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Media Relations

Brown County veteran Rob Johansen returns to Nashville stage in classic comedy 'Plaza Suite'

Following the critical success of Pump Boys and Dinettes, Lend Me a Tenor and The Glass Menagerie, the Brown County Playhouse closes its 59th annual season with Neil Simon's classic three-part comedy Plaza Suite. The production also marks the return to the Brown County stage of audience favorite Rob Johansen, who stars alongside his wife Jennifer. The play opens Friday (Sept. 21) and runs weekends through Oct. 20.

A three-course feast of delectable comic theatre, Plaza Suite tells three different stories, all revolving around one hotel room. In the first, a wedding anniversary turns sour when the wife's "suite" advances fail to move her distracted husband. In the second, a successful producer searches for the fountain of youth by romancing his high-school sweetheart. In the third, a bride has locked herself in the lavatory, and her frustrated parents try to coax her out to face the waiting guests.

Since appearing in Picnic in the 1993 season, Rob Johansen has returned year after year to the Brown County stage. Plaza Suite marks his 17th appearance at the Playhouse, most recently in the 2004 production of The Odd Couple.

A native of New York, Rob has made Indianapolis his home since receiving an M.F.A. in acting from Indiana University in 1997. A 2003 Arts Council of Indianapolis Creative Renewal Fellow, Rob works extensively as an actor in regional theatre throughout the U.S. and also as a fight choreographer and teacher.

Joining Rob in the cast is his wife Jennifer, making her Brown County Playhouse debut. Rob and Jennifer each play three different roles in Plaza Suite, one in each of the play's three acts. Rounding out the cast are recent IU graduates Claire Tuft (Wit, Twelfth Night) and Ryan Wells (She Stoops to Conquer).

Plaza Suite plays Sept. 21-22, 28-29; Oct. 5-6, 12-13 and 19-20 at 8 p.m., and Sept. 23, 30, Oct. 7, 13-14, and 20 at 3:00 p.m. at the Brown County Playhouse in the heart of historic Nashville, Ind. Ticket prices are: Saturday matinees and Sunday: $18 ($11 for age 25 and younger); Friday and Saturday evenings: $20 ($12 for age 25 and younger).

Tickets are available in person at the Brown County Playhouse box office beginning Sept. 19, or the IU Auditorium box office, by phone through Ticketmaster at 812-333-9955, at Ticketmaster outlets or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Visit www.theatre.indiana.edu for more detailed information. For ticket information, please contact the IU Auditorium at 812-855-1103 or the Brown County Playhouse box office at 812-988-2123.

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