[NEohioPAL] PRESS RELEASE: Cleveland Public Theatre and Elyria YWCA's Women's Voices Project Offer HOPE HERE

[Dan Kilbane]

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Dan Kilbane, Director of Marketing & Public Relations
216/631-2727 ext. 203
dkilbane at cptonline.org <mailto:dkilbane at cptonline.org>
promotional photos available by request
December 5, 2004

Cleveland Public Theatre and Elyria YWCA’s Women’s Voices Project Offer Hope
Here

Hope Here
December 19, 2004
Elyria YWCA

CLEVELAND, OH - Cleveland Public Theatre and Elyria YWCA are proud to
announce Hope Here, readings of new work from the CPT/Elyria YWCA Women’s
Voices Project, December 19, 2004, at 7pm at Elyria YWCA, 318 West Ave. in
Elyria, OH.  The performance is free to the public, and includes a post-show
reception.

This past fall on Wednesday nights, artists from CPT traveled to Elyria to
teach, share, and collaborate with formerly homeless women.  These women are
residents of Elyria YWCA’s Women’s Campus Project.  Together, the artists
and the residents wrote, played theatre games, and acted out their stories.
The issues and themes that came to the surface ran the gamut from dark and
painful to determined, humorous and hopeful.  The best work from each woman
was then shaped into a piece for performance.

Now in its fifth year, CPT and Elyria YWCA started Women’s Voices Project
with the idea that women artists could nurture growth, reflection, and a
deeper sense of self-worth in the lives of women in transition.  Operating
on the conviction that all people are inherently artistic and deserve to be
given a voice, CPT artists encourage the women they teach to reconnect with
their creativity and to express themselves. This awakening leads to new
discoveries of strength and hope that are needed to effect lasting life
changes.

The stories and poems that emerge from the Women’s Voices Project transcend
pop-culture stereotypes. The women’s words come from real life experience of
extreme struggle; however, the act of creating art from these experiences
demands that each woman see her past through a variety of lenses. The
resulting work conveys the deeply personal and unique perspective of women
who have taken positive steps out of difficulty, women who are on the brink
of a new life. They are stories of hope.

On December 19th at 7pm, the public will have the unique opportunity to hear
readings of original story, drama, and poetry written and performed by the
women of Elyria YWCA and the artists of CPT who guided them.

For more information about the event, contact Women’s Voices Project Manager
Chris Seibert at 216/631-2727 x 201

The Artists:
Women’s Voices is managed and directed by performer/playwright Chris
Seibert. Seibert was last seen on the CPT stage in Discordia and The Cult
(which she co-wrote). Other CPT Artists include writer/performers Sarah
Morton, Holly Holsinger, Nina Domingue, and Deborah Burke.  Morton is a
popular local playwright, a member of the Cleveland Play House Playwrights
Unit, and has several plays under her belt.  Her latest solo piece, 4
Minutes to Happy, will be produced at CPT in March.  Holsinger was most
recently seen onstage at CPT in A Bright Room Called Day, as well as Blue
Sky Transmission:  A Tibetan Book of the Dead, which she helped to create.
She will be part of the cast of CPT’s Venus in February.  Nina Domingue is
well known for her roles in CPT’s Nickel and Dimed, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and
Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge.  She was most recently seen in
Karamu House’s For Colored Girls… and will be joining Holsinger in Venus,
playing the title role.  Burke often works with CPT’s Y-Haven program,
having co-written the last two Y-Haven productions.

Background: The Women’s Campus Project and CPT
The Women’s Campus Project of the Elyria YWCA provides up to two years of
transitional housing for homeless women in three houses adjacent to the
YWCA. One house that accommodates twelve is for single women, and the other
spaces are for families (women and children). Women between the ages of 18
and 60 are referred to the Campus Project by local shelters, alcohol and
drug addiction treatment centers, religious organizations and social service
agencies. Most come from residential addiction treatment programs. The goal
is to achieve self-sufficiency and obtain permanent housing.  While some
residents are in recovery from addiction, others may have been incarcerated
and/or victimized by domestic partners. Some of the women have been
separated from their children.  Women may be in school or job training
programs, working or seeking work.  They receive case management, assistance
with money management and individual and group counseling.  All Campus
Project residents participate in the work with CPT unless their work or
school-schedule conflicts.

CPT’s collaboration with the Campus Project has developed over several years
and now consists of two twelve-week sessions for approximately eight to
twelve participants who meet once or twice weekly in the fall and spring.
Each session ends with a public presentation. As the presentation develops,
the group meets more often to rehearse. Women are encouraged to explore the
meaning of personal experiences. The acting component employs physical and
emotional exercises to create a theatre format for the written material. The
goals of the program are to encourage self-reflection and expression, to
nurture a sense of worth and connectedness and to develop and strengthen
each woman’s unique voice.

The CPT/Elyria YWCA Women’s Voices Project is made possible through the
generous support of The Nord Family Foundation, which endeavors to build
community through support of projects that bring opportunity to the
disadvantaged, strengthen the bond of families and improve the quality of
people’s lives. This program is also funded by The Nordson Family Foundation
and The Stocker Foundation.

Cleveland Public Theatre and its artistic and education programs are
supported in part by The Cleveland Foundation, The George Gund Foundation,
Ohio Arts Council, Greater Cleveland Community Shares, Jakprints, The Free
Times, D.H. Ellison Architects, Forest City Enterprises, Theatre
Communications Group, CoolCleveland.com, National Endowment for the Arts,
The Nord Family Foundation, John P. Murphy Foundation, Kulas Foundation,
Bruening Foundation, Codrington Foundation, Giant Eagle Foundation, Thomas
White Foundation, Community Foundation of Greater Lorain, Family Foundations
of Jewish Community Federation, The Dolphin Trust, Saint Ann Foundation,
William J. and Dorothy K. O’Neill Foundation, Stocker Foundation, Key
Foundation, The Nordson Family Foundation, Martha Holden Jennings
Foundation, The Heartland Arts Fund, Wolf Family Foundation, The Gerson
Foundation, The Meisel Family Foundation, The Doll Family Foundation,
Raymond John Wean Foundation, The Ellie Fund, The Cyrus Eaton Foundation,
Greater Cleveland Community Shares, Alcoa Foundation, Capezio/Ballet Makers
Foundation, Nathan and Regina Herman Foundation, Hankins Foundation, Wolpert
Fund of the Cleveland Foundation, The Cleveland Browns Foundation, The
Stocker Foundation, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, City Architecture, Benesch,
Friedlander, Coplan, & Aronoff LPA, Ron and Deborah Ratner, Joan Horvitz,
Roe Green Foundation, Fifth Third Bank, Huntington National Bank, National
City Bank, Marous Brothers Construction, Stewart and Donna Kohl, and other
corporate and individual contributors.

The mission of Cleveland Public Theatre is to foster a more conscious and
compassionate community through the arts.

Please note that all programming, times and locations are subject to change.


Cleveland Public Theatre Fact Sheet

Performed Reading
Hope Here, Readings of New Work from the CPT/Elyria YWCA Women’s Voices
Project
Written by the Women of Elyria YWCA and CPT Teaching Artists

Date and Location
Sunday, December 19, 2004		7:00pm

The Elyria YWCA
318 West Ave.
Elyria, OH

Information
Contact Women’s Voices Project Manager
Chris Seibert at 216-631-2727 x 201

Please note all performances are FREE and open to the public




>From Karen Toth <ktinkr at gmail.com>  Sun Dec  5 21:59:17 2004
From: Karen Toth <ktinkr at gmail.com> (Karen Toth)
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2004 16:59:17 -0500
Subject: [NEohioPAL]Seeking vocal instructor
Message-ID: <5df6c5e604120513595d595e2 at mail.gmail.com>

Teacher wanted for private vocal lessons, preferably (but not
necessarily) on the East side. I'd prefer to concentrate on musical
theater/pop, but am open to alternatives. Please respond with any
info. Thanks!

 K