Write Out Loud Presents THE FABULOUS FORTIES

Write Out Loud - an organization founded in 2007 with a commitment to inspire, challenge and entertain by reading short stories aloud for a live audience announces The Fabulous Forties the fourth production in Story Concerts Season XII on Monday, February 4th at the Old Town Theatre. Write Out Loud will share the stories and music that came out of this wonderful yet devastating decade. Write Out Loud Story Concerts bring literature to life - aloud - with rehearsed readings by professional actors. Each program explores specific themes by weaving a variety of stories, poems, and sometimes music, together into a literary tapestry. Chip Persons, Patricia Freund and Mike Buckley join Co-Founder Walter Ritter to share songs and stories. A pre-show reception starts at 6:15pm with a 7:00pm curtain.

Artistic Director, Veronica Murphy shared, "The Forties was truly a distinctive decade. The war played such a vital role. In the middle of the horror that the war created - people were inspired to create and find some comfort in humor and iconic music. Millions of people died, yet the forties was filled with people who gave so much to make the world better.The spirit and hope of the people maintained. I feel extremely honored that as part of our program, we will be sharing letters from SDSU soldiers in the forties who went off to war - recently featured in the book No Forgotten Fronts: From Classrooms to Combat by Lisa K. Shapiro. These letters give us all a very visceral hometown connection to the decade we are sharing."

The Fabulous Forties to include:

The Return by Ron Rash - read by Mike Buckley

A story about a young man returning home from the war

My Next Girl by Max Shulman - read by Chip Persons and company

A fellow at the University of Minnesota gets distracted from his studies by a girl...

Forgotten Fronts: From Classrooms to Combat by Lisa K. Shapiro - read by the company

During WWII, Dr. Lauren Post, a professor at SDSU, collected over 5,000 letters from his students who had gone off to war - and published them monthly in "The Aztec Newsletter." In doing so, he kept the SDSU community connected with the successes and losses of their fellow students around the world. The letters have been kept at SDSU in the

WWII Servicemen's Correspondence Collection and were recently compiled and published by Lisa Shapiro. The company is honored to share some of these letters.

The Wedding Gown That Made History by Helen Zegerman Schwimmer - read by Patricia Freund

The Wedding Gown That Made History shares the story of Lily and Ludvig Friedman who lived in The Bergen Belsen displaced persons camp when they married in 1946.

No program of the forties would be complete without some of its beloved music!

• Polka Dots and Moonbeams sung by Mike Buckley

• Younger Than Springtime from the musical South Pacific sung by Walter Ritter

• The WWII favorite I'll be Seeing You sung by Patricia Freund

Mark Danisovszky will accompany on piano.

Tickets for The Fabulous Forties are $25. There are discounts for Seniors ($22), Veterans and active duty Military ($10) and Students ($5). Purchase tickets on-line at www.writeoutloudsd.com or by calling 619-297-8953.

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