THE PITMEN PAINTERS Opens 5/31 at Beck Center for the Arts

Beck Center for the Arts presents The Pitmen Painters, May 31 through July 7, 2013 in the intimate Studio Theater. Show times are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are now on sale.

Written by Tony Award-winning author Lee Hall, The Pitmen Painters is inspired by a book by William Feaver about The Ashington Group, a crew of Northern England coal miners who took an art appreciation class and became overnight art world sensations. Like Hall's acclaimed film and musical Billy Elliot, this script tells another inspiring story about the way the arts can be life-changing. The show was heralded in London's West End and on Broadway. For more information about The Ashington Group, visit www.ashingtongroup.co.uk.

Beck Center's production of The Pitmen Painters is directed by acclaimed director Sarah May and features an ensemble of nine talented area actors including Equity actors Chris Bohan and Dana Hart who appear courtesy of the Actors' Equity Association. "This is a remarkable true story that reaffirms my belief that art can change lives." remarked May. "I am thrilled to be working with an excellent cast that is committed to honoring these hard-working blokes who discovered their potential through the stroke of a paintbrush." The Pitmen Painters contains brief nudity.

Tickets are $28 for adults and $25 for seniors (65 and older) with an additional $3 service fee per ticket applied at time of purchase. Student tickets are $15 with valid I.D. (includes service fee). Preview Night on Thursday, May 30 is $10 with general admission seating. Group discounts are available for parties of 13 or more. Purchase tickets online at beckcenter.org or call Customer Service at 216.521.2540, ext. 10. Beck Center for the Arts is located at 17801 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood, just ten minutes west of downtown Cleveland. Free onsite parking is available.

Opening night patrons are invited to come early for Marquee Friday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Cleveland Artists Foundation gallery. This happy hour event includes complimentary appetizers, free musical entertainment by Lounge Kitty and happy hour priced drinks; plus free gallery exhibits including Beck Center's Student Art Show in the Jean Bulicek Galleria and Pioneering Modernism: Post-Impressionism in Cleveland (1908-1913) in the Virginia Q. Foley Gallery of the Cleveland Artists Foundation.

Beck Center for the Arts is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization that offers professional Theater Productions, arts education programming in dance, music, theater, visual arts, early childhood, and creative arts therapies for special needs students, and free gallery exhibits featuring local, regional, and International Artists.