Booth! The Musical "Think no more of him as your brother; he is dead to us now, as he soon must be to all the world, but imagine the boy you loved to be in that better part of his spirit, in another world." - Edwin Booth, letter to his siter Asia. Click Here for Official Website with More Details GECA's John Mascaro in Upcoming Off-Broadway PREMIERE/Preview Booth! The Musical -an original historical production set during the tumultuous Civil War/War For Southern Independence in America, migrates to its off-Broadway previews at The Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at New York University.  Booth! is an examination of the life of 19th-Century maverick actor Edwin Booth, told from the perspective of his playwright daughter, Edwina, including the events immediately preceding and after the Lincoln assasination.  Booth! is written and directed by Niyi Coker, Jr. with music by noted composer Dr. Barbara Harbach and lyricist Jonathan Yordy.  Music directed & conducted by James Richards.  The musical made a successful run in 2007 at the University of Missouri - St. Louis, where it originated, and was quickly viewed as a viable candidate for The Great White Way.  The production was selected by the NYU Theatre Department from among 100 other nominees nationwide.   John Mascaro GECA's Assistant Artistic Director, John Mascaro, auditioned for the musical, which was open to both Equity and non-Equity players, at Pearl Studios in New York City in February 2009 and was recently cast as JUNIUS BRUTUS BOOTH, the historical British Shakespearean actor who migrated to America and achieved great success during the late nineteenth century.  JUNIUS BRUTUS BOOTH is the actor-patriarch of the historical theatrical family.    The large cast also includes JOHN WILKES BOOTH, JUNIUS BOOTH, JR., each successful actors in their own right (the former known mostly for his assasination of Lincoln). The show features grand musical and dance ensemble numbers and some of the most beautiful music and lyrics to be heard in years.  The production is tinged with melodrama as both a family - and a nation - struggle to survive during one of the most trying periods in America's history. Select musical numbers include: the battle hymn "Let Caesar's Blood Be Shed", the reflective "Edwin's Soliloquey", the mocking "Johnnie You're No Hero", the playful and raucous "It's Hard To Play Shakespeare" and "Take A Sip, Break A Leg", the prophetic "The Footsteps Of The Father", the Dixie love song "Southern Beauty" and the mournful "Too Soon". Booth! previews for general audiences from June 2 - 7, 2009 at The Skirball Center for Performing Arts with many NY and tri-state area theatre critics, talent agents and theatrical producers expected to attend.  Plans include promotional activities to secure a Producer and financial backers to take the show uptown to a suitable Broadway venue at a later date. (Can you say "The Booth Theatre at 222 W 45 Street?!!"....) When interviewed, Mascaro told GECA Artistic Director, Phil Johnson, "This is Gone With The Wind meets Les Miserables meets North and South meets Phantom of the Opera all rolled into one!  The musical is painted in a pallette of deep red, white, and blue; of rust; of wine; of song and of blood; of laughter and frivolity; of joy, and of deepest sorrow."  Click here  for further information including articles from the show's debut run in the midwest in 2007.  ________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________   GECA OBTAINS 501(c)(3) TAX-EXEMPT STATUS!   In a letter dated December 30, 2008 mailed to GECA January 13, 2009 and received in mid-January 2009 the Internal Revenue Service wrote the following:   "We are pleased to inform you that upon review of your application for tax-exempt status we have determined that you are exempt from Federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to you are deductible under section 170 of the Code.  You are also qualified to receive tax deductible bequests, devises, transfers or gifts under section 2055, 2106 or 2522 of the Code. " ..."Organizations exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Code are further classified as either public charities or private foundations.  We determined that you are a public charity under the Code section(s) listed in the heading of this letter" [i.e.,  section 170(b)(A)(vi)].   This will open many new doors and opportunities for GECA to perform its artistic activities in and throughout the Greater Escambia counties of Alabama and Florida.  Please consider GECA in your annual gift-giving, grant, and estate planning programs.   For more information about how you can become a gift-giving patron of GECA, please contact us at  gecarts@hotmail.com or gecadirector2@yahoo.com ________________________________________________________________