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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:
1/14/2020</p>
<hr width="100%" size="2" noshade="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">cvlt@cvlt.org</a><br>
Website: <a href="http://www.cvlt.org/">www.CVLT.org</a><br>
</p>
<h3 style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
color:#000; font-size:12pt;">Chagrin Valley Little Theatre
will present ELLIOT & ME - a new musical comedy -
online in February</h3>
<h4 style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
color:#000; font-size:11pt;">Subhead: CVLT to stream
professional regional theatre production for NEOhio
audiences.</h4>
<p style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:10pt">CHAGRIN
FALLS, OH - Chagrin Valley Little Theatre in conjunction
with Hudson Theatre Works of Weehawken, NJ, will offer a
special online presentation of ELLIOT & ME - a new
musical comedy by Steven Willensky and Scott Coulter with
music by Elliot Willensky. ELLIOT & ME is filled with
humor, colorful personalities, unexpected situations, and
uplifting musical moments in a heartfelt story of
brotherly love. The production will be available to stream
for a $20 admission from Thursday, February 18 at 6 PM
through midnight on Sunday, February 21 at CVLT.org.</p>
<p style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:10pt">Based
on the Willenskys' real lives and their powerful bond, the
two-man play centers on songwriter Elliot and his younger
brother Steven as they prepare to pitch their original
two-man show to legendary Broadway producer Max Stone.
Elliot is a charming, free-spirited ladies' man
overflowing with talent, joie de vivre, and a knack for
driving Steven crazy. Elliot and Steven both reflect on
the volatile ups and downs of their shared experiences:
from their raucous "wonder years" growing up in Bayonne,
NJ; to the painful conflict when Elliot defies the
expectations of his traditional middle-class Jewish family
and drops out of medical school to write pop songs; to
Elliot's rise to stardom writing hits for the likes of
Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston and Steven’s
starry-eyed admiration for his Hollywood lifestyle; and
eventually to their role reversals when Elliot’s career
hits a few bumps in the road and he needs to rely on
Steven for help.</p>
<p style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:10pt">The
production was staged and recorded at Hudson Theatre
Works, a professional Equity company and a proud member of
the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, in December 2020 and is
being offered to Northeast Ohio audiences online through
CVLT by special arrangement with Steven Willensky. It
stars a pair of acclaimed actors performing musical
arrangements by Michael Holland under the direction of
Michael Bias and a highly skilled creative team.</p>
<p style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:10pt">Elliot
is portrayed by Eric Briarley, who has traveled the world
playing iconic characters such as 'Rhett Butler' in a
musical adaptation of <em>Gone With The Wind</em>, and
'Sam Carmichael' in the international musical sensation, <em>Mamma
Mia!</em> Briarley's other credits include: <em>Les
Misérables</em> (Broadway National Tour), <em>My Fair
Lady</em> (Royal National Theatre - USA Tour), <em>A
Little Night Music</em> (Goodspeed), <em>Show Boat</em>
and <em>Man Of La Mancha</em> (Westchester Broadway
Theatre), and <em>Ben, Virginia and Me</em> (New York
Music Festival). </p>
<p style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:10pt">
Drew Seigla portrays Steven. He is a standout among
theatre and opera audiences, recognized for his “stunning
tenor voice.” He made his Off-Broadway debut as 'Matt; The
Mute' in <em>The Fantasticks</em> where he continued for
a solid two-year stint. He gained his second NYC credit
after joining the cast of <em>Sweeney Todd</em> as their
Standby 'Anthony/Tobias/Beadle' at Barrow St. Theatre.
Regional Theatre highlights include <em>Kiss Me Kate</em>
at Flat Rock Playhouse and 'Jack' in <em>Into the Woods</em>
at Barksdale Theatre. Before returning to NYC in 2014, Mr.
Siegla made his opera debut with Lyric Opera Virginia,
where he sang 'Gastone' and covered 'Alfredo' in <em>La
Traviata</em>. He was last seen as 'Pertshik' in <em>Fiddler
on the Roof in Yiddish</em> at Stage 42, directed by
theatre legend, Joel Grey. He holds a B.M. from The
Juilliard School, and studied Music Theatre at Elon
University.</p>
<p style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:10pt">
Chagrin Valley Little Theatre is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
funded through individual and corporate contributions. Our
programming is made possible in part by the citizens of
Cuyahoga Country through Cuyahoga County Arts and Culture
and by state tax dollars allocated by the Ohio Legislature
to the Ohio Arts Council (OAC). The OAC is a state agency
that funds and supports quality arts experiences to
strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and
economically. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;font-family: arial, sans-serif;
font-size:10pt">###</p>
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