LOVE GOES TO PRESS Makes Regional Premiere at Main Street Theater, 11/23-12/23

Main Street Theater introduces Houston to this delightful play which has only been produced twice before in the U.S.: once in New York in 1947 and once in New York earlier in 2012. "I am so glad that the Gellhorn and Cowles Estates granted us the rights for this prodcuction," says ReBecca Greene Udden, Main Street Theater's Executive Artistic Director. "This play is just so much fun."

With previews November 17, 18, and 21, Love Goes to Press opens November 23 and runs through December 23 at Main Street Theater – Rice Village, 2540 Times Blvd. There is no performance Thanksgiving Day. Performances are on Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 3pm. Tickets start at $20 (previews are $10), depending on date and section, and are on sale in person at the Main Street Theater Box Office, 2540 Times Blvd., via phone at 713.524.6706, or online at MainStreetTheater.com.

A devilishly entertaining battle of the sexes, this romantic farce is set in a press camp on the Italian front in 1944. Two women war correspondents – smart, sexy, and famous for scooping their male competitors – struggle to balance their professional lives with their love lives. Recommended for general audiences.

Post-show Discussion Series: Following the matinee on Sunday, December 2, there will be a discussion with local journalist and Editor of the Houston Press, Margaret Downing. Following the matinee on Sunday, December 9, there will be a discussion with the director and the cast.

Martha Gellhorn was an American novelist, travel writer, and journalist, considered by many to be one of the greatest war correspondents of the 20th century. She covered nearly every major world conflict that took place during her 60-year career. Gellhorn was also the third wife of American novelist Ernest Hemingway, from 1940 to 1945. Gellhorn died in London in 1998.

Said Gellhorn, "I think you write because that's what you know how to do. And you write always about what interests and concerns you. And in journalism – somebody said, 'Well, why do you keep writing about wars?' And I point out, that's what we've got. That's the history of our time."

Notes Sandra Spanier in her afterword to the 2009 re-printing of Love Goes to Press, Virginia Spencer Cowles "covered the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and 1937 as a freelance newspaper correspondent…From 1938 to 1945, as a roving war correspondent… she observed the Nazis close up in Berlin, witnessed from Prague the tragic breakup of Czechoslovakia, then covered the Russian invasion of Finland, the German invasion of France, the North African campaign, the Italian campaign, and the Allied invasion of France and Germany." Cowles passed away in 1983.

Mark Adams directs Love Goes to Press. Elissa Levitt (Richard III, The Coast of Utopia) plays the "Gellhorn role" of Annabelle; Crystal O'Brien (Life Is a Dream, Richard III) plays the "Cowles role" of Jane. The rest of the cast includes Dain Geist (The Coast of Utopia), Jacqui Grady (The Coast of Utopia), Bobby Haworth (Life Is a Dream), Philip Hays (Life Is a Dream, Dog Act), Brian Heaton, Joe Kirkendall (The Coast of Utopia), Joel Sandel (The Coast of Utopia, Blithe Spirit), John Strickland (What the Butler Saw), and David Wald (Life Is a Dream, Dog Act).

The design team includes Jeffrey S. Lane (set design), Eric L. Marsh (lighting design), Craig Seanor (sound design), ReBecca Greene Udden (costume design), and Rodney Walsworth (properties design). Lauren Smith and Debs Ramser are the production stage managers.

Since 1975, Main Street Theater has produced high quality professional theater for audiences of all ages through its MainStage productions and Main Street Youth Theater. The Main Street Theater Kids On Stage program offers performing arts classes and camps for children 5 years to 14 years of age. The organization produces plays at two locations, 2540 Times Boulevard in Rice Village and 4617 Montrose Boulevard at Chelsea Market.

Main Street Theater is a member of the Fresh Arts Coalition, a collaboration of 25 arts organizations that work collectively to raise awareness of the size and diversity of the arts in Houston, and a constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national service organization for not-for-profit theaters. Main Street Theater is also a member of Actors' Equity Association and of ASSITEJ, the world theatre network of theatre for children and young people. Main Street Theater is funded in part by grants from the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance and the Texas Commission on the Arts.

Pictured: Annabelle Jones (Elissa Levitt) and Joe Rogers (Joe Kirkendall). Photo Credit: Kaitlyn Walker.

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