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<h1 style="font:normal 12pt sans-serif;color:#c00;text-transform:uppercase"><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:
7/07/2020</p>
<hr width="100%" size="2" noshade color="black" align="center">
<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" target="_blank">cvlt@cvlt.org</a><br>
Website: <a href="http://www.cvlt.org/" target="_blank">www.CVLT.org</a><br>
</p>
<h3 style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#000;font-size:12pt"> CVLT's "The Dixie Swim Club"
makes a virtual comeback for more laughs on the web, Sep.
25, 26, & 27</h3>
<h4 style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#000;font-size:11pt"> Subhead: Chagrin Valley
Little Theatre to stream hit 2010 comedy about female
friendships as one-weekend event</h4>
<p style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt">CHAGRIN
FALLS, OH - Chagrin Valley Little Theatre has, like many
local performance venues, remained 'dark' for the past six
months. However, the venerable non-profit has continued to
offer entertainment via the web while waiting for health
and safety recommendations to permit the resumption of
in-person productions. Determined to proceed with its 91st
Season under these unusual circumstances, CVLT will stream
the archival video of its hit 2010 production of <em>The
Dixie Swim Club</em> on Sept. 25, 26, and 27. Admission
is 'pay-as-you-can' and viewers can watch at any time they
choose throughout the weekend.</p>
<p style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt"><em>The
Dixie Swim Club</em> is a heartwarming comedy about the
power of friendship by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and
Jamie Wooten. The writing team has many stage and screen
credits, including Wooten's turn as a writer/producer of <em>The
Golden Girls</em>, the sassy snap of which comes through
in this play. The 'club' consists of five Southern women
who met on their college swim team and have set aside one
long weekend every August to meet up at the same beach
cottage on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Free from their
husbands, children, and jobs, the ladies recharge their
friendships as they catch up, laugh, swig martinis, and
meddle in each other’s lives. <em>The Dixie Swim Club</em>
focuses on four of those weekends and spans a period of
thirty-three years, during which life flings challenges at
them, throws wrenches into their plans, and helps them
prove the enduring power of 'teamwork'. The play has been
compared to <em>Steel Magnolias</em> and <em>The
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants</em> for its healthy
mix of witty jabs and touching moments.</p>
<p style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt">The
group is led by Sheree (Jackie Cassara), the spunky team
captain, who desperately tries to maintain her organized
and ‘perfect’ life. Dinah (Chris White), the wise-cracking
overachiever, is a career dynamo whose victories in the
courtroom are in stark contrast to the frustrations of her
personal life. Lexie (Denise Larkin), the pampered and
outspoken one, is determined to hold on to her looks and
youth as long as possible throughout her various
marriages. The self-deprecating and acerbic Vernadette
(Kate Tonti), acutely aware of the dark cloud that hovers
over her life, has decided to just give in and embrace the
chaos. And sweet, eager-to-please Jeri Neal (Jenny
Barrett) experiences a late entry into motherhood that
takes them all by surprise.</p>
<p style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt">
Under the direction of Chagrin Valley Little Theatre
veteran Barbara L. Rhoades, <em>The Dixie Swim Club</em>
was a box office smash and its ensemble charmed the
critics. The News-Herald's Bob Abelman called them "a
uniformly marvelous cast that brings these five characters
to life and makes them interesting and inviting," while
Sun News' Marjorie Preston said "the characters are
amazingly fun for both women and men to watch as they say
the things women think but can't say in public... the
quips are delivered very well and have the audience
reeling."</p>
<p style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt">"When
I read <em>The Dixie Swim Club</em> I thoroughly enjoyed
it because it offered everything I love in a great show,"
says director Rhoades. "This play is a combination of
every emotion we can experience: laughter, love, anger,
forgiveness, sadness and more. The actors in <em>Dixie
Swim</em> became a family of friends right from the
auditions through to opening night. Rehearsals were a
joyful experience for everyone and these wonderful women
worked hard to make every emotion real and honest."</p>
<p style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt">Actor
Chris White, who subsequently stepped into the role of
CVLT Board President for a few years, concurs. "From the
time we met at the first read-through, the bond and
chemistry were instantaneous. We <em>were</em> The Dixie
Swim Club!" Her co-star Jenny Barrett made her acting
debut in the production and continued on to leading roles
in several other CVLT comedies. Barrett says she still
considers the <em>Dixie Swim </em>cast among the most
talented she's worked with.</p>
<p style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt">The
play struck a chord with audiences as well, and has been
named by many of the theatre's patrons as one of the
finest comedies to play the CVLT Main Stage. Audience
member Thomas Schleper recalled that <em>The Dixie Swim
Club</em> was the first play he saw at CVLT. He enjoyed
it so much that he sprang into several years of volunteer
work at the Little Theatre, including house managing and
co-chairing the annual murder mystery fundraiser (which
would have taken place early this month). Schleper saw the
announcement of this online reprise as a serendipitous
sign of good fortune for his family's recent return to the
area after a stint in Colorado.</p>
<p style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt">The
admission password for this one-weekend stream can be
purchased by PayPal or credit card at CVLT.org. A $10
minimum is suggested and greater amounts are encouraged,
helping CVLT to meet mortgage and utility obligations
while its usual slate of events remain cancelled.</p>
<p style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt">
Chagrin Valley Little Theatre is located at 40 River St.
in Chagrin Falls and is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded
through individual and corporate contributions along with
a grant from the Ohio Arts Council and by the citizens of
Cuyahoga Country through Cuyahoga County Arts and Culture.
</p>
<p style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt">###</p>
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