Catonsville Theatre Company Presents DANCING WITHOUT YOU 8/7 Thru 8/16

Catonsville Theatre Company, a committee of the Catonsville Chapter of the CCBC Alumni Association, in conjunction with The XXVIII Baltimore Playwrights Festival, presents the original play, Dancing Without You, by Robin Rouse.

Performance dates are Fridays, August 7 & 14, Saturdays, August 8 & 15th at 8:00 PM, and Sundays, August 9 & 16th at 3:00 PM. All performances are held in the Barn Theatre on CCBC Catonsville Campus, 800 S. Rolling RD. 21228.

Ticket prices are $18 for General Admission and $15 for Students, Seniors, and Alumni. For reservations call 443/840-4400 or email catheatrecompany@aol.com. There will be a talk back with the playwright and cast on Sunday August 9th after the 3 PM matinee.

Dancing Without You follows the life of one woman whose path is forever changed by the jarring departure of her father. Alone and lonely from childhood through adulthood, she makes choices that lead to both her downfall and her eventual awakening. It is the story of innumerable women and the author hopes they will gain strength, faith and encouragement through it.

Robin Rouse received her B.A. in Theatre Performance from SUNY Fredonia where she also minored in English, music and dance. She is a "new" writer in the sense that, despite writing for many years, she has only recently begun to share her work. She had an early success when her short play, Sacrifice, received an informal but nevertheless public reading for Run of the Mill Theatre's Variations on Hope Play Festival. Robin is an actress, primarily in the Baltimore area, having performed at Toby's Dinner Theatre, Pumpkin Theatre, and Theatre Hopkins, among others. She most recently appeared as Vicki Latrell in Landless Theatre's production of Walmartopia in Washington, D.C. Robin hopes to write plays that will make people think about some of the more serious aspects of our society in general and ourselves in particular. She wants to thank everyone for the faith and commitment they have lent to her work and this production.

The Baltimore Playwrights Festival was established in 1981 with the first productions taking place in the summer of 1982. It all started when John Bruce Johnson (Vagabond Theatre), found his desk swamped with good, new plays written by local playwrights. Brian West, a director at Fell's Point Theatre, suggested a summer festival to boost the production of these homegrown theatrical offerings. John then contacted Al Tyler at Fell's Point and Chris Dickerson at Corner, and the three theatres decided to stage five new shows during the forthcoming season. Subsequently, Fells Point Theatre merged with Corner Theatre and reinvented themselves as Fell's Point Corner Theatre, now a primary resource for BPF efforts. Subsequently, Spotlighters, Mobtown, Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts, Goucher College, Uncommon Voices, Arena, Axis, Harbour, Avalon, Director's Choice, and Paragon Theatres have joined in the creative process started by the original three theatres.

The Maryland State Arts Council provided the initial funding to kick off our first season. The BPF has presented works by playwrights Carol Weinburg, Mark Scharf, Chuck Spoler, Rosemary Frisino Toohey, Kathleen Barber, George Gipe, Tim Evans, Grant Carrington, Chris Dickerson, Linda Chambers, Joan Bonato, Joe Dennison, Bob Bowie, among many others. With the enthusiastic support of our participating theatres, the City of Baltimore, and the theater going public, the Baltimore Playwrights Festival found its audience and mission: "...to encourage creative local writers in their work and to provide a showcase for their talent."

Today the BPF is still going strong, producing one-acts and full-length plays all over Baltimore City and the surrounding areas. Since the first summer of the BPF in 1982, over 200 full productions have been produced, and nearly 140 playwrights and 18 theatres have participated.

We are constantly striving to find new playwrights, better plays, additional theatres and public support. So far, we have been very fortunate in our success and are forever grateful to our theatres, directors, actors, support staff and you - our loyal patrons.

In the late 1980's, a group of then-Catonsville Community College alumni and former Barnstormers (the campus theatrical club) first talked about a stage production as a Barnstormer reunion. By the mid-1990's and after a year's research of all the musicals ever performed on campus, they approached the then-CCC Alumni Association with a proposal for creating a retrospective show. This coincided with the planning of the Alumni Association's 30th Anniversary celebration and seemed a perfect complimentary event. The reunion show, Barn Yesterday, gave rise to the Alumni Theatre Company, renamed Catonsville Theater Company, as a committee of the Alumni Association, and to the creation of the Lloyd Goren Memorial and Scholarship Fund in memory of a departed friend, former classmate and Barnstormer.

Among the audience-pleasing shows produced by CTC are Nunsense, The Cemetery Club, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Godspell, Frankly Sinatra, Steel Magnolias and The Diary of Anne Frank. Recent productions which have been singled out by BroadwayWorld.com are Real Women Have Curves, winner of top honors for set design, Driving Miss Daisy and Rounding Third, both of which were considered for Best of Baltimore Community Theater awards.

CTC is open to participation by any alumni, CCBC students, faculty, staff and community members who have an interest in theater arts. With proceeds from box-office sales, fund-raising events, donations and the generous support of the Catonsville Chapter of the Alumni Association and the College, CTC has raised over $30,000 to-date. Moneys from the Lloyd Goren Memorial and Scholarship fund are earmarked for scholarships, improvements and maintenance of the theater, and to fund future CTC productions.

Photo (T): Vanessa Thompson, Curtish Chante, Kelly Armstrong, Ameerah Al-Mateen, Ashley Parker, Janera Hampton, Keyinta Boyd, and Kecia Campbell

Photo (B): Willie Jones, Curtish Chante, and Michael Robinson

Photo Credit: Steve Teller