Tag Archives: Nicole Stodard

Thinking Cap Theatre Presents LIZZIE: THE MUSICAL – October 18 – November 1

08 Wednesday Oct 2025

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Thinking Cap Theatre Presents
Lizzie: The Musical
Main Stage Production Runs October 18 – November 1, 2025
After 25 years, live theater finally returns to Hollywood

Media Contacts
Pierson Grant Public Relations 
Diana Hanford
dhanford@piersongrant.com
561-309-4136

Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (October 8, 2025) – – Thinking Cap Theatre (TCT) will launch its 15th anniversary season with the riveting rock production Lizzie: The Musical, a theatrical thrill ride that slashes through Victorian repression with unapologetic abandon.

The production opens Saturday, October 18 and runs through Saturday, November 1 at the Hollywood Central Performing Arts Center, 1770 Monroe Street, in vibrant downtown Hollywood. Eight performances are scheduled with varying start times.

Based on the infamous 1892 case of Lizzie Borden, the production reimagines the story of a dutiful daughter with a dark secret and a thirst for freedom. As tensions rise, Lizzie, her alluring friend Alice, rebellious maid Bridget, and manipulative sister Emma collide in a bloody storm of betrayal, desire, and liberation. Fueled by electric guitars, raw emotion, and a punk-meets-Gothic edge, Lizzie smashes through the prim corset of history with electrifying passion and a killer beat.

A champion of gender equality, Thinking Cap Theatre cast four women in the leading roles – all talented actresses, singers, and dancers who will transfix the audience during this anachronism of a tale, which pairs period costumes with contemporary rock music performed by a live five-piece rock band.

“Launching our 15th anniversary season with Lizzie: The Musical feels both exhilarating and fitting,” said Nicole Stoddard, Ph.D., Producing Artistic Director of Thinking Cap Theatre. “This show is bold, imaginative, and an incredible performance vehicle for actresses. Lizzie is more than a rock musical; it’s a visceral exploration of power, repression, and liberation that will leave audiences thrilled and thinking long after the final note.”

Originally written by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer (music and lyrics), Tim Maner (lyrics, book, and additional music), and Alan Stevens Hewitt (music and additional lyrics), Lizzie: The Musical  has become an off-Broadway cult favorite—and Thinking Cap Theatre brings its own fearless take to the stage.

To get in the spirit, the audience is welcome to dress in period attire. Tickets are $45, plus service fee at https://tinyurl.com/LizzieMusical * Note, this production is rated PG-13 and for mature audiences. Students 21 and Under are FREE with Valid Student ID

Performance Schedule:

  • Saturday, October 18 at 8 p.m. (Opening Night, post-show cocktail reception in the lobby, price included in ticket)
  • Sunday, October 19 at 6 p.m.
  • Wednesday, October 22 at 7 p.m.
  • Saturday, October 25 at 3 p.m.
  • Sunday, October 26 at 6 p.m.
  • Wednesday, October 29 at 7 p.m.
  • Friday, October 31 at 8 p.m. (post-show Halloween party with cash prizes for best costumes, price included in ticket)
  • Saturday, November 1 at 8 p.m. (Closing Night)

“With most theatrical productions, you don’t often get the thrill of a live band sharing the stage with the actors,” said Bree-Anna Obst, Managing Director of Thinking Cap Theatre. “Lizzie amps that experience up to eleven with a five-piece rock band delivering the score in real time. It’s not just theatre—it’s a full-bodied concert-meets-musical experience that makes the story hit harder, louder, and cooler than you’d ever expect.”

Support & Partnerships
Lizzie: The Musical is made possible with support from the Broward County Cultural Division and The Our Fund Foundation, with additional support from the Leo M. and Alice J. Rutten Fund, August and Melba Urbanek Fund, Huizenga Family Unrestricted Fund, and The Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation Broward Community Fund at the Community Foundation of Broward. The production is also presented in partnership with the Art and Culture Center Hollywood.

About Thinking Cap Theatre
Now celebrating its 15th season, Thinking Cap Theatre is a 501(c)(3) professional theatre company founded in 2010. Known for bold, thought-provoking productions, TCT strives to create theatre that explodes with imagination, sparks dialogue, and enriches South Florida’s cultural landscape.

Calendar listing:

What: Thinking Cap Theatre Presents Lizzie: The Musical, a theatrical thrill ride that slashes and rocks through Victorian repression with unapologetic abandon with a live band.

When:  Saturday, October 18 at 8 p.m. through Saturday, November 1 at 8 p.m.

Where: Hollywood Central Performing Arts Center, 1770 Monroe Street, Hollywood, 33020

About: Based on the infamous 1892 case of Lizzie Borden, the show reimagines the story of a dutiful daughter with a dark secret and a thirst for freedom. As tensions rise, Lizzie, her alluring friend Alice, rebellious maid Bridget, and manipulative sister Emma collide in a bloody storm of betrayal, desire, and liberation. Fueled by electric guitars, raw emotion, and a punk-meets-Gothic edge, Lizzie smashes through the prim corset of history with electrifying passion and a killer beat. This production is rated PG-13 and for mature audiences.

Cost: $45 * Note, this production is rated PG-13 and for mature audiences. Students 21 and Under are FREE with Valid Student ID

Tickets https://tinyurl.com/LizzieMusical

For additional info call 310-500-6448 or email nicole@thinkingcaptheatre.org

Thinking Cap Theatre Announces Fall 2025 Lineup

18 Monday Aug 2025

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Thinking Cap Theatre
Announces
Fall 2025 Season Lineup

Award-Winning, Innovative Thinking Cap Theatre Celebrates its 15th Birthday
with a Dynamic Lineup as the Company in Residence at
The Hollywood Art and Culture Center

For Immediate Release
Contact: Bree-Anna Obst
breeanna@thinkingcaptheatre.org  / 310-500-6448
Contact:  Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244

August 19, 2025

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL: Thinking Cap Theatre (TCT) has revealed its Fall 2025 Season as the resident theater company of the Hollywood Art and Culture Center (HACC).  TCT’s fall 2025 lineup includes the 2nd Annual Women’s Equality Day Event, which now hosts the ERAS – a new regional award to  honor South Floridians who are championing gender equality – and two main stage productions, the provocative rock musical Lizzie the Musical, about alleged Victorian axe murderer Lizzie Borden, and Cymbeline, a rarely staged, genre-defying work by William Shakespeare.

“We are excited to celebrate 15 years of TCT with a dynamic lineup of programming for Hollywood residents and South Florida at large,” says Nicole Stodard, TCT’s founding Artistic Director.  “There is so much amazing development and growth in Hollywood’s downtown area as the City of Hollywood turns 100 and HACC turns 50 this November! It’s an exhilarating time to be working here and partnering with HACC,” Stodard adds.  To boot, TCT’s recent residency marks the return of professional theater to Hollywood for the first time since Hollywood Playhouse closed in 2003.

TCT Fall Events/Performances:

The 2nd Annual Women’s Equality Day Event & The ERAS (Equality Realized in the Arts and Other Sectors) will take place on Tuesday, August 26th at Hollywood Central Performing Arts Center.  In Thinking Cap Theatre’s special lineup, audiences will experience live performances of *suffragette comedies, songs, and an Isadora Duncan-inspired dance performance.

Tickets to the Event are $25.  Doors will open at 6:45pm for a celebratory reception and viewing of lobby exhibits by the League of Women Voters of Broward County, Hollywood Historical Society, and Stonewall Museum and Archives. Live performances in the theater will begin promptly at 7:30pm. The program will be approximately 1-hour long and will include honoring this year’s recipients of the ERAAS. Dessert, conversation, and photos will follow in the lobby.

The 2nd Annual Women’s Equality Day Event is presented in partnership with Hollywood Art and Culture Center. Community partners include City Theatre, League of Women Voters of Broward County, The Skirt Foundation, Women With Pride, Stonewall National Museum and Archives, and Hollywood Historical Society.

*About Suffragette Plays:
Dubbed “parlor plays,” these short suffragette comedies were privately printed and originally intended for amateur performance at home in, you guessed it, people’s parlors. In the late 1970s, while doing research at Radcliffe College, scholar Bettina Friedl rediscovered these long forgotten treasures and compiled them into a special edition. These dramatic gems humorously and pointedly tackle issues such as the work/life balance dilemma and the oppressiveness of socially-prescribed gender roles. Viewers can expect to enjoy some laughs and marvel at both how far we’ve come and how we’ve still to go in the journey for equal human rights.

~

Lizzie, The Musical

In October 2025, just in time for Halloween season, TCT will present Lizzie, The Musical, a provocative and pulsating musical exploration of the legendary 1892 trial of Lizzie Borden, who was accused (and ultimately acquitted) of brutally murdering her parents with an axe.   Lizzie, The Musical offers up a delicious blend of history and anachronism in its exploration of Lizzie’s oppressive upbringing, troubled relationship with her father, and unapologetic defiance of Victorian norms and courtroom accusations.  Fueled by a searing rock score, raw emotion, and dark humor, Lizzie, The Musical is a blistering portrait of one of America’s most infamous figures.

Lizzie, The Musical
October 18 – November 1, 2025
Music and Lyrics by Steven Cheslik-deMeyer
Lyrics, Book, and Additional Music by Tim Maner
Music and Additional Lyrics by Alan Stevens Hewitt
Directed by Nicole Stodard
Tickets: $45 (plus service charges)
For Tickets:  https://thinkingcaptheatre.org or
Phone: 310-500-6448
Performances:
Saturday, October 18 at 8 pm
Sunday, October 19 at 6 pm
Wednesday, October 22 at 7 pm
Saturday, October 25 at 3 pm
Sunday, October 26 at 6 pm
Wednesday, October 29 at 7 pm
Friday, October 31 at 8 pm
Saturday, November 1 at 8 pm
All performances will take place at
The Hollywood Central Performing Arts Center
1770 Monroe Street,
Hollywood, FL 33020

Lizzie, The Musical is supported by a grant from Community Foundation of Broward and is presented in partnership with the Art and Culture Center Hollywood.

Lizzie, The Musical contains strong language and mature content; it is recommended for patrons 13 years of age and older.

~

Cymbeline

In December 2025, TCT will present Cymbeline, which scholars affectionately refer to as Shakespeare’s “kitchen sink” play because of its wildly diverse stylistic elements, from history and romance to tragedy and comedy.  Peter Wayne Galman, a veteran actor of TV, film, and the stage as well as the Founding Artistic Director South Florida Shakespeare Troupe, will play the title role.  Never liked Shakespeare? Never seen Shakespeare performed live?  This anarchic and presciently modern work by the Bard is a great place to start (again).   There will be a ‘Talk Back’ after the 6 pm (closing) performance on Sunday, December 14th)


Cymbeline
December 5 – 14, 2025
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Nicole Stodard
Tickets: $45 (plus service charges)
For Tickets:  https://thinkingcaptheatre.org or
Phone: 310-500-6448
Performances:
Friday, December 5 at 7 pm
Saturday, December 6 at 7 pm
Sunday, December 7 at 6 pm
Wednesday, December 10 at 7 pm
Saturday, December 13 at 7 pm
Sunday, December 14 at 7 pm
All performances will take place at
The Hollywood Central Performing Arts Center
1770 Monroe Street,
Hollywood, FL 33020

Cymbeline  is supported by funding from The Maurer Foundation, The Warten Foundation, and Hollywood Art and Culture Center. 

For more information about Thinking Cap Theatre, any of the company’s Fall 2025 productions, or to attend a performance, please contact Bree-Anna Obst at
breeanna@thinkingcaptheatre.org  / 310-500-6448 or Carol Kassie at carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244

Thinking Cap Theatre to present LOVESONG – October 19 – November 3

10 Thursday Oct 2024

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“…gripping and intense…make time for this play.”
~ The Cambridge Critique

“…the delightful quirkiness of Morgan’s text…is playful and illuminating.”
~ Aleks Sierz/The ArtsDesk.com

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244

October 10, 2024

HOLLYWOOD, FL:  Thinking Cap Theatre’s (TCT) first production of the 2024 – 2025 season will be the regional premiere of Lovesong by playwright/screenwriter Abi Morgan.  Lovesong will run from October 19th through November 3rd at the Hollywood Central Performing Arts Center (managed by the Art and Culture Center/Hollywood (ACCH). TCT’s new residency at the venue will mark the return of professional theatre to Hollywood for the first time since the Hollywood Playhouse closed in 2003.   

Inspired by the T.S. Eliot poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Abi Morgan developed Lovesong with the world class innovative UK-based company, Frantic Assembly:

“Lovesong is a play that’s been on TCT’s radar since 2018, when I was searching for plays for our 10th Anniversary Season in 2020,” says TCT’s Producing Artistic Director Nicole Stodard.  “The pandemic prevented us from staging it then, but I am thrilled finally to be directing the piece now. It’s a truly breathtaking play that examines the love story of one couple at two different stages of their life together, their youthful beginning and their twilight years.  It’s a play about true love, the power of memory, the value of legacy, and the meaning of life. It’s also a visually stunning play that incorporates movement. Its message and its innovative style speak directly to TCT’s mission.”

Abi Morgan (OBE) is a Welsh playwright and screenwriter known for her works in television such as Sex Traffic, The Hour, and The Split, and the films Brick Lane, The Iron Lady, Shame, and Suffragette.

Stodard’s cast consists of Peter Galman, Deborah Kondelik, Nathaniel Heustis, and Abbie Fricke.

The Stage Manager for Lovesong is Pablo de Pablo; Breanna Michel and Manda Gonzalez will serve as Assistant Stage Managers. Costume Design and Co-Sound Design is by Nicole Stodard, along with Designers Bree-Anna Obst and Alyiece Moretto-Watkins.  Nicole Perry is the production’s Intimacy/Movement Director, and Alex Gonzalez is the Front of House Coordinator.

Tickets for Lovesong are $45 and are available online at https://thinkingcaptheatre.org  or by calling 310-500-6448.  Performances are on Wednesdays at 7:30 pm, Saturdays at 5 pm, and Sundays at 3 pm. All performances will take place at the Hollywood Central Performing Arts Center (1770 Monroe Street, Hollywood, FL, 33020).

For more information about Thinking Cap Theatre, please visit https://thinkingcaptheatre.org.  To arrange to see the production, for interviews, or for photos, please contact Carol Kassie at carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244 or Nicole Stodard at nicole@thinkingcaptheatre.org / 813-220-1546.

~

Lovesong
October 19 – November 3, 2024
By Abi Morgan
Tickets: $45 / $20 Student Rush tickets at the door for 21 & under with valid student IDTickets:  https://thinkingcaptheatre.org
Or call 310-500-6448
Performances: 
Wednesday at 7:30 pm
Saturday at 5 pm
Sunday at 5 pm
All performances will take place at 
Hollywood Central Performing Arts Center
1770 Monroe Street
Hollywood, FL  33020

Peter W. Galman
Deborah Kondelik
Abbie Fricke
Nathaniel Heustis
Abi Morgan
Nicole Stodard

Thinking Cap Theater Presents THE TAMING OF THE SHREW

12 Tuesday Mar 2024

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Thinking Cap Theatre
presents
The Taming of the Shrew
By William Shakespeare
Adapted and directed by Nicole Stodard

For Immediate Release
Contact: Bree-Anna Obst
breeanna@thinkingcaptheatre.org | 954-610-7263

March 12, 2024

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL:  Thinking Cap Theatre will officially kick off 2024 this March with a main stage production of The Taming Of The Shrew by William Shakespeare, adapted and directed by TCT’s Founding Artistic Director Nicole Stodard. The production will run from March 22nd through April 3rd at The Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale.

TCT’s last Shakespearean revival, a reimagining of Shakespeare’s great tragedy King Lear, was named one of the top ten plays of 2018 by Boca Magazine.  With Shrew, TCT turns to one of Shakespeare’s most controversial works, a play that has left audiences divided on whether the playwright was a misogynist or a proto-feminist.  Made famous in a mid-twentieth century revival that starred real life sparring lovers Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, this comedy dramatizes the age-old battle of the sexes in the tumultuous courtship of the characters Katherina and Petruchio. 

Despite being one of Shakespeare’s earliest plays, The Taming Of The Shrew epitomizes Shakespeare’s fascination with raising, but not ultimately answering, pressing social questions.  In Thinking Cap’s innovative new staging, performers and audiences alike will be able to experience and judge different casting and directorial choices in real time to explore our shifting perceptions of what’s playable, offensive, or funny.  “Shakespeare’s works play differently in every age.  This particular work presents a meaningful opportunity, in this moment, to ‘hold a mirror up to nature,’ in the words of Hamlet, and to demonstrate the perennial nature of some of our current debates,” says Stodard.

This main stage production is part of The People vs. Shakespeare’s Shrew, a multifaceted project that invites audiences to engage deeply with this problem play through complementary programming that includes the following: a staged reading of John Fletcher’s 1611 response play entitled The Woman’s Prize or the Tamer Tamed; Sunday Talkbacks with the cast and creative team; and Shakespeare Was Here, a 6-episode podcast series with Shakespeare practitioners and scholars from around the country.

The staged reading of The Woman’s Prize or the Tamer Tamed, will take place on Thursday, April 25, 2024 at Art Serve in Fort Lauderdale.  Doors open at 6:30pm; curtain at 7pm.  Tickets are $20 and include complimentary catered refreshments.  Art Serve’s address is 1350 E Sunrise Blvd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 
Staged reading ticket link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-tamer-tamed-or-the-womens-prize-play-reading-tickets-816509641317?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

Shakespeare Was Here: New Podcast Series:

TCT’s podcast, Thoughts on Theatre and Life, includes multiple ongoing series, the newest of which explores the living legacy of William Shakespeare.  Guests of The Taming of the Shrew can deepen their engagement with the production by tuning into Shakespeare Was Here for stimulating conversations with leading Shakespeare scholars and practitioners from coast to coast.  The podcast is available on Amazon, Apple, Google, and Spotify.  Podcast guests who will discuss The Taming Of The Shrew inlcude: Vernon Dickson, Ph.D. (Florida International University), Carla Della Gatta, Ph.D. (University of Maryland), Jemma Alix Levy (Washington & Lee University), Carmen Pelaez (playwright), Ian Smith, Ph.D. (University of Southern California, President of Shakespeare Association of America).

The Taming Of The Shrew  Performance Dates/Times:

Friday, March 22 | 7:30pm
Saturday, March 23 | 3:00pm and 7:30pm
Sunday, March 24 | 3:00pm
Thursday, March 28 | 7:30pm
Friday, March 29 | 7:30pm
Saturday, March 30 | 7:30pm
Sunday, March 31 | 3:00pm
Monday, April 1 | 7:30pm
Wednesday, April 3 | 11:00am & 7:30pm

Ticket Prices for TCT’s Main Stage Productions:
$45 General Admission
$20 Student Rush Tickets at the Door for 21 & Under w/ Valid Student ID

Theatre Company Website: http://thinkingcaptheatre.org
Thinking Cap Theatre Box Office Phone: 954-610-7263
Venue Address:
Broward Center for the Performing Arts,
201 Southwest 5th Avenue ,
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312

Funding:
Support for this program has been provided by the following Funds at the Community Foundation of Broward: John O. and Victoria C. Kirby Fund, Frederick W. Jaqua Fund, The Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation Broward Community Fund.  THE TAMING OF THE SHREW is also sponsored in part by the State of Florida through the Division of Arts and Culture and the National Endowment for the Arts, Broward County Cultural Division and a grant from The Our Fund Foundation, an LGBTQ community foundation, with support from the Broward Center’s Arts Access Program.

About Thinking Cap Theatre (TCT):
Founded in 2010, TCT prides itself on theatrical experimentation, equality, and excellence.  To this end, the company has amassed a loyal fan base that appreciates the opportunity to see daring theatre locally that it could not otherwise see without traveling to New York, Chicago, or L.A.  “TCT thrives on experimentation, both in terms of the plays we select and how we rehearse and stage them. We challenge conventions and embrace playfulness.  This is how we work to keep the art form dynamic and evolving” says Stodard.  True to its mission, TCT also champions equity and diversity on- and off-stage.  As one example, TCT has upheld gender and sexual parity in play programming in every single season.  The proof is in the numbers: 18 male playwrights, 20 female playwrights, and 1 non-binary playwright. “Prioritizing diversity and inclusion is in the DNA of our organization’s mission. And for far too long, TCT was a lone voice in the region addressing these issues,” says Stodard.  Since its inception in 2010, TCT has also striven for excellence with a particular emphasis on steadily improving production values and increasing artist compensation.

LIZZIE: THE MUSICAL – Opens Thinking Cap Theatre’s 2017-2018 Season – October 20th

09 Monday Oct 2017

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Thinking Cap Theatre at The Vanguard
presentsLizzie: The Musical

October 20 – November 4, 2017

“A gothic rock ritual with a ‘riotgirl’ attitude… an eerie hybrid of rock club and a turn-of-the-century New England parlor…. Deliciously watchable” ~ The New York Times

For Immediate Release
Contact: Nicole Stodard
nicole@thinkingcaptheatre.com /(813) 220-1546
Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244

October 10, 2017
FT. LAUDERDALE, FL: On a sweltering summer morning in 1892, in Fall River Massachusetts, a prominent business man and his wife were brutally axed to death in their home. Their daughter, Lizzie Borden, was the prime suspect. Lizzie’s trial was a coast-to-coast media sensation, and her story has become an integral part of American criminal mythology.  Lizzie: The Musical – the vibrant, rollicking, rock musical telling of this legendary crime will open Thinking Cap Theatre at the Vanguard’s 2017-2018 season on October 20th.  The production will run through November 4th.

Lizzie: The Musical started out as a four-song theater/rock concert piece written by Tim Maner with songs by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer, and later expanded into a full musical with more music and orchestrations by newly added collaborator Alan Stevens Hewitt.   It sprang from Maner and Cheslik-DeMeyer’s love of musicals, Americana, women-rockers, and late 80s queer politics.

Although the show’s music is primarily raucous, rock, and of the ‘Riot Girl’ genre, the play also offers a sensitive look at what could drive someone to (allegedly) commit such a heinous crime (Borden was acquitted of the murders after an all-male jury deliberated for just ninety minutes). It allows audiences to relate to the Borden sisters – Lizzie and Emma –  in a way they might not have considered before. This emotional connection wouldn’t be possible without the four incredible performers that make up the cast – Ann Marie Olson as Lizzie Borden, Sabrina Gore as Emma Borden, Leah Sessa as Alice Russell, and Hanna Richter as Bridget Sullivan.

Lizzie:  The Musical will be directed by Thinking Cap’s Nicole Stodard; the production’s musical direction is by Patrick Watkins.

Tickets for Lizzie are $40 ($20 for students with ID) and are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased by calling 954-610-7263 or on line at www.thinkingcaptheatre.com .

The Vanguard Sanctuary for the Arts is located at 1501 S. Andrews Ave, Fort Lauderdale, 33301.  There is free street parking surrounding the building and a metered municipal lot just south of The Vanguard on Andrews Ave.

For more information about Thinking Cap Theatre at the Vanguard visit www.thinkingcaptheatre.com.  or contact Nicole Stodard at nicole@thinkingcaptheatre.com / 954-610-7263 or Carol Kassie at carol@carolkassie.com /  561-445-9244.

Photos and graphics available on request.

Lizzie: The Musical
October 20 –  November 5
Music by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer and Alan Stevens Hewitt
Lyrics by Steven Cheslik-Demeyer and Tim Maner
Book by Tim Maner
Tickets:  $40
For Tickets: 813-220-1546
www.thinkingcaptheatre.com
Performances:
Friday, October 20 – 8 pm
Saturday, October 21 – 3 pm & 8 pm
Sunday, October 22 – 5 pm
Friday, October 27 – 8 pm
Saturday, October 28 – 3 pm & 8 pm
Sunday, October 29 – 5 pm
Tuesday, October 31 – 8 pm (Costume encouraged!)
Wednesday, November 1 – 8 pm
Friday, November 3 – 8 pm
Saturday, November 4 – 8 pm
The Vanguard
1501 S. Andrews Avenue
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316
www.thinkingcaptheatre.com
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Thinking Cap Theatre’s Neo-Restoration Comedy OR, at the Vanguard Sanctuary for the Arts – February 19 – March 5

03 Wednesday Feb 2016

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Thinking Cap Theatre at The Vanguard
presents
OR - ckFebruary 19 – March 5

“Love ceases to be a pleasure when it ceases to be a secret.” Aphra Behn

February 3, 2016
LAUDERDALE, FL: Thinking Cap Theatre will open its 2016 season with OR, Liz Duffy Adams’ wild and witty neo-restoration comedy set in the intriguing and intrigue-filled days of Charles II. The play will run at The Vanguard Sanctuary for the Arts in Ft. Lauderdale from February 19th through March 5th.

As the play’s title, OR, suggests, much remains uncertain about Aphra Behn, England’s first professional female playwright.  Was Aphra gay or straight?  A playwright or a whore?  A loyalist or a spy? Adams’ clever, bawdy, and riotous send-up of restoration comedy will give audiences plenty to ponder – and to laugh at – in this exploration of Behn, the decadent King Charles II, and their mutual lover, the stage beauty Nell Gwynne.

Thinking Cap Theatre at the Vanguard has quickly established itself as a respected presence in the South Florida theatrical community.  The company earned three Carbonell Award nominations during their 2015 season:  Ann Marie Olson (Best Actress in a Play, Always Patsy Cline), Barbara Sloan (Best Actress in a Play, Vita & Virginia), and Niki Fridh (Best Suporting Actress in a Play, Vita & Virginia).

Niki Fridh will star as Aphra Behn in OR, alongside Betsy Graver as Nell Gwynn, and Alex Alvarez as King Charles II.

Niki Fridh

Niki Fridh

“I’m thrilled to be joining TCT for my fifth production,” says Fridh. “Nicole is a friend and a true inspiration in my life, and when she told me that she wanted to do OR, and have me play Aphra Behn, of course I jumped at the opportunity to work with her again. She is a real visionary and the South Florida Theatre community it so very lucky to have her as an integral part of it. Nicole is the ONLY producer/director down here to take on such varying works and I love her sense of fearlessness and passion for theatre.”

Nicole Stodard

Nicole Stodard

“Most audiences will be unfamiliar with Behn’s name,” Stodard explains. “But it’s one that any lover of mystery, art, and liberty should know.  She was a royal spy, a bisexual, the author of more than 18 plays and countless volumes of poetry, and an innovator of the modern day novel. For centuries, Aphra, like so many other (women) artists had been edited out of history books,” she continues. “But she has thankfully been restored to her exciting place in history, thanks to artists such as Virginia Woolf and Liz Duffy Adams, and general increased interest in the 17th century because of films like The Libertine and Stage Beauty.  The era of Charles II’s court (1660-1685) was one of the sexiest and wittiest of all London ages, making it a blast to travel back in time to play with him, Aphra, and the great Nell Gwynne!”

Tickets for OR, are $35 ($20 for students with ID) and are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased by calling 813-220-1546 or on line at www.thinkingcaptheatre.com .

The Vanguard Sanctuary for the Arts is located at 1501 S. Andrews Ave, Fort Lauderdale, 33301.  There is free street parking surrounding the building and a metered municipal lot just south of The Vanguard on Andrews Ave.

For more information about Thinking Cap Theatre at the Vanguard visit www.thinkingcaptheatre.com.  or contact Nicole Stodard at nicole@thinkingcaptheatre.com / 813-220-1546 or Carol Kassie at ckassie@gmail.com  / 561-445-9244.

Or,
By Liz Duffy Adams
February 19 – March 5
Tickets:  $35 ($37.22 with s/c)
Students 25 and under with valid ID $20
For Tickets: 813-220-1546
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2492363   
www.vanguardarts.org
February 19 8pm
February 20 8pm
February 21 3 pm & 7 pm
February 25 8pm
February 26 8pm
February 27 8pm
February 28 5pm
March 2 8pm
March 3 8pm
March 4 8pm
March 5 8pm

All performances will take place at
The Vanguard Sanctuary for the Arts
1501 S. Andrews Avenue
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316
www.thinkingcaptheatre.com
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Critical Praise for OR,

“…Tom Stoppard is the most celebrated contemporary playwright to compose history-based fictions that occasionally take liberties with the facts. Many have tried to emulate the formula in his heady wake; most have sunk under the challenge… Ms. Adams fares remarkably well. Her language has a natural period flavor and a formidable wit; her characters possess the spark of fully animated spirits; and she weaves into her story both biographical detail and cultural context with grace.” –Charles Isherwood, New York Times. 

“Adams’s historical play celebrates not only Behn’s pioneering career, which Virginia Woolf famously memorialized in A Room of One’s Own (‘All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn’), but also the side of the writer’s tumultuous life that Woolf dismissed as ‘shady and amorous.’ [Adams] has written an Aphra-disiac valentine, not a stodgy bio-play.”—Rob Weinert-Kendt, TimeOut New York

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Thinking Cap Theatre at The Vanguard presents Oscar Wilde’s THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST November 20 – December 13

27 Tuesday Oct 2015

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Thinking Cap Theatre at The Vanguard
presents
Oscar Wilde’sEarnest-poster---webNovember 20 – December 13

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

October 28, 2015
LAUDERDALE, FL: Dust off your disco shoes and get ready to have fun with puns. Thinking Cap Theatre will put its own unique spin on one of the theatre’s most beloved classics when it presents Oscar Wilde’s bristling comedy The Importance of Being Earnest at the Vanguard Sanctuary for the Arts from November 20th through December 13th.

Director Nicole Stodard has set the play in December 1978 – in disco-era New York City. The show promises to be punny, prurient, and pointed, informed by both 1970’s pop culture and social issues.

“In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing.”
Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

First performed on February 14th, 1895 at the St James’s Theatre in London – the height of the Victorian era – the farcical comedy, in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae to escape burdensome social obligations, has proven to be one of Wilde’s most popular and enduring pieces. The Importance of Being Earnest was celebrated for the lighthearted ingenuity of its plot and its scintillating dialogue. Yet the play also contains a critique of relationship conventions, social mores, and gender roles that still resonate today.

Stodard has assembled an award-winning cast to bring Wilde’s characters to life:
Carbonell Award-winners Karen Stephens and Clay Cartland will be joined by Elizabeth Price, Carey Hart, Noah Levine, Jim Gibbons, Johnnie, Bowls, and Emma Magner.

Nicole Stodard

Nicole Stodard

“For me, Earnest was love at first read,” says Stodard. “Wilde’s wit is, in my opinion, unrivaled. And yet, depending on the staging, the play can sometimes feel dated, so I always knew that I wanted to stage the play closer to our own moment. The class, gender, racial, and sexual politics of the late 1970’s make for a rich and poignant backdrop for revisiting and re-imagining Wilde’s comedy. The 1970’s were an incredibly hedonistic and liberated decade, a drag culture was emerging in downtown NYC, and discos, most notably Studio 54, were the sites of divine apparel, playfulness, and pleasure. However, feminism experienced a splintering, gay marriage was still decades from society’s grasps, AIDS was on its way to becoming an epidemic, and anti-gay and racial violence still occurred routinely—not the least of which was the November 1978 murder of openly gay politician, Harvey Milk.”

Karen Stephens

Karen Stephens

“I’m so thrilled to play a role I wouldn’t normally get to play,” says actress Karen Stephens, who will play Lady Bracknell in the production “And the opportunity to bring this character – who is normally played by a male – to life in the retro world that will be created by director, Nicole Stodard is so exciting.”

“I am so excited to FINALLY work with Nicole Stodard and Thinking Cap Theatre, not to mention this stellar cast!” says Clay Cartland, who won the 2014 Carbonell Best Actor, Musical, Award for his work in The Trouble With Doug.

Clay Cartland

Clay Cartland

“Take everything you thought you knew about Oscar Wilde and this show in general,” he continues. “Then imagine Oscar Wilde and Donna Summer conceived a child while watching Saturday Night Fever…and then buy your tickets!

“The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.”
Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

Tickets for The Importance of Being Earnest are $35 ($20 for students with ID) and are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased by calling 813-220-1546 or on line at www.thinkingcaptheatre.com.

The Vanguard Sanctuary for the Arts is located at 1501 S. Andrews Ave, Fort Lauderdale, 33301.  There is free street parking surrounding the building and a metered municipal lot just south of The Vanguard on Andrews Ave.

For more information about Thinking Cap Theatre at the Vanguard visit www.thinkingcaptheatre.com. or contact Nicole Stodard at nicole@thinkingcaptheatre.com / 813-220-1546 or Carol Kassie at ckassie@gmail.com /561-445-9244.

The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People
By Oscar Wilde
November 20 – December 13, 2015
Tickets: $35 ($37.22 with s/c)
For Tickets: 813-220-1546
On Line:  http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2304016
www.thinkingcaptheatre.com
Performance Schedule:
Friday, November 20, 2015, 8pm (Opening Night)
Saturday, November 21st, 8pm
Sunday, November 22nd, 5pm
Friday, November 27th, 8pm
Saturday, November 28th, 8pm
Sunday, November 29th, 5pm
Thursday, December 3rd, 8pm
Friday, December 4th, 8pm
Saturday, December 5th, 8pm
Sunday, December 6th, 5pm
Thursday, December 10, 8pm
Friday, December 11, 8pm
Saturday, December 12, 8pm
Sunday, December 13, 5pm
Please note – there will be no performance on Thursday, November 26 – Thanksgiving Day

The Vanguard
1501 S. Andrews Avenue
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316
www.vanguardarts.org
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“How you can sit there, calmly eating muffins when we are in this horrible trouble, I can’t make out. You seem to me to be perfectly heartless.”
“Well, I can’t eat muffins in an agitated manner. The butter would probably get on my cuffs. One should always eat muffins quite calmly.
It is the only way to eat them.”
“I say it’s perfectly heartless your eating muffins at all, under the circumstances.”
Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

 

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A MAP OF VIRTUE at Thinking Cap Theatre at the Vanguard – October 1 – 18, 2015

17 Thursday Sep 2015

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Thinking Cap at the VanguardThinking Cap Theatre at The Vanguard
presents
the Southeastern Premiere of
MOV 4X6A Map of Virtue
by Erin Courtney
October 1 – 18, 2015
A New York Times Critics’ Pick

A “delicate gem…a haunting, romantic story with a mystery at its center”
Jason Zinoman, New York Times

September 17, 2015
FT. LAUDERDALE, FL:   Theatre goers need look no further than Thinking Cap Theatre’s Southeastern premiere of Erin Courtney’s award-winning play (Special Citation Obie Award, 2012), A Map of Virtue, for a thrilling way to kick off the month of October. The production will run from October 1 – October 18 at the Vanguard Sanctuary for the Arts in Ft. Lauderdale.

A Map of Virtue has been described as “one of the most terrifying plays of the past decade” by the New York Times’ Alexis Soloski. Part interview, part comedy, part middle-of-the-night horror story, A Map of Virtue is about a shared obsession that leaves a group of friends stranded in the woods. A bird statue is the guide through this symmetrical tale about the limits of our virtues and what we leave behind.

Erin Courtney

Erin Courtney

“I started writing A Map of Virtue while on a silent playwriting retreat run by Erik Ehn out in the woods in upstate New York,” Courtney explained in a recent interview. “The first night of the retreat, he gave each playwright a poem in an envelope and gave us the assignment of memorizing the poem. The poem I tried to memorize in silence was by Edmond Jabes and it was about the inability to use language after the horror of the Holocaust. The next day I started writing and the content of the poem infused the play.”

A Map of Virtue will be directed by Thinking Cap Theatre’s Artistic Director Nicole Stodard. The production will feature Jovon Jacobs, Casey Dressler, Tom Anello, Scott Douglas Wilson, Alex Alvarez, Niki Fridh, and Noah Levine.

Tickets for A Map of Virtue are $35 ($20 for students with ID) and are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased by calling 813-220-1546 or on line at www.vanguardarts.org.    The Vanguard is located at 1501 S. Andrews Ave, Fort Lauderdale, 33301.  There is free street parking surrounding the building and a metered municipal lot just south of The Vanguard on Andrews Ave.

For more information about Thinking Cap Theatre at the Vanguard visit www.vanguardarts.org. or contact Nicole Stodard at nicole@thinkingcaptheatre.com / 813-220-1546 or Carol Kassie at ckassie@gmail.com /561-445-9244.

A Map of Virtue
By Erin Courtney
October 1 – 18, 2015
Tickets: $35 ($37.22 with s/c)
For Tickets: 813-220-1546
www.vanguardarts.org
Performances:
Thursday – Saturday at 8 pm
Sunday at 5 pm
The Vanguard
1501 S. Andrews Avenue
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316
www.vanguardarts.org
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Thinking Cap theatre at The Vanguard Presents VITA & VIRGINIA by Eileen Atkins April 17th – May 3rd

01 Wednesday Apr 2015

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Thinking Cap theatre at The Vanguard Presents
vita & virginia 4x6 shemagby Eileen Atkins
April 17th – May 3rd
“A masterful dance of two women” ~ Laurie Winer, Los Angeles Times

April 1, 2015
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL: Patsy Cline and Louise Seger might be thought by some to be a hard act to follow. But Nicole Stodard, Thinking Cap Theatre’s producing artistic director has found two women whom she knows can more than fill the bill. The fascinating relationship between Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West will be examined in Eileen Atkins’ Vita & Virginia which will run at The Vanguard, Broward County’s newest performing arts space, from April 17th through May 3rd.

Atkins’s epistolary play deftly weaves the letters and diaries of essayist and novelist Virginia Woolf and poet and novelist Vita Sackville-West into a conversation between two passionate, intelligent, and intensely literate women. Woof was 40, and Sackville-West was 30 when they met in 1922, and their correspondence began shortly thereafter, ending only with Woolf’s suicide in 1941. Their affair was as much literary as physical; although each had husbands, and in Sackville-West’s case, numerous lovers of both genders. Woolf’s son Nigel once referred to her 1927 novel Orlando, which was inspired by her relationship with Sackville-West, as “the longest and most charming love letter in literature.”

Barbara Sloan will play Virginia Woolf in the production, and Niki Fridh will take on the role of Vita Sackville-West.

Barbara HS

Barbara Sloan

“I’m excited to be playing Virginia Woolf,” says Sloan. “It’s always a challenge to take on historical figures because people often have preconceived ideas about who they were. This play is based on letters between these two women over a 20 year period, so you are hearing their own voices rather than the playwright’s, allowing us to get a rare and intimate glimpse into their world. And I’ve always wanted to work with Niki Fridh. She’s an interesting actress with great instincts!

“It’s also an honor to work with the courageous visionary Nicole Stodard,” she continues. “She not only produces challenging and thought provoking work, but also took a risk and opened a theatre!”

Niki HS

Niki Fridh

“I’ve known Barbara Sloan for a number of years and have wanted to work with her on a project for a long time,” says Fridh. “This piece will be quite the challenge for both of us….challenging I think, because  there is no dialogue between Vita and Virginia – the entire play is only letter correspondence between the two women. However, I know that Nicole wants the piece to be magical, erotic, and whimsical. Vita Sackville-West was very intelligent, eccentric, adventurous woman who lived life to its fullest. I can only hope that I do justice to her free spirit and open heart.”

Nicole Stodard

Nicole Stodard

“Thinking Cap Theatre is known for staging more experimental plays, so I was very excited to discover Atkins’ play about Virginia Woolf, one of my favorite experimental fiction writers,” says Stodard. “The play is witty and sensual and poignant in its depiction of same-sex desire in an age that still lacked the language to name it and the legal freedoms to allow it. I’m thrilled to be working with two of South Florida’s finest actresses to bring these iconic women of the modern era to life on stage.”

eileena

Eileen Atkins

Eileen Atkins has worked in the theatre, film, and television consistently since 1953. She has won several major acting awards, including a BAFTA, an Emmy and three Olivier’s. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1990 and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2001. Although she is best known as one of the co-creators (along with Jean Marsh) of the British series Upstairs,Downstairs, she has played numerous roles in film, on stage, and television.

A post-show talkback with gender & literary experts will follow the Sunday April 19th, 5 pm performance. Tea, scones, and other treats will be provided by various sponsors including Eat the Tea, Starbucks, and Croissan’ Time.

The Vanguard, which officially opened its doors on March 13th, has been enthusiastically received by local artists, theatergoers, and nearby businesses. The new venue is located at 1501 S. Andrews Avenue in what was formerly a church when the building was first erected in 1939.

Vita & Virginia will run from April 17th through May 3rd at The Vanguard.
Tickets are $35, and are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased online at www.vanguardarts.org , http://thinkingcaptheatre.com or by phone at 813-220-1546. Performances are on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 pm, and on Sundays at 5 pm. The venue is located at 1501 S. Andrews Avenue, Ft. Lauderdale, 33316.

For more information, production shots, head shots, or to set up interviews, please contact Nicole Stodard at 813-220-1546 / nicole@thinkingcaptheatre.com or Carol Kassie at 561-445-9244 / ckassie@gmail.com or visit www.vanguardarts.org or http://thinkingcaptheatre.com

Vita & Virginia
By Eileen Atkins
April 17 – May 3
Tickets: $35 ($37.22 with s/c)
For Tickets:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1339884
www.vanguardarts.org
http://thinkingcaptheatre.com
813-220-1546
Performances:
Friday, April 17th is Opening Night
Double Feature, Saturday, April 18th, matinee at 3pm; evening performance, 8pm
Thursday – Saturday at 8 pm
Sunday at 5 pm
The Vanguard
1501 S. Andrews Avenue
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316
www.vanguardarts.org
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(Brand New Venue!) THE VANGUARD’s Inaugural Production, ALWAYS…PATSY CLINE to open March 13th!

20 Friday Feb 2015

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A Brand New Venue!
The Vanguard
 will open its doors with
Always…Patsy Cline
by Ted Swindley
March 13 – March 29
vanguard logoThe Vanguard in association with Thinking Cap Theatre will present
Always…Patsy Cline as the venue’s inaugural production

For Immediate Release
Contact: Nicole Stodard
nicole@thinkingcaptheatre.com /(813) 220-1546
Contact: Carol Kassie
ckassie@gmail.com / 561-445-9244

February 20, 2015
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL: Artists and Patrons of the Arts in Fort Lauderdale and throughout South Florida have a good reason to be excited. This March a new performing arts space will open its doors in the South Andrews corridor of downtown Fort Lauderdale. The venue, The Vanguard, is located at 1501 S. Andrews Avenue in what was formerly a church when the building was first erected in 1939.

Special opening night festivities will take place on March 13th, starting at 7pm, with complimentary ‘Southern fixins’ provided by Tap 42 and other local sponsors, including Croissan’Time, Wine Watch, and Starbucks Coffee. Sculptor Glen Mayo will be displaying a piece entitled “Windows” in the lobby of The Vanguard for the month of March.

The creative team behind The Vanguard has given the space a remodel – with the emphasis on “mod” – because the building’s décor has a definite mid-century flair. The intimate, black box space boasts beautiful, original Dade County pine ceilings that reach 30 feet high. The venue will seat 100 people.

Dubbed a ‘sanctuary for the arts’ – a nod to the building’s history and an indicator of the venue’s mission, The Vanguard will be a creative refuge for artists and arts lovers. Founding Executive Director, Nicole Stodard hopes the unique setting will be a fresh beacon of hope for the arts, particularly theatre, in Broward County:

“For too long Broward has been viewed as the inferior county in between two artistically richer counties, Miami Dade and Palm Beach,” she explains. “I am passionate about helping to change that perception. There is great work being done in our county, and The Vanguard will strive to draw attention to this work by providing it a home.”

The Vanguard will function as a venue as well as a producing entity in its own right. In addition to Vanguard productions, programming will include work by its resident theatre company, Thinking Cap Theatre, along with work by other local and distant theatre practitioners; dance events; film screenings; stand up comedy; art installations; and live music. For more information about The Vanguard, visit www.vanguardarts.org.

Nicole Headshot

Nicole Stodard

The Vanguard has chosen Always Patsy Cline as their inaugural production at The Vanguard. Stodard says the choice was an easy one:

“I grew up listening to my mother and older sister singing Patsy Cline’s songs and came to love her music myself,” she says. “The Vanguard has an air of nostalgia to its atmosphere, so a work that tapped into that nostalgic spirit seemed like a great way to open the venue, not to mention the fact that Cline was a strong woman and a talented artist, and I’m always happy to put talented actresses on stage to tell the stories of other women, real and fictional.”

Ann Marie Olson & Sally Bondi

Ann Marie Olson & Sally Bondi

Always…Patsy Cline is a tribute to the legendary country singer who died tragically at age 30 in a plane crash in 1963. The play is based on a true story about Cline’s friendship with a fan from Houston named Louise Seger, who befriended the star in a Texas honky-tonk in l961, and continued a correspondence with Cline until her death.  The Vanguard’s production will star Ann Marie Olson as Cline, and Sally Bondi as Seger. Stodard will direct the production, and Andy Gilbert will provide musical direction.

Always…Patsy Cline will run from March 13th through March 29th at The Vanguard.  Tickets are $35, and are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased on line at www.vanguardarts.org or by phone at 813-220-1546. Performances are on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 pm, and on Sundays at 5 pm. There is an 8 pm performance on Wednesday, March 25. The Vanguard is located at 1501 S. Andrews Avenue in Ft. Lauderdale (33316).

For more information, production shots, head shots, or to set up interviews, please contact Nicole Stodard at 813-220-1546 / nicole@thinkingcaptheatre.com or Carol Kassie at 561-445-9244 / ckassie@gmail.com or visit www.vanguardarts.org .

Always…Patsy Cline
By Ted Swindley
March 13 – 29
Tickets: $35 ($37.22 with s/c)
For Tickets: www.vanguardarts.org / 813-220-1546
Performances:
Thursday – Saturday at 8 pm
Wednesday, March 25 at 8 pm
Sunday at 5 pm
The Vanguard
1501 S. Andrews Avenue
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316
www.vanguardarts.org
Like Us on Facebook!

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