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<DIV align=center><STRONG><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Weathervane
Playhouse</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV align=center><STRONG><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>In the Merriman
Valley -- Akron</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV align=center><STRONG><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>330-836-2626</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV align=center><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=2><A
href="http://www.weathervaneplayhouse.com">www.weathervaneplayhouse.com</A></FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<P align=center><FONT color=#000080><STRONG>Mitch Albom's 'And the Winner
Is'</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P align=center><FONT color=#000080><STRONG>Serves up Laughter and
Satire</STRONG></FONT></P></FONT><FONT face=Helvetica>
<P align=center><FONT color=#000080><STRONG><EM>Hollywood-Spoofing Play Gets its
Regional Premiere at Weathervane</EM></STRONG></FONT></P>
<P align=center><FONT color=#000080><STRONG><EM>Directed by Eileen
Moushey</EM></STRONG></FONT></P>
<P align=center><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#000080>Performances through May
31</FONT></EM></STRONG></P>
<P align=center><FONT face=Helvetica size=2><STRONG><FONT
color=#800000>Best-selling author Mitch Albom pokes fun at Hollywood's inflated
ego in the hilarious stage comedy And the Winner Is</FONT><FONT color=#800000>,
which receives its regional premiere at Weathervane Community Playhouse from May
14 to 31, 2008. Though perhaps best known for his books, the Detroit-based Albom
-- author of the best-selling Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet
in Heaven -- has also written two plays and co-authored (with Jeffrey Hatcher)
the stage adaptation of his Tuesdays with Morrie.</FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><FONT color=#800000><STRONG></STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#800000><STRONG>In his And the Winner Is</STRONG></FONT><FONT
color=#800000><STRONG>, Albom spins the comical tale of Tyler, a handsome,
self-absorbed movie star who dies on the eve of the Academy Awards. What soon
ensues is a comedy of existential proportion! Trapped in a strange limbo-like
place with no normal sense of time or meaning, can Tyler somehow negotiate with
the heavenly powers-that-be to make it back to Hollywood in time to see if he
wins his Oscar? Along the way, Tyler encounters a strange cast of characters
including a weird bartender, a buxom ingenue, his cranky agent and even his
eventual ex-wife. Alternately charming and cutting, And the Winner Is both
skewers Hollywood values and offers up Albom's trademark self-reflective life
less</STRONG>ons. (The play contains adult language and mature
themes.)</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Helvetica size=2><FONT color=#000080><EM><STRONG>Times:</STRONG>
<STRONG><U>May 14 to 31, 2008</U> </STRONG></EM></FONT></P></FONT><FONT
face=Wingdings size=2>
<P><STRONG><FONT color=#000080><EM>F</EM></FONT></STRONG></FONT><FONT
face=Helvetica size=2><STRONG><FONT color=#000080><EM> ONE Wednesday (May 14) at
7:30 p.m. </EM></FONT></STRONG></P></FONT><FONT face=Wingdings size=2>
<P><STRONG><FONT color=#000080><EM>F</EM></FONT></STRONG></FONT><FONT
face=Helvetica size=2><STRONG><FONT color=#000080><EM> ALL Thursdays at 7:30
p.m. </EM></FONT></STRONG></P></FONT><FONT face=Wingdings size=2>
<P><STRONG><FONT color=#000080><EM>F</EM></FONT></STRONG></FONT><FONT
face=Helvetica size=2><STRONG><FONT color=#000080><EM> ALL Fridays and Saturdays
at 8 p.m. </EM></FONT></STRONG></P></FONT><FONT face=Wingdings size=2>
<P><STRONG><FONT color=#000080><EM>F</EM></FONT></STRONG></FONT><FONT
face=Helvetica size=2><FONT color=#000080><EM><STRONG> ONE Sunday matinee (May
18 at 2:30 p.m. Prices:</STRONG> $15; $13 for Weathervane subscribers
</EM></FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#000080><STRONG><EM>All tickets in the John L. Dietz Theater are
sold as GENERAL ADMISSION ONLY.</EM></STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><EM><FONT color=#000080><STRONG>For tickets:</STRONG> Call (330) 836-2626 or
visit</FONT> </EM></FONT><U><FONT face=Helvetica color=#0000ff size=2><A
href="http://www.weathervaneplayhouse.com"><EM>www.weathervaneplayhouse.com</EM></A></P></U></FONT></FONT></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><B><U><FONT face=Helvetica size=2><FONT
color=#800000>ABOUT THE PLAY AND PLAYWRIGHT</FONT></B></U><FONT color=#800000>
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><B><I>
<P><FONT color=#800000>And the Winner Is</FONT></B></I><FONT color=#800000>
received its world premiere in 2005 at the Purple Rose Theatre Company in
Chelsea, Michigan, which was founded by actor Jeff Daniels in 1991. Subsequent
productions include the West Coast premiere in 2006 at the Laguna
Playhouse.</FONT></P><B>
<P><FONT color=#800000>MITCH ALBOM </FONT></B><FONT color=#800000>is a
best-selling author, playwright and newspaper columnist. His nine books include
<I>Tuesdays with Morrie </I>(which spent four years on <I>The New York Times
</I>best-seller list) and <I>The Five People You Meet in Heaven </I>(which sold
over 8 million copies worldwide). For nearly 25 years, he has written as a
journalist and sports writer for <I>The Detroit Free Press</I>. The Associated
Press Sports Editors have named him the No. 1 sports columnist in the nation for
over a decade. He wrote the screenplay for the television adaptation of his
<I>The Five People You Meet in Heaven</I> and co-wrote the stage adaptation
(with Jeffrey Hatcher) of his <I>Tuesdays with Morrie</I>, which has received
dozens of productions around the country, including an off-Broadway run in 2002.
His philanthropic work includes founding three Detroit-area charities: The Dream
Fund (connecting at-risk kids with the arts), A Time to Help (a volunteer-based
program to assist people with housing, meals and other humanitarian efforts) and
S.A.Y. Detroit (funding shelter and care for the homeless).
</FONT></P></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Janis Harcar<BR>Director of
Advancement<BR>Weathervane Playhouse<BR>330-836-2323
X16</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>