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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:
7/30/2021</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"
moz-do-not-send="true">cvlt@cvlt.org</a><br>
Website: <a href="http://www.cvlt.org/"
moz-do-not-send="true">www.CVLT.org</a><br>
</p>
<h3 style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
color:#000; font-size:12pt;">Chagrin Valley Little
Theatre offers innovative online mystery game to launch
92nd Season </h3>
<p style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:10pt">CHAGRIN
FALLS, OH - The Chagrin Valley Little Theatre will kick
off it’s 92nd season this September with an
unprecedented and experimental web-based fundraiser. <i>Murder
by the Falls: “Nursery Crimes” </i>is an online event
set for Friday, September 10, wrapping up with a
reception / season kickoff party on Saturday, September
11. Admission to the online game is $35, with optional
$20 admission to the Saturday night reception. </p>
<p style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:10pt"><i>Murder
by the Falls</i> has served as the venerable
non-profit’s major fundraising event for a few decades.
The format usually consists of an original two-act
murder mystery / comedy paired with drinks, food, and a
hunt through the shop windows of downtown Chagrin Falls
to look for planted clues, including the interrogation
of on-the-street characters. The pandemic led to the
cancellation of this popular event for the first time in
many years last fall. </p>
<p style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:10pt">When
it came time to plan ahead for the 2021 edition, the
unpredictability of public health guidelines and
questions about audience comfort with close quarters
left the event’s status uncertain. Given the
participatory nature of the usual <i>Murder by the
Falls</i> format, including mingling with strangers
and crowding around shop windows, it seemed like the
show might not go on.</p>
<p style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:10pt">However,
brother and sister team Andrew and Greta Rothman rose to
the challenge, offering to concoct an online version of
the game. Combining their experience as
writers/producers for nine previous <i>Murder by the
Falls</i> shows with Andrew’s technical skills as a
computer and audio-visual professional, the duo have
created an ambitious, one-of-a-kind mix of theater and
gameplay. </p>
<p style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:10pt">Their
original story, "Nursery Crimes", involves
nursery-rhyme-inspired characters living in modern day
Chagrin Falls. Many of these characters have a reason to
dislike Humperdinck T. Dumpty, who is the co-founding
Editor in Chief of “The Nursery Times” newspaper and the
victim in the tale.</p>
<p style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:10pt">
On the evening of September 10 at 7 PM EST, registered
players will be emailed a PDF containing clippings from
the fictional “Nursery Times”. Within these pages will
be a dozen keywords for the audience to find - some
hidden in obvious ways and others far less conspicuous.
Once a secret word has been found, the player will enter
it into a box on the provided web page to unlock a
recorded scene featuring characters tied to the plot,
including security camera footage, private Zoom
meetings, recorded phone calls, and so on. </p>
<p style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:10pt">
Having revealed the clips, participants will submit a
form explaining who they think killed “Hump” T. Dumpty,
how they did it, and what their motive was. The game
officially ends at 12 PM EST on Saturday. The first
player or team to submit the correct (or closest to
correct) solution will receive a cash grand prize, in an
amount determined by the overall number of tickets sold.
Tickets to shows in CVLT’s 92nd Season will also be
given away as additional prizes. </p>
<p style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:10pt">
“It’s been like writing and directing an independent
film while simultaneously publishing a newspaper and
creating an online escape room game,” says Mr. Rothman
of the challenging production. “There are about fifty
pages of script and twenty-five actors recorded in
multiple locations. It’s elaborate almost to the point
of absurdity, but we still managed to work in some of
our trademark awful puns! And since it’s online, we have
no limit on how many people can attend, so we hope it
goes a long way toward getting CVLT back on its feet
post-COVID.”</p>
<p style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:10pt">
CVLT will use money generated by <i>Murder by the Falls</i>
to fund the plays and musicals scheduled to run in its
2021-22 season, beginning with Jeffrey Hatcher’s <i>Holmes
& Watson</i> on September 17th. </p>
<p style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:10pt">
Tickets for <i>Murder by the Falls</i> and all other
CVLT productions can be purchased online at CVLT.org or
via the Box Office at (440) 247-8955.</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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