PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: 7/29/2019

Contact: Andrew Rothman
From: Chagrin Valley Little Theatre

40 River Street
Chagrin Falls, OH 44122
Phone: 440-247-8955
E-mail: cvlt@cvlt.org
Website: www.CVLT.org
(Attached image - Kyle Burnett as Gordon, Diana Nabring as Mimi)

CVLT's River Street Playhouse gets "A New Brain" in August

CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio - William Finn has composed two "Best Musical" Tony-nominees - "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" and "Falsettos" (winner of Best Musical 1992 and Best Revival 2017 among others). Between these two hits, he composed the eccentric and semi-autobiographical musical A NEW BRAIN with Tony-winner James Lapine. Chagrin Valley Little Theatre's intimate River Street Playhouse opens a three-weekend run of A NEW BRAIN on August 2, with Friday and Saturday performances at 8 PM and a Sunday matinee at 2 PM on August 11. The play is directed by Will C. Crosby, who also directed Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein," which is playing concurrently to critical applause on CVLT's Main Stage next door.

Finn based A NEW BRAIN loosely on his own near-death experience following surgery for a rare malformation of the veins and arteries in his brain. It follows a young composer named Gordon (Kyle Burnett), who collapses face-first into his meal and awakens in the hospital. There he is surrounded by his maritime-enthusiast lover (Jason Alan Salamon), his loving yet unstable mother (Diana Nabring), his best friend and agent Rhoda (Alicia Pedraza), the doctor (Elliott Ingersol), and the nurses (David Rusnak, Mikayla Myers).

Gordon's diagnosis forces him to grapple with his career, his relationships, his mistakes, and his mortality. The ordeal is complicated by hallucinations of the children's television frog he had been composing songs for when he fell ill (Patrick Hanlon), a minister (Jeff Centrello) who tries to impose Protestant beliefs on the Jewish Gordon, and a homeless woman (Braelin Andrzejewski).

A NEW BRAIN is more than a hospital drama set to joyous and powerful music. It is a probing and unconventional narrative about the healing powers of art and love, told with plenty of laugh-out-loud humor and a fair share of adult content. As one reviewer of the 2015 NYC revival put it, "What do we make of our time here? If your brain is wired for it, you make music."

Tickets for A NEW BRAIN are $13 general admission. Tickets can be purchased in advance at CVLT.org or by calling (440) 247-8955 between 1-6 PM, Monday - Saturday. Walk-up tickets are cash only. CVLT's River Street Playhouse is located at 56 River Street in Chagrin Falls, just west of the main CVLT building. Parking is limited - advanced arrival is highly recommended.

CVLT is generously funded by Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and supported by the Ohio Arts Council.

###