A Beautiful View 6/17 by NC Stage Co.

QUIRKY COMEDY "A BEAUTIFUL VIEW" OPENS AT NORTH CAROLINA STAGE COMPANY JUNE 17 Asheville, NC –

North Carolina Stage Company presents A Beautiful View, by Daniel MacIvor, running June 17 - July 19, 2009 in its off-Broadway style theatre in downtown Asheville. A Beautiful View stars Anne Thibault (simultaneously performing in I Wrote This Play To Make You Love Me at NC Stage) as well as the actor and musician B----, of the indie rock band B---- and Animal. A Beautiful View is directed by Jay Putnam, theatre professor at High Point University and former Artistic Associate at Triad Stage in Greensboro.

A Beautiful View by Daniel MacIvor is a bittersweet comedy about two women who become lifelong friends – and perhaps something more. When L and M first meet in a camping goods store, their tentative friendship seems doomed to fail before it even begins. Each woman has preconceived notions about the other, but rather than hurt each other's feelings, they agree to have a drink together. What follows is a relationship that is as complicated as it is heart-felt, spanning several decades, one marriage, and a two-woman ukulele band.

In an interesting parallel to the play, the actresses starring in A Beautiful View are actually longtime friends.
Anne Thibault and B---- (who also performs under the name Capital B) met their first year in college and have kept in touch as they each established careers in the performing arts. In casting the play, Producing Director Angie Flynn-McIver took into account both actresses' extensive experience, but also the unique chemistry that develops between life-long friends.

Anne Thibault also wrote and stars in I Wrote This Play To Make You Love Me and has appeared at NC Stage in Loot, The Syringa Tree, and Proof. In addition to her regional theatre work, Thibault has toured with Arts Power and the National Shakespeare Company. She is the Associate Artistic Director of Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre in Alaska.

Capital B has a BFA in acting from DePaul University, but is better known as half of the ground-breaking musical duo B---- and Animal, which has toured with Ani DiFranco, the Indigo Girls, and Michelle Shocked among others.

NC Stage is offering "choose your own ticket pricing" with price points from $15 to $30 for both plays. Now in its 7th season in downtown Asheville, NC Stage has been experimenting with its price structure in direct response to the current recession. The concept of "choose your own ticket pricing" is an expansion of the theatre's longstanding "Pay What You Can Night," in which patrons pay $6 minimum for a ticket. With "choose your own ticket price," patrons can choose a ticket price within their means: tickets range from $15 - $30, with price points rising in three-dollar increments.

In theatre language, a repertory schedule means more than one play performing during the same time period – in this case, performing on alternating days of the week. For a full calendar of performance dates and times, visit www.ncstage.org.

North Carolina Stage Company is Asheville's professional theatre, named WNC's Best Local Stage Company for three years in a row by readers of the Mountain Xpress. NC Stage performs in its 99-seat theatre in the heart of downtown Asheville.

Tickets and show times: Tickets are $15 - $30, and patrons may choose their own ticket price for every performance. Call (828) 239-0263 or visit www.ncstage.org for tickets. Like Mother and I Wrote This Play… run in repertory May 26 – June 13. Like Mother closes June 13, and is replaced by A Beautiful View, which will run with I Wrote This Play… June 17- July 19. Performance schedule varies by week. Show times are 7:30pm for evening shows, and 2:00pm for matinees. For the full rep schedule, visit www.ncstage.org.

Location: North Carolina Stage Company performs in a 99-seat theatre in downtown Asheville, entrance is at 15 Stage Lane, off of Walnut St. one block off Haywood St., next to the Rankin Ave. parking garage.

Sponsors: North Carolina Stage Company is grateful for the support of season sponsors The Colorful Palate, Greenlife Grocery, Imaging Technologies, Treadshots Photography, and the North Carolina Arts Council. Our ticket sponsor is The Chocolate Fetish, and concessions are provided by Izzy's Coffee Den and Sugar Momma's Cookies.