! ! For Immediate Release! Contact: Sheila Kenny (859) 233-4567 ext.3285 [email protected] BROADWAY LIVE PRESENTS: !

! ! LEXINGTON, KY (February 18, 2014) -- Broadway Live, The Opera House Fund and KentuckyOne Health present THE MIRACLE WORKER at the Lexington Opera House for five performances March 14 – 16. Few stories are as timeless or reveal the courage and resilience of the human spirit as well as THE MIRACLE WORKER. The stirring dramatization of the story of Helen Keller and her tutor Annie Sullivan has been mesmerizing audiences for decades. The Miracle Worker was playwright William Gibson’s second Broadway effort, and his most acclaimed work. His dramatic retelling of the story of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan was initially an Emmy Award-winning teleplay for Playhouse 90. Gibson then adapted it for the stage, where it proved a critical and popular hit, garnering Tony Awards for Gibson, director Arthur Penn, and star Anne Bancroft in 1960. The 1962 film version earned Oscar nominations for Gibson and Penn; its stars, Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke, won awards for best actress and best supporting actress, respectively. THE MIRACLE WORKER tells the story of Helen Keller, deaf and blind since infancy, who finds her way into the world of knowledge and understanding with the help of ! (MORE) ! ! Annie Sullivan, her gifted tutor. In some of the most turbulent and emotion-packed scenes ever presented, The Miracle Worker is a story of victory over unbelievable odds – accomplished through conviction, perseverance and love. THE MIRACLE WORKER, produced by Montana Repertory Theatre, has been selected as the “Broadway Buddies” presentation for the 2013-14 season. Sponsored this year by White, Greer, Maggard Orthodontists, Broadway Buddies, now in its third year, is an outreach program designed to provide an opportunity for underserved youth to experience professional Broadway Theatre at the Opera House. In addition to attending the Sunday evening performance through sponsored and donated tickets, Broadway Buddy participants take part in a backstage tour and a class in theatre etiquette. This year’s class is the largest to date with over 100 students and chaperones participating! THE MIRACLE WORKER performances are Friday, March 14 at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, March 15 at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, March 16 at 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. There is also a school performance on Friday, March 14 at 10:00 a.m. Tickets start at $30 and can be purchased at the Lexington Center Ticket Office, (859) 233-3535 Ticketmaster.com and all Ticketmaster Outlets. For Group Sales, (859) 233-4567 ext.3292. For more information visit www.lexingtonoperahouse.com HELEN KELLER !CHRONOLOGY June 27, 1880: Helen Keller is born into the prominent and influential family of Captain Arthur Keller and Kate Keller in Tuscumbia, Alabama. February 1882: Helen is left blind and deaf after being stricken by a “brain fever” which may have been scarlet fever. Summer 1886: At the recommendation of Alexander Graham Bell, Helen’s family contacts Michael Anagnos, the director of the Perkins Institution for the Blind, to request a teacher for Helen. March 3, 1887: Annie Sullivan, valedictorian of her class at the Perkins Institution, !arrives at the Keller home and begins to teach Helen manual sign language. ! (MORE) April 5, 1888: In a miraculous moment of insight, Helen understands Annie’s manual sign for “water.” She learns thirty words by nightfall. May 1888: Annie, Helen, and Helen’s mother visit Alexander Graham Bell, visit Michael Anagnos at the Perkins Institution, and meet President Grover Cleveland in the White House. Fall 1889: Annie and Helen travel to Perkins. November 1891: Helen sends Michael Anagnos her story, The Frost King, as a birthday gift. October 1894: Helen and Annie travel to New York City. Helen attends the Wright- Humason School for the Deaf. August 19, 1896: Captain Keller dies. Fall 1896: Helen converts to the Swedenborgian faith. October 1896: Helen attends the Cambridge School for Young Ladies, preparing for her attendance at Harvard’s annex for women, Radcliffe College. December 1897: Helen and Annie move to Wrentham, Massachusetts, where Helen continues her studies with private tutors. September 1900: Helen begins her studies at Radcliffe. March 1903: Assisted by editor John Albert Macy, Helen writes The Story of My Life. Spring 1904: Helen and Annie purchase a home on seven acres in Wrentham. June 1904: Helen graduates cum laude from Radcliffe, the first deaf and blind individual to receive a BA degree. May 1905: Annie marries John Macy. Spring 1909: John Macy and Helen join the Socialist Party; Helen becomes a suffragist. January 1913: Helen and Annie begin what will be a fifty-year career on the lecture circuit. Helen writes and publishes a collection of Socialist writings entitled Out of the Dark. 1914: John Macy leaves Annie; they never formally divorce. October 1914: Polly Thomson joins Helen and Annie’s household. November 1916: John Macy’s assistant, Peter Fagan, proposes to Helen. They take out a marriage license but Helen’s mother forces her to renounce the engagement. Helen is sent to visit family in Montgomery, Alabama. October 1917: Helen and Annie sell their home and move with Polly to Forest Hills, New York. May 1918: A silent film based on Helen’s life is produced. February 1920: Helen and Annie begin a career in vaudeville. June 1921: Kate Keller dies. June 1933: Helen, Annie, and Polly travel to Scotland. October 1935: Annie dies. November 1936: Helen and Polly travel to England, Scotland, and France. April 1937: Helen and Polly visit Japan, Korea, and Manchuria. Spring 1938: Helen Keller’s Journal, a personal account of Helen’s recent life, is !published. ! (MORE) ! September 1939: Helen and her household move from Forest Hills to Arcan Ridge in Westport, Connecticut. January 1943: Helen visits blind, deaf, and disabled soldiers in military hospitals throughout the nation, referring to this activity as “the crowning experience of my life.” October 1946: Helen and Polly begin their first world tour for the American Foundation for the Overseas Blind (AFOB), visiting London, Paris, Italy, Greece, and Scotland. In the next eleven years, they will visit thirty-five countries on five continents. November 1946: The house at Arcan Ridge and most of Helen’s possessions are destroyed by fire. September 1947: Helen’s household moves into a replica of the original house, Arcan Ridge II. Spring-Summer 1948: Helen and Polly’s AFOB tour is curtailed when Polly suffers a stroke. Spring 1950-Spring 1953: Helen and Polly travel to Europe, South Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. Winter 1953: The Unconquered, a documentary film of Helen’s life, is released. February 1955: Helen and Polly begin a tour of the Far East. June 1955: Helen is the first woman to receive an honorary degree from Harvard University. December 1956: Helen attends the dedication of the Keller-Macy Cottage at Perkins Institution. Winter 1956-57: William Gibson’s play, The Miracle Worker, debuts on television and on Broadway. May 1957: Helen and Polly tour Iceland and Scandinavia. March 1960: Polly dies. October 1961: Helen suffers a stroke and retires from public life. September 1964: Helen receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom but is unable to attend the ceremony. June 1968: Helen dies in her sleep. Her ashes are interred at the National Cathedral with !those of Annie and Polly. ###