Olney Theatre Center Partners With Local Organizations For A Book Drive in Conjunction With MATILDA THE MUSICAL

Olney Theatre Center, an official state theatre of Maryland, will be hosting a book drive as part of its upcoming production of Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical. Audiences and community members are encouraged to bring a new or gently used children's book to donate when attending performances of Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical. The books will be distributed to two local organizations that specialize in getting books into the hands of kids in underserved communities, Velocity of Books, based in Wheaton, and Maryland Book Bank, based in Baltimore.

Joshua Ford, Olney Theatre Center's director of marketing and communications, said, "Matilda is the story of a girl whose life is changed by reading. Yes, she's magical and telekinetic, but what really powers her abilities and makes her remarkable is her love of books. It's such a big theme in the play that our brilliant designer Milagros Ponce de León has incorporated 2,000 books all over the stage. The story is literally and figuratively built by books. It felt important to extend that magic beyond the theatre and do what we can to make sure every kid has the power to supercharge their imagination through reading."

Kim Crout, Program Manager for Maryland Book Bank said, "These partnerships are invaluable to our organization because they allow us to provide high quality books to under-resourced children across Maryland. Reading opens up a world of learning, magic, and most importantly hope to the children that we serve showing them that just like Matilda with a good book, they are never really alone."

Audience and community members are asked to bring new and gently used children's books to the theatre when attending a performance or during normal Box Office hours. A collection point will be located in the lobby of the Historic Theatre, near the Box Office. Due to space and storage limitations, the theatre asks that donors refrain from donating multi-volume reference works, old magazines, or any other media besides children's books. Books will be accepted throughout the run of the show, June 21 - July 21, 2019.

New books can be dropped off at Olney Theatre Center (2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Rd., Olney, MD 20832) in the bins located in the lobby of the Historic Theatre next to the Box Office.

Bring a new or gently used children's book. Please do not bring other used books for adults, reference books, or magazines.

Throughout the run of Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical, running June 21 - July 21, 2019. Prior to any performance or during Box Office hours, Wednesday - Sunday, noon - 6:00 pm.

Visit olneytheatre.org/bookdrive

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