Creative Cauldron to present Eddie Allan Poe

Creative Cauldron's Learning Theater will present Eddie Allan Poe from November 4 through 20 at ArtSpace Falls Church, 410 South Maple Avenue. Eddie is the second installment in Creative Cauldron's fall "Poe Project," following the highly acclaimed professional production of Nevermore which opened the 2011-2012 season. Performances are Fridays at 7:30 pm Saturdays at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2:00 pm. Tickets are $15 for Adults and $12 for students and seniors.

In this original, family-friendly production, the oddball students at the Eddie Allan Poe Academy are working hard to master their mysterious and macabre storytelling techniques, just like the great master himself. But their headmaster informs them that the Academy's funding is in jeopardy, and they must try to put a "normal" spin on Poe's great classics if they are to remain open. Eddie Allan Poe is a delightful and amusing companion piece to Nevermore written by Stephen Gregory Smith with original music by Nevermore's critically acclaimed composer Matt Conner. It is presented by Creative Cauldron's Learning Theater ensemble, a multi-generational cast of student performers and professional actors. Smith and Conner led an eight-week workshop in which the piece was developed.

The cast of Eddie Allan Poe includes Learning Theater Workshop participants Lauren Buford, Anna Brotman Krass, Christine Franklin, Jaylin Hayes, Amelia Magee, Merone Mesfin, Grace Taarpgard, and Justin Valentino. Professional Actress Dani Danger Stoller who recently appeared in Nevermore will play the Headmistress. Stoller has been seen on area stages including Woolly Mammoth and Kensington Arts Theater where she was a 2011 Watch Best Actress Nominee. She appeared off Broadway at the Sage in Room on Fire.

Conner has more than 15 years of experience working as a musical director, performer and teaching artist in the DC metropolitan area. In 2008, he was one of six composers to receive Signature's American Musical Voices: The Next Generation award funded by the Shen Family Foundation. Conner's newest composition The Hollow, an adaptation of the The Legend of Sleepy Hollow opened Signature's 2011-2012 season. Smith is a Helen Hayes Award-winning professional actor who has appeared regularly at Signature Theatre (The Boy Detective Fails, Les Miserables, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Into the Woods, Assassins, One Red Flower, The Highest Yellow, Pacific Overtures, Allegro, My Fair Lady, 110 in the Shade (2004 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor), Grand Hotel, Gypsy, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum); Arena Stage (Damn Yankees); Kennedy Center (Regina); Studio Theatre (Adding Machine; a musical); DCAC (High Fidelity); and Wolf Trap Opera (Street Scene).

Tickets for Eddie Allan Poe can be purchased on-line at www.creativecauldron.org or by calling 571-239-5288.