FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Steven Box, Marketing Director
937-461-3823 x3112
steven@humanracetheatre.org

THE HUMAN RACE THEATRE COMPANY WELCOMES ANN RANDOLPH
IN HER OFF-BROADWAY HIT, SQUEEZE BOX,
FOR JANUARY 30 FUNDRAISER 

(Dayton, OH) – December 30 – The Human Race Theatre Company proudly presents actress/comedienne Ann Randolph in her hit one-woman show, Squeeze Box, for one performance only on January 30, 2005. The performance is the winter fundraising event for the Dayton-based professional theatre company.

Squeeze Box will be performed on The Human Race’s Loft Theatre stage at 126 North Main Street in the Metropolitan Arts Center building. The event begins at 6:00 p.m. with a cocktail party in the theatre lobby. There will also be a “Meet the Artist” dessert reception with Ms. Randolph immediately following the show. Tickets for the event are $50 per person with $25 of the purchase available as a tax-deductible gift. Tickets can be purchased by calling The Human Race at (937) 461-3823, ext. 3118.

Written and performed by Loveland, Ohio, native Ann Randolph, Squeeze Box skillfully weaves together stories about her work in a women’s homeless shelter and her pursuit of true love. Her painfully funny portraits of the shelter’s residents, and hilarious account of her hiking trip with Harold, the accordionist of her dreams, are beautifully drawn in this poignant tale about finding dignity and grace in unusual places.

Ms. Randolph, who has been compared to the late Gilda Radner, uses her elastic face, acrobatic voice and attuned body language to play male and female, young and old characters. With just a chair, banjo, guitar and lights, she brings to immediate, pulsing life her tragicomic journey of discovery and self-acceptance with remarkable freshness and vibrancy.

Ms. Randolph wrote Squeeze Box while working the graveyard shift at a homeless shelter for mentally ill women where she had been employed for the past ten years. She recently performed excerpts from Squeeze Box on National Public Radio’s new program Public Radio Weekend and on PBS. Ms. Randolph began working with the chronic mentally ill while attending college, where she received room and board from a state mental hospital in exchange for writing original comedies with schizophrenics.

Squeeze Box is no stranger to many regional theatre audiences. It was performed at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park during their 2002 alteractive Series, and was such a hit that the Playhouse brought it back. The play recently ended a successful five-month run Off-Broadway where it was produced by Anne Bancroft. Bancroft and her husband, Mel Brooks of The Producers fame, have purchased the film rights. Currently in pre-production, the movie version is slated for a 2006 release.

For more information on Ann Randolph and Squeeze Box, visit her website: www.annrandolph.com.

For more information about The Human Race Theatre Company, its programs and productions, visit www.humanracetheatre.org.

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.

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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.