20
played Agnes to Wayne Turney's Michael in the Actor's Summit production of I=
=20
Do! I Do! last season, and has performed at Ensemble Theatre, Cain Park,=20
Porthouse Theatre and at Stan Hywet. She holds an MA from the University of=20
New Orleans where she was a member of the Resident Acting Company, and has=20
been married for 30 years to A. Neil Thackaberry. They have two daughters,=20
Connie and Sasha.=20

Sally Groth delighted audiences in the Actors' Summit production of The=20
Memory of Water earlier this season, and also has performed here in Cotton=20
Patch Gospel, Romeo & Juliet, Candida, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown and=20
Wit. Her credits include roles at Ensemble and Porthouse theaters here in=20
Northeast Ohio and at theaters in New York City, the Denver Center, the=20
Shakespeare Theater in Washington, D.C., the Wayside Theater in Virginia,=20
Trustus Theater in South Carolina, and a national tour of The Little Prince.=
=20
Sally is a graduate of Hiram College and the University of South Carolina.=20
She and her husband, John Gill, have a year-old daughter, Anne.

The Revue
The music and commentary of the Belgian-born French troubadour Jacques Brel=20
are at the heart of the show, which was created by producer-translator Eric=20
Blau and rock composer Mort Shuman. The original production opened in 1967 a=
t=20
The Village Gate in New York and ran for five years. The show had Brel's=20
blessing but he skipped the premiere because of his opposition to U.S.=20
involvement in Vietnam. Brel did see the show =E2=80=93 in 1969 at The Villa=
ge Gate=20
and again in 1972, when the show played to a packed house at an anniversary=20
performance at Carnegie Hall, at which he was invited to take a bow.=20
Preparing for the Actors' Summit production, artistic director A. Neil=20
Thackaberry consulted Blau, who described his discovery of Brel's poetry and=
=20
music in 1959 and the eight-year effort to stage the original show, which=20
features 24 of more than 300 songs Brel wrote and performed during his=20
lifetime. Thackaberry located Blau in New York City through Joe Gary, who=20
directed the Cleveland production of Brel, which enjoyed 522 performances on=
=20
Playhouse Square as the theater district's renaissance was beginning in the=20
early 1970s.

The Playwright
Jacques Brel was born in Belgium in 1929, but made France, specifically=20
Paris, his home by the time he was in his early 20s. Brel was the son of a=20
cardboard manufacturer, but he eschewed all thoughts of going into the famil=
y=20
business in favor of writing songs and singing them in the taverns and cafes=
=20
around his adopted country. By the time he arrived in the City of Lights, he=
=20
was France's leading "chansonnier" or troubadour. He died in 1978 having=20
produced more than 300 songs dealing with the bittersweet aspects of life. I=
t=20
was this body of work that inspired producer-translator Eric Blau to begin=20
work in 1959 on the show that would become Jacques Brel is Alive & Well &=20
Living in Paris.

The Production Team=20
The production is directed by A. Neil Thackaberry, artistic director of=20
Actors' Summit Theater. John Franks is the Musical Director. Set and lightin=
g=20
designs are by resident designer Bob Stegmiller. Costume and prop design are=
=20
by MaryJo Alexander.

Performance Dates and Tickets
Jacques Brel is Alive & Well & Living in Paris runs through May 26, 2002, at=
=20
8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and 3:30 p.m. Sunday. The production=20
will reopen June 13 and play through June 30. Tickets are $22 on Fridays and=
=20
Saturdays and $20 on Thursdays and Sundays. Students and Seniors receive a $=
4=20
discount. Group discounts are available.=20

Web site=20
Actors Summit Theater can be found on the web at www.actorssummit.org.=20

Actors' Summit is a member of PACT, The Professional Alliance of Cleveland=20
Theaters. =20

Actors' Summit is working under a Small Professional Theater Contract, a=20
developmental agreement with Actors' Equity Association (the Union of=20
professional Actors and Stage managers.)

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Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Language: en

<HTML>For Immediate Release
 For additional information contact: May 23, 2002
 Neil Thackaberry 330-342-0800
 
 Jacques Brel is Alive & Well
 Extended at Actors' Summit!
 Three weeks of performances added.
 
 Actors' Summit, a professional theater, has extended the run of Jacques=20=
Brel is Alive & Well & Living in Paris. Three additional weeks of pe=
rformances have been scheduled for June 13 through 30. Thursday, Friday, &am=
p; Saturday performances begin at 8:00 PM, with Sunday matinees at 3:30 PM.=20=
 The current run continues through Sunday, May 26, 2002.=20
 
 "We've sold out five of the first eight performances," said Neil Thackab=
erry, Artistic Director. "There is obviously an audience out there for a hig=
h quality production of this classic show."
 
 The Cast
 The cast for the extended run will have one new member. Tim Keo will tak=
e over the role performed by Scott Plate. "Scott is committed to a productio=
n of West Side Story at Caine Park and isn't available for the extension," s=
aid Thackaberry.
 =20
 Tim Keo returns to Actors' Summit for his third production. He was seen=20=
at Actors' Summit in Candida and Romeo & Juliet. Tim has also performed=20=
with the Cleveland Opera. He is a full time actor with Kaiser Permanente. He=
 also plays bass guitar and sings with a 50's style rock & roll band, th=
e Bel-Aires.
 
 The other returning cast members include:
 
 Wayne S. Turney helped launch the Actors' Summit season last fall as Sir=
 in The Roar of the Greasepaint, Smell of the Crowd. In March, he presented=20=
The Gospel According to St. Mark, his solo performance piece, on the Actors'=
 Summit stage, where his other credits include I Do! I Do! and Oedipus Rex.=20=
Wayne is best known to Cleveland audiences for his long-running children's t=
elevision show, Hickory Hideout. He is a trustee of Actors' Summit, was a me=
mber of the Cleveland Play House resident company for many years, and founde=
d the Cleveland Actor's Theater.=20
 
 MaryJo Alexander is associate artistic director of Actors' Summit and ha=
s more than 25 years' experience as a professional actress and designer. Mar=
yJo played Agnes to Wayne Turney's Michael in the Actor's Summit production=20=
of I Do! I Do! last season, and has performed at Ensemble Theatre, Cain Park=
, Porthouse Theatre and at Stan Hywet. She holds an MA from the University o=
f New Orleans where she was a member of the Resident Acting Company, and has=
 been married for 30 years to A. Neil Thackaberry. They have two daughters,=20=
Connie and Sasha.=20
 
 Sally Groth delighted audiences in the Actors' Summit production of The=20=
Memory of Water earlier this season, and also has performed here in Cotton P=
atch Gospel, Romeo & Juliet, Candida, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown an=
d Wit. Her credits include roles at Ensemble and Porthouse theaters here in=20=
Northeast Ohio and at theaters in New York City, the Denver Center, the Shak=
espeare Theater in Washington, D.C., the Wayside Theater in Virginia, Trustu=
s Theater in South Carolina, and a national tour of The Little Prince. Sally=
 is a graduate of Hiram College and the University of South Carolina. She an=
d her husband, John Gill, have a year-old daughter, Anne.
 
 The Revue
 The music and commentary of the Belgian-born French troubadour Jacques B=
rel are at the heart of the show, which was created by producer-translator E=
ric Blau and rock composer Mort Shuman. The original production opened in 19=
67 at The Village Gate in New York and ran for five years. The show had Brel=
's blessing but he skipped the premiere because of his opposition to U.S. in=
volvement in Vietnam. Brel did see the show =E2=80=93 in 1969 at The Village=
 Gate and again in 1972, when the show played to a packed house at an annive=
rsary performance at Carnegie Hall, at which he was invited to take a bow. P=
reparing for the Actors' Summit production, artistic director A. Neil Thacka=
berry consulted Blau, who described his discovery of Brel's poetry and music=
 in 1959 and the eight-year effort to stage the original show, which feature=
s 24 of more than 300 songs Brel wrote and performed during his lifetime. Th=
ackaberry located Blau in New York City through Joe Gary, who directed the C=
leveland production of Brel, which enjoyed 522 performances on Playhouse Squ=
are as the theater district's renaissance was beginning in the early 1970s.
 
 
 The Playwright
 Jacques Brel was born in Belgium in 1929, but made France, specifically=20=
Paris, his home by the time he was in his early 20s. Brel was the son of a c=
ardboard manufacturer, but he eschewed all thoughts of going into the family=
 business in favor of writing songs and singing them in the taverns and cafe=
s around his adopted country. By the time he arrived in the City of Lights,=20=
he was France's leading "chansonnier" or troubadour. He died in 1978 having=20=
produced more than 300 songs dealing with the bittersweet aspects of life. I=
t was this body of work that inspired producer-translator Eric Blau to begin=
 work in 1959 on the show that would become Jacques Brel is Alive & Well=
 & Living in Paris.
 
 The Production Team=20
 The production is directed by A. Neil Thackaberry, artistic director of=20=
Actors' Summit Theater. John Franks is the Musical Director. Set and lightin=
g designs are by resident designer Bob Stegmiller. Costume and prop design a=
re by MaryJo Alexander.
 
 Performance Dates and Tickets
 Jacques Brel is Alive & Well & Living in Paris runs through May=20=
26, 2002, at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and 3:30 p.m. Sunday. The=
 production will reopen June 13 and play through June 30. Tickets are $22 on=
 Fridays and Saturdays and $20 on Thursdays and Sundays. Students and Senior=
s receive a $4 discount. Group discounts are available.=20
 
 Web site=20
 Actors Summit Theater can be found on the web at www.actorssummit.org.=20
 
 Actors' Summit is a member of PACT, The Professional Alliance of Clevela=
nd Theaters.  
 
 Actors' Summit is working under a Small Professional Theater Contract, a=
 developmental agreement with Actors' Equity Association (the Union of profe=
ssional Actors and Stage managers.)</HTML>

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