Sandra Hochman's TIMMY THE GREAT to Begin Previews Off-Broadway at Theater for the New City on Aug. 15

On August 15, Timmy the Great, a mad-cap musical comedy written by noted poet, writer, columnist, film maker, producer, playwright and educator Sandra Hochman will debut Off-Broadway at the Theater for the New City. Appealing to audiences of all age, the play comically chronicles the unlikely rise to power of a nine-year-old boy who champions reform that leads to chaos while confronting the irony of war. Timmy the Great features more than 21 songs co-written by Hochman and Gary Kupper, composer and lyricist of the popular children's musical Freckleface Strawberry, based on the New York Times best-selling children's book by Julianne Moore.

Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1963, Hochman has been shaping the role of women for 50 years. During her longstanding career, she has lectured women around the world, encouraging them to embrace the business side of the arts, to challenge conventional norms, and to bolster their passion for the arts by being their own patron. At age 8, Hochman attended the prestigious progressive boarding school Cherry Lawn, which amongst other alumni includes the director Mike Nichols and critic-writer Renata Adler. There she learned public speaking and was encouraged to be outrageous and fearless.

Hochman's early book of poetry, Manhattan Pastures, by Yale University Press earned her the Yale Younger Poets Award. In the late 1960's, she authored a weekly feminist column in Look magazine, Looking Around with Sandra Hochman, alternating the column with Gloria Steinem and Betty Rollins. She wrote, produced and starred in the critically acclaimed documentary on the women's movement, Year of the Woman, which was recorded at the 1972 Democratic National Convention.

Hochman also created a groundbreaking poetry program at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York called You're An Artist Too. Ms. Hochman established her own foundation to launch this program, through which she taught poetry and song-writing to children ages 7 to 12 for nearly 15 years. She invited luminaries such as Arthur Miller and Zubin Mehta to teach the children, and had many of the children's poems published. This non-profit undertaking attracted major corporate sponsors, including Mobil, Chesebrough-Pond, the Lila Wallace Foundation, as well as press coverage in the New York Times and other publications, earning Ms. Hochman the museum's first Junior Merit Award.

Like this program, many of Ms. Hochman's creative endeavors have been financially successful. Indeed, what sets Ms. Hochman apart from many of her theater colleagues is her passion in both business and poetry. Her business acumen was instilled by her father Sidney, owner of two New York City landmark hotels, the Dryden and the Parkside, as well as the largest building supply company at the timE. Sidney, known as "the brick king," challenged his daughter's creative aspirations, certain she would never make a dime from her undertakings as a poet. Instead of going into the brick business, Sandra wrote a poem "In My Father's Brickyard," and published it in her second book of poems, Manhattan Pastures, which received international acclaim.

Motivated by her skeptical business-savvy father and buttressed by her mentor Florence Kennedy, the African American lawyer, civil rights advocate and feminist, Hochman learned the concept: "out of the streets and into the suites"--in other words: be where business is being conducted. When asking an investor for money, she learned to always dress better than the person you're asking; and if people don't do what you want, walk away. She learned the concept to "sell to the commoners--there are more of them"--from Donald Townsend, the fast food visionary who founded Tad's Steakhouse based on the idea that a quality meal could be sold profitably for $1.09. From Galt McDermott, composer of the Tony award-winning musical Hair, Hochman learned that every play can be more interesting with music. While living in Paris, Sandra befriended the Nobel Prize winning poet and Ambassador to Mexico, Pablo Neruda, who taught Hochman that poetry and diplomacy can go hand-in-hand.

As Hochman readies her latest creative endeavor, Timmy the Great, for its debut; she is as determined as ever. "My looks may have faded, but my brain, business sense and creativity are as sharp as ever. I am driven. I want to create. And I want to continue to make money with my art," said Hochman. The key ingredient to her success is her strong belief in her work, which she pitches to strangers, people in elevators, and on the street. Her dogged determination is illustrated by the investors she secured for the play, including a contractor from Israel, a prince from Saudi Arabia, a physiologist from Ireland, and a friend from Sweden. She lined up her last investor while discussing German poetry with the orthopedic surgeon who will soon be replacing her knee. Not surprisingly, she managed to persuade him to purchase the last available share of Timmy the Great.

To purchase tickets for Timmy the Great, call SmartTix at (866)527-5376 and press option #3, or visit
http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showcode=TIM29.

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