KENNEDY CENTER’S ‘COLOR ME DARK’ PRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN COMING TO MIZNER PARK ON JAN. 14, 2005

BOCA RATON, FL (December 08, 2004) –The Centre for the Arts at Mizner Park, in conjunction with Florida Atlantic University (FAU), will present the Kennedy Center’s nationally acclaimed theater production for children, “Color Me Dark: A Story of the Great Migration North,” at the Count de Hoernle Amphitheater in Boca Raton on Friday, January 14, 2005 at 7 p.m. The show is free to the public.

Part of the Kennedy Center’s Imagination Celebration on Tour, the production is a special adaptation of Scholastic Books’ critically acclaimed Dear America® book and HBO television series. The story is based on award-winning author Patricia C. McKissack’s novel, “Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, The Great Migration North.”

The event is being partially funded by Wachovia Bank. “As a big supporter of children and education, we’re thrilled to be a part of this event,” said Bart Bishop, Wachovia’s City Executive in Boca Raton and Commercial Bank Director for Palm Beach County. “With Martin Luther King’s birthday in January and Black History Month in February, the timing couldn’t be better to reach a lot of children with a very important message.” Bishop is also a board member with the Centre for the Arts at Mizner Park.

The story is set in the Deep South in the 1920s in an atmosphere of lingering pre-Civil War oppression. An African-American family migrates to Chicago, only to encounter similar, if not more, severe circumstances. “Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, The Great Migration North” explores the lives of two sisters as they bear witness to a time of great social uprising. In addition to encountering prejudice, the conflict of light versus dark skin divides them amongst their own people.

For more information about “Color Me Dark: A Story of the Great Migration North,” contact the Centre for the Arts at Mizner Park at 561-368-8445 or visit www.centre4artsboca.com.

The Centre for the Arts at Mizner Park is a not-for-profit organization that serves as the social, cultural and education center for residents of Boca Raton, Palm Beach County and Broward County, and all of South Florida. The Centre is dedicated to providing improved venues and cooperative programming for exhibitions of art, music, dance, theater, film and other cultural endeavors.

Located in Mizner Park, the Centre is currently developing a three-phase project on the north end parcel of land at Mizner Park, which when completed will include the Boca Raton Museum of Art (Phase I, completed January 2001), the Count de Hoernle (outdoor) Amphitheater (Phase II, completed November 2002) and the indoor performing arts hall and arts education building (Phase III). To date, the amphitheater has presented more than 115 programs, attracting 250,000-plus participants.