Cleveland Play House Produces BILL W AND DR. BOB, Opens 4/9

Making its Midwest premiere in the birthplace of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill W. and Dr. Bob is an inspirational, gripping and timely story about the men and their wives whose relationships pioneered the beginning of Alcoholics Anonymous and the creation of Al-Anon. Directed by Seth Gordon, Associate Artistic Director of The Play House, the play is written by Stephen Bergman and Janet Surrey and is the centerpiece of the fifth annual FusionFest, a multidisciplinary performing arts festival. Bill W. and Dr. Bob begins in the Drury Theatre at The Cleveland Play House on Friday, April 9 and runs through Sunday, May 2, 2010. Tickets are available at The Cleveland Play House box office by calling 216.795.7000 ext 4 or online at www.clevelandplayhouse.com. Bill W. and Dr. Bob is sponsored by Cleveland Clinic, The Salvation Army of Greater Cleveland, Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board of Cuyahoga County and County of Summit Alcohol, Drug Addiction, Mental Health Services Board. Promotional support is provided by Discount Drug Mart.

"It's a very redemptive story about people who are struggling to solve very personal and formidable problems, and they manage to do so with each other's help," says Seth Gordon, director. "When someone is desperate for help, they can receive that help by being generous to others."

Bill W. and Dr. Bob is the compelling and often humorous story of how Bill Wilson, a failed stockbroker, and Dr. RoBert Smith, a surgeon, met in 1935 and created what was to a worldwide phenomenon and beginning of the support-group concept-Alcoholics Anonymous. Diagnosed as an incurable alcoholic, Wilson determined that what he needed most was fellowship with other alcoholics after previous attempts at recovery failed him. When Wilson's desire to drink overwhelmed him during a trip to Akron, Ohio, he telephoned a clergyman at random and asked if he could give him the name of a local alcoholic to talk to. That search led him to Dr. Bob Smith, a respected surgeon who frequently operated while inebriated. The stockbroker and the surgeon first met in the gatehouse of Stan Hywet Hall, the estate of Goodyear Rubber heiress Henrietta Sieberling, on May 12, 1935, talked for six hours straight - the first AA meeting - and history was made.
Performances of this work do not imply affiliation with nor approval or endorsement of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

Dr. Stephen Bergman (co-author) is a novelist (pen name Samuel Shem), playwright, essayist and activist. A graduate of Harvard College and Medical School, he was on the faculty for 35 years. His novels, The House of God, Fine and Mount Misery have sold over 3 million copies. Janet Surrey (co-author) is on the faculty and board of the Institute of Meditation and Psychotherapy in Newton, Mass. She is a clinical psychologist in private practice and has taught at the Harvard Medical School, Andover Newton Theological School and the Episcopal Divinity School. She is the author of many books and papers in the area of relational psychology, women's psychological development, spirituality, and addiction.

RECOVERY COMMUNITY AIDS IN UNDERSTANDING
Northeast Ohio's recovery community is involved with this Play House production, whether it's creating awareness of the play itself or guiding a post-show discussion. "If there is an addition recovery organization out there, they're going to be helping to add understanding to this production for us in some way or another," declares Gordon. Organizations confirmed to participate, in addition to the show sponsors and partners, include Glenbeigh, Recovery Resources, Northeast Ohio Recovery Association, Rosary Hall, Akron General, and dozens of various recovery centers, schools and corporate programs.

BILL W. AND DR. BOB Cast:
HEATHER ANDERSON BOLL (Woman) originated the role of Rachel Morse in Strike-Slip, directed by Chay Yew for Actors Theatre of Louisville's 2007 Humana Festival. New York credits include Between Us, Manhattan Theatre Club; A Kingdom, a Country, or a Wasteland in the Snow, PS-122; Writer's Block, Manhattan Class Company; Harvest, La Mama ETC; Medea Unharnessed at Drilling Company, earning a New York Innovative Theatre Award Nomination for Best Actress in a Lead Role; Miss Julie, Columbia University; and The Aperture, New York International Fringe Festival. Regional credits include 36 Views, The Huntington Theatre Company (Boston); Miss Julie, Two River Theatre Company; and Suzan-Lori Parks' 365 days/365 plays, Humana Festival. Recent Cleveland work includes Colder than Here, Dobama Theatre; and The Aperture, world premiere at Cleveland Public Theatre. MS. Anderson Boll earned her Master of Fine Arts in Acting, Yale School of Drama where she was the 2003 Oliver Thorndike Acting Award recipient. She is visiting assistant professor of theatre at Oberlin College.

DENISE CORMIER (Lois) last appeared at The Cleveland Play House in Intimate Apparel, a co-production with Actors Theatre of Louisville. Other favorite credits include the Broadway national tour of The Graduate; The Poetry of Pizza, Virginia Stage Company; Cabaret and Steel Magnolias, Arts Center of Coastal Carolina; After Ashley, Kitchen Theatre; Spinning Into Butter, Gloucester Stage Company; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Racing Demon, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, Merrimack Repertory Theatre; and Proof, The Vineyard Playhouse. Television and film credits include "Law and Order: Criminal Intent," "Guiding Light," "Six Degrees," The Big Gay Musical, and Mermaids. Ms. Cormier is a graduate of The Shakespeare Theatre Company's Academy for Classical Acting at The George Washington University.

Timothy Crowe (Dr. Bob) returns to The Cleveland Play House where he played Professor Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure and Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady. He appeared on Broadway in the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning play The Shadow Box. His off Broadway credits include The Servant at Soho Repertory Theater. As a member of Trinity Repertory Company he has performed numerous roles including the title role in Macbeth, Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, and (yes!) Sherlock Holmes. Mr. Crowe has worked at Long Wharf Theatre, Walnut Street Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Berkeley Rep. Film work includes the Disney film Underdog, The Brotherhood, and Outside Providence. Television credits include "The Silent Eye," "Feasting with Panthers," and "One Life to Live." He holds a Master of Arts from St. Louis University and attended The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts as a Fulbright Fellow.

Margaret Daly (Anne) was recently seen in Is Life Worth Living? at the Mint Theater Company in New York. Her other off Broadway credits include Theophilus North at Keen Company, T.L.C. at the New York International Fringe Festival, and the national tour of The Importance of Being Earnest directed by Sir Peter Hall. Among her numerous regional theatre appearances are A Delicate Balance and Jane Eyre at the Guthrie Theater; The Time of Your Life, Juno and the Paycock, the world premiere of A Mother, and A Christmas Carol at American Conservatory Theater; Present Laughter and Hedda Gabler at Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Rhinoceros and The House of Blue Leaves at Berkeley Repertory Theatre; three seasons with Shakespeare Santa Cruz; and many others including Dorset Theatre Festival, Magic Theatre, TheatreWorks, Vineyard Playhouse, and The Chamber Theater of San Francisco. Television appearances include "Mercy," "One Life to Live," "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," and "Nash Bridges."

CHARLES KARTALI (Man) played The Old Man in all five productions of A Christmas Story at The Cleveland Play House, as well as the roles of Christopher Trumbo in Trumbo and Mitch Albom in Tuesdays with Morrie. Mr. Kartali was a participant in The Play House's FusionFest from 2006 through 2009. He also recently appeared as Shmuel Berger in Pangs of the Messiah, Aaron Greenman in Cleveland Heights, and Eric Weiss in Brooklyn Boy; all produced by The Mandel Jewish Community Center. Other favorite Cleveland work includes The Price and Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune for Ensemble Theatre; A Bright Room Called Day for Cleveland Public Theatre; The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? for Dobama Theatre; and Awake and Sing at the Halle Theatre. Regionally, he has performed at American Stage, Aspen Theatre in the Park, BoarsHead, Shadowland, and Steppenwolf Theatre Company, among others. Film and television includes High Spirits and "Lost Subs."

SEAN Patrick Reilly (Bill W.) appeared on Broadway in Tracy Letts' Superior Donuts and Martin McDonough's The Beauty Queen of Leenane. Off Broadway credits follow: Atlantic Theater Company, Playwrights Horizons, Signature Theatre, The Public Theatre/New York Shakespeare Festival, The Classical Theatre of Harlem, 2econd Stage Theatre, HERE Arts Center, Circle in the Square, La Mama ETC, and Circle Repertory Company. Recent regional theatre work includes The Front Page, Williamstown Theatre Festival; Of Mice and Men, Westport Country Playhouse; Doubt, GeVa Theatre Center; GlenGarry Glenn Ross, Alley Theatre; American Buffalo, Two River Theater Company, Alley Theatre, and Geva; Huntington Theatre (Boston); Trinity Rep; Dallas Theatre Center; The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Edinburgh Fringe Festival; and Steppenwolf Theatre Company among many others. Film and television includes "Boardwalk Empire," Fair Game, Howl, "Bored to Death," "Damages," "Third Watch," "The Black Donnellys," Following Bliss, Man of the Century, "Law and Order(s)," and Sleepers. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and Neighborhood Playhouse.

BILL W. AND DR. BOB Creative Team:
Stephen Bergman (co-Playwright) is a doctor, novelist (pen name Samuel Shem), and playwright. A Rhodes Scholar, he was at Harvard Medical School for three decades. The Harvard Club of New York wrote: "Samuel Shem is easily the finest and most important writer ever to focus on the lives of doctors and the world of medicine." His classic novel of medical training The House of God has been called, "One of the two most significant medical novels of the 20th century." His 2008 novel The Spirit of the Place won two National Best Book of the Year Awards. Dr. Bergman authored two plays in The Best Short Plays anthologies and was playwright-in-residence at the Boston Shakespeare Company. With his spouse Janet Surrey, he wrote the off Broadway hit play Bill W. and Dr. Bob, which ran for 154 performances and won the Performing Arts Award of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence 2007. See www.samuelshem.com.

Janet Surrey (co-Playwright) is a clinical psychologist, author, Buddhist teacher, and founding scholar of the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute at Wellesley College. She is co-author of the nonfiction books Women's Growth in Connection, Mothering Against the Odds, and Mindfulness and Psychotherapy; and other books that deal with women's relational psychology, addiction, and spirituality. She was a faculty member of Harvard University for many years, and is now on the faculty of the Institute of Meditation and Psychotherapy in Boston. She is co-author with her spouse of Bill W. and Dr. Bob and We Have to Talk: Healing Dialogues Between Women and Men, which won the 1999 Paradigm Shift Award of the Boston Interfaith Council. Known for her writing and speaking all over the world, she recently completed a training program to be a Community Dharma Leader. She, Stephen Bergman, and their daughter Katie live in Boston and Costa Rica.

Seth Gordon (Director) is associate artistic director of The Cleveland Play House, where he produces FusionFest, runs the Playwrights' Unit, and assists with season planning. Mr. Gordon directed Play House productions of Dinner with Friends, Proof, the world premiere of Forest City, Vincent in Brixton, Tuesdays with Morrie, A Christmas Story (all five productions), The Wind in the Willows (Play House Theater for Children series), RFK, Of Mice and Men, Ferdinand the Bull (Theatre for Children series), The Chosen, Doubt, The Lady with All the Answers and Inherit the Wind. He served as associate producer of Primary Stages in New York City, where he produced and/or directed countless productions, workshops, and readings of new plays by America's

The design team for Bill W. and Dr. Bob includes Robert Mark Morgan (Scenic Designer), Jeffrey Van Curtis (Costume Design), Michael Lincoln (Lighting Designer), Jerrold Scott (Dialect Coach), Ron Wilson (Fight Choreographer) and James C. Swonger (Sound Design).

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for Bill W. and Dr. Bob range from $45 to $65, with discounts available for groups of ten or more, for senior citizens aged 60 and over, and for military reservists and their families. Tickets are $10 for all students under the age of 25. A limited number of $10 rush tickets go on sale 90 minutes before curtain and remain on sale until 30 minutes before curtain, based on availability. The Cleveland Play House is located at 85th and Euclid Ave. next door to the Cleveland Clinic near University Circle.

Founded in 1915, The Cleveland Play House is the first permanently established professional theatre in the United States. More than 12 million people have attended over 1,300 productions at The Play House - including more than 130 American and/or World Premieres. Today, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Bloom and Managing Director Kevin Moore, The Cleveland Play House is an artist-driven theatre that serves the Greater Cleveland community by holding true to its mission: To produce plays of the highest professional standards that inspire, stimulate, and entertain our diverse audiences, to conduct training and educational programs that enhance the quality of life for those we serve and help to insure the future of theatre.

The Cleveland Play House is funded through the generosity of Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and The Ohio Arts Council helps to fund The Cleveland Play House with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

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