Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park Presents HIGH, 9/4-10/2

The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park will open its 2010-2011 season with Matthew Lombardo's HIGH, starring movie and stage actress Kathleen Turner. After its Cincinnati run, HIGH will move to Broadway early in 2011. This powerful and gripping adult drama begins previews in The Playhouse's Robert S. Marx Theatre September 4 and continues through October 2.

Ms. Turner plays the tough-talking and formerly hard-drinking Sister Jamison Connelly. Working in a church-sponsored rehab center, she reluctantly agrees to sponsor a defiant 19-year-old drug user and soon becomes convinced he is keeping a secret that is vital to his recovery. As she struggles to unlock the mystery, she must confront her own beliefs. HIGH explores the universal themes of truth, forgiveness, redemption and human fallibility.

Kathleen Turner has garnered critical acclaim for her performances in various movies including Body Heat (Golden Globe nomination); Romancing the Stone and Prizzi's Honor, both of which earned her a Golden Globe Award; Peggy Sue Got Married, which brought Turner both an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe nomination; and War of the Roses, which earned her yet another Golden Globe nomination. Turner's extensive film credits also include The Man with Two Brains with Steve Martin, Jewel of the Nile with Michael Douglas, The Accidental Tourist; V.I. Warshawski, Serial Mom, Naked in New York, Moonlight and Valentino, The Real Blonde and The Virgin Suicides. She has starred on Broadway in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, for which she received a Tony nomination; and also Indiscretions, The Graduate and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, for which she received a second Tony nomination. Ms. Turner had a major recurring role last season playing the role of Sue Collini on Showtime's hit series, Californication. This spring, she starred as newspaper columnist Molly Ivins in the world premiere of Red Hot Patriot: The Kick Ass Wit of Molly Ivins at Philadelphia Theater Center, and immediately following that shot the starring role in an independent film called The Perfect Family. In addition to her film and stage credits, her 2008 autobiography titled Send Yourself Roses: Thoughts on my Life, Love, and Leading Roles secured a position on the New York Times Best Seller List.

Sister Jamison Connelly's colleague and occasional adversary in HIGH, Father Michael Delpapp, is portrayed by Michael Berresse. Mr. Berresse received both Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for his starring work in Bartlett Sher?s acclaimed Broadway production of The Light in the Piazza. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his portrayal of Bill Calhoun in Kiss Me, Kate. Other major Broadway credits include A Chorus Line, Chicago and Damn Yankees. His coast-to-coast regional appearances include L.A.?s Mark Taper Forum, the Old Globe Theatre, Great Lakes Theatre Festival and Paper Mill Playhouse.

Evan Jonigkeit plays hustler and addict Cody Randall. A Philadelphia-based artist, he has worked in many of that city's theatres, including Arden Theatre, Mauckingbird Theatre, Walnut Street Theatre, Montgomery Theatre and People's Light & Theatre. He has been seen in the films Calendar Girl, The Gift and on Fox TV's Amazing Sport Stories. He serves on the PlayPenn New Play Development Committee, as Director of Development for Mauckingbird Theatre and as a teacher. He is a graduate of Temple University.

The opportunity for audiences to experience this exceptional trio of actors in the world premiere of HIGH comes by way of playwright Matthew Lombardo. In 2002, his Katharine Hepburn bio-play Tea at Five (with Kate Mulgrew) debuted at Hartford Stage, instantly becoming an audience favorite and breaking all box office records. The play later debuted

off-Broadway prior to a successful national tour. Mr. Lombardo most recently made his Broadway debut at The Lyceum Theatre with Looped.

Rob Ruggiero, Senior Artistic Associate of TheatreWorks in Hartford, Connecticut, will helm the production. He recently made his Broadway debut with Matthew Lombardo's new play Looped. His Playhouse credits are ELLA and LAST TRAIN TO NIBROC. Regionally, he has earned recognition for his work on both plays and musicals. For Goodspeed Musicals, he directed 1776, Big River, Camelot and Annie Get Your Gun. He conceived and directed the popular Ella (starring Tina Fabrique), which continues to play major regional theaters nationwide.

The design team for HIGH includes set designer David Gallo (Company, The Fall of Heaven, The History of Invulnerability), winner of the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, American Theatre Wing Award, Lucille Lortel Award, LA Critics Circle Award and the Obie Award. Costume designer is Tony Award winner Jess Goldstein, Lighting Designer is John Lasiter and Sound Designer is Vincent Olivieri. The Production Stage Manager is Jenifer Morrow.

Prices for HIGH range from $25 - $64, depending on day and seat location. Tickets are just $25 for the preview performances at 8 p.m. Saturday, September 4; 2 p.m. Sunday, September 5; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, September 7; and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 8. Some restrictions apply. The official opening night is Thursday, September 9 at 8 p.m.

Performances take place at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 4 and 8 p.m. on Saturdays and 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Sundays.

Tickets to HIGH are on sale August 16. For more information, call The Playhouse box office at 513/421-3888 (toll-free in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana at 800/582-3208) or visit www.cincyplay.com. Call 513/345-2248 for TDD accessibility.

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