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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;line-height:normal;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%" align="center"><b><span style="font-size:26pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">Lakeland Civic Theatre</span></b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;line-height:normal;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%" align="center"><b><span style="font-size:26pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:rgb(54,99,136)">Lakeland Community College</span></b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;line-height:normal;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%" align="center"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:rgb(54,99,136)">7700 Clocktower Drive, Kirtland, Ohio 44094</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> <b><span style="color:black">PRESS RELEASE: Immediately</span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">CONTACT: Dr. Martin Friedman, </span></b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><a href="tel:216-233-5441" target="_blank"><b><span style="color:blue">216-233-5441</span></b></a></span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">RELEASE DATE: January 1, 2018</span></b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;line-height:normal;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%" align="center"><b><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">Lakeland Theatre presents <span> </span>Stephen
Sondheim and George Furth’s <span> </span><i>Merrily We Roll
Along</i></span></b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black">Lakeland’s 2017-18 season concludes
with the passionate and oft-misunderstood musical by Stephen Sondheim and George
Furth <b><i>Merrily We Roll Along </i></b>which opens on <b>February 2, 2018 </b>and
runs for three weeks at Lakeland Community College’s Rodehorst Performing Arts
Center. <b>Merrily. Merrily </b>isdirected by
Martin Friedman and under the Musical Direction of by Jordan Cooper.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black"><br></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:rgb(37,37,37)">Merrily We Roll Along, </span></i></b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:rgb(37,37,37)">was
first produced in 1981, and is based on a 1934 play by George S. Kaufman and
Moss Hart. The musical (with a book by George Furth) was first produced in
November of 1981, where it ran for 16 performances. Not very successful eh? It tells
of the disintegration of the friendship of successful songwriter Franklin
Shepard, his lyricist and best friend Charlie Kringas, and novelist Mary Flynn.
The action moves backward through time, from 1976 to 1957.</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:6pt 0in;line-height:16.8pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:rgb(37,37,37)">This is one of Stephen Sondheim’s most
accessible and difficult scores. It is most certainly about friendship and its
importance in the lives of three people. This is one great play. </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">Merrily We Roll Along features sets by
Austin Kilpatrick, lights by Adam Ditzel, sound by Eric Simna, choreography by
Jennifer Justice and costumes by Ohio Shakespeare designer Kelsey Tomlinson.
This production promises a terrific cast featuring Eric Fancher, Neeley Gevaart
and Amiee Collier. <span> </span>Concluding his eighteenth
season at Lakeland Civic Theatre, director Martin Friedman also continues his
examination of the works of Stephen Sondheim. <br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS""><br></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black">Call </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS""><a href="tel:440-525-7526" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">440-525-7526</span></a><span style="color:black"> for ticket reservations and information about group
discounts. For production information please email Martin Friedman at </span><a href="mailto:martinfriedman98@gmail.com" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">martinfriedman98@gmail.com</span></a> and you can order
tickets on-line at <a href="http://www.lakelandcc.edu" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">www.lakelandcc.edu</span></a>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS""><br><b><span style="color:black"> </span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black">Merrily We Roll Along</span></b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black">: <i>February
2, 3, <span> </span>8, 9, 15, 16 <span> </span>@ 7:30pm <span> </span>and 4, 10 and 17 @ 2:00 pm. </i></span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">There will also be a “lecture” at
Cleveland Height’s landmark, Nighttown, on Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along on Monday
January 8 and 22, 2018 at 7:00 pm. <br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS""><br></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:0.5in;line-height:normal"><b><span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">NIGHTTOWN
KICKS OFF MASTER CLASS SERIES</span></b><span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:0.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">In February,
Dr. Martin Friedman, well-known in Cleveland theater circles for frequently
directing Stephen Sondheim musicals, will direct Sondheim’s <i>Merrily We Roll
Along</i> at Lakeland Civic Theater, a professional production featuring some
of Cleveland’s best-known actors. </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:0.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">But in
January, <i>Merrily</i> comes to the Nighttown stage when Friedman, adjunct
theater professor at Lakeland Community College and Baldwin Wallace, will
deliver a “Master Class” on why this musical that so many thought was destined
for success flopped on Broadway after only 16 performances – and why over the
last 30 years it’s become one of Sondheim’s most beloved musicals. </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:0.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The
Nighttown “Master Class” includes music director Jordan Cooper and Lakeland
cast members performing several songs from <i>Merrily</i>. </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:0.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Other Master
Class programs at Nighttown, with similar formats and different directors, will
be announced soon. </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:0.5in;line-height:normal"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Master
Class at Nighttown: “Deconstructing” Sondheim’s <i>Merrily We Roll Along</i></span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> will premiere on January 8 at 7:00 pm and repeat on January
22. Tickets are $10 and can be reserved online at </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><a href="http://www.nighttowncleveland.com" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:10pt;color:blue">www.nighttowncleveland.com</span></a></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">.</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:0.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:0.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"> </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aF_WuZurPU" target="_blank"><b><span style="color:red">”Merrily” Highlights from City
Center Encores</span></b></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS""> </span></p>
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