Press Release

January 26, 2008

For Immediate Release

For more information contact:

Karen Massman VanAsdale

kvanasdale@coterietheatre.org

(816) 474-6785 ext. 230; (816) 665-8181 (cell)

Gnarley dude! Totally awesome! Coterie’s Breakfast Club–Live Mondays brings film to stage

Detention served every Monday night at Westport CoffeeHouse

Detention. Teen angst. ‘80s electronic music. And five strangers with nothing in common but each other: A brain, a beauty, a jock, a rebel and a recluse. Join the parody of high school as they break rules, bare souls and defy authority when Coterie at Night presents The Breakfast Club – Live Mondays every Monday night beginning February 9 at Westport CoffeeHouse, 4010 Pennsylvania Ave.

The play, based on the original movie by John Hughes, is directed by impresario Ron Megee and will have an open-ended run each and every Monday night. Performances begin downstairs in the Coffeehouse at 7:30 p.m. The performance is geared to the college crowd, upper high school, twentysomethings, who will always be invited onstage after each show to graffiti the library desks and listen to ‘80s music. (Those adults who show up to relive their past will not be turned away.)

Director Megee raves, “This is one of the favorite pop culture classics of all time. It’s a retro story set in a past decade, yet it’s still relevant today. To use an 80s word, it’s ‘awesome’ – the struggles, family problems, school issues, how to be an individual. The great part is all the unique personalities of the characters meshing together.

“The ‘80s are back in fashion, style, movies and even television so we’re celebrating the manic ‘80s. We’re having a lot of fun with it,” he said. “For those people who lived The Breakfast Club for the first time, the play is a true homage to the movie,”

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Breakfast Club/page 2

“YOU SEE US HOW YOU WANT TO SEE US…”

Serving detention every Monday night are Claire (Chioma Anyanwu), Bender (Matthew Leonard), Allison (Patricia Rusconi), Brian (Alex Saxon) and Andrew (Matthew Schmidli) along with Mr. Vernon and Carl (Tim Ahlenius).

In the “main office”: Ron Megee (director and props design), Meghann Henry (production stage manager), Jon Fulton Adams (costume design), Scott Hobart (set design, technical director), David Kiehl (sound), and Jennifer Benkert (production assistant).

More information about the cast including photos, their blog and ‘80s pop quiz is on Facebook at The Breakfast Club –Live Mondays. Videos, photos and special promotions will be posted at this site throughout the open-ended run.

ABOUT COTERIE AT NIGHT

The Breakfast Club – Live Mondays is part of the Coterie at Night series, a new audience development initiative launched this year by the Coterie Theatre. The series offers adventurous, interactive performances performed at separate venues exclusively at night, with opportunities to socialize after the show.

Coterie at Night is supported with funding provided by The New Generations Program, a grant initiative cooperatively designed by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and TCG (TCG). It is specifically given for Future Audiences programming which allows theatres to expand and strengthen existing unique and innovative audience development programs that have proven effective in reaching young, culturally specific and/or underserved audiences.

"This grant lets us perform outside the Coterie's mainstage space at Crown Center, and embark on performances for smart, artistic upper high school and college age individuals,” said Jeff Church, producing artistic director. “In fact, I think The Breakfast Club – Live Mondays will go beyond our target audience because everyone loves the idea of a stage show of this piece. We're still doing our mainstage shows, of course, but Coterie at Night shows further diversifies us - in a great way."

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

Tickets for The Breakfast Club – Live Mondays are $12 for all ages; $8 for Coterie season ticket holders . DETENTION AS A GROUP: 10 tix for $10 each – advance phone orders only. Tickets may be purchased by calling the Coterie Theatre Box Office at (816) 474-6552, online at www.coterietheatre.org, at the Coterie Box Office in Crown Center or at the door 30 minutes prior to performance time . Coterie Theatre Box Office hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday – Friday, noon on performance weekends, with closing hours varying.

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NOTE: All student and professional reviewers and editors are invited along with one guest to attend PRESS NIGHT, February 16. Contact Karen M. VanAsdale at kvanasdale@coterietheatre.org to RSVP or to reserve a different performance.

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Just a few of the great Breakfast Club quotes audience's will be hearing:

"We're all pretty bizarre, some of us are just better at hiding it."

"When you grow up, your heart dies."

"Don't mess with the bull you'll get the horns."

"Demented and sad...but social."

"Eat my shorts."

"Obsene finger gestures from such a pristine girl."

"Two hits...me hitting you, you hitting the floor."

"Grab some wood there bub."

"Do you know how popular I am?"

"Bein' bad feels pretty good, huh?"

"Yeah, I always carry this much shit in my bag."

"Are you medically frigid, or is it psychological?"