FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Ticket information:
Ticket Center Stage
937-228-3630
Hours: Monday – Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.; Saturday, Noon – 4:00 p.m.
Ticket prices $23.00 – $70.00

EVERY GOOD BOY DESERVES FAVOUR,
RARELY PERFORMED PLAY FOR ACTORS AND ORCHESTRA
MAKES ITS OHIO DEBUT IN DAYTON 

(Dayton, OH) — January 31, 2005 — Two progressive arts organizations in Dayton join together February 24 – 26 to produce a play that has been performed less than a dozen times since its 1977 conception. The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and The Human Race Theatre Company are proud to announce their joint presentation of Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, A Play for Actors and Orchestra, for three performances at 8 p.m. in the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center.

Conducted by the Dayton Philharmonic’s Musical Director, Neal Gittleman, and directed by The Human Race’s Artistic Director, Marsha Hanna, the fully staged version of Every Good Boy Deserves Favour is a unique theatrical production. Written by Academy Award and Tony Award winning playwright Tom Stoppard with music by Grammy Award winner André Previn, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour requires a company of actors and an entire philharmonic orchestra to share the stage and blend symphonic concert and stage play.

Set in 1970's Soviet Union Russia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour marries music with politics as two men, coincidentally both sharing the name Alexander Ivanov, find themselves also sharing the same cell in a mental institution. One Ivanov, a genuine lunatic, believes he is the conductor of an orchestra and spends his days with a triangle rod commanding “invisible” musicians. The other Alexander, a political dissident, has been arrested by the Soviet government for "anti-social" slander against the restrictive regime. The drama springs from Sacha, Alexander's likewise rebellious but confused son, who can't understand why the imposing and distant government has stripped him of his father.

Tom Stoppard, perhaps Britain’s best living playwright (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Arcadia, Travesties, The Real Thing) and master of wit and clever repartee, skillfully deals with the heavy political subject by showing his interest in individual freedom and eccentricity with his signature flare for the absurd.
André Previn was a jack-of-all-trades, and his extensive career found him orchestrating films at MGM, performing at local jazz clubs and landing his dream, conducting the London Symphony Orchestra in 1968. There, he advocated for British composers Britten and Walton, but continued his quest to expand the reach of classical music. In 1974, Previn planted the orchestra concert/play idea in Stoppard’s mind. From this idea, he created a political satire and Previn matched the spoof with the musical parody of Russian composer, Shostakovich, who was a quiet mid 20th century activist against eastern European totalitarianism.

Part of the Philharmonic’s Classical Series and The Human Race’s Human Loft Series 2, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour stars The Race’s resident artists Bruce Cromer (Alexander), Patricia Linhart (Teacher), Michael Kenwood Lippert (Doctor) and Scott Stoney (Ivanov), as well as the talents of Watts Middle School student Jarod Garel (Sacha) and Cincinnati native Jim Stump (Colonel). The scenic designer is Dan Gray, lighting designer is John Rensel, costume designer is David Covach and sound designer is James Dunlap. Audiences can currently see Cromer and Lippert sharing the Loft Theatre stage in The Drawer Boy.

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour is sponsored by Fifth Third Bank, Mousaian Oriental Rugs, Copeland Corporation, Lexis Nexis, Mrs. Wallace E. Johnson and Betsy and Lee Whitney.

For more information about The Human Race Theatre Company and The Humana Loft Series, visit www.humanracetheatre.org. For more information on the Dayton Philharmonic, visit www.daytonphilharmonic.com.
 

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The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra is the largest and oldest performing arts organization in the community. Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra performances are made possible in part by Montgomery County and Culture Works, the single largest source of community funds for the arts and culture in the Miami Valley. Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra receives partial funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and from the Ohio Arts Council, a state agency created to foster and encourage the development of the arts and to preserve Ohio's cultural heritage. Funding from the Ohio Arts Council is an investment of state tax dollars that promotes economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohio residents.

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 Humana Loft Series 1, produced in collaboration with the Victoria Theatre Association, The Human Race produces the Humana 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 educational outreach programs for children six to eighteen, guest artists and artist residencies in area schools, The Muse Machine In-School Tour, Youth Summer Stock and The Human Race Conservatory. The Human Race Theatre Company receives organizational support from Culture Works, Montgomery County and The Shubert Foundation. The Ohio Arts Council helps fund The Human Race Theatre Company with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

CALENDAR EDITORS, PLEASE NOTE:
Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and The Human Race Theatre Company present
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
A Play for Actors and Orchestra
by Tom Stoppard and André Previn
February 24 – 26, 2005

Produced by Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and The Human Race Theatre Company
Performed at the Schuster Center’s Mead Theatre
One West Second Street
Dayton, Ohio 45402

Musical Direction by Neal Gittleman
Directed by Marsha Hanna
Starring Bruce Cromer, Jarod Garel, Patricia Linhart, Michael Kenwood Lippert, Scott Stoney and Jim Stump

For tickets, call: Ticket Center Stage at 937-228-3630
Ticket prices: $70.00 - $23.00 General Admission, with discounts for Seniors and Students

Tom Stoppard and André Previn’s play for actors and orchestra about the imprisonment of two patients in a Soviet insane asylum – one a political dissident and the other a genuine madman conducting his own imaginary orchestra.

Performance dates:
Thursday, February 24 8:00 p.m.
Friday, February 25 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 26 8:00 p.m.