Michael John LaChiusa Set for Talk-Back at American Repertory Theatre of WNY's FIRST LADY SUITE Tonight

Following tonight, March 15th performance of FIRST LADY SUITE, join American Repertory Theater of WNY as the company hosts Tony and Drama Desk nominated, Grammy Award winning composer, Michael John LaChiusa in his first-ever Buffalo talk-back. Tickets for the performance and talk-back: $30 General; $20 Student.

American Repertory Theater of WNY presents the Buffalo debut of Michael John LaChiusa's acclaimed musical classic piece, FIRST LADY SUITE. Described by The Guide to Musical Theatre, FIRST LADY SUITE is a "four chamber pieces, ranging from riotously funny to hauntingly lyrical focusing on celebrated First Ladies and the people surrounding them." Now playing until March 16th, this limited engagement is presented at ART/WNY's home base at Bittner Hall, 16 Linwood Avenue, Buffalo NY.

Broken into four musical vignettes, Over Texas centers upon aide, Mary Gallager (played by Mary Ryan) who's dream is abruptly visited by First Lady "Jackie" Kennedy (played by Katy Miner) as Air-Force One is flying into Dallas on November 22nd, 1963. Where's Mamie has Mamie Eisenhower (played by Katie McMahon) on a strange time-traveling trip where she meets famed African-American Opera singer Marian Anderson (played by Jackie Davis) and both visit future President Ike Eisenhower (played by John Calvin) as he is spending time with his chauffeur and current mistress, the next vignette Olio finds a signing Margaret Truman (Mary Ryan) attempting to overcome the hard candy-sucking First Lady Bess (John Calvin), and the final compelling piece, Eleanor Sleeps Here, tenderly delves into the relationship between Eleanor Roosevelt (portrayed by Leanne Troutman) and Journalist Lorena "Hick" Hickok (played by Shayna Raichilson-Zadok) as they are being flown by famed aviator, Amelia Earhart (played by Katy Miner) from Baltimore to Washington DC.

First produced in November 11 1993 by the New York Shakespeare Festival, the production racked up 32 performances before it closed in December. The March Production will mark this piece has been produced by a regional theater company.

All showtimes are at 7:30 pm. FIRST LADY SUITE will be performed at ART/WNY's home at Bittner Hall, located on 16 Linwood Avenue, Buffalo NY 14214. Tickets for performances, excluding tonight's March 15th talk-back, are $20 General Admission, $15 Students and Military Veterans. Tickets for the March 15th production including the talk-back are $30 General Admission, $20 Students and Military Veterans.

Please visit www.artofwny.org for more details and ticket ordering information. Call the ART/WNY box office at 716-634-1102, 9 am-4:30 pm, to make reservations.