VICTORIA THEATRE ASSOCIATION
138 North Main Street, Dayton, Ohio 45402-1776
Administrative Office: 937-228-7591 ● Ticket Center Stage: 937-228-3630 ● Fax: 937-449-5068
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACTS:
Eric Brockman, Victoria Theatre Association, (937) 228-7591, ext. 3078
Leigh Allan, The Human Race Theatre Company, (937) 461-3823, ext. 3112
Photos available online at www.victoriatheatre.com/media
Select “The Loft Series” from the Photo Archive menu and enter:
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Victoria Theatre Association and The Human Race Theatre Company
present
CULT CLASSIC COMES TO LIFE AS A BRAND-NEW
MUSICAL, MARCH 8 – 25 AT THE LOFT THEATRE
(Dayton, OH) – February 22, 2007 – Cult-classic movie meets musical theatre living legend in the next Loft Series 1 production. The result is tons of unusual fun, in the Midwest Premiere – and only third-ever production – of Harold & Maude: An Intimate Musical, presented by Victoria Theatre Association and The Human Race Theatre Company, March 8 – 25, at The Loft Theatre in downtown Dayton.
Harold & Maude: An Intimate Musical is based on the 1971 movie Harold & Maude, which starred Bud Cort as a death-obsessed rich teen and Ruth Gordon as a life-obsessed 79-year-old he meets at a funeral. The movie became an international phenomenon, and now Maude’s bizarre and often felonious eccentricities, Harold’s equally bizarre pseudo-suicidal tendencies, and their unconventional love story have been set to the music of Joseph Thalken and lyrics and book of Tom Jones.
Thalken is known to Dayton theatregoers as the composer of Was, presented at The Loft Theatre in 2004. Jones is known to the musical theatre world as the genius behind The Fantasticks, one of the greatest musical theatre hits ever. Thalken and Jones have taken Colin Higgins’ screenplay to a fascinating new level in this musical adaptation. It’s a love story, a sentimental comedy and a cutting social satire … all wrapped up in an exciting new musical!
Directing The Loft Series 1 production of Harold & Maude: An Intimate Musical is The Human Race Theatre Company’s Executive Director, Kevin Moore. Moore has been at the helm of more than a dozen Human Race productions, including Children of Eden and Wild Blue, produced many more, including Was, and acted in yet more, including The Fantasticks and this season’s production of Big River. Scot Woolley of Cincinnati is the Musical Director.
Susan Lehman, who plays Maude, has decades of theatre experience. Among many other things, Lehman got married 410 times as Tzeitel in the First National Company of Fiddler on the Roof, directed episodes of “All My Children” and “Texas,” and will dance through Central Park this winter in her first feature film, Disney’s Enchanted.
Harold is played by Justin Schultz, a graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. He was previously seen at The Loft Theatre in Beautiful Thing and The Drawer Boy. Schultz has also appeared in the Obie-nominated New York Theatre Workshop production of The Beard of Avon and at the Mint Theater in John Ferguson.
Three Human Race Resident Artists complete the cast – Patricia Linhart as Harold’s mother, and Katie Pees and Scott Stoney in multiple roles.
Harold & Maude: An Intimate Musical will have a preview night at The Loft Theatre on March 8, with its official opening on Friday, March 9. Performances run through March 25. Performance times are Tuesday evenings at 7 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
New this season, Lite Fare at The Loft offers food and drink in The Loft Theatre lobby on the last Tuesday of each Loft Series production. Beginning at 5:30 p.m., Citilites restaurant provides gourmet sandwiches, desserts and other quick items at a reasonable price, with special beers and wines featured at the bar. Lite Fare at The Loft will be held on March 20 for Harold & Maude: An Intimate Musical.
Tickets are priced at $28 for the preview performance, $31 for weeknight and Sunday evening performances, and $34 for Friday evening, Saturday evening and Sunday matinee performances. Discounts are available for senior citizens, students and groups. Tickets are on sale now via Ticket Center Stage and may be purchased at the Schuster Center box office in downtown Dayton or by phone, at (937) 228-3630 or toll free (888) 228-3630. Ticket Center Stage hours are Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. and Saturday, noon - 4 p.m. Tickets may be purchased online at any time at www.ticketcenterstage.com. Tickets may also be purchased at The Loft Theatre box office, beginning two hours prior to each performance.
Harold & Maude: An Intimate Musical is sponsored by Jim & Enid Goubeaux and the Shen Family Foundation. Media Sponsor for The Loft Series is WYSO Public Radio/91.3 FM. The Official Host for The Loft Series is DoubleTree Hotel.
To learn more about The Human Race Theatre Company and The Loft Series, visit www.humanracetheatre.org. For more information about Victoria Theatre Association, visit www.victoriatheatre.com. Be sure to click on the “Invite Friends” link to learn about Victoria Theatre Association’s online invitation service – it’s easy and FREE!
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Victoria Theatre Association is one of Dayton’s premier arts organizations, presenting the Fifth Third Bank Broadway Series, the Chase Young at Heart Family Series, the Michelob Ultra Cool Films series, Star Attractions, and the Discovery series, which features curriculum-enhanced live theatre productions for school children. Victoria Theatre Association is proud of its alliance with the Dayton Opera Association and its collaboration on The Loft Series 1 with The Human Race Theatre Company. In addition to the performances it presents, Victoria Theatre Association also manages the historic Victoria Theatre, the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center, and the Metropolitan Arts Center, which houses The Loft Theatre. Victoria Theatre Association receives funding from a variety of diverse public, corporate, individual and private sources, including the Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District and the Ohio Arts Council. The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program or organization with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.
Founded in 1986, The Human Race Theatre Company moved to the Metropolitan Arts Center in 1991, taking up residence at The Loft, a 219-seat theatre. In addition to The Loft Series 1, produced in collaboration with Victoria Theatre Association, The Human Race produces The Loft Series 2, the Musical Theatre Workshop series, and special event programming. The Human Race, under the direction of Artistic Director Marsha Hanna and Executive Director Kevin Moore, also maintains education outreach programs for children six to 16, guest artist and artist residencies in area schools, The Muse Machine In-School Tour, Youth Summer Stock, and The Human Race Conservatory. Human Race organizational support is provided by the Ohio Arts Council, Culture Works, Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District and the Shubert Foundation.