<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6" color="#ff0000"><strong><span style="font-family: inherit; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-top-color: windowtext; border-right-color: windowtext; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-left-color: windowtext; border-top-width: 1pt; border-right-width: 1pt; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-width: 1pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; ">‘Woody Guthrie's American Song'</span></strong><span style="font-family: inherit; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; "></span></font></p>


<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></span></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) was an American
legend who wrote more than 1,000 songs chronicling the times in which he lived.
Many of his songs were rooted in the Dust Bowl era during the Great Depression.
Trenchant lyrics of privation and hardship more than resonate today.</font></span></p>

<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></span></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">"Woody Guthrie's American Song,"
a bio-musical revue conceived and adapted by Peter Glazer, captures Guthrie's
life and travels in word and some two dozen songs that paint a vivid picture of
an America in the 1930s and '40s. It's at Actors' Summit
in Akron
through Oct. 30.</font></span></p>

<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></span></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">The buoyant production, expertly directed
by Neil Thackaberry and performed by a consummately trained ensemble, bring the
prolific songwriter's poetry, music and philosophy to robust life. Making this
show even more challenging is the fact that all musical accompaniment is
provided by the talented cast of eight actors/singers/musicians who handle a
multiplicity of roles flawlessly. It was thrilling watching this extremely
well-directed octet play and sing in such perfect and stirring harmony at all
times. Michael Anderson's snappy musical direction spins Jeff Waxman's original
orchestration and vocal arrangements into gold.</font></span></p>

<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></span></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">Guthrie celebrated the disenfranchised, the
homeless, the unemployed, the migrant worker, the immigrant, the union guy, the
dispossessed farmer and imbued them with a sense of dignity and hope. Filled
with poignancy and humor, his songs are an ode to the triumph of the American
spirit, despite hard times.</font></span></p>

<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></span></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">The musical chronicles Guthrie's life in
story and song. The first act, set in the early 1930s, traces Guthrie's birth
in Oklahoma, the oil boom and bust followed by
the dust storms, the westward migration of the Okies to California, and the deplorable conditions of
the migrant camps. Mark Leach conjures images of farms, fences and tractors
buried in a tsunami of dust, like ocean waves, in "Dust Storm
Disaster," heightened by howling wind and Kevin Rutan's ghost lighting,
which bathes the ensemble's faces in darkness. Leach is joined by a tipsy Dana
Hart and company in "Bound for Glory," in which the Okies head for California in a crowded
boxcar.</font></span></p>

<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></span></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">"Ain't Got No Home in This World
Anymore," a song about foreclosures and how the rich man took their homes
away, smacks eerily of the present.</font></span></p>

<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">Songs of humor are interspersed with those
of heartbreak. In the lively company number "Do Re Mi," paradise is
waiting for the taking in California,
but only if you have the do-re-mi (aka money).</font></span></p>

<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">In the second act, set in the mid-1940s,
the itinerant Guthrie heads eastward, to New
  York City and the Bowery, where he confronts union
agitation, the specter of war and illegal immigration.</font></span></p>

<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></span></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">Voices blend seamlessly in the group
numbers while soaring in solos of their own.</font></span></p>

<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></span></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">Sally Groth's plaintive "Deportee"
is about the tragic fate of a group of nameless immigrants. MaryJo Alexander's
patriotic "The Sinking of the Reuben James" is a prelude to impending
war. Keith E. Stevens's humorous "Talking Subway Blues" centers on a
newcomer navigating New York City's
labyrinthine public transport system. Hart sings of hope and a better life in
"Better World." Groth and Alexander's feisty "Union Maid"
is a song of solidarity.</font></span></p>

<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></span></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">The rousing company finale "This Land
Is Your Land," Guthrie's best-known song, received a groundswell of
audience participation and delight. Deservedly so.</font></span></p>

<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></span></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">Thackaberry's staging keeps the actors
moving and the narrative and tunes humming like clockwork. Alexander's costumes
- caps, fedoras and work clothes for the men; plain shifts and shirtwaists for
the women - augment setting and character.</font></span></p>

<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></span></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">Like Odets, Guthrie was a communist
sympathizer, although he was not affiliated with any such American political
party. His second wife Marjorie Mazia (née Rosenblatt) was Jewish. In 2006, The
Klezmatics set Jewish lyrics written by Guthrie and Marjorie's mother,
well-known Yiddish poet Alizia Greenblatt, to music. Guthrie's son Arlo
followed in his father's footsteps.</font></span></p>

<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></span></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">Guthrie's songs influenced a whole new
generation of folk/protest singers, such as Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, even Bruce
Springsteen. In 1988, he was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame.</font></span></p>

<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></span></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">The audience loved the musical revue. Me,
too. </font></span></p>

<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></span></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">WHAT: “Woody Guthrie’s American Song”</font></span></p>

<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">WHERE: Actors’ Summit at</font></span></p>

<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">Greystone Hall, 103 S. High St.,</font></span></p>

<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">6th floor, Akron</font></span></p>

<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">WHEN: Through Oct. 30</font></span></p>

<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:9.0pt;
vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:black;background:white"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">TICKETS & INFO: 330-374-7568 or<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.actorssummit.org/"><span style="color:#457D9D;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;mso-border-alt:none windowtext 0in;
padding:0in">www.actorssummit.org</span></a></font></span></p>