Off-Beat Players Bring URINETOWN to American Theatre of Actors, 8/21

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Greenwich, Connecticut's Off-Beat Players will present a one night only performance of Urinetown by special arrangement with The Araca Group – Tuesday August 21 at The American Theatre of Actors, where Urinetown made its Off-Broadway debut in 2001.

Off-Beat Players, Inc. (OBP) is a theatre company that provides an opportunity for young people of all backgrounds and abilities to work together, to learn from one another and to benefit from participation in a performing arts program. Young people gain an appreciation and respect for one another and their contributions to the company. The program develops life skills, instills confidence, uncovers hidden talents and affords every participant the opportunity to experience success in the performing arts. It is their hope that through this experience young people develop sensitivity toward one another's abilities as well as disabilities, embrace the inclusion of all ability levels and celebrate differences in all their future life experiences.

OBP presented Urinetown earlier this month at the Arch Street Teen Center in Greenwich, Connecticut. The Araca Group caught wind of this inspirational production and is thrilled to give these students the opportunity to perform on Urinetown's original stage. Araca is currently using the American Theatre of Actors for the second annual Araca Project series and the current show, The Man With America Skin was thrilled to share the theatre with such a worthy group of young artists.

"We are thrilled to have the privilege of seeing Urinetown grace the stages of ATA again," said Michael Rego, partner of The Araca Group and producer of the original Urinetown, "And even better – it falls in the middle of our second annual Araca Project, where similarly entrepreneurial artists are trying to make their dreams come true."

Matthew Rego, Michael Rego and Hank Unger launched The Araca Group in 1997 with a simple mission: to produce the work of emerging playwrights off- and off-off-Broadway. The group soon established a reputation as a leading theatrical Production Company; its inaugural Broadway undertaking, the critically acclaimed Urinetown: The Musical, received numerous major awards, including three Tonys. Other Araca productions included Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, the blockbuster musical Wicked, Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge, Lend Me a Tenor and Rock of Ages. In addition, Araca is now the largest screen printing and merchandising company on Broadway and strives to transform the live entertainment experience with innovative apparel, souvenirs and licensed products. Learn more at www.araca.com.

For more information on the Off-Beat Players, visit www.offbeatplayers.org. To learn more about The Araca Project or this special performance, contact Kaitlin Fine at kfine@araca.com.