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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><U><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 18pt">For Immediate
Release- August 7, 2010<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></U></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">“Steps to
Suffrage</SPAN></I></B><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">”,</SPAN></I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> an
original musical drama about women’s suffrage, will begin a 10-week production
for home-educated students ages 8-16 on Wednesday Sept 8 1- 4:30pm at
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
/><st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">20 Delatour
Rd</st1:address></st1:Street> (the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Grace</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Fellowship</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Building</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>) in Latham. DRAMAcademics, an
educational youth theater program for Capital Region students since 2003, is
producing the show, written and directed by Loudonville resident Ruth E. Henry.
Characters include Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frederick Douglass,
Amelia Bloomer, Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth and Theodore Roosevelt. The
show casts 20-30 students and contains excerpts from famous speeches and quotes
of the day as well as humor, choreography and song. Public performances are
being scheduled November 8-18 in libraries, schools and performance venues.
Tuition is $160.00 per student (10% sibling discount) and registration has
begun. All students who register will participate; lead roles are auditioned the
first and second week of rehearsal. For more information, visit <A
href="http://www.dramacademics.com/"><FONT
color=#800080>www.dramacademics.com</FONT></A> or contact Director Ruth E. Henry
at 518-434-2704 or <st1:PersonName
w:st="on">dramacademics@yahoo.com</st1:PersonName><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><FONT size=3>This is Mrs. Henry’s fourth original
musical drama. <B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">“<I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Steps to Suffrage”</I></B> originated from
an email received by Henry in 2008 telling of the Night of Terror in 19<SPAN
class=615164513-09082010>17</SPAN> when women who were peacefully picketing the
White House were arrested, incarcerated, beaten and force-fed for pursuing the
right to vote. This report so surprised and shocked Henry that she vowed to tell
the story in a way American youth and especially girls could understand.
“Somehow, women’s suffrage has been relegated to one or two obscure paragraphs
in the school text books, and that,” says Henry, “is not sufficient to cover the
80-year struggle that our great-grandmothers endured to secure the right to vote
for half of the citizens of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">America</st1:country-region></st1:place>.” The show premiered as a
pilot this summer at The Boght Arts Center in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Cohoes</st1:place></st1:City> with 14 students.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><FONT size=3>Mrs. Henry’s previous scripts include
“<B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Sail, Henry Hudson</I></B>!” (2008), “<B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">The
Amazing Erie Canal”</I></B> (2007) and “<B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Apples Arrows & <st1:place
w:st="on">Alps</st1:place>: the Musical Story of William Tell” </I></B>(2009).
She is currently writing “<B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Black Leonardo: The Musical Story of George
Washington Carver”</I></B> for production in 2011.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
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