[NEohioPAL] Crimes of the Heart at Actors' Summit

[Neil Thackaberry]

**

**

*Cast Announced for*

*Pulitzer Prize Winning***

*CRIMES OF THE HEART***

* *

* *



Actors’ Summit, Hudson’s professional theater, has begun rehearsals for *Crimes
of the Heart*, the Pulitzer Prize winning comedy by Beth Henley.  *Crimes of
the Heart* is scheduled for a preview performance on Thursday, April 29,
2010, followed by the official opening on Friday, April 30.  The play will
run Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 8:00 PM and Sunday afternoons at 2:00
PM through May 16 at the theater in downtown Hudson.



*About the Play*

The scene is Hazlehurst, Mississippi, where the three Magrath sisters have
gathered to await news of the family patriarch, their grandfather, who is
living out his last hours in the local hospital. Lenny, the oldest sister,
is unmarried at thirty and facing diminishing marital prospects; Meg, the
middle sister, who quickly outgrew Hazlehurst, is back after a failed
singing career on the West Coast; while Babe, the youngest, is out on bail
after having shot her husband. Their troubles, grave and yet, somehow,
hilarious, are highlighted by their priggish cousin, Chick, by the awkward
young lawyer who tries to keep Babe out of jail while helplessly falling in
love with her, and the appearance of Meg’s old flame. In the end the play is
the story of how its young characters escape the past to seize the
future—but the telling is true and touching and consistently hilarious, and
it lingers in the mind long after the curtain has descended.

*Crimes of the Heart* was the winner of the 1981 Pulitzer Prize and the New
York Drama Critics Circle Award. An astonishing first play, initially
presented by the Actors Theatre of Louisville, then Off-Broadway, and then
on Broadway, where it established the author as a major voice in our
theatre. Warm-hearted, irreverent, zany and brilliantly imaginative, the
play teems with humanity and humor as it examines the plight of three young
Mississippi sisters betrayed by their passions. "While this play overflows
with infectious high spirits, it is also, unmistakably, the tale of a very
troubled family. Such is Miss Henley's prodigious talent that she can serve
us pain as though it were a piece of cake." —NY Times. "It has heart, wit
and a surprisingly zany passion that must carry all before it…it would
certainly be a crime for anyone interested in the theatre not to see this
play." —NY Post. "From time to time a play comes along that restores one's
faith in our theatre…"

*About the Playwright*

An acclaimed playwright and screenwriter, the Mississippi-raised Henley
attended Southern Methodist University with the intention of pursuing an
acting career. While still an undergraduate, she had her first one-act play
"Am I Blue", produced. After a brief sojourn at the University of Illinois,
Henley moved to L.A. to pursue an acting career. As roles were scarce, she
turned to writing, producing two works, "The Moonwatcher" and "Crimes of the
Heart". A friend submitted the latter to the 1979 Great American Play
Contest at the Actors Theatre of Louisville where it received first prize
and a production. After several regional theater mountings, "Crimes of the
Heart" opened off-Broadway to critical praise and was eventually moved to
Broadway. In 1981, Henley became the first woman in over twenty years to
receive the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. While her subsequent theater pieces
("The Wake of Jamey Foster" 1982; "The Debutante Ball" 1985; "The Lucky
Spot" 1986-87; and "Abundance" 1989-90) were not as successful, the
playwright has generally received favorable notices. Many critics have
compared her writings with those of other eccentric Southern writers like
Flannery O'Connor and Eudora Welty.



*The Performers*

* *

*Keith E. Stevens** is an Equity actor and a lifetime member of the Actors’
Studio in New York. A graduate of Cleveland State University, Keith holds an
MFA from New School/Actors Studio Drama School. Recently, at Actors’ Summit,
Keith has appeared in I Love a Piano, Last Train to Nibroc, For
Better, and Don’t
Hug Me.*

* *

*Constance Thackaberry* is an Equity actor who has been seen at Actors’
Summit in: *For Better*, *Proof*, *Russians in Love*, *Sanders Family
Christmas, Picnic*, *She Stoops to Conquer *and *The Gingerbread Lady*.
Locally she has appeared at Great Lakes Theater Festival, Cain Park,
Cleveland Public Theater, Cleveland Signstage Theatre, Ensemble Theater, and
Porthouse.



*Peter Voinovich* is an Equity actor who received his B.F.A. in acting from
Ohio University. He has performed in a number of productions at Actors’
Summit including: *Tuesdays with Morrie*, *Uh, Oh, Here Comes Christmas*, *She
Stoops to Conquer*, *Over The River And Through The Woods*, *Who’s Afraid of
Virginia Woolfe,  A Child’s Christmas in Wales, The Glass Menagerie, *and
last year’s world premiere of* Tremont*.

* *

*Mary Mahoney* returns to Actors’ Summit for her fourth role. She has been
performing in theatre over 20 years and working professionally in
commercials, voice-overs and industrials over 12 years.

* *

*Diane Mull *returns to Actors' Summit after a hiatus of seven years.  In
addition to her performances in *Tartuffe* and *Charley's Aunt*, she has
appeared onstage at Dobama, Geauga Lyric Theater Guild, Cleveland Public
Theater, and with the Oberlin Summer Theater Festival, among others.  Diane
received her BFA from Ohio University.


*Jen Walker* received her BFA in performance from Ohio University. She spent
2007-2008 completing an acting internship with the Ensemble Theatre of
Cincinnati.  Most recently, Jen was seen here in *For Better*, in *Emma* at
the Cleveland Play House and in *Fiddler on the Roof* at the Beck Center.


*Performance times:*

Performances are given Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 8:00 PM and Sundays
at 2:00 PM at the theater, located at 86 Owen Brown Street, Hudson, Ohio.



*Ticket Prices*

Preview tickets (April 29) are $16.  Regular performance tickets are $29 on
Fridays & Saturdays, $26 on Thursdays & Sundays, with seniors receiving a $3
discount at regular Thursday and Sunday performances.  Additional discounts
are available to groups of ten or more.



ALL full time student tickets (with ID) are $7 at all performances.



Tickets can be purchased by phone at (330) 342-0800 or from the website at *
www.actorssummit.org*.



*Web site**
*Actors’ Summit Theater can be found on the web at www.actorssummit.org.
Actors’ Summit is a professional, not for profit, 501-c-3 professional arts
organization.
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