[NEohioPAL] CWRU-CPH MFA Graduate Ensemble Drive Head-On into AUTOBAHN

Mon Mar 2 09:29:41 PST 2009

GRADUATE ENSEMBLE DRIVE HEAD-ON INTO NEIL LABUTE'S "AUTOBAHN" 

CWRU Alum & SAG President Alan Rosenberg Directs Case Western Reserve
University / 

Cleveland Play House MFA Students in Cycle of Short Plays

Cleveland, OH (February 27, 2009) - The Case Western Reserve University
(CWRU) Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) Acting Program with The Cleveland Play
House will present acclaimed playwright and filmmaker Neil LaBute's Autobahn
in the Studio One Theatre from March 18 - 28, 2009. The graduate ensemble is
being directed by Alan Rosenberg, a Case Western Reserve alumnus, actor and
President of Screen Actors Guild (SAG). Tickets are $15 for adults and $7.50
for students with a valid ID.  Tickets are on sale now at The Cleveland Play
House box office by calling 216.795.7000 ext 4 or online at
www.clevelandplayhouse.com.

ABOUT THE PLAY

Be it the medium for clandestine couplings, arguments, shelter, or
ultimately transportation, the automobile is perhaps the most authentically
American of spaces. In Autobahn, Neil LaBute's provocative new collection of
one-act plays set within the confines of the front seat, the playwright
employs his signature plaintive insight to great effect, investigating the
inchoate apprehension that surrounds the steering wheel. Each of these seven
brief vignettes explore the ethos of perception and relationship--from a
make-out session gone awry to a kidnapping thinly disguised as a road trip,
a reconnaissance mission involving the rescue of a Nintendo 64 to a
daughter's long ride home after her release from rehab. The result is an
unsettling montage that gradually reveals the scabrous force of words left
unsaid while illuminating the delicate interplay between intention and
morality, capturing the essence of middle America and the myriad paths which
cross its surface. This play contains mature language.

ABOUT THE MFA ACTING PROGRAM

Since 1996, The Cleveland Play House has partnered with Case Western Reserve
University to offer a Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting. In 2003, it
became a conservatory program completely housed at The Play House.

Every two years, the MFA Acting Program accepts a class of eight actors into
its three-year program. All three years are spent in residency at The Play
House, providing students with unique access to its vast facilities and the
professional expertise of its staff.

The program is designed to instill the physical, mental, and practical
techniques needed by today's successful theatre artists. Its intimate class
size enables the curriculum and performance experiences to be tailored to
suit the specific training needs of each class and individual student.
Together, instructors in acting, voice, speech, and movement work to train
and assess the progress of each student, integrating the various disciplines
in ways that will create maximum flexibility, freedom of expression, and
dynamic range, with the ultimate goal of instilling the skills, discipline,
and an aesthetic of craft necessary to develop a distinctive and effective
actor capable of encompassing the full range of professional demands.

AUTOBAHN Cast - Class of 2010 MFA Graduate Ensemble

For complete biographies, visit http://www.clevelandplayhouse.com/mfa-ge.asp

AJ CEDENO (A Man, "Roadtrip") 

MICHAEL FLOOD (A Man, "Merge")

ZAC HOOGENDYK (A Guy, "Bench Seat;" Other Man, "Long Division")

LINDSAY IUEN (A Woman, "All Apologies;" A Girl, "Roadtrip")

SARAH NEDWEK (Young Woman, "Funny;" A Girl, "Bench Seat")

TOM PICASSO (A Man, "Long Division")

TOM WHITE (A Man, "All Apologies;" A Man, "Autobahn")

LEIGH WILLIAMS (Older Woman, "Funny;" A Woman, "Merge;" A Woman, "Autobahn")

AUTOBAHN Creative Team

NEIL LABUTE (Playwright) received his Master of Fine Arts degree in dramatic
writing from New York University and was the recipient of a literary
fellowship to study at the Royal Court Theatre. His films include In the
Company of Men (New York Critics' Circle Award for Best First Feature,
Filmmakers' Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival), Your Friends and
Neighbors, Nurse Betty, Possession, The Shape of Things (a film adaptation
of his play by the same title), The Wicker Man and Lakeview Terrace.
LaBute's plays include bash:latter-day plays, The Shape of Things, The
Distance From Here, The Mercy Seat, Fat Pig, This is How It Goes, Some
Girl(s), Wrecks, In a Dark Dark House and Reasons to Be Pretty. LaBute is
the author of several fictional pieces that have been published in The New
Yorker, The New York Times, Harper's Bazaar, and Playboy among others, as
well as a collection of his short stories was published

by Grove/Atlantic.

ALAN ROSENBERG (Director) is widely remembered for playing divorce lawyer
Eli Levinson, a role he created for the courtroom series "Civil Wars" (ABC,
1991-1993) and reprised on another legal show, "L.A. Law" (NBC, 1993-1994).
He later played Ira Woodbine, one of the title character's ex-husbands, on
the CBS Golden Globe-winning sitcom starring Cybill Shepherd, "Cybill"
(1995-1998), attorney Stuart Brickman on the CBS medical drama series
"Chicago Hope" (1999-2000), and Alvin Masterson on the CBS drama series "The
Guardian" (2001-2004). Making his film debut in The Wanderers (1979),
Rosenberg added to his resume roles in the films The Last Temptation of
Christ (1988), Peacemaker (1990), Robots (2005; voice) and Righteous Kill
(2008). Rosenberg became the new President of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG)
in September 2005, is also active on stage. After studying political science
and drama at Case Western Reserve University and at the Yale School of
Drama, he got his first stage break in A Prayer for My Daughter. He appeared
on Broadway in What's Wrong with This Picture? and Lost in Yonkers, as well
as off-Broadway's Isn't It Romantic? and Kid Champion. His additional
theater credits include Water Play at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.

The design team for Autobahn includes Jill Davis (Scenic Designer), Kristine
Davies (Costume Design), Katrina Yeigh (Lighting Designer) and Mike Pope
(Sound Design). The Cleveland Play House's Production Staff is responsible
for the sets, costumes, lighting, props, furniture, scenic painting, sound,
special effects and/or wigs used in this production.

Ticket Information

Tickets for Autobahn are $15 for adults and $7.50 for students with a valid
ID. The Cleveland Play House is located at 85th and Euclid Ave. next door to
the Cleveland Clinic near University Circle. 

Founded in 1915, The Cleveland Play House is the first permanently
established professional theatre in the United States. More than 12 million
people have attended over 1,300 productions at The Play House - including
more than 130 American and/or World Premieres. Today, under the leadership
of Artistic Director Michael Bloom and Managing Director Kevin Moore, The
Cleveland Play House is an artist-driven theatre that serves the Greater
Cleveland community by holding true to its mission: To produce plays of the
highest professional standards that inspire, stimulate, and entertain our
diverse audiences, and to conduct training and educational programs that
enhance the quality of life for those we serve and help to insure the future
of theatre.

The Cleveland Play House is generously funded by Cuyahoga County residents
through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and The Ohio Arts Council helps to fund
The Cleveland Play House with state tax dollars to encourage economic
growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

###

FACT SHEET

What:                Autobahn by Neil LaBute

Where:              Studio One, The Cleveland Play House, 8500 Euclid
Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio

When:              Opening Night:     Wednesday, March 18, 2009 at 8:00 pm

                        Performances:     March 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27 and
28, 2009 at 8:00 pm

                        Matinees:              March 21 and 28, 2009 at 4:00
pm

Who:                Cast

A Man, "Roadtrip"
............................................................................
................. AJ Cedeno

A Man,
"Merge".....................................................................
..............................                 Michael Flood

A Man, "Long Division"
............................................................................
......... Tom Picasso

A Guy, "Bench Seat;" Other Man, "Long
Division".......................................                 Zac
Hoogendyk

Young Woman, "Funny;" A Girl, "Bench
Seat".............................................. Sarah Nedwek

Older Woman, "Funny;" A Woman, "Merge;" A Woman, "Autobahn".......
Leigh Williams

A Man, "All Apologies;" A Man, "Autobahn"
................................................... Tom White

A Woman, "All Apologies;" A Girl,
"Roadtrip".................................................
Lindsay Iuen

Creative Team

Playwright..................................................................
........ Neil LaBute

Director....................................................................
.......... Alan Rosenberg

Scenic
Designer................................................................
Jill Davis

Costume
Design................................................................
Kristine Davies

Lighting
Design..................................................................
Katrina Yeigh

Sound
Designer.................................................................
Mike Pope

Prices:             Tickets are $15 for adults and $7.50 for students with a
valid ID. 

Parking is $8; student parking is only $2 with valid ID.

For Single Tickets: 

Call (216) 795-7000, ext. 4, or visit www.clevelandplayhouse.com

Lisa Craig 
Public Relations Manager 
Cleveland Play House 
8500 Euclid Avenue 
Cleveland OH  44106 
Phone (216) 795-7000 x236
FAX (216) 795-7005 

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