THE PRODUCERS OF ‘SLY FOX,’ IN CONJUNCTION WITH STUDY GUIDE CREATOR PETER ROYSTON AND THE MUSEUM OF COMIC AND CARTOON ART (MoCCA) ANNOUNCE A UNIQUE BROADWAY EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR TRI-STATE AREA STUDENTS

When Larry Gelbart’s SLY FOX returns to Broadway this season, students from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will have a chance to SEE the show with specially discounted tickets, LEARN from a free interactive study guide, and TAKE PART in an exciting educational contest for the chance to see SLY FOX for free and meet star Richard Dreyfuss.

In SLY FOX, Richard Dreyfuss stars as devious conman Foxwell J. Sly, who, with his servant Simon Able (Eric Stoltz), sets out to rob from the rich to give to himself. It’s the dawn of the Gold Rush in San Francisco, and with everyone falling over themselves with gold fever, Foxwell and his trusty assistant set out to swindle as many as they can. Previews begin on March 12 at the Barrymore Theatre, with an official opening on April Fool’s Day.

As the writer of such films as Tootsie and Oh God! and the TV series M*A*S*H, Larry Gelbart is no stranger to the power of satire. With the SLY FOX Education Program, students will learn about how satire plays a vital role in the life of society. Especially today, when issues of civil rights and the limits of government are in the public awareness as never before, young people need to look at authority with an analytical, satirist’s gaze.

The SLY FOX Education Program has three parts:

DISCOUNTS: Student groups of 20 or more will be offered a $35 student ticket to SLY FOX, a 50% discount off the normal ticket price.
STUDY MATERIALS: All student groups interested in seeing SLY FOX will be sent a free study guide based on the show, distributed through the producer’s office and the various Broadway Group Sales Agencies. Written by Peter Royston, the creator of over 30 study guides for Broadway, Off-Broadway and touring productions, the study guide will include lesson plans, activities, and games based on State and National Standards designed to help an educator merge SLY FOX with his or her curriculum.
THE SLY FOX CARTOON CONTEST: The Sly Fox Cartoon Contest will allow tri-state area kids to step into the shoes of a Jonson or a Gelbart and create their own thought-provoking satires in the form of editorial cartoons. The study guide will end with a section discussing the connections between SLY FOX and techniques of political cartoons, such as caricature, exaggeration and satire. Just as students see satire on such programs as Saturday Night Live, South Park, and The Daily Show, and as they will see living “cartoons” at SLY FOX, so will they get a chance to create their own editorial cartoons with the Sly Fox Study Guide. Kids will get a chance to vent their frustrations with the status quo while learning an important lesson of democracy.

Students will be invited to submit their editorial cartoons lampooning current events to a committee of judges organized by the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA). MoCCA’s stated mission “to educate the public about comic and cartoon art, how it is crafted, and how it reflects history,” makes it a perfect entity for this purpose. Over the past three years, MoCCA has taken the New York cultural community by storm with its annual Art Festival held at the historic Puck Building. This event has become "the best small-press nexus (anywhere!)" in the words of the Village Voice; MoCCA's boards include such cartooning luminaries as Stan Lee, Bob Mankoff, Patrick McDonnell, Ted Rall, Art Spiegleman and Steve Guarnaccia, art director of the Op-Ed page for The New York Times.

In June, 2004, all cartoons submitted by students will be displayed in a gallery show at MoCCA’s exhibition headquarters at 594 Broadway. Ten finalists will be announced and displayed on the MoCCA web site. And one grand-prize winner will be invited to see SLY FOX with an adult chaperone and meet Richard Dreyfuss after the show.

“The Sly Fox Education Program is a unique mixing of two very different worlds,” says study guide and program creator Peter Royston. “Looking at cartoons in relation to a Broadway play will give students the chance to see theatre in a new way, and appreciate the connections between politics and culture.”

“We’re very glad to be involved with the Sly Fox Education Program,” says Lawrence Klein, MoCCA’s Chairman: "We're here to show children of all ages the great impact comic and cartoon art has made - and is making - on society, and having kids use their cartooning skills to comment on society in the form of political cartoons is a perfect fusion of all various aspects of MoCCA's mission."

The Sly Fox Education Program is made possible through a grant from the League of American Theatres & Producers, Inc., and the Theatre Development Fund.

For more information on "Sly Fox and the Power of Satire," the Sly Fox Education program, call Peter Royston at 914-589-4405, or email him at peter@guidewrite.com.

For a copy of the RULES TO THE SLY FOX CARTOON CONTEST call Peter Royston at 914-589-4405, email him at peter@guidewrite.com or go to http://slyfox.guidewrite.com/.

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Peter Royston (Study guide and Program creator)
For the past ten years, Peter Royston has worked in various capacities to bridge the gap between the entertainment industry and the educational community. The co-founder and former co-director of the popular education program, Broadway Classroom, Peter is the author of over 30 study guides for Broadway, Off-Broadway and touring productions, including The Phantom of the Opera, Rent, The Lion King, Annie Get Your Gun, Riverdance, Picasso At the Lapin Agile, King Hedley II, A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Exonerated, and Like Jazz, the new musical by Cy Coleman and Alan & Marilyn Bergman. Peter is the author of the timeline/history of Actors’ Equity, created for the Union’s 90th anniversary in 2003. He offers a wide variety of formats, educational initiatives and marketing ideas for producers looking to attract educators and student groups to their shows.

For more information on Peter Royston’s work, click on www.guidewrite.com.

The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA)
The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts education organization dedicated to the collection, preservation, study and presentation of one of the world's most popular art forms. MoCCA’s mission is to promote greater understanding and appreciation of the artistic, cultural and historical significance of comic and cartoon art. To that end, the museum hosts exhibits and events, conducts educational programs, and serves as a resource for those conducting scholarly or professional research on comic and cartoon art.

Each June for the last two years, the museum has held its Annual MoCCA Art Festival at SoHo’s historic Puck Building (located at 293 Lafayette Street – only two short blocks east of the museum’s new home), drawing thousands of comic and cartoon artists, art collectors, publishers, and fans to Lower Manhattan for a one-day exhibition of new works. This year, the MoCCA Art Festival returns to the Puck Building as a two-day event, June 26-27, including the gala Harvey Awards Ceremony on Saturday evening to announce the winners of this prestigious annual industry award (now presented by MoCCA, see harveyawards.org) for excellence in comic and cartoon art.

For more information about these or other MoCCA events, please visit the museum Website, www.moccany.org. In addition to event and exhibit listings, the MoCCA Website also includes the museum’s on-line comic and cartoon art exhibit “Duck!” and provides information for those interested becoming a MoCCA member/volunteer/supporter or just learning more about the organization and its mission.