THE HUMAN RACE THEATRE COMPANY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, interview possibilities or media passes, please contact:
Leigh Allen, Marketing Director
leigh@humanracetheatre.org
(937) 461-3823, ext. 3112

The Loft Theatre Hooks a Tuna Feast for the Holidays

DAYTON, OH - November 19 - Things are tense this time of year in Tuna, the third smallest town in Texas. Not only is the annual yard decorating contest especially down and dirty this time around, but the Christmas phantom is lurking just about everywhere, ready to strike when least expected. And that’s not even considering all the problems director Joe Bob Lipsey is having with the Tuna Little Theatre production of A Christmas Carol.

Sure is a good thing that Thurston Wheelis and Arles Struvie are on hand to guide us through the mayhem. Of course, Thurston and Arles also provide much of the mayhem, since they become all 22 characters of A Tuna Christmas, the third production of the 2007-08 Eichelberger Loft Season, presented by The Human Race Theatre Company and Victoria Theatre Association December 6 -23.

For decades, the Tuna trio of hilarities from Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard has been knocking audiences deader than someone on the wrong end of a sales item at Didi’s Used Weapons. As in Greater Tuna and Red, White, and Tuna, in A Tuna Christmas pompousness and political correctness get stomped worse than a spider under the heel of an Acme boot.

Human Race Resident Artist Tim Lile, most recently seen in Moonlight and Magnolias, plays Thurston and ten other Tuna-ites, including Bertha Bumiller, who’s such a mean mom she threatens her children she’ll play Andy Williams’ Christmas album if they don’t behave. Jake Lockwood, a Dayton native just back from 15 years with Disney, including nine at Orlando’s Comedy Warehouse, plays Arles and ten others, including Tuna grande dame Vera Carp and Bertha’s son, Stanley, who has to act in A Christmas Carol to complete his probation.

Director Pamela Hill has led earlier Human Race productions of Over the River and Through the Woods and Alone Together. The costumes Tim and Jake rapidly switch in and out of are designed by Jeff Shearer, who dazzled Loft audiences with his work on Seussical two years ago. Scenic design is by Oakwood High and recent Carnegie Mellon graduate Adam Koch. Resident Artist John Rensel designs the lights, Charlie Parker the sound.

A Tuna Christmas begins with Preview Night December 6, with the official Opening Night December 7, and runs Tuesdays through Sundays through December 23. Tickets are available by calling (937) 228-3630 or (888) 228-3630 or via www.humanracetheatre.org.

Sponsors for A Tuna Christmas are Marion’s Piazza, Houser Asphalt and Concrete, Brian Sharp, Catalyst Creative Partnership, Everybody’s Workplace Solutions and One Lincoln Park. Season sponsors are The Jack W. and Sally D. Eichelberger Foundation, with additional support from NCR, Premier Health Partners, the Sam Levin Foundation, and Jim and Enid Goubeaux, with Official Host the DoubleTree Hotel downtown and Official Media Sponsor ThinkTV.


Tim Lile	Jake Lockwood

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Founded in 1986, The Human Race Theatre Company presents universal themes that explore the human condition and startle us all into a renewed awareness of ourselves. The company moved to the Metropolitan Arts Center in 1991, taking up residence at The Loft, a 219-seat theatre. In addition to the Loft Series (in collaboration with the Victoria Theatre Association) The Human Race produces for the Fifth Third Broadway Series, the Musical Theatre Workshop series, and special event programming. The Human Race, under the direction of Artistic Director Marsha Hanna and Executive Director Kevin Moore, also maintains educational outreach programs for children and adults, guest artists and artist residencies in area schools, The Muse Machine In-School Tour, Youth Summer Stock and The Human Race Conservatory. The new Caryl D. Philips Creativity Center of The Human Race opened in January 2006 to provide a space for extensive theatre education classes and workshops.

Victoria Theatre Association is one of Dayton’s premier arts organizations, presenting the JPMorgan Chase Broadway Series, the Young at Heart Family Series, the Michelob Ultra Cool Films series, Star Attractions, the Universal 1 Variety Series, and the Physicians for Kids Discovery Series, which features curriculum-enhanced live theatre productions for school children. Victoria Theatre Association is proud of its alliance with the Dayton Opera Association and its collaboration on The Eichelberger Loft Series 1 with The Human Race Theatre Company. Victoria Theatre Association also manages the historic Victoria Theatre, the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center, and the Metropolitan Arts Center, which houses The Loft Theatre. Victoria Theatre Association receives funding from a variety of diverse public, corporate, individual and private sources, including the Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District and the Ohio Arts Council. The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this organization with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.