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<h1 style="font: normal 12pt sans-serif; color:#C00;
text-transform: uppercase; margin-bottom: -30px"><strong>PRESS
RELEASE</strong><br>
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</h1>
<p style="font-size:10pt; font-weight:normal;font-family:
arial, sans-serif; color:#000000;" align="right">Date:
10/07/13</p>
<hr color="black" align="center" noshade="noshade" size="2"
width="100%">
<p style="font-size:10pt; font-weight:normal;font-family:
arial, sans-serif; color:#000000;">Contact: Andrew Rothman<br>
From: Chagrin Valley Little Theatre </p>
<p style="font-size:10pt; font-weight:normal;font-family:
arial, sans-serif; color:#000000;">40 River Street<br>
Chagrin Falls, OH 44122<br>
Phone: 440-247-8955<br>
E-mail: <a href="mailto:cvlt@cvlt.org">cvlt@cvlt.org</a><br>
Website: <a href="http://www.cvlt.org/">www.cvlt.org</a>
</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt; font-weight:normal;font-family:
arial, sans-serif; color:#000000; text-align:center">High-resolution
press photos will be available for download at <a
href="http://www.CVLT.org/promo" style=" color:#c00;
font: bold 9pt sans-serif;">www.CVLT.org/promo</a></p>
<h2 style="font-size:12pt; font-weight: bold; font-family:
sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase">CVLT to stage early
work by South Park / Book of Mormon co-creator Trey Parker</h2>
<p style="font-size:10pt; font-weight:normal;font-family:
arial, sans-serif; color:#000000;" align="left">CHAGRIN
FALLS, OH - While studying film at the University of
Colorado in 1993, a young Trey Parker hit upon the idea of
an <em>Oklahoma!</em>-style musical based on the story of
Alferd Packer. Packer earned his place in Colorado history
by leading a group of gold miners into the Rocky Mountains
in the winter of 1873, getting them lost, and arriving
alone at their destination in the spring. Alferd was soon
convicted of having eaten his companions to stay alive.
Trey Parker's black comedy student film garnered little
attention and might have faded into obscurity had he not
co-created a little TV show called <em>South Park</em>
with his friend Matt Stone just a few years later.
Entitled CANNIBAL! THE MUSICAL, Parker's college film
gained cult status after being re-released by Troma
Entertainment on VHS and DVD, and eventually on NetFlix,
Hulu and YouTube.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt; font-weight:normal;font-family:
arial, sans-serif; color:#000000;" align="left"> This
month, Chagrin Valley Little Theatre's intimate second
stage, the River Street Playhouse, presents an original
stage adaptation of the film. They are one of only a few
dozen theaters to have staged the show since the first
amateur group attempted it in the late 1990s.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt; font-weight:normal;font-family:
arial, sans-serif; color:#000000;" align="left"> "There is
no official 'stage version' of this piece," says director
Andrew Rothman. "When the film's producer, Jason McHugh,
granted us a license to adapt it for the stage, we got one
copy of the movie script and one copy of a piano
transcription. Unlike traditionally published musicals,
we're given permission to alter and embellish CANNIBAL!
as-needed for the transition from low-budget movie to
low-budget play, so our production will include comedic
shtick and musical arrangements unique to CVLT. The only
rules we were given were to keep true to the plot and
characters, not to change Parker's wonderful songs and,
above all, to have fun. We're definitely having fun and we
know the audience will too."</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt; font-weight:normal;font-family:
arial, sans-serif; color:#000000;" align="left"> The plot
of CANNIBAL! loosely follows the true story of Alferd
Packer (James Pequignot) who, along with his
horse/best-friend Liane (Laura Rightnour-Henri), stumbles
his way into the job of leading five prospectors from Utah
to Colorado. The group includes the Mormon preacher
Shannon Bell (Christopher Macchione), sex-starved teen
George Noon (Genny Vince), bragging man-child James
Humphrey (John Wright), unflappable optimist Israel Swan
(Seth Clerget) and the brooding butcher Frank Miller
(Dennis Burby). An ambitious reporter, Polly Pry (Colleen
O'Leary), is after Packer's story and perhaps something
more, while thuggish fur trapper Frenchy Cabazon (Ron Lee
Davis) is after Packer's horse. The multitude of other
characters in the story are played by the versatile
'Cannibal Corps' consisting of Craig Gifford, Bob Pollock,
Alison Arko, Carlos Piepenburg, Natalie Dolezal and Assad
Khaishgi. </p>
<p style="font-size:10pt; font-weight:normal;font-family:
arial, sans-serif; color:#000000;" align="left">Rothman
suggests that "if you enjoyed Parker and Stone's
Tony-winning <em>The Book of Mormon</em> at Playhouse
Square this past summer, you'll likely get a kick out of
this as well. Although it was Parker's first
feature-length piece, it bears all the marks of his
more-polished later works: hummable Rogers &
Hammerstein pastiches, absurd characters, tear-inducing
laughs, and a smattering of foul language. It's undeniably
Trey Parker."</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt; font-weight:normal;font-family:
arial, sans-serif; color:#000000;" align="left">CANNIBAL!
THE MUSICAL runs Friday and Saturday nights at 8 PM,
October 18 through November 2, with a special Halloween
performance on Thursday, October 31 at 9 PM. Audience
members are invited to come to the Thursday performance in
costume starting at 8 PM for pizza, soda and candy, with
special prizes from the film's producer to be awarded for
the best costumes. </p>
<p style="font-size:10pt; font-weight:normal;font-family:
arial, sans-serif; color:#000000;" align="left">Tickets to
all performances are $12 general admission and are
available online at CVLT.org or by phone at 440-247-8955.
The River Street Playhouse is located at 56 River Street
in Chagrin Falls. Advance purchases and early arrival are
highly recommended. CVLT is generously funded by Cuyahoga
County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and
supported by the Ohio Arts Council.</p>
<p class="centered" align="center">###</p>
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