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<P align=center>Sensitive Drama</P>
<P align=center>‘Children of a Lesser God’</P>
<P align=center>to Illuminate the Weathervane Stage in
February</P></B></FONT><FONT face=Helvetica size=2>
<P>The landmark drama that illuminated the world of deaf culture, <B><I>Children
of a Lesser God</B></I> takes to the Weathervane stage for a three-week
midwinter run. The production opens <B>Wednesday, Feb. 20 and runs through
Sunday, March 9, 2008</B>, on the Playhouse’s Grace Hower Crawford Main
Stage.</P>
<P>Playwright <B>Mark Medoff’s</B> sensitive play presents James, a newly-hired
speech therapist at a residential school for the deaf, where many deaf children
grow up together in a culturally deaf environment. There he meets Sarah, a
graduate of the school who still lives on campus and works as the school maid.
She is proud of her unique culture and language – American Sign Language – and
takes great exception to hearing people who would seek to change her by forcing
her to use her voice or read lips. </P>
<P>When James and Sarah fall in love, each has to find a way down a difficult
path full of cultural differences, stereotypes, discrimination and the
expectations of the other people in their lives.</P><I>
<P>Medoff’s play was originally written for hearing audiences, with many of its
scenes employing only spoken English. In Weathervane’s production, however,
director Larry Nehring incorporates an ensemble of actors who will "shadow
interpret" the play’s spoken dialogue. These "shadows" appear on stage with the
other actors, shadowing each performer and signing the spoken words. In this
way, deaf audience members do not need to focus their attention to a remote
corner of the stage, a traditional spot for ASL interpreters. This will remove
the need for deaf audience members to decide whether to watch the actors or
watch the interpreters.</P></I><B><I><U>
<P>Special Daytime Performances for School Groups</P></B></U>
<P>Children of a Lesser God</I> is a Project STAGE production, the Playhouse’s
education-based program that introduces plays of great literary value to
students in northeast Ohio. Reduced ticket prices for students and teachers,
study guides and post-performance discussions are offered at the 10 a.m.
performances on Feb. 27 and March 5. Support for Project STAGE (<B>S</B>tudents
<B>T</B>hrough <B>A</B>cting <B>G</B>ain <B>E</B>ducation) performances comes
from Akron Community Foundation, the Sisler-McFawn Foundation and Omnova
Solutions Foundation. Tickets for these performances are just $5.</P><B><I><U>
<P>About the Play</P></U>
<P>Children of a Lesser God</B></I> originated at the Mark Taper Forum in Los
Angeles and then transferred to the Broadway stage in a production that opened
March 30, 1980, and starred Phyllis Frelich as Sarah and John Rubenstein as
James (both of whom won Tony Awards for their performances). The show ran for
</FONT><FONT face=Helvetica size=2>887 performances, closing on May 16, 1982.
The New York production won the 1980 Tony Award for Best Play. Playwright Medoff
adapted his own play (along with two other screenwriters, Hesper Anderson and
James Carrington) for the 1986 film of the play, which starred William Hurt and
Marlee Matlin (who in her screen debut won the Oscar for Best Actress in a
Leading Role).</P><B><I><U>
<P>About the Playwright</P></I></U>
<P>Mark Medoff</B> was born in Mount Carmel, Ill., in 1940. He was educated at
the University of Miami (bachelor’s degree) and Stanford University (master’s
degree). He wrote his first play, <I>The Wager</I>, while employed in
Washington, D.C., at the Capitol Radio Engineering Institute. <I>When You Comin’
Back, Red Ryder?</I> was his first play to be produced in New York; it ran for
302 performances in an off-Broadway production at the Eastside Playhouse and won
Medoff the 1974 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Playwright. His 1980
Broadway breakthrough came with <I>Children of a Lesser God</I>, and his
screenplay adaptation for the 1986 film earned him an Academy Award nomination.
His other screenwriting credits include <I>Clara’s Heart</I> (starring Whoopi
Goldberg) and <I>City of Joy</I> (starring Patrick Swayze). For the past two
decades, he has served on the faculty at New Mexico State University, where he
has chaired the theater department and also co-founded the American Southwest
Theatre Company. He is married to Stephanie Thorne; they have three
children.</P><B>
<P>About the Cast</P></B><B>
<P>KRISTEN L. BOWEN (Sarah Norman) Mayfield Heights</P></B>
<P>Bowen is a graduate of National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), the
world's largest technical college for deaf students (and one of the eight
colleges of Rochester Institute for Technology in Rochester, N.Y.). At present,
she is working on an associate’s degree in personal-computer enterprising at
Lakeland Community College in Kirtland. As a student at NITD, she helped with
costume design on several theatrical productions and played Mrs. Van Daan in the
NTID Performing Arts 2001 production of <EM>The Diary of Anne Frank</EM>.
</P></FONT><FONT size=2></FONT><B><FONT face=Helvetica size=2>
<P>RYAN MCMULLEN (James Leeds) Cuyahoga Falls</P></B>
<P>Weathervane audiences last saw McMullen in the 2006 production <I>of Angels
in America: Perestroika</I>, in which he played Joe Pitt. He was also in the
Weathervane casts of <I>Noises Off </I>and <I>Three Days of Rain</I>, both in
2004. He has toured throughout America with Cleveland Signstage in productions
of <I>Aladdin</I>, <I>Snow White</I>, <I>Charlie and the Chocolate Factory</I>
and <I>Matilda</I>. At The University of Akron, he played Puck in <I>A Midsummer
Night’s Dream</I>. At the Bang and the Clatter Theatre Company in Akron, he
appeared in <I>The Long Christmas Ride Home</I>.</P><B>
<P>JESSE CATALANO (Orin Dennis) Kent</P></B>
<P>A student at Kent State University majoring in history and American Sign
Language interpretation, Catalano says he looks forward to one day becoming a
teacher. In 1999 he graduated from National Technical Institute for the Deaf
(NTID), the world’s largest technical college for deaf students (and one of the
eight colleges of Rochester Institute for Technology in Rochester, N.Y.). He
appeared in the 1998-1999 NTID Performing Arts productions of <I>The Odd
Couple</I>, <I>West Side Story</I> and <I>The Tempest</I>. Upon his graduation
from NTID, he reprised his role as Stephano in <I>The Tempest</I> along with his
fellow cast members when the show was remounted in a 2000 production at the
Interborough Repertory Theater in New York City.</P><B>
<P>DAVID MYERS (Mr. Franklin) Akron</P></B>
<P>This production marks Myers’ third onstage appearance at Weathervane. He
played Herr Zeller in the Playhouse’s 2006 production of <I>The Sound of
Music</I>, Tom Joad in <I>The Grapes of Wrath</I> in 2005 and Dr. Einstein in
<I>Arsenic and Old Lace </I>in 2003. He is a graduate of Taylor University and
teaches at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy.<BR></P></FONT><B><FONT
face=Helvetica size=2>
<P>CHRISTINE ANASTASIA MASON (Mrs. Norman/Assistant Director) Kent</P></B>
<P>A recent graduate of the American Sign Language interpreter-training programs
at Kent State University, Mason now serves as an ASL interpreter for Beachwood
City Schools. She received her formal training in fine arts at the University of
Michigan, after which she worked as a studio artist and created large-scale
paintings and Chinese dragons for the theater. Mason says that "a strange
sequence of events" introduced her to the deaf community, which in turn inspired
her to begin her formal training in ASL interpretation. Most recently, she
interpreted a production of <I>Alice in Wonderland</I> at Twinsburg High
School.</P><B>
<P>RACEHL REBEKKAH GERARD (Lydia) Madison</P></B>
<P>Gerard – a native of Madison, Ohio – makes her Weathervane debut with this
production. She has studied educational interpreting at Kent State University
and also studied dance for 14 years at the Fordu School of Dance in Madison. Her
theatrical credits include roles in the 2006 and 2007 productions of <I>Beauty
and the Be</I>ast at the Beck Center for the Arts, and <I>Suessical </I>and
<I>The Foreigner</I>, both at Madison High School.</P><B>
<P>BRIAN ARMOUR (Edward Klein) Copley</P></B>
<P>A musician for the past 13 years, Armour makes his stage debut with this
Weathervane production. This junior at The University of Akron studying
secondary education says his long-term goal is to make a career out of acting.
He plays in a local band that specializes in soulful
rhythm-and-blues/inspirational music. </P><B>
<P>CYNTHIA SEAL (shadow interpreter) Elyria</B><BR>A newcomer to Weathervane,
Seal is a part-time staff member of Cleveland Signstage Theatre, having served
the organization as a deaf actor and as an American Sign Language
translator/instructor. She has served on the board of the Deaf and Deaf-Blind
Committee on Human Rights, an advocacy group based in North Olmsted. She is also
a support-service provider for deaf and/or blind members. </P><B>
<P>JAMES LENAHAN (shadow interpreter) Lakewood</P></B>
<P>This newcomer to Weathervane says he "loves the challenge of this show."
Lenahan has many northeast Ohio theater credits<B> </B>to his name, including
roles in the Beck Center for the Arts productions of <I>Porgy and Bess</I> and
<I>Jekyll and Hyde</I>. At Cuyahoga Community College’s Metro campus, he
appeared in <I>Othello</I>, <I>Joe Turner’s Come and Gone</I> and <I>From
Cleveland to Hollywood</I>. For the silver screen, he got to play a construction
worker in <I>Spider-Man 3</I>, for which a number of scenes were shot in
Cleveland.<B><BR></P>
<P>About the Director</P>
<P>Larry Nehring</B>’s last directing assignment at Weathervane was the 2005
production of <I>Much Ado About Nothing</I>. Nehring says he is thrilled to be
returning to Weathervane as the director of such a challenging play. It is, he
says, the melding of his two great loves: theater and American Sign Language. He
has been an ASL interpreter for the last 15 years, and started learning ASL when
he was 12. As an actor, director, theatrical interpreter, and fight
choreographer he has been very active all over northeast Ohio, working with
Great Lakes Theater Festival, Cleveland Play House, Playhouse Square, Cleveland
Signstage Theatre, Ensemble Theatre, Bad Epitaph, Magical Theatre Company, the
Beck Center for the Arts, Cain Park, Willoughby's Fine Arts Association, and
Clague Playhouse. He has also been a cast member of the North Carolina
Shakespeare Festival, toured internationally with Sunshine Too (a deaf/hearing
theatre company based in Rochester, N.Y.), and taught at numerous international
conferences. Viewers of PBS may recognize him from his role as George Washington
in the 2006 TV miniseries, <I>The War That Made America</I>, a documentary shot
in Pittsburgh that detailed the French and Indian War. Larry is the Artistic
Director of the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival and a proud member of Actors’
Equity Association and the Screen Actors' Guild. He lives in
Lakewood.</P></FONT><FONT face=Helvetica size=2>
<P align=center><FONT size=1><EM>Weathervane Community Playhouse and its
dedicated volunteers offer vital performing arts resources for the people of
Northeastern Ohio. We create exciting and thought-provoking shows with
impressive production values. Through educational programs and volunteer
opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds, Weathervane serves the
theater community, our patrons and our volunteers.</EM></FONT></P>
<P align=center><FONT size=1></FONT></P>
<P align=center><FONT size=1><EM>The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program
with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, education excellence and
cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.</EM></FONT></P>
<P align=center></P></DIV>
<DIV align=center><FONT face=Arial size=1>Additional 2007-2008
sponsors:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=center><FONT face=Arial size=1><EM>89.7 WSKU-FM and the Goodyear Tire
and Rubber Company</EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=center><EM><FONT face=Arial size=1>Project STAGE performances are
supported by:</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV align=center><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=1>The Shaw Fund of Akron
Community Foundation</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV align=center><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=1>The Sisler McFawn
Foundation</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV align=center><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=1>OMNOVA Solutions
Foundation</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV align=center><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Weathervane Playhouse</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Akron, OH</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Times: </FONT><U><FONT face=Arial>Feb. 20 to March 9,
2008</FONT></DIV></U>
<DIV></FONT><FONT face=Helvetica size=2><FONT face=Arial>ONE Wednesday (Feb. 20)
at 7:30 p.m.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV></FONT><FONT face=Helvetica size=2><FONT face=Arial>TWO Wednesdays (Feb. 27
and March 5) at 10 a.m.</FONT></DIV></FONT><FONT face=Webdings size=2>
<DIV></FONT><FONT face=Helvetica size=2><FONT face=Arial>ALL Thursdays at 7:30
p.m.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV></FONT><FONT face=Helvetica size=2><FONT face=Arial>ALL Fridays and
Saturdays at 8 p.m.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV></FONT><FONT face=Helvetica size=2><FONT face=Arial>TWO Sunday matinees
(March 2 and 9) at 2:30 p.m.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Prices: $14 to $20</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>For tickets: Call <STRONG>330-836-2626</STRONG> or visit
</FONT></FONT><A href="http://www.weathervaneplayhouse.com/"><FONT
size=2>www.weathervaneplayhouse.com</FONT></A></DIV><FONT face=Helvetica size=2>
<P>Deaf and TDD/TTY patrons may use the Ohio Relay System to place a ticket</P>
<P>order by calling 1-800-750-0750.</P></FONT></FONT>
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