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August 2009
Couples pivotal in Playhouse ‘Cabaret’
The Dayton Playhouse launched its 50th season Friday, Aug. 28, with a consistently well-done production of the musical “Cabaret.”
There have been multiple versions and even more numerous interpretations of the show by Joe Masteroff, John Kander and Fred Ebb.
Sometimes the Emcee is the pivotal character. Sometimes he’s a symbol or icon.
Directed by Chris Harmon, who also designed the sets, this production placed the focus clearly on two relationships: Sally with Cliff and Fraulein Schneider with Herr Schultz.
The rest was usually background. The depiction of Germany’s descent into Nazi control was depicted with understatement.
Leading performances were done well —particularly John-Michael Lander’s portrayal of the writer Clifford Bradshaw, who’s gay but falls for singer Sally anyway. Danika Haffenden’s flamboyant but ultimately sad Sally was most convincing during her scenes with Lander.
Dodie Lockwood and Chuck Larkowski were harmoniously matched and expressive during sung and spoken scenes as the older couple.
Matt Curry made his mark as the Emcee in quieter moments. His delivery of the song “I Don’t Care Much” during Act 2 was excellent.
Performances by Bob Martin as Ernst Ludwig, Emily Fultz as Fraulein Kost, the ensemble and the orchestra reinforced the overall favorable impression.
The Kit Kat Girls and Boys were played by Kate Dietrich, Megan Grabiel, Sandra Hyde, Laura Nancarrow, Megan Vander Kolk, Jonathan Berry, Carmeron Elliott, Mike Embree, Mike Stockstill and Malcolm Walker.
“Cabaret” will continue through Sept. 13 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at the Playhouse, 1301 E. Siebenthaler Ave. Tickets are $10-$15 at (937) 424-8477 or www.daytonplayhouse.com.
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Guild opens with ‘Dangereuse’ flair
The Dayton Theatre Guild threw a costume party for the momentous season-opening production of “Les Liaisons Dangereuses,” Friday , Aug. 28, in its new home in the former Dayton Gym Club.
There was no dress code off stage for the drama by Christopher Hampton, which seems to be mostly about sex, sex and sex. Underneath, it’s really about power. Sex is a means to an end.
Directed by Greg Smith, it featured Ame Clase and Michael Boyd as former lovers and ongoing rivals in an escalating game that not even death will halt.
She portrayed La Marquis de Merteuil as a ruthless, clear-spoken woman with will and spine of steel. Even so, she could also deploy charm to further her causes.
Boyd played Viscount de Valmont far more gently, but just as effectively. A seducer of multiple women, he nevertheless retained a vulnerable heart. Or was that also just an act? In any event, he didn’t surrender even when seemingly conquered.
Others were drawn onto their beautifully dressed late 18th-century battlefield: Amy Brooks as Madame de Tourvel, a respectable and genuine woman who gave in, but proved memorable; Charity Farrell and David Sherman as Cecile and Danceny, innocents who acquired experience and an education; servants including Nicklaus Moberg as Valmont’s man Azolan; Wendi Williams as Cecile’s mother; Barbara Jorgensen as the kind but pragmatic Madame de Rosemonde, and Katrina Kittle as a fun-loving courtesan.
The two acts over three transporting hours were directed by Greg Smith, who also designed the women’s costumes. Blake Senseman did the sets.
It was a successful debut for the Guild’s new home, which has successfully been transformed into a theater, but remains a work in progress. Lighting was reduced to the basics — full up, or all off. All 130 seats were occupied.
“Liaisons Dangereuses” continues on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Sept. 13 at the Dayton Theatre Guild, 430 Wayne Ave. Tickets are $10-$18. Call (937) 278-5993 or make reservations online at www.daytontheatreguild.org.
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Big Read book decision announced
Dreamers of the Day, a fictional account of a school teacher’s trip to the Middle East after World War I, is the selected book for this year’s Big Read.
The book was written by Ohioan Mary Doria Russell.
In the book, the main character Agnes Shanklin, an Ohio schoolteacher, visits Egypt and the Holy Land where she meets and socializes with Lawrence of Arabia, Winston Churchill and other leaders involved in a peace conference. She also has a romantic encounter with a spy.
The Big Read, which is presented by The Dayton Daily News, allows voters to pick a book that the community will read and discuss. Voters selected Dreamers of the Day from two other finalists in voting last week.
After the book’s selection, various community gatherings surrounding the book will be planned for March and April 2010.
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Tweeting @Livenation could mean ultimate concert access
Perhaps inspired by the story of Willy Wonka and his much sought after golden ticket, Live Nation has announced a golden ticket contest of its very own.
Throughout the month of August, music fans will have a chance to get signed up for Live Nation’s Ultimate Concert Access Pass, which will allow one lucky winner and a guest access to each and every concert at every Live Nation venue in North America for one year beginning Jan. 1, 2010.
In conjunction with this contest, Live Nation also will give away 38 Ultimate Local Venue Passes, allowing winners and a guest to attend concerts at a single Live Nation owned and operated venue for an entire year.
But you’ll have to tweet to enter.
The sweepstakes is being conducted using the new darling of social media — Twitter. To enter the Ultimate Concert Access Pass Sweepstakes you’ll first need a Twitter account. Once you have that, follow @LiveNation on Twitter. Send a tweet to @LiveNation that includes the hashtag #LiveNationUltimateAccess. Example tweet: Please @LiveNation: I want #LiveNationUltimateAccess!
To enter the Ultimate Local Venue Pass sweepstakes, you’ll need to follow your local Live Nation Twitter page . Ohio’s Live Nation Twitter accounts are: @LiveNationCinci, @LiveNationclv and @LiveNationcbus. Send a tweet to your local Live Nation Twitter page and include the hashtag #LiveNationUltimateAccess. Example tweet: Please @LiveNationCinci: I want #LiveNationUltimateAccess.
In addition to the Ultimate Access passes, Live Nation has said that fans can win daily prizes, which include concert tickets, artist merchandise, parking upgrades and concessions discounts. According to Live Nation, instructions to win daily prizes will be announced on both the national and local Twitter pages each weekday.
Participating cities and venues in Ohio:
CINCINNATI: Twitter handle: twitter.com/LiveNationCinci Venues: Bogart’s Showcase Club, Taft Theatre
CLEVELAND: Twitter handle: www.twitter.com/LiveNationclv Venues: The Plain Dealer Pavilion, Time Warner Cable Amphitheatre at Tower City, Blossom Music Center, House of Blues Cleveland
COLUMBUS: Twitter handle: www.twitter.com/LiveNationcbus Venue: Blossom Music Center
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Film premiere a reunion for GM workers
A documentary about the Dec. 23, 2008, closing of the General Motors assembly plant in Moraine debuted for a full house at the Schuster Performing Arts Center Wednesday, Aug. 19.
The premiere of “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” was equal parts reunion and expression of pride for the 1,600 former autoworkers and their family members among the 2,200 attending.
Produced by Home Box Office, it was a milestone for Yellow Springs directors Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, who made it after spending hundreds of hours with the Moraine workers in the plant’s final weeks, days and hours. The partnership with HBO marked a departure for the previously all-independent duo.
The final vehicle to roll off the Moraine line, a white GMC Envoy that figures prominently in the 40-minute piece, was parked outside the theater.
The screening was co-sponsored by FilmDayton and Wright State University, where Reichert is a motion pictures professor. Bognar is a WSU film graduate.
“This is the second time we’ve been to Dayton in four months for an opening,” HBO director of corporate affairs Loraine Anderson said. The first was for the film “They Killed Sister Dorothy.”
“We’ve done large premieres before, but one thing is very different this time. Generally, attendance will show about a 35 percent dropoff from the number of reservations. This time, the dropoff is about 0 percent.”
Local resident J. Todd Anderson, the storyboard artist for Hollywood’s famed directing duo the Coen brothers, said “The Last Truck” records a sad moment in history. “The only thing invented here that’s still supporting the local economy is now the airplane, in the form of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base,” he said.
William Berry, a retiree who worked at the Moraine plant more than 35 years, attended with his wife, two adult sons and their families. “I made a good life here, but they took my sons’ livelihood away,” he said.
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GM film premiere sold out
“The Last Truck: Closing of a General Motors Plant” is sold out for the screening tonight, Aug. 19, at the Schuster Performing Arts Center. The showing will be in the 2,300-seat Mead Theatre.
Although admission is free, reservations were required to see the premiere of the HBO presentation of the documentary by Yellow Springs filmmakers Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert about workers at the former Moraine truck assembly plant. Former workers at the GM facility were given first choice before seats were opened to the general public.
Check in for reservations will begin at 5:30 p.m. The screening will begin at 6:30. The Victoria Theatre Association has announced that Main Street will be closed between First and Second streets. The Arts Garage at Ludlow and Second streets will be open for paid parking.
Former workers who can’t see the film are still invited to be part of a group photo that will be taken in the Wintergarden of the Schuster Center at Second and Main streets at about 8 p.m.
The film will be broadcast on HBO starting on Labor Day, Sept. 7. A DVD version will be available later.
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DayTonys cap 2008-9 stage season
Gil Martin and Blake Senseman were inducted into the Dayton Theatre Hall of Fame and more than 100 honors were presented during the annual DayTony Awards Sunday, Aug. 16, at the Dayton Marriott.
Six area productions were voted the best of the 2008-9 season: “Doubt” and “Ethel Waters: His Eye Is on the Sparrow,” both by The Human Race Theatre Company; “Tuesdays With Morrie,” by Cedarville University; “The Paris Letter,” by the Dayton Theatre Guild; “Assassins,” by Beavercreek Community Theatre, and “The Cemetery Club,” by the Young at Heart Players.
The awards — certificates of merit and medallions for excellence in design and technology, performance and directing — were based on balloting by adjudicators from each member theater after attending shows by other member companies.
Martin, best known locally for almost four decades of well chosen performances at the Dayton Theatre Guild, is also the composer of 400 pieces of music. Seen most recently in the leading role of “The Paris Letter,” his career has also included national professional tours in Broadway musicals and off-Broadway performances.
Introduced by Dayton actor and director Michael Boyd, Martin said he learned his stage craft doing summer theater in Sturbridge, Mass., on a stage quite similar to the one the Theatre Guild used for years on Salem Ave. His first show there was “A Day in the Death of Joe Egg,” staged by Dayton Theatre Hall of Fame member Ken Hardin.
“I’ve had a fine run in Dayton,” he said, before closing with a poem by Noel Coward called “The Boy Actor.”
Senseman, an actor and designer primarily at the Theatre Guild as well, has also directed, stage managed and orchestrated the props at many productions. His design for a past production of “A Little Night Music” at the Dayton Playhouse is still remembered. Everything on stage, save for a deck of tarot cards, was blue.
The Tipp City resident was introduced by Carol Finley, who said Senseman has been known to design and create a finished set on just $40 — “the price of two cans of paint. He can transform nothing into something real and wonderful.”
Senseman said his first stage experience came as a third-grader — “as the second letter ‘i’ in the word Thanksgiving.”
Past Hall of Fame inductees recognized for their work on productions last season were Kevin Moore, Scott Stoney, Fred Blumenthal, Terry Stump, Jim Lockwood and Greg Smith, who served as master of ceremonies.
Presenters included theater representative Barbara Mays Lurie, actor Amy Brooks, Sinclair Community College and Clark State University representatives Patti Celek and Theresa Abshear, Dr. Robert Clements of Cedarville University, Human Race artistic director Marsha Hanna, and actor-choreographer Dodie Lockwood.
Hanna said that because The Human Race is the lone professional theater up for DayTony recognition, it will voluntarily withdraw from eligibility for awards starting next year, but will remain a member and will still make tickets available to DayTonys adjudicators for each production.
More information about the Dayton Theatre Hall of Fame and the DayTonys is available at www.daytonys.org.
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Victoria volunteers win ovation
How do you measure a year in the life of the Victoria Theatre Association?
One way is in volunteer hours. During the 2008-9 season, they contributed more than 59,000 of them in ushering, bartending and a variety of administrative tasks.
The VTA honored them recently during its sixth annual Marquee Awards. Those recognized included:
Volunteer of the Year — Beatrice Downey
Lifetime Achievement Award — Sally Grant
Best Supporting Volunteer Male and Female — Ed and Betsy Ellison
Best Leading Volunteer Male and Female — Larry and Maria Klueber
Best Ensemble Team — Connie McKale
Judy Luckenbill Young at Heart — Jean Jines
Top Hours Award — Ray Wylam
House Manager’s Award — Patsy Alcorn
Team Captain of the Year Award — Paul and Sandy Kulback
For more information about becoming a volunteer for Victoria Theatre Association, call Al Berberich at (937) 228-7591, extension 3033, or email him at al.berberich@victoriatheatre.com.
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Free R&B concert at Dayton MetroPark
By Kim Margolis
Staff Writer
Island Metro Park will host a free night of R&B on Saturday, Aug. 15.
The concert will feature The Deele, Maque and Touch.
It will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. and is sponsored by WROU 92.1, Gilly’s and Five Rivers MetroParks, said MetroParks spokesperson Valerie Hunt,
Headlining the evening will be a group originally from Cincinnati, The Deele. The group had success in the 1980s with “Body Talk” and “Two Occasions.”
Early members included Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and Antonio “L.A.” Reid, who have gone on to be major producers and in Edwards’ case, a successful solo performer. The rest of the group include Carlos “Satin” Greene, Darnell “Dee” Bristol, Stanley Burke, and Kevin “Kayo” Roberson.
Opening the evening of will be Dayton-born, soulful singer Shaunie Maque, Hunt said. Maque has performed with The Deele and other groups and has recorded an album.
TOUCH will also perform a set of old school Motown with songs originally by The Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations and Jackson 5, Hunt said.
Food vendors will be on site. Bring blankets or chairs for seating. Coolers nor pets are permitted.
How to go
An evening of R & B
Island MetroPark, 101 E. Helena St.
6-9 p.m. Saturday, August 15
For details, call (937) 274-0126.
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Public can RSVP for HBO’s GM film
Reservations for the sneak-peek premiere of the documentary “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” are now open to the general public.
The HBO presentation by Yellow Springs filmmakers Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar will be shown Aug. 19 at the Schuster Performing Arts Center, Second and Main streets. It’s about the final days of GM’s SUV assembly plant in Moraine.
Doors will open at 6 p.m. The screening will begin at 6:30. Admission is free, but seating is limited and reservations are required. The number for non-GM workers to call is (866) 717-6072. As announced previously, GM workers should call (866) 518-4081 or go to https://www.homeboxoffice.com/rsvp/thelasttruck_dayton.
HBO will broadcast the film nationally on Labor Day, Sept. 7.
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Muse director has a son
Muse Machine executive director Luke Dennis is the proud papa of his first son. His wife, Sally, gave birth Sunday, Aug. 2, to Oskar Himes Hale Dennis.
He weighed 7 pounds, 2 ounces, and arrived, according to his father, “looking very wise.”
The family lives in Yellow Springs and also includes 3-year-old Lucy Babe Ethel Dennis.
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DCDC does 2 cities at once
The Dayton Contemporary Dance Company’s members are known for speed and leaping ability, among other qualities.
This weekend, Aug. 7 and 8, they will have one foot in New York City and the other in Akron. Sort of.
A split squad of DCDC dancers will perform in both cities.
One contingent will take the stage at 8 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday in New York’s Central Park for that city’s SummerStage Performance Series. The program will be Gina Walther’s “Still Present,” Shonna Hickman-Matlock’s “Unresolved,” excerpts from William B. McClellan Jr.’s “Milonga” and Debbie Blunden-Diggs’ “In My Father’s House.”
The other will dance at 8:45 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in Akron’s Firestone Park. That program will be Blunden-Diggs’ “Traffic” and “In My Father’s House.”
Blunden-Diggs, who is artistic director, said the Akron date was already set when the New York opportunity presented itself. We have never tried anything like this — two venues at once — but it’s a great way to increase exposure for the company.”
DCDC is also scheduled to perform Aug. 22 in Chicago. Its home opener will be Oct. 3 at Centerville High School.
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CNN’s Martin, Harper of ‘CSI’ on UD series
The University of Dayton has announced a 2009-10 Diversity Lecture Series featuring Elie Wiesel, Hill Harper, Roland Martin and Juana Bordas.
Bordas, an expert on workplace diversity issues and the author of “Salsa, Soul and Spirit: Leadership for a Multicultural Age,” will open the lineup Sept. 16 in the Kennedy Union ballroom. She is president of Mestiza Leadership International, which advises businesses and organizations on managing cultural differences.
Next will be actor and activist Harper, who plays coroner Sheldon Hawkes in the CBS series “CSI: NY” and is author of the best-sellers “Letters to a Young Brother: MANifest Your Destiny” and “Letters to a Young Sister: DeFINE Your Destiny.”
CNN political analyst, columnist and author Martin will give the keynote addresses for two Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. events co-sponsored by UD and the Dayton Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference on Jan. 18 and 19.
Holocaust survivor Wiesel, a Nobel laureate and prolific author, will close the series with a speech at the Schuster Performing Arts Center.
Past speakers have included: Andrew Young, Coretta Scott King, Spike Lee, Kirk Franklin, Clarence Page, Nikki Giovanni, Soledad O’Brien, Azar Nafisi and Johnnetta B. Cole.
2009-10 UD Diversity Lecture Series
Sept. 16 — Juana Bordas. 7:30 p.m. Kennedy Union Ballroom. Free.
Oct. 16 — Hill Harper. 7:30 p.m. Kennedy Union Ballroom. Free.
Jan. 18-19, 2010: Roland Martin. MLK Holiday Celebration and Presidential Banquet at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 18, at the Dayton Convention Center. Call (937) 268-0051 for ticket information. UD’s MLK Prayer Breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Jan. 19 in the Kennedy Union Ballroom.
March 25, 2010: Elie Wiesel. 7:30 p.m. March 25, 2010. $15 and $20. Call (937) 228-3630 or (937) 229-2545.
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Arts backers rally on Courthouse Square
Joseph Glenn stood alone onstage at Courhouse Square Wednesday, Aug. 5, playing his steel drum as onlookers and participants in a noon Rally for the Arts began to assemble.
The Central State University graduate who begins work on his master’s degree in music this fall at Miami University, didn’t seem to mind, but those raising money for the arts have felt much the same lately — lonely and often unnoticed.
Culture Works, which organized the event, has extended its annual united arts campaign until Aug. 31. It has raised $1.375 million toward a goal of $1.7 million.
About 1,000 onlookers, arts organization staff members, performers and volunteers attended.
Speakers included Donna Collins, executive director of Ohio Citizens for the Arts; Phillip L. Parker, president and CEO of the Dayton area Chamber of Commerce; Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin, Montgomery County Commissioner Judy Dodge and Liz Whipps, arts magnet coordinator for Stivers School for the Arts.
The rally was triggered by declines in attendance and contributions, which have forced area arts organizations to cut back and relocate.
Collins, who estimated that the Dayton area has 1,456 arts-related businesses employing 7,400 people, said “the arts are a proven revenue generator.”
“We cannot afford to let our arts go away. They are the heart of our community,” McLin said.
Participants wore t-shirts or displayed picket signs with messages including “It stARTS with you” and “Art Matters.” Performers also included puppeteers Natasha Randall and Bryant Tuschl of the Zoot Theatre Company.
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Human Race, Muse Machine get jobs grants
The Human Race Theatre Company and the Dayton-based arts education organization the Muse Machine are among 21 groups across the state that have been awarded federal stimulus money to help save jobs.
The Human Race received $25,000 and the Muse Machine $15,000 through the program, which is administered by the Ohio Arts Council. The money is from the National Endowment for the Arts through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
A total of $395,000 will be given to save 25 jobs — $305,000 through the OAC and $90,000 through Arts Midwest.
Others on the Ohio Arts Job Preservation Grant List include: Akron Art Museum, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Cleveland Public Art, Columbus Association for the Performing Arts, Dublin Arts Council, Great Lakes Theatre Festival (Cleveland), Mansfield Fine Arts Guild, Masterworks Chorale (Toledo), Lyrica (Cincinnati), ProMusica Chamber Orchestra (Columbus), Renaissance Performing Arts Association (Mansfield), Sankofa Fine Art Plus (Cleveland), Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center (Portsmouth), Summit Choral Society (Akron), Taft Museum of Art (Cincinnati), Toledo Orchestra, Worthington Arts Council, Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio (Cleveland) and the Zanesville Museum of Art.
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Rhythm in Shoes exec takes national post
Noreen Willhelm of Jefferson Twp. has been named national director of The U.S. Grail, an international women’s movement based in Loveland, Ohio.
A former executive director of Rhythm in Shoes, the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company and Planned Parenthood of the Greater Miami Valley, Willhelm has also worked as a writer and editor.
Founded in 1921 in Holland and active in 20 countries, the Grail describes its mission as a commitment to “spiritual search, social transformation, global solidarity, ecological sustainability and the release of women’s creative energy.”
A current project of the U.S. Grail is the Women’s Institute for Social Transformation, which supports and connects women working for social change locally and globally.
Willhelm will assume her duties Sept. 8. For more about the Grail, go to http://www.grail-us.org.
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DAI announces schedule for 2010
American art will be the focus of the just-announced 2010 special exhibition lineup at the Dayton Art Institute.
The year will focus on three aspects of our nation’s art: the California Impressionist Movement, abstract art of the mid-20th century, and African-American art. A retrospective of works by popular Dayton artist Willis “Bing” Davis will also be included.
The exhibits include: “All Things Bright and Beautiful: California Impressionist Paintings from the Irvine Museum” from Feb. 20 through June 13. “Modern Masters from the Smithsonian American Art Museum” from July 24 through Oct. 10. “100 Years of African-American Art: The Arthur Primas Collection” from Nov. 7 through Jan. 30, 2011.
The work by Davis will be presented in conjunction with the Primas exhibit and produced in collaboration with the University of Dayton.
The 60 impressionist paintings that will be on display are primarily landscapes of California. The Smithsonian exhibit includes paintings and sculptures by 31 of the nation’s most celebrated artists from the 1950s including Sam Francis, Philip Guston, Hans Hofmann, Franz Kline, Josef Albers, Ad Reinhardt, Romare Bearden and Jim Dine.
The Primus collection covers a period of 150 years and contains a variety of 300 works including paintings, sculptures, works on paper, graphics and documents.
Davis attended The School of The Dayton Art Institute, and that museum will show off his paintings and drawings. UD will display Davis’ photographs and ceramics.
To learn more about these exhibitions, visit www.daytonartinstitute.org or call the museum at 937-223-5277. The Dayton Art Institute is also on Facebook and Twitter.
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