CCBMRDD Presents RAZZLE DAZZLE 9: It's About Time! 5/15, 5/16 At Beck Center

Beck Center for the Arts and the Cuyahoga County Board of Mental Retardation & Developmental Disabilities (CCBMRDD) present Razzle Dazzle 9: It's About Time! on Friday, May 15 and Saturday, May 16, 2009, at the Beck Center for the Arts Music-Armory Building. Show time for both performances is 7:30 p.m.

Cast and crew members are made up of participants in the Rocky River Adult Activities Center's (AAC) inclusive musical theater program, consumers served by CCBMRDD and Rocky River AAC, and community volunteers. They will perform fun tunes centered around the theme of time, including "Sunday Morning," "Manic Monday," and "Everybody's Working for the Weekend." The evening will also feature a musical performance by Gavin McIvor, a participant in the Beck Music Therapy program, an art exhibition with works from participants in the Beck Arts Therapy program, and works for sale from HeARTworks, the CCBMRDD art gallery.

Tickets for the opening night performance on May 15 are $15 and benefit the Beck's Department of Creative Arts Therapies. A post-show reception includes a meet-and-greet with the performers, a Chinese raffle, and prize giveaways. Tickets may be purchased at the door or in advance by calling 216.521.2540 x10.

The show on May 16 is free and open to the public and includes a special musical performance by the Rocky River and Maple Heights Adult Activities Center Choirs. Doors open 20 minutes prior to the show.

Creative arts therapies are the prescribed use of the arts, therapeutically, to facilitate change, or to maintain functioning, which contribute to the quality of life. Music and art therapists serve people of all ages with special needs. In therapy, the arts are used to encourage personal growth so all individuals may further develop skills that help maximize their potential.

"Being part of the community and celebrating it is what Razzle Dazzle is all about," says Tara Griest, Beck's associate director of Creative Arts Therapies. "This is a feel good show, and we greatly value our longstanding partnership with the CCBMRDD and Rocky River AAC. The pride on the participants' faces and music will definitely move you."

For more information, call Ed Gallagher at 216.521.2540 x12 or Sue Duffy at 216.736.2722.

One of the region's largest arts organizations, Beck Center for the Arts is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization that offers professional Theater Productions, arts education programming in dance, music, theater, visual arts, early childhood, and creative arts therapies for special needs students, and gallery exhibits featuring local and regional artists.

To position the Beck for long-term sustainability, the Beck Center's Board of Directors has launched a Strategic Growth Initiative, entitled Open for Imagination. The campaign goal is to raise money to create a working capital fund by August 31, 2009. Tax-deductible donations may be made online at www.beckcenter.org or mailed to Beck Center for the Arts, 17801 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood, OH 44107.

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