Dear George set to open Off-Bway Oct 31

Dear George :Letters to the President, dramatized excerpts of more than 1500 open letters written to President Bush between Memorial and Labor days, will be produced by more than 30 theaters across the country between now and Election Day.

A project of West 50th Street Productions, Dear George?s New York premiere is slated for October 31 and November 1, the last two nights before the election, at Off-Broadway's Culture Project at 45 Bleeker Street as a benefit for The Actors' Fund of America. John Znidarsic will direct. Tickets are available through TheaterMania.com and 212-352-3101.

"The response has been incredible, both in terms of number of letters we received and number of theaters who are producing the finished play," said Dear George creator Marcus Woollen. "If one performed the letters unedited the play would last for something like three and a half days. With theater companies from Alaska to Wyoming signed up to produce Dear George it's a clear sign that our country?s interest in this year's race is extraordinarily high."

The non-partisan piece covers a wide range of opinions on issues ranging from Iraq, terrorism, 9/11, the economy, and gay marriage. Letters were submitted through the website www.DearGeorgeLetters.com and came from all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Americans overseas.

Every theater has chosen to present Dear George as part of its season and is not being presented or financed by any politically-based group or organization. From nationally recognized professional companies like Florida's Coral Gables-based The New Theatre, which originated the 2003 Pulitzer Prize-winner Anna in the Tropics, to a group in Lander, Wyoming, that is donating the proceeds to a community food bank, the producing companies mirror the diversity of opinions reflected in the play.

An initial public presentation of Dear George took place at the Freedom of Expression National Monument in Lower Manhattan on September 23rd.

www.DearGeorgeLetters.com