<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)">
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Century Gothic";
panose-1:2 11 5 2 2 2 2 2 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}
p.MsoBodyText, li.MsoBodyText, div.MsoBodyText
{mso-style-link:"Body Text Char";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:windowtext;}
span.BodyTextChar
{mso-style-name:"Body Text Char";
mso-style-link:"Body Text";
font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif";}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1030" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple>
<div class=Section1>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>BECK
CENTER FOR THE ARTS<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:24.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>NEWS
RELEASE<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:line id="_x0000_s1029" style='position:absolute;
z-index:251660288' from="0,0" to="457.2pt,0" strokeweight="2.25pt" /><![endif]--><![if !vml]><span
style='mso-ignore:vglayout;position:relative;z-index:251660288'><span
style='position:absolute;left:-2px;top:-2px;width:614px;height:4px'><img
width=614 height=4 src="cid:image001.png@01C99C08.32AB7A60" v:shapes="_x0000_s1029"></span></span><![endif]><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<br style='mso-ignore:vglayout' clear=ALL>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>CONTACT: </span></b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> Missy S.
Toms, 216.521.2540 x22 or mtoms@beckcenter.org<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> March
3, 2009<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoBodyText><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoBodyText align=center style='text-align:center'><b><i><span
style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The Farnsworth
Invention</span></i></b><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoBodyText align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>A New Play by <i>The
West Wing</i>’s Aaron Sorkin </span></b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Lakewood, OH—</span></b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Who will win the race
to invent the greatest innovation of the 20<sup>th</sup> century? Beck Center
presents the Cleveland premiere of the award-winning play, <i>The Farnsworth
Invention</i>, on the Mackey Main Stage, <b>March 13 through April 11, 2009</b>.
Show times are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>It’s the classic David and Goliath
tale. The powerful president of RCA, David Sarnoff, competes with<span
style='color:red'> </span>a self-taught potato farmer’s son, Philo
Farnsworth, to invent a device Farnsworth calls “electronic
television.” Although they are very different men, their vision is the
same: to use this technology as a vehicle for social change. As Sarnoff tells
his wife, “It’s gonna change everything, it’s gonna end
ignorance and misunderstanding, it’s gonna end illiteracy. It’s
going to end war.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Aaron Sorkin, whose stage play <i>A Few Good
Men</i> caught the attention of Hollywood in 1988, went on to write and create
several critically acclaimed movies and television shows, including <i>The
American President</i>, <i>Charlie Wilson’s War</i>, <i>The West Wing</i>,
and <i>Sports Night</i>. He returned to the stage when his play <i>The
Farnsworth Invention</i> opened on Broadway in December 2007. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>“<i>The Farnsworth Invention</i> is,
essentially, a documentary on stage. Sorkin adeptly tells the story of two very
different men—a Jewish immigrant media mogul and a Mormon whiz kid from
Idaho—who are separated by 2,000 miles but have the same ambition: to
change the world,” says director Scott Spence. “I couldn’t
wait to bring this show to Beck’s stage and share Sorkin’s
brilliant script with audiences across Northeast Ohio.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Tickets are $28 for adults, $25 for seniors
(65 and older), and $17 for students (22 and under with ID). An additional $3
service fee per ticket is applied at the time of purchase. Preview night on
Thursday, March 12, is $10 with general admission seating. Group discounts are
available for parties of 13 or more. To reserve tickets, call the Beck Center
box office at 216.521.2540 ext. 10, or request seats at <a
href="http://www.beckcenter.org/"><span style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:
none'>www.beckcenter.org</span></a>. For group sales, contact Linda Hefner at
ext. 29. Beck Center is located at 17801 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood, just 10
minutes west of downtown Cleveland. Free onsite parking is available.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Beck Center’s production of <i>The
Farnsworth Invention</i> is presented by special arrangement with Samuel
French, Inc. and is sponsored by FIT Technologies, WTAM 1100AM, WCPN 90.3FM, <i>Cleveland
Scene</i>, Cox Communications, and the Ohio Arts Council. <span
style='color:black'>Beck Center’s production is also generously funded by
the citizens of Cuyahoga County through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.<b> <o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>Beck Center for the Arts is a
not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization that offers professional theater
productions on two stages, arts education programming in dance, music, theater,
visual arts, early childhood, and creative arts therapies for special needs
students, and gallery exhibits featuring local and regional artists.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>###<span
style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#777777'>Posted by:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#777777'>Fran Storch<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#777777'>Beck Center for the Arts<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#777777'>Publications Manager<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#777777'>17801 Detroit Avenue<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#777777'>Lakewood, OH 44107<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#777777'>(216) 521-2540 x20<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>