Theater By The Blind to kick off 2004 with Lynn Mannings award-winning solo show Weights"

The off-Broadway premiere of Lynn Manning's critically acclaimed, award-winning autobiographical solo piece about the senseless violence that left him blind at age 23 and his efforts to rebuild his life.

(PRWEB) December 16, 2003 --THEATER BY THE BLIND is pleased to announce the New York Premiere of WEIGHTS," the award-winning autobiographical solo show written and performed by LYNN MANNING about the senseless shooting that left him blind at age 23 and his subsequent efforts to rebuild his life. Directed by ROBERT EGAN, the production runs from January 9th through February 1st with an opening set for January 16th at URBAN STAGES, 259 West 30th Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues). The performance schedule is Wednesdays through Sundays at 7:00 PM and Saturdays & Sundays at 3:00 PM. Tickets are $30 ($25 for students and seniors) and are available by calling Smarttix at (212) 868-4444 or logging onto their web site at www.smarttix.com. For more information on the show, please log onto the companys web site at www.tbtb.org.

WEIGHTS" is a powerful solo event that utilizes prose, poetry and music to tell the inspiring real-life story of Lynn Manning. Raised in impoverished South Central Los Angeles, Mr. Manning was a budding visual artist with virtually everything to look forward to. But in October 1978, a drug-crazed thug decided to settle a petty dispute with a gun and shot Mr. Manning in the head, taking away his sight forever at the age of 23. The show traces Mr. Mannings ultimate transcendence of the senseless violence that changed his life and his courageous personal journey from being a black man to being a blind man."

The Los Angeles Times called the show Universal, cathartic, bravely revealing and poignant. Manning knows how to twist a phrase and lash out an insight with agility and strength. Far from a dreary recapitulation, his story vaults back and forth in time, selectively and effectively splicing surrealism and realism, humorous banter and fiercely poetic outbursts into a sweeping autobiographical sampling. Manning is a writer of clarity, finesse and overriding humanity." The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Weights" was Mesmerizing...Manning displays a special talent for capturing the raw feel of everyday experience. Poetry winds through the narrative of his life story so subtly, its often difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins. In part thats because everything out of Mannings mouth carries the cadence and crispness of language used to its best advantage. At times he weaves a web of words that begins hard and strong but turns so seductively sensuous, its like watching a spider spin steel into silk."

WEIGHTS" was originally developed and produced at the Mark Taper Forum, where it won three NAACP Theatre Awards, including Best Actor for Lynn Manning. It has also been produced at The Kennedy Center For The Arts in Washington, DC, The Los Angeles Theatre Center, The National Black Theater Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and The Third International Blind And Visually Impaired Theater Festival in Zagreb, Croatia, where Theater By The Blind noticed the piece.

LYNN MANNING is an award-winning playwright, poet, actor, Paralympic Silver Medalist and former Blind Judo Champion of the World. He accomplished all of this after being shot and blinded in a Hollywood bar at age 23. His television credits include appearances on Seinfeld," Popular" and Dream On," and he has been featured in commercials for Nike, Hewlett Packard, and Bank of America among others. His plays include The Last Outpost," which was commissioned by the New York Shakespeare Festival and nominated for 4 NAACP Theatre Awards, and Private Battle," which was produced by Los Angeles Watts Village Theatre Company. Theater By The Blind has produced two of his one acts, The Convert" and Shoot," which has been made into an independent film.

THEATER BY THE BLIND is a critically acclaimed company made up of both visually impaired and sighted theater professionals. Founded in 1979, the companys mission is to change the image of the blind from one of dependence to independence, to fight the stereotypes and misperceptions associated with blindness, and to show how vibrant, fluid and exuberant the visually impaired can be. Over its long history, the company has won multiple awards and critical accolades, ranging from the New York Times assertion that their work is designed to defy expectations of blind performers...the triumph of the Theater by the Blind is completely evident each time two actors turn to each other and, amazingly, their eyes meet..." to the New York Post calling Theater By The Blind quite simply one of the most enjoyable companies in the country."
###