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<div class="MsoTitle">FORT SALEM THEATER PRESENTS<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoTitle">JERRY GRETZINGER, JESSICA LAYTON, AND BENITA ZAHN in<o:p></o:p></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-indent:.5in;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><b><i>THE
SINGING ANCHORS ANNUAL HOLIDAY SHOW<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<h1 align="left" style="text-align:left"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></h1><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none;text-autospace:none"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">On Thanksgiving Weekend
2011, Fort Salem Theater’s touring musical group, The Singing Anchors, created
its first holiday show in the Fort’s cabaret room. With performances at events
and private gatherings that year and a reprise of the show last year at the
Fort and two full houses at Vapor at the Saratoga Casino and Raceway, the group
continues this year what has instantly become a Capital Region tradition: <i>Fort
Salem Theater presents The Singing Anchors Annual Holiday Show. </i><span style="font-style:normal">Like all anchor shows, </span><i>Holiday </i><span style="font-style:normal">features solos, duets, and several trio numbers. This
year’s extravaganza performs a matinee in the Salem cabaret on Sunday, December
8, at 2 PM.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">Benita Zahn, anchor and
health reporter for NewsChannel 13, performed in the first season of Fort
Salem’s cabaret in the summer of 2007, and has graced one or both of the Fort’s
stages every season since. In the fall of 2009, she brought along Channel 13
colleague, Jessica Layton, and their Channel 6 friend, Jerry Gretzinger. Their <i>Fort
Salem Theater presents The Singing Anchors</i><span style="font-style:normal">
has not only consistently filled the cabaret and Mainstage in Salem, but been
enjoyed at venues throughout the Capital Region, including the Linda Norris
Auditorium in Albany, broadcast on WAMC, a stint headlining at Saratoga’s First
Night, and their </span><i>Singing Anchors On Broadway </i><span style="font-style:normal">as</span><i> </i><span style="font-style:normal">a
fundraiser for Chatham’s MacHaydn Theatre this past September and as a part of
Schuylerville Community Theater’s Concert Series in October.</span><i> </i><span style="font-style:normal"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">Although it’s difficult to
read about each of these area news anchors without finding references to their
extra-curricular performances where Gretzinger and Zahn are staples in the
local community theater circuit, they actually do spend most of their time
reporting local and national news for their respective television stations.
Zahn has garnered Emmy Award nominations, received numerous honors for her
charitable work in the community, and holds and MS in Bioethics from Albany
Medical College, where she is about to earn her doctorate. Jerry Gretzinger has
won several journalism awards for his reports, and is most proud of the story
he did documenting his own battle with cancer. In her six years at NewsChannel
13, where she currently holds the coveted spot co-anchoring the evening’s
eleven o’clock broadcast, Jessica Layton, a cum laude broadcast journalism and
political science graduate of Syracuse University, has covered Governor Cuomo’s
inauguration, President Obama’s visits to the region, and traveled extensively
in Haiti in April, 2010, covering the devastation and recovery after the
earthquake.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">The Fort’s Artistic
Director, Jay Kerr, who writes and arranges the Anchors’ shows, recently
praised the performers: “The only thing that’s difficult with working with
these three media personalities is finding time they’re all available to
rehearse. They thoroughly enjoy being with one another, appreciate one
another’s talents, and always deliver top-notch performances. They have a good
time, and so do their audiences.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i>The Singing Anchors
Annual Holiday Show </i><span style="font-style:normal">plays one show only
with limited seating available at 2 PM, reservations required. The $25 ticket
includes $6 credit toward coffee and dessert catered by Norene and Fred’s of
Salem. More information is available on the theater’s website
(<a href="http://fortsalemtheater.com">fortsalemtheater.com</a>) or by calling (518) 854-9200.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<div style="font-size: 12px; ">Jay Kerr</div><div style="font-size: 12px; ">Artistic Director</div><div style="font-size: 12px; ">Fort Salem Theater</div><div style="font-size: 12px; "><a href="mailto:jay@fortsalemtheater.com">jay@fortsalemtheater.com</a></div><div style="font-size: 12px; ">(518) 854-9200</div><div style="font-size: 12px; "><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><div style="font-size: 12px; "><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; "><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span>
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