Pigs Do Fly Productions to Present FIFTY PLUS - A NEW ATTITUDE! at Empire Stage, 9/11-21

Audience response to Pigs Do Fly Productions' first outing, Fifty Plus -- A Celebration of Life... As We Know It confirmed what the company's producer and artistic director, Ellen Wacher already knew - that the short, humorous plays she and her production team chose to present last May in Ft. Lauderdale would resonate with theatre patrons of all ages. The show sold out at Empire Stage, and sold even more tickets than anticipated when it ran for eight 'encore' performances in Boca Raton in August. The company's newest production Fifty Plus -- A New Attitude! will run at Empire Stage from September 11th through September 21st.

"We received close to four hundred submissions when we sent out a call for plays last winter," Wacher says, "and we quickly realized - even before our first run was over - that we'd found a great concept, that audiences were loving what we were doing, and that we still had a deep pool of excellent material to choose from. So..." she laughs, "I thought, why not do it again!?"

Empire Stage offered dates in September, and Wacher and her team revisited at least 75 of the previously submitted plays. Six plays were chosen and auditions were held in early August. Todd Caster, Adela Del Rio, Kerry Sensenbach, Elissa Solomon, Troy Stanley, and Janet Weakely were cast.

The new collection, titled Fifty Plus -- A New Attitude! reflects the company's mission, to produce plays that highlight the actor over 50 as a viable, fully involved, full of life character perfectly.

"Anyone, any age, can do anything. If you do it well at 25, you can do it twice as well at 50. Not everything entertaining should be aimed at the young," says Marj O'Neill-Butler, one of the show's two directors. You can have fun with an older crowd too. Good stories resonate at any age."

Co-director Beverly Blanchette agrees: "Fifty Plus -- A New Attitude! reminds me of Molly Shannon's SNL character, Sally O'Malley, whose catchphrase is: "I'm proud to say I'm 50 years old. And I like to kick! Stretch! And kick! I'm 50!" Shannon says the phrase means: "Watch out people, here I come. . . I can kick ass." And that's what Pigs Do Fly Productions does."

The six 10-minute plays are (see below for playwright bios):

• Buddhists in the Basement by Mary Beth Smith
• Rainbow Sprinkles by Stacey Lane
• Memoir by Donald Steele
• Remote Control by Connie Schindewolf
• Your Kiss is on My List by Christopher Lockheardt
• Mrs. Greenblatt's Place in the Universe by Sharon Goldner

Tickets for Fifty Plus -- A New Attitude! are $25 and are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased on line at www.pigsdoflyproductions.com, or by calling 866-811-4111. All performances will take place at Empire Stage, 1140 North Flagler Drive, Ft. Lauderdale, 33304. For more information about Pigs Do Fly Productions, visit www.pigsdoflyproductions.com.

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