For Immediate Release: February 14, 2006
Media Contact: Ted Taylor, Act II Playhouse, 215.576.7212

Can two lonely people reach for the stars and make their dreams come true?

The answer comes in Act II Playhouse’s fourth play of the 2005-06 season: Syncopation, a love story about ballroom dancing set in New York’s Lower East Side at the turn of the 20th Century. The play, by Allan Knee, opens with preview performances March 10-16 (opening night is March 17) and runs through April 9.

The year is 1911, and the world is bursting with possibilities--and dreams. And the dream of Henry Ribolow, a 40-year-old meat packer for a kosher butcher, is to become a championship ballroom dancer. To find a partner he places an ad in the paper looking for someone to “dance for royalty.” Answering that ad is 23-year-old Anna Bianchi, an Italian-American garment factor worker soon to be trapped in an arranged marriage. Things get interesting, as every dance-filled scene chronicles their subtly transforming relationship against the larger political backdrop of the times.

This production stars Lenny Haas as Henry and Erin Weaver as Anna, while Villanova University’s Harriet Power directs. Syncopation is sponsored by the June and Steve Wolfson Family Foundation, and Sunrise Assisted Living of Dresher, PA sponsors the season.

All weekday performances (except opening night which begins at 7 PM) will begin at 8 PM; the Sunday performances are at 2 PM. There will be Wednesday matinees on March 22 and April 2 at 2 PM. There will be Tuesday performances on March 14, 21, 28 and April 4 (normally the theatre is dark on Mondays and Tuesdays). For tickets call the playhouse at 215 654 0200 or you may purchase them at the box office at 56 East Butler Avenue in Ambler, PA. Prices range from $20-to-$32 depending on the performance.

For more information 215-654-0200 or go to www.act2.org.

For Media Information: Ted Taylor, 215-576-7212 or e-mail, ted@tedtaylor.com. PRESS CREDENTIALS FOR OPENING NIGHT PERFORMANCES SHOULD ALWAYS BE REQUESTED DIRECTLY THROUGH THE BOX OFFICE - 215-654-0200. REQUESTS FOR INTERVIEWS SHOULD BE MADE THROUGH TED TAYLOR.

The Actors & Director

Lenny Haas (Henry) – Born and raised in the Philadelphia area, Lenny has been performing professionally in local theatres since 1988 and will make his Act II debut with this production. He has been seen at The Arden, The Wilma, Cheltenham Center for the Arts, Bristol Riverside, Hedgerow, Luna, and People’s Light and Theatre, where he has performed in over 30 productions as a member of their resident acting company. Notable accomplishments include appearing in an independent film Cellar and receiving a Barrymore Award for the role of Henry in the People’s Light production of The Fantaskticks.

Erin Weaver (Anna) – Erin Weaver was most recently seen as Jack in the Jack and the Beanstalk at People's Light and Theater Co. She was first seen at PLTC in The Miser (Marianne) followed by their production of Sleeping Beauty (Princess Rosa) and Jungal Book (Perchy, Chil and others). Other Philadelphia credits include Mary's Wedding (Barrymore nomination for Outstanding leading actress for the role of Mary/Flowers) at Act 11 Playhouse, Into the Woods at the Arden Theater (Rapunzel), the first staged reading of High Noon in Grays Ferry, Twilight in Falls Road with InterAct's writer/director Tom Reing, An Artists Workshop with Azuka Theater Collective and the First National Tour of Les Miserables (Cossette/Eponine). Next she will be seen in A Murder, A Mystery and A Marriage a new musical written by Aaron Posner and James Sugg set to premiere at the Delaware Theater Co. in the spring. Erin is an Honors Graduate from the University of the Arts with a BFA in Theater as well as a recipient for the 2002 Directors Choice Award. By day, Erin also teaches music at St. Francis De Sales, she is the Education Coordinator for 1812 Productions and a teacher at People's Light.

Harriet Power (Director) - Harriet Power, an associate professor of theatre at Villanova University, has directed productions at many theatres in Philadelphia and this will be her first at Act II. This season, she is directing four plays, all by living writers: Alan's Knee's Syncopation, Seth Rozin's Reinventing Eden, at InterAct Theatre Company; Michael Hollinger's Incorruptible and Sebastian Barry's Fred and Jane, at Villanova Theatre. International directing credits: Dinner with Friends in Rome, Italy (The English Theatre of Rome/Teatro L'Arciliuto); Loveknot in Galway, Ireland (International Women Playwrights Festival). Recent U.S. directing: Missing Link (InterAct; Barrymore finalist, Best New Play); Measure for Measure (Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, Barrymore finalist, Outstanding Direction); Art, By the Bog of Cats, Uncle Vanya (Villanova). She has worked extensively with new plays and playwrights, at Bay Area & Iowa Playwrights Festivals, West Coast Playwrights, and as Artistic Director of Venture Theatre ('95-'98). Angels in America: Perestroika, co-directed with James Christy, won the '97 Barrymore for Outstanding Direction of a Play.

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