For Immediate Release: March 11, 2005
Media Contact: Patricia Dill, Delaware Theatre Company, 302.594.1104 x228

Mitch Albom was too busy to live--until an old friend taught him how. Meet Morrie Schwartz, Professor of Life. Classes are registering now as Delaware Theatre Company presents Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie. Previews begin March 30, and the play runs through April 17, 2005.

When Mitch Albom graduated from college, he promised his favorite professor that he'd always stay in touch. Sixteen years later, he's finally moved to honor that promise when he learns that Professor Morrie Schwartz is battling ALS, a degenerative neurological disorder commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

When Mitch finally does keep his promise to Morrie, he makes up for lost time, spending every Tuesday afternoon with his beloved professor. Initially Mitch's visits are driven by feelings of guilt and obligation. But before long, the two resume their previous roles of teacher and student and Mitch gradually begins to reclaim the purpose that had disappeared from his life. Over the course of their weekly meetings, Morrie teaches his star pupil his most important lessons of all. Insightful and delightfully funny, Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie is a Master's class in the meaning of a life well-lived.

This winning play, called "A touching, life-affirming, deeply emotional drama with a generous dose of humor" by the New York Daily News is the stage adaptation of Mitch Albom's book, Tuesday's with Morrie-a worldwide best seller. Albom wrote the script for the stage play in collaboration with Jeffrey Hatcher.

Jeffrey Hatcher is an award winning playwright and author of several motion picture screenplays, including the critically acclaimed, Stage Beauty, which he adapted from his stage play, Compleat Female Stage Beauty. Hatcher's other plays include Three Viewings, Scotland Road, the book for the Jerome Kern musical Never Gonna Dance and an adaptation of Kaufman and Hart's The Fabulous Invalid. He has received grants and awards from the NEA, TCG, American Theatre Critics Association, the O'Neill Playwrights Conference and the Lila Wallace Fund, among others.

Mitch Albom graduated from Bradeis University in 1979. While at Brandeis, Albom took every course that Professor Morrie Schwartz taught. After graduation, Albom earned a Masters degree in journalism from Columbia University and then pursued a career as a sportswriter, eventually ending up at the Detroit Free Press where he now writes a nationally-syndicated column. He has won more than 100 awards for his writing, including being named #1 Sports Columnist in the Nation numerous times by his colleagues. Albom also hosts a nationally-syndicated radio program and appears regularly on ESPN's Sports Reporters program. Albom is the author of eight books, including the current best-seller, The Five People You Meet in Heaven.

Mr. Albom, a Philadelphia native, is also helping to sponsor a benefit performance of Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie to be held Tuesday, April 5 at 7:45pm. All proceeds will go directly to the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the ALS Association to help support the chapter in its mission to provide care and treatment for people with ALS in the Greater Philadelphia Region and state of Delaware. Also sponsoring the benefit in part is the Wilmington News Journal.

Playing the role of Morrie Schwartz will be George Bartenieff who is pleased to return to Delaware Theatre Company, where he previously performed in Valley Song in 1998. For the last four years Bartenieff has been touring the U.S., Austria and Germany in the one man show I Will Bear Witness. Bartenieff began his career at 16 when he was featured in Monserrat with Julie Harris, Emlyn Williams, and Steven Hill. Trained in England at RADA and the Guildhall, he returned to the United States in the 1960s. Bartenieff's Broadway credits include Cop Out, Moon Besieged, Venus Is, Room Service, Box Mao Box and Unlikely Heroes. He has also worked with such influential ensemble companies as Andre Gregory's Theatre for the Living Arts, the Judson Poet's Theatre, the Living Theatre, the Bread and Puppet Theatre, LaMama, Mabou Mines, Joseph Papp's Public Theatre and Lincoln Center. In 1970, Bartenieff co-founded Theatre for the New City, where for 24 years he produced and frequently acted in some 900 new American plays. Bartenieff is the winner of three Village Voice Obie Awards and has also played numerous roles in motion pictures and on television.

Anthony Lawton will be playing opposite Mr. Bartenieff in the role of Mitch. Lawton has been acting in the Philadelphia area since 1993. Among his favorite roles are, Gideon in Playland at the Wilma Theatre; Austin in True West and Feste in Twelfth Night at Lantern Theatre; and Dr. Parker in Bat Boy and "man" in Brief Interviews With Hideous Men at 1812 Productions. Lawton has also adapted and performed several one man shows, including Shel Silverstein's The Devil and Bill Markham; C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce and The Screwtape Letters; and Frederic Buechner's Godric.

Delaware Theatre Company's production of Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie is directed by Anne Marie Cammarato, the theatre's Producing Director. Ms. Cammarato, has worked as producer, director, performer and arts administrator for many theatres across the U.S., including the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, where she was Associate Artistic Director from 2000-2004. Anne Marie has also worked at the McCarter Theatre, The Wilma Theatre, The Atlantic Theatre Company, American Folklore Theatre, Renaissance Theatreworks, the Professional Theatre Training Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and First Stage Children's Theatre. She has taught and developed community outreach programs at many theatres, arts centers and schools, and most recently helped to develop the Young Playwrights and High School Residency Programs at Madison Repertory Theatre. In 2000, Anne Marie was named "One of the Most Influential Women in Wisconsin" by Wisconsin Woman Magazine and was voted "One of the Fifteen Artists to Watch in the New Millennium" by Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Set and lighting design for the production will be provided by Michael Philippi. Michael is an experienced theatre professional with a broad range of skills. Costumes will be designed by Devon Painter, who has a long list of design credits from theatres across the United States.

Shannon Zura, the Sound Designer for Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie, has designed lighting and sound for numerous area theatres, including The Drawer Boy, which immediately preceded Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie here at DTC. This season at DTC, Shannon also designed the lighting and sound for Partners, and sound for The Glass Menagerie. Shannon was nominated for a Barrymore Award for last season's Talley's Folly.

This is the fourth show Sara J. Tantillo has Stage Managed for DTC this season, the others being The Drawer Boy, The Glass Menagerie and Looking Over the President's Shoulder. Previously, she worked at Trinity Repertory Company, and Center Stage in Baltimore.

Preview performances for Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie are March 30 and 31 and April 1 at 8PM. The play opens Saturday, April 2 at 8PM and runs through April 17. Evening performances are Wednesday through Saturday at 8PM, and matinee performances are Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2PM. Ticket prices are $23, $33, $40, and $43, depending on the performance day and time, with special discounts for students, seniors, and groups of 10 or more.

To order tickets call (302) 594-1100 or online at http://www.delawaretheatre.org.

Delaware Theatre Company's season is sponsored by JP Morgan Chase. Cephalon and AIG are the Corporate Producers of Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie. This program is made possible, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency committed to promoting and supporting the arts in Delaware. The Delaware Division of the Arts provides technical and financial assistance to artists and arts programs and serves as a clearinghouse for information on the arts.

Delaware Theatre Company, 200 Water Street, Wilmington, is Delaware's only resident professional theatre company, located on Wilmington's exciting new Riverfront within walking distance from the Amtrak station. Delaware Theatre Company is a member of the League of Resident Theatres, Theatre Communications Group, Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, and the Arts Consortium of Delaware.

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