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Two award-winning local actors will share the stage for the first time in fifteen years, presenting an internationally-celebrated two-man play of redemption and compassion. The two actors just happen to be real-life grandfather and grandson.

Falcon Theatre proudly presents VISITING MR. GREEN, by Jeff Baron, playing March 3, 4, 10 & 11 at the Monmouth Theatre in Newport, KY. Directed by Cincinnati Entertainment Award Hall of Famer, Bill Hartnett, the show features Mike Moskowitz as Mr. Green, and his grandson, Joshua Steele as Ross Gardiner. Tickets for VISITING MR. GREEN are $14 and are available online at http://www.falcontheatre.net, or by calling the box office message line at 513.479.6783.

Play Synopsis
After his car narrowly avoids an elderly man wandering into traffic, bright young professional Ross Gardiner has been sentenced to community service; he must visit his almost victim, Mr. Green, once a week for the next six months. Curmudgeonly Mr. Green resists Ross’s help, still overwhelmed with the death of his wife and harboring a deep and painful secret. But Ross has a secret of his own, and together the unlikely companions learn to understand each other and themselves in a humorous and touching story of forgiveness and compassion.

Grandfather and Grandson Share the Stage
Taking “the boards” together for the first time in fifteen years with VISITING MR. GREEN are grandfather Mike Moskowitz and grandson Joshua Steele. Both award-winning local actors, Moskowitz and Steele are thrilled about the opportunity to collaborate on this play, particularly given the close symmetry of the characters’ ages to theirs. Steele turns 29 in April, the same age as Ross Gardiner; playing an octogenarian Mr. Green, Moskowitz celebrates his eightieth birthday only days after the production is set open. More compelling than the fit of the actors to the play, however, is the fit of the actors to each other. Moskowitz and Steele have only performed together once, when Steele was just fourteen, and the opportunity to collaborate for the first time as adults is truly exciting for both performers.

“My grandpa’s passion for the theatre has always been a pivotal force in my life,” says Steele. “From driving me on weekends to ‘play practice’ at the JCC, to awing me with his larger-than-life performances in plays like INHERIT THE WIND and THE SUNSHINE BOYS, he’s been a constant source of inspiration for my art and career. The opportunity to share a stage with your grandfather, particularly when he happens to be a gifted and accomplished actor, is truly remarkable.”

Steele, whose day job is running the theatre at The Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center in Covington, is a frequent performer on local stages. An Acclaim Award and Cincinnati Entertainment Award winner, he has been seen recently as Crumpet in the David Sedaris monologue THE SANTALAND DIARIES (New Edgecliff Theatre), Jim in I LOVE A PIANO (Covedale Center for the Performing Arts), and in the title role of THE ELEPHANT MAN (Falcon Theatre), among others.

Mike Moskowitz has been a favorite performer on professional and community theatre stages in Cincinnati for nearly sixty years. His credits on stages including Ensemble Theatre, Showboat Majestic, Downtown Theatre Classics, and Stage First, as well as myriad community theatres. Representative credits include INHERIT THE WIND (Matthew Harrison Brady), THE SUNSHINE BOYS (Al Lewis), THE FANTASTICKS (Mortimer, Henry). No stranger to the role of Mr. Green, Moskowitz played the part previously in 2003. Nearly ten years later, and playing opposite of his grandson, though, this production takes on special significance.

“When Josh was about 5 and asked me how he could get a ‘reservation to get a part in a play’ it was obvious that theater was going to be a big part in his life,” recalls Moskowitz. “Since then he has become a marvelous, award-winning singer, actor, producer par excellence. He is a smart, innovative actor, and I am honored to be performing with him in this show in particular. In our first show together, he brought tears to my eyes at the curtain. This time I have tears of joy at the prospect of sharing the stage with him.”

Grandfather and grandson are excited to collaborate again with mutual friend and local theatre legend and VISITING MR. GREEN director, Bill Hartnett. Hartnett has appeared in theaters in New York, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati and has worked with many Greater Cincinnati groups including Playhouse In The Park, Ensemble Theatre, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, Showboat Majestic, the Covedale, and Children’s Theater of Cincinnati. He has received critical acclaim as a director and actor, and is particularly noted for his one-man performances in GIVE ‘EM HELL, HARRY and MARK TWAIN TONIGHT.

Other friends and frequent collaborators fill out the VISITING MR. GREEN production team. Jim Stump, Artistic Director of New Edgecliff Theatre and collaborator on myriad productions with Steele, costumes the show. Carnegie designer and CCM alumnus James Horban provides scenic design, and Carnegie Technical Coordinator, Bleu Pellman, designs lighting. Falcon Theatre Artistic Director, Ted Weil, provides technical support.

Full bios of Moskowitz, Steele and Hartnett follow this release.

ABOUT THE PLAY
Since its year-long run at New York’s 499-seat Union Square Theatre in 1997, Jeff Baron’s VISITING MR. GREEN has been one of the most produced plays in the world, translated into 22 languages, with well over 400 separate productions. A New York City Drama League nominee for “best play,” VISITING MR. GREEN has been named best play around the world, including by national theatre awards of Greece, Turkey, Israel and Mexico.

TICKETING AND VENUE
Tickets to VISITING MR. GREEN are $14 (open seating) and may be purchased online at http://www.falcontheatre.net, or by calling the box office message line at 513.479.6783. Performances are as follows:

• Saturday, March 3, 7:30pm
• Sunday, March 4, 3:00pm
• Saturday, March 10, 7:30pm
• Sunday, March 11, 3:00pm

The Monmouth Theatre is located at 636 Monmouth Street in Newport Kentucky. Metered street parking (free for Sunday performances) is available directly adjacent to the theatre, and several free public parking lots are located within two blocks.

VISITING MR. GREEN is presented by Falcon Theatre as part of the company’s “Fourth Wall” series and its 2011-12 Season. Other upcoming performances for Falcon include:

THE 39 STEPS, by Patrick Barlow
Through February 25, 2012

FROZEN, by Byroney Lavery
April 20-May 5, 2012

YOU‘RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN, Music and Lyrics by Clark Gesner
Special Benefit Production for Project Linus
June 1-9, 2012

Visit www.falcontheatre.net for details.

ABOUT FALCON THEATRE
Falcon Theatre is celebrating its 8th year as the resident theater company at the Monmouth Theatre space. In that time, Falcon’s audiences have enjoyed productions ranging from the absurd, like EVIL DEAD: THE MUSICAL, to the classics, like Shakespeare and TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, to the provocative, like THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES. Falcon continues to bring exciting theater to Greater Cincinnati audiences through our Passion for Performance.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, contact Joshua Steele at joshuatsteele@gmail.com, or 513.293.6063.

BIOGRAPHIES FOR VISITING MR. GREEN
Joshua Steele (Ross Gardiner) is very proud to take the stage with his grandfather in VISITING MR. GREEN, and to return to Falcon Theatre, having worked with the company in the title roles of THE ELEPHANT MAN and the artistic masterwork GILLIGAN’S ISLAND: THE MUSICAL. Joshua was most recently seen at New Edgecliff Theatre, reprising his role in the David Sedaris monologue THE SANTALAND DIARIES. Other recent credits include Jim in I LOVE A PIANO (The Covedale), Jesus in COTTON PATCH GOSPEL (Showboat Majestic), Gabe in the Neil Sedaka revue BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO (Acclaim Award winner, Cincinnati Entertainment Award nominee; The Covedale), Father Virgil Manly Trott in NUNCRACKERS (NKU Commonwealth Theatre), and Tobias in SWEENEY TODD (Orchid Award Winner, Cincinnati Entertainment Award Winner; Footlighters). Joshua has also performed with the Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, and appears frequently as part of Play With Your Lunch, the mid-day play reading series.

When he’s not pretending to be another person, Joshua is the Managing Director of Theatre at The Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center, where he produces the annual award-winning theatre series and Carnegie in Concert chamber music series. Joshua lives in Bellevue, KY with his beautiful wife and actress, Brooke Rucidlo.

Mike Moskowitz (Mr. Green) is very pleased to return to the Monmouth Theater where VISITING MR. GREEN was the first full length play produced in this venue in 2003. He is most enthused about performing this time with his grandson, Joshua Steele. In the interim he has been seen as Henry Albertson (the Old Actor) in The FANTASTICKS; Tevya in TEVYA AND HIS DAUGHTERS (the show on which FIDDLER ON THE ROOF was based); Mendele in THE WORLD OF SHALOM ALEICHEM; Herbert in I’M HERBERT; Emil in Mamet’s DUCK VARIATIONS, and Frank Gianelli in OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS. Some credits prior to that time include Mathew Harrison Brady in INHERIT THE WIND, Al Lewis (SUNSHINE BOYS), Val (LAUGHTER ON THE 23RD FLOOR), Truckle (SLY FOX), Papa (SHAYNE MAYDEL), Abe (BEAU JEST), Chandler Coffin (PRIDE’S CROSSING), Mitch (STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE) and many other lead and character roles in various venues, with a few Orchid Awards accrued in the process. He remembers when playing old Jewish men used to be a challenge. Now he only hopes he remembers his lines. To quote Mr. Green “I’m eighty six years old. It doesn’t happen so quick.”

Mike is grateful to his wife of 56 years, Tommi, for putting up with this avocation.

Bill Hartnett (Director) has appeared in theaters in New York, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati and has worked with many Greater Cincinnati professional and community companies, including Mariemont Players, Playhouse In The Park, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, Showboat Majestic, Covedale Theater of the Performing Arts, Sorg Opera Company, Cincinnati Music Theater and Children’s Theater of Cincinnati. Roles include Willie Loman in Death of a Salesman, Shannon in Night of the Iguana, Candy in Of Mice and Men, Willie in The Sunshine boys, the old actor in Fantasticks and Norman in On Golden Pond. He also played Harold Hill in The Music Man, Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls and the King in The King And I.

From the New York Times calling Twitter at the theater the “unsavory confluence of social media and the arts” to the St. Louis Shakespeare Theater’s artistic director calling “tweet seats” a “national trend,” the use of social media during performing arts is a hot topic in arts communities around the country, inciting passions on both sides of the social media fence.

Falcon Theater, long known for its edgy, quirky musicals and appreciation for the classics, has decided to jump into the fray head-first by initiating a Social Media Section during the run of THE 39 STEPS, February 10-25 at Monmouth Theater in Newport, Kentucky. Inspired by the feedback they’d received– often surreptitiously during the show, or at intermission– from past partnerships with social media savvy patrons, including local bloggers, Twitter users and Yelp Elites, Artistic Director Ted Weil and Director of Marketing Julie Niesen Gosdin thought that there had to be a way to incorporate this phenomenon in a more organized way. After participating in a divided, if enthusiastic, conversation about the idea of “tweet seats” with other arts supporters on Facebook and in person, Weil and Niesen Gosdin realized that their upcoming show, THE 39 STEPS, would be a great test for this controversial way of interacting with the audience.

Patrons in the Social Media Section– the back two rows of the theater– will be provided with discounted tickets, a hashtag, and the freedom to Facebook, Tweet and Instagram their way through the Hitchcockian farce. “We realize that not everyone is on Twitter or Facebook, but we find the feedback that we receive from those who are to be very valuable and constructive,” says Niesen Gosdin. “Not every show is suited for live social media, but a show like THE 39 STEPS, a fast-paced farce, is ripe for patrons to comment on Twitter, Facebook, or even to share photos on Flickr or Instagram.”

Instead of a Smartphone free-for-all, Falcon is instituting some guidelines. First, those who anticipate using their Smartphones for social interaction during the show are asked to sit in the back of the 85-person theater (each seat marked with a special logo), so as not to distract patrons with the glow of their devices. They’re asked to turn ringers off and brightness down, and anything they post to social media outlets should be hashtagged #Falcon39Steps.

Directions for liking Falcon on Facebook and following Falcon on Twitter will be available at the front of the house, as well as in the program. In exchange, participants in this program get discounted seats– normally $15-17, if you’re in the Social Media Section. “We realize that our theater is intimate, and that many of our patrons prefer to sit back and enjoy the show without any interaction,” says Niesen Gosdin. “We want to be sure to be respectful of all of our patrons, whether they want to interact online or not.”

For interview opportunities, please contact Julie Niesen Gosdin at 513.560.3419 or julie.niesen@gmail.com. To follow Falcon on social media outlets, find them at @FalconTheatre, https://www.facebook.com/falcontheater. To follow live tweets from THE 39 STEPS, search for #Falcon39Steps on Twitter or Google.

About THE 39 STEPS:
Adapted from the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film, which was based on on John Buchanan’s novel, THE 39 STEPS takes iconic scenes– the train chase, the Palladium– and recreates them with the power of four talented actors.

Director Alecia Lewkowich has assembled a talented cast, many of whom are familiar to Falcon patrons: Falcon veteran actor and director Dan Doerger (The Rocky Horror Show, Debbie Does Dallas, Hair, Down The Road) takes the role of Hannay, the unwitting victim of circumstance who find himself wrapped up in a world of intrigue and deception. Elizabeth Molloy, a familiar face at the Covedale Center for the Performing Arts and others, makes her Falcon debut taking on all three female roles for this show. Sharing all the other roles in the play are Mike Hall and Donnie McGovern who between them play 40 other roles.

THE 39 STEPS runs Fridays and Saturdays, February 10-25, 2012 at 8 p.m. at the Monmouth Theater, 636 Monmouth Street in Newport, Kentucky. Tickets ($17, $15 for students) may be purchased by calling 513.479.6783 or by visiting http://www.falcontheater.net.

About Falcon Theater:
Falcon Theater, started in 1989 by David Radtke and Ted Weil, has been presenting quirky, off-beat productions (and tried-and-true classics) for over 20 years. Recent productions include Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical, Evil Dead: The Musical, The Elephant Man and Fully Committed. Falcon is supported by grants from Artswave, the Purdy Foundation, and their 2011-2012 Season Sponsor is Yelp.