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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">NEWS RELEASE
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:line id="_x0000_s1026" 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@01CE19A9.66C97810" v:shapes="_x0000_s1026"></span></span><![endif]><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<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""> Kathleen Caffrey, 216.521.2540 x22 or kcaffrey@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 5, 2013<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>
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<p class="MsoNoSpacing" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Beck Center presents wacky black comedy “The House of Blue Leaves”<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" align="center" style="text-align:center"><i><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Brilliant, bizarre farce by John Guare won Obie Award for “Best American Play”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;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""> Beck Center for the Arts presents John
Guare’s award-winning play, <i>The House of Blue Leaves</i>, <b>March 22 through April 21, 2013</b> on the Mackey Main Stage. Show times are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. There is no performance on Sunday, March 31. Tickets are now on sale.<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"">Winner of the 1971 Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play and the Obie Award for Best American Play,
<i>The House of Blue Leaves</i> tells the story of <span style="color:black">Artie, an aspiring songwriter who works as a zookeeper by day, performs in seedy lounges at night and lives in Queens with his schizophrenic wife, Bananas, much to the chagrin of his
mistress, Bunny. When an old school buddy, now a successful Hollywood movie director, arrives back in town, Artie plans to escape the life he despises. But like many dreams, this promise of glory evaporates amid the chaos of ordinary lives. <o:p></o:p></span></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"">Directed by
<strong><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Russ Borski</span></strong>,
<em><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The House of Blue Leaves </span>
</em>features Equity actors <b>Robert Ellis</b> as Artie and <b>Juliette Regnier</b> as his mentally ill wife, Bananas. “I am thrilled to direct this poignant black comedy,” remarked Borski, “that explores the dark side of the American dream, the humiliation
of our dreams, and examines our collective obsession with celebrity and how we pin our hopes on lives distant from our own.”
<strong><i><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal">The New York Times</span></i></strong><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal"> called
<i>The House of Blue Leaves</i> an </span></strong>"enchantingly zany and original farce" and
<i>The New York Daily News</i> said it is “a brilliant play…wacky…and outrageous.”
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Tickets for
<i>The House of Blue Leaves </i>are $28 for adults, $25 for seniors (65 and older), $12 for students (with valid I.D.), and $10 for children (12 and under). An additional $3 service fee per ticket is applied at the time of purchase. Preview Night on Thursday,
March 21 is $10 with general admission seating. Flex Passes and group discounts (13 or more) are available. Purchase tickets online at beckcenter.org or call Customer Services at 216.521.2540, ext. 10. Beck Center for the Arts is located at 17801 Detroit Avenue
in Lakewood, just ten minutes west of downtown Cleveland. Free onsite parking is available.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Opening night patrons may also enjoy gallery exhibits, free musical entertainment by
<b>Lounge Kitty</b>, complimentary appetizers, and happy hour drinks as Beck Center hosts “Marquee Friday” on March 22 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Daniels Lounge. Marquee Fridays, scheduled on opening nights throughout the theater season, are open to the public
as part of Beck Center’s community engagement initiative. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Presented through special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc., this production of
<em><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The House of Blue Leaves</span></em> is sponsored by VIP Restoration and is generously funded by Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and the Ohio Arts Council.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify"><em><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Beck Center for the Arts is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization that offers professional theater productions, arts education
programming in dance, music, theater, visual arts, early childhood, and creative arts therapies for special needs students, and free gallery exhibits featuring local, regional, and international artists.</span><o:p></o:p></em></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">###<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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