Arena Stage Presents All-Star Benefit Performance

Arena Stage announces the 16th Annual Arena Stage Benefit for Community Engagement: Play On! The event will take place on April 14, 2008 and will showcase a unique blend of sports, politics and entertainment. Baltimore-based playwright James Magruder (Arena's Christmas Carol 1941 and Broadway's Triumph of Love) pens the evening's original comedy, written for and performed by a bipartisan cast of politicians, celebrities and athletes and directed by Arena's Producing Artistic Associate David Dower. The 16th Annual Arena Stage Benefit for Community Engagement is co-chaired by Sheila C. Johnson and The Honorable William T. Newman, Jr. The sit-down dinner will take place at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, VA at 6:00 p.m. and the Play On! performance at 8:30 p.m. at Arena Stage in Crystal City.

The Play On! Cast (as of 3/25/08):
The Honorable Charlie Bass, Former Rep. (R-NH)
Arch Campbell, Entertainment Reporter, WJLA
Congressman Mike Castle (R-DE)
Lindsay Czarniak, NBC4 Sports Reporter
Congressman Tom Davis, (R-VA)
Dominique Dawes, Olympic Gymnast 
Jack Evans, Chair Pro Tempore, DC Council
Jay Fisette, Arlington County Board Member
Congresswoman Kay Granger (R-TX)
Tim Gunn, TV Personality, Project Runway
Sheila C. Johnson, Co-chair
Governor Tim Kaine (D-VA)
Kathy Kemper, Former Pro-tennis Player
Barbara Lang, President/CEO, DC Chamber of Commerce
Ted Leonsis, Owner, Washington Capitals
Charles Mann, Former Redskin
The Honorable Bob H. Michel, Former Rep. (R-IL)
Brian Mitchell, Former Redskin
Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA)
The Honorable William T. Newman, Jr., Co-chair
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)
Ben Olsen, DC United Soccer Player
Donna Orender, President, WNBA
Debra Rales, Singer
Daphne Reid, Actor
Tim Reid, Actor
Tree Rollins, Coach, Washington Mystics
Carol Schwartz, DC Council
John Thompson III, Coach, Georgetown Hoyas
Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI)
Jim Vance, NBC4 Anchor
Tommy Wells, DC Council

"The Scranton Summer Olympics are rapidly approaching, and Team USA's Mixed Doubles Pentathlon gold medal hopeful, Duke Deltoid, needs a new partner. Despite the taunting of her uber-jock step-sisters, Mary-Pat and Pat-Mary, Camp Arena Stage counselor Ellen Musing has secret dreams to be an athlete. Unbeknownst to his mother and the Olympic world, Duke dreams of expressing himself creatively. Will these two youngsters realize their own dreams in each other? Or will a mysterious, performance-enhancing substance scandal erupt and send the country into a media frenzy? Only a congressional hearing will tell. Magruder uses the familiar lens of Cinderella to tell a fairy tale fit for the nation's capital," press notes state.

As the largest of the Washington, D.C. area's not-for-profit producing theaters, Arena Stage attracts an annual audience of over 200,000 patrons and 20,000 students. Arena Stage's Community Engagement programs are committed to sharing the riches of the theater with our community, especially under-served students in the Washington Metropolitan area. Our programs educate students in the classroom, bring cutting-edge workshops to community organizations, invite younger, more diverse audiences to our theaters, and train future artists and educators. As the community engages in Arena, we engage in the community.

Arena Stage is grateful to the lead event sponsor Clark Construction Group, LLC. and the Fund-a-student sponsor Tyco International for their leadership support.