FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Van Ackerman
Thursday, August 30, 2007 Director of Marketing & PR
(513) 977-4108
vackerman@cincinnatiarts.org
{please include in all calendar listings}
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2007-08 SEASON ANNOUNCEMENT - WE WILL ROCK YOU!

An Eclectic and Electric Mix of Music, Theatre, Dance and Family Fun

CINCINNATI, OH – The Cincinnati Arts Association is pleased to announce its 2007-08 Season – a diverse selection of entertainment options that is sure to rock a variety of Aronoff Center audiences. These intriguing additions to another vibrant Tri-state arts season are certain to continue CAA’s long-standing mission of presenting an eclectic mix of alternative entertainment choices to Cincinnati theater-goers. The dynamic new season offers something for everyone, showcasing an entertaining mix of music, theater, dance, and family fun.

CAA’s mix of THEATRE includes the 2007 Acclaim Award Theatre Forward grant recipient – Performance Gallery’s world premier epic, Gilgamesh in Uruk: G.I. in Iraq; Broadway’s longest-running one-man comedy about the battle of the sexes, Defending the Caveman; the return of NYC’s acclaimed The Acting Company with their mesmerizing new production of Orson Welles’ Moby Dick Rehearsed; and the new Broadway musical about the Man in Black – Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash.

The mix of MUSIC includes one of the hottest young Latin groups in the world today – the Grammy Award-nominated Tiempo Libre; the music of the Fab Four – from the Ed Sullivan Show to Abbey Road – with the awesome live tribute show, RAIN: The Beatles Experience; and the music event guaranteed to rock you – One Night of Queen – featuring Ireland’s incomparable Gary Mullen and his band as Freddie Mercury and Queen.

This season’s mix of FAMILY FUN includes an all new page-to-stage musical adventure, Arthur Live! – Arthur Tricks the Tooth Fairy; and the ancient tradition, breathtaking skill, and spellbinding beauty of China’s Golden Dragon Acrobats.

The final ingredient in CAA’s rockin’ mix of programming is a delicious dash of DANCE with the much-anticipated return of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the internationally-acclaimed African-American modern dance company that has dazzled audiences around the world.

“In another active arts season in Cincinnati, we are excited to present a season that really rocks, including some of the best entertainment choices currently touring performing arts centers across the country,” says Steve Loftin, President & Executive Director of the Cincinnati Arts Association. “We hope that this eclectic mix of CAA Experiences will attract diverse audiences to downtown Cincinnati and add variety to the Aronoff Center’s 2007-08 schedule.”

TICKETS & INFORMATION – Tickets on Sale NOW!

• www.CincinnatiArts.ORG
• (513) 621-ARTS [2787]
• CAA Ticket Offices at the Aronoff Center and Music Hall
• For group sales of 10 or more, call (513) 977-4157

CAA 2007-08 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Performance Gallery presents

GILGAMESH IN URUK: G.I. IN IRAQ

Thursday - Saturday, September 27 - 29, 2007 ~ 8:00 PM
Sunday, September 30, 2007 ~ 2:00 PM & 7:00 PM
Wednesday - Saturday, October 3-6, 2007 ~ 8:00 PM
Sunday, October 7, 2007 ~ 2:00 PM
Aronoff Center ~ Fifth Third Bank Theater
Tickets: $18.00
(Recipient of the 2007 Theatre Forward grant – sponsored by the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation, the League of Cincinnati Theaters, the Acclaim Awards and the Cincinnati Arts Association)

Building a legacy. Chasing immortality. Pre-emptive strikes. The story never ends… Gilgamesh in Uruk: G.I. in Iraq, written by Cincinnati playwright Blake Bowden and developed with Performance Gallery, breathes new life into an ancient epic and brings it boldly into the present. Using media, movement, music and original dialogue – as well as a blending of ancient and modern, comedic and tragic – this new adaptation of the story of a tyrant king explores ambition, love, grief and responsibility. Gilgamesh asks us to question our motives and admit our mistakes.
Contains adult themes and situations. Recommended for ages 15 and up.

[Audience Discussion Forum: September. 30, 4:30 p.m. -6:00 p.m. Join cast members and guest adjudicators to discuss the relevant themes of the Gilgamesh epic and how they apply to our modern world. Light refreshments served. FREE.]

TIEMPO LIBRE

Friday, February 8, 2008 ~ 8:00 PM
Aronoff Center ~ Procter & Gamble Hall
Tickets: $35.00 • $30.00 • $25.00
Grammy-nominated Tiempo Libre is one the hottest young Latin bands in the world today. The Miami-based band has become known for their explosive, joyful performances of timba – an irresistible, dance-inducing mix of high-voltage Latin jazz and the seductive rhythms of son. Since their formation in 2001, Tiempo Libre has been traveling the country, reinterpreting and reinvigorating traditional Cuban music with a youthful, modern sound and forging a new style born from the meeting of their Cuban roots and their new American experience. Dance the night away with Tiempo Libre!
www.tiempolibremusic.com

DEFENDING THE CAVEMAN

Friday, February 22, 2008 ~ 7:30 PM
Saturday, February 23, 2008 ~ 2:00 PM & 7:30 PM
Sunday, February 24, 2008 ~ 2:00 PM & 7:00PM
Aronoff Center ~ Jarson-Kaplan Theater
Tickets: $45.00 • $35.00
Defending the Caveman, the longest-running solo play in Broadway history, is now a worldwide rock-solid tour de force that has won the hearts of millions in over 30 countries, and it’s sure to win yours. A hilariously insightful play about the ways men and women relate, Caveman has both sexes roaring with laughter and recognition. Affectionate
nudging between audience members occurs during the performance as they recognize themselves in the stories being
told on stage. The “outrageously funny and surprisingly sweet exploration of the gender gap” (Chicago Sun Times) has made Defending the Caveman “a comic phenomenon” (New York Times).
www.defendingthecaveman.com

RAIN: The Beatles Experience

Wednesday, March 12, 2008 ~ 8:00 PM
Aronoff Center ~ Procter & Gamble Hall
Tickets: $45.00 • $40.00 • $30.00
RAIN – The Beatles Experience covers the Fab Four from their very first Ed Sullivan Show appearance through the Abbey Road album. A live multi-media, multi-dimensional experience, RAIN includes a fusion of historical footage and television commercials from the 1960s that lights up video screens and live cameras that zoom in for close-ups. In a show the Denver Post calls "the next best thing to seeing The Beatles," RAIN boasts four incredible musician/actors and a song list of nearly 200 Beatlemaniac favorites, ranging from beloved ballads like "Let It Be" and "Hey Jude" to classic hits including "Revolution," "Come Together," and "Can’t Buy Me Love."
www.rainthebeatlesexperience.com

ARTHUR LIVE! – Arthur Tricks the Tooth Fairy

Saturday, March 15, 2008 ~ 3:00 PM & 7:00 PM
Aronoff Center ~ Procter & Gamble Hall
Tickets: $28.00 • $24.00 • $20.00
This all-new musical adventure is a storybook come to life onstage! D.W. is jealous when her big brother Arthur loses a tooth and gets a visit, and a dollar, from the Tooth Fairy. Arthur explains that the Tooth Fairy comes only when you lose a tooth and put it under your pillow at night, so D.W. dreams up some hilarious (but unsuccessful) plans to trick the Tooth Fairy into coming. Finally, Arthur decides to reward D.W.'s efforts by assisting the Tooth Fairy, himself! Singing, dancing and audience participation will thrill audience members of all ages.
www.bsoinc.com/family

The Acting Company presents MOBY DICK REHEARSED

Orson Welles’ stage adaptation of the classic novel by Herman Melville
Monday, March 17, 2008 ~ 8:00 PM
Aronoff Center ~ Jarson-Kaplan Theater
Tickets: $30.00
Orson Welles understood the importance of treating the audience as a partner in creating illusion, which comes through vividly in this simple but riveting production of Herman Melville’s classic Moby Dick. Set in an empty theater, a tyrannical actor-manager leads his crew and transports audiences to Captain Ahab’s fateful voyage across the open seas aboard the Pequod in search of the great white whale, Moby Dick. The Acting Company (winner of the 2007 Acclaim Award for Best Touring Production – Jane Eyre) transforms Welles’ play into deeply affecting theater – a mesmerizing theatrical tour-de-force that should be seen by young audiences and avid theater goers alike.
www.theactingcompany.org

ONE NIGHT OF QUEEN

Saturday, March 22, 2008 ~ 8:00 PM
Aronoff Center ~ Procter & Gamble Hall
Tickets: $40.00 • $35.00 • $30.00
When Ireland’s Gary Mullen won the British television show Stars In Their Eyes Grand Final in 2000 as Freddie Mercury, he began a fantastic journey which has so far taken him to virtually every theatre and concert hall in the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Holland and New Zealand. His sold-out shows, together with his band “The Works,” are receiving rave reviews from audiences of all ages. Now Gary and the boys continue their amazing adventure with his first U.S. tour, including rebel-rousing renditions of Queen’s greatest hits, including “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Are the Champions,” “Somebody to Love,” and “Another One Bites the Dust.” THIS SHOW WILL ROCK YOU ….GUARANTEED!
www.onenightofqueen.com

THE GOLDEN DRAGON ACROBATS

Thursday, April 3, 2008 ~ 7:30 PM
Aronoff Center ~ Procter & Gamble Hall
Tickets: $30.00 • $25.00 • $20.00
For more than twenty-seven centuries, Chinese acrobats have been thrilling audiences, making it the longest-running folk art form in history. In China, acrobats are revered much the same way prima ballerinas and opera singers are in the West. The performers of the Golden Dragon Acrobats represent the best of this honored tradition, mixing award-winning acrobatics, awesome strength, and traditional dance to present a show of breathtaking skill and spellbinding beauty. Their feats of physical daring and grace, enhanced by elaborate traditional costumes in brilliant colors and a combination of ancient and contemporary music and theatrical techniques, continue to enthrall audiences of all ages.
www.goldendragonacrobats.com

RING OF FIRE: The Music of Johnny Cash

Saturday, April 5, 2008 ~ 8:00 PM
Aronoff Center ~ Procter & Gamble Hall
Tickets: $50.00 • $45.00 • $35.00
The music of the Man in Black ignites the stage in the new Broadway musical Ring of Fire, featuring 38 signature songs from the legendary Johnny Cash. Stories of passion, redemption, humor and salvation set the stage ablaze in this musical celebration of the world's most favorite rebel. Hits include “Walk the Line,” “Hurt,” “Jackson,” “I’ve Been Everywhere,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” “A Boy Named Sue,” and the title track “Ring of Fire.” With smashing medleys and a hearty bounce in its guitar-driven step, this musical celebration will have you stompin’ your feet and shoutin’ for more!
www.phoenix-ent.com

ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER

Tuesday, April 29, 2008 ~ 8:00 PM
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 ~ 8:00 PM
Aronoff Center ~ Procter & Gamble Hall
Tickets: $50.00 • $40.00 • $30.00
Founded in 1958 by the legendary dancer and choreographer, Alvin Ailey, this internationally-acclaimed African-American modern dance company has dazzled audiences from New York City to South Africa to China with its unparalleled artistry. The company’s spectacular repertoire ranges freely across a wide spectrum of dance and music – from cutting edge modern choreography to spirituals, hip-hop, jazz, and Afro-Caribbean rhythms. Experience AAADT’s extraordinary technique, passion and inimitable style in an exhilarating program of thrilling new works and beloved Ailey classics!
www.alvinailey.org

CAA APPLAUDS ITS GENEROUS SPONSORS

CAA 2007-08 SEASON SPONSORS
UNION CENTRAL INSURANCE AND INVESTMENTS
Founding Season Sponsor
CADILLAC
Official Vehicle
DUKE ENERGY
LOCAL12 WKRC
FIFTH THIRD BANK
Lifetime Endowment Partner

CAA 2007-08 PRESENTING SPONSORS
CityBeat
The Cincinnatian Hotel
Premiere Pianos
Natorp’s
CAA 2007-08 PROMOTIONAL SPONSORS
The Cincinnati Herald
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Founded in 1992, the Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA) is a not-for-profit organization that oversees the programming and management of the Tri-state’s finest performing arts venues – the Aronoff Center for the Arts and Music Hall – and is dedicated to supporting performing and visual arts. Each year, CAA presents a diverse schedule of events; serves upwards of one million people in its venues; features the work of talented local, regional, and national artists in the Weston Art Gallery (located in the Aronoff Center); and supports the work of more than one dozen resident companies. Since the inception of its acclaimed arts education programs in 1995, CAA has reached nearly three-quarters of a million students.

CAA is proud to be a member of Association of Performing Arts Presenters, Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, Greater Cincinnati Convention & Visitors Bureau, Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky African American Chamber of Commerce, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce, and Performing Arts Center Consortium.