A M E R I C A 1 9 4 1
Music, Politics, Society
by Michael Miles

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WHAT: In this exquisite live documentary of the year 1941, the audience is
treated to music, politics, literature, visual imagery and society all
recreated live on stage. The script, created by writer/musician Michael
Miles, includes the writings of John Steinbeck, Robert Frost, ee cummings,
Paul Robertson, and others. The music includes the works of Duke Ellington,
Woody Guthrie, Billie Holiday, Walt Disney and others. Politics includes the
speeches of FDR and Winston Churchill. This is all woven together in
chilling, humorous, toe-tapping, participatory experience.

WHO: "America 1941" features renowned actor, John Mahoney,, along with jazz
singer, Jackie Allen, Michael Miles, and a cast of 11 musicians who recreate
not only a traditional swing jazz band, but also Chicago blues, and the
gritty 5-part vocal harmony of the Almanac Singers. The role of FDR is played
by Robert Bingham.

WHY: This is a special benefit performance for Sojourner Truth Primary
School's Arts and Academics program that is sponsored by the National Academy
for Local Schools, a not-for-profit organization.

WHEN: Sunday, April 13, 2003 at 7:00pm

WHERE: Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N. Lincoln, Chicago, IL

TICKETS: Available at 773/728-6000. $40.00 donation. Visa or Master Charge

PRESS CONTACT: Jerry Murray 708-366-5755

AMERICA 1941
As the year began, John Steinbeck spoke out "We go into this happy near year,
knowing that our species has learned nothing, can, as a race, learn nothing--
that the experience of 10,000 years has made no impression on the instincts
of the million years that preceded.....Not that I have lost any hope. All the
goodness and the heroisms will rise up. It isn't that the evil thing wins--it
never will--but that it doesn't die.

William Klingaman wrote that "In 1941, the world lived on the edge of hell."
But in America not all were aware of that hell. There was a raging debate
about isolationism. But much of America was not engaged in the debate. Many
simply lived the American life and went about their daily business. What was
the alternative? In the pre-television world of 1941, all you had to do to
avoid the world conflicts was to not read your newspapers.

Cheerios were invented in 1941; Duke Ellington wrote "Take the A Train;" H.
A. Rey wrote the remarkable children's book CURIOUS GEORGE; Humphrey Bogart
starred in "The Maltese Falcon"; NBC and CBS got their first broadcast
rights; Shirley Temple turned 11 and joined MGM's payroll; Woody Guthrie sang
with the Almanac Singers; writers Robert Frost, ee cummings, and John
Steinbeck created some of their most enduring works; Walt Disney produced
Dumbo; the magnificent Mt. Rushmore was completed.

From Tennessee, Samuel Rosenman listened to FDR's increasingly measured
warnings of war and commented that, "the atmosphere was quiet and peaceful
down there on the shores of the Tennessee River. It seemed so far away from
the world of conflict and destruction, from the mass killings of civilians
and the cruelties of conflict and destruction, from the mass killing of
civilians and of the Nazis that the bold, resolute--almost belligerent tones
of the President seemed a little like a voice coming from another planet."

As the war grew world wide and America was falling towards it, there was
still an American peace. But who and what was America in 1941? Words, both
spoken and sung during this year, portray the country with its multiple
realities. With a performance ensemble of 14 actors and musicians, including
the renowned John, the audience is invited to step back to our very own
"America 1941"

From the perspective of 2003, and in the shadow of a more dangerous world,
America prepares, denies, ignores, and proceeds in much the same way as in
1941.