PLEASE NOTE: The start/end date above is NOT the event date. This play will run Oct. 18-21 as described below.

JOHNSON CITY (Posted Oct. 11, 2012) – The Division of Theatre and Dance at East Tennessee State University will open its 2012-13 season with the comedy “Beautiful Bodies,” which will be performed Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 18-20, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 21, at 2 p.m.

The show will be staged in the Bud Frank Theatre, located on the lower level of Gilbreath Hall.

“Beautiful Bodies” tells the story of six best friends – Claire, Lisbeth, Martha, Nina, Jessie and Sue Carol – who have gathered on a cold, snowy evening to celebrate Claire’s pregnancy. The night was intended to be about wine, fun and gossip, but instead becomes a time of revelation as the women discuss boyfriends, careers, life choices, and biological clocks that keep ticking.

Laura Cunningham, author of “Beautiful Bodies,” will visit the ETSU campus and lead a talk-back session at the conclusion of each performance. Cunningham will also be a guest speaker in several ETSU classes and do a reading and book-signing on Monday, Oct. 22, at 4 p.m. in the East Tennessee Room in the D.P. Culp University Center.

“Beautiful Bodies” stars ETSU students Callie Barber, Hannah Hasch, Aryn King, Chelsea Kinser, Katherine Patterson, Courtney Spencer and Alexis Turner. The show is directed by Pat Cronin, with William Cate as stage manager, Emily Werner as assistant stage manager, Delbert Hall as set designer and Melissa Shafer as lighting designer. The production is also an M.A. thesis show for costume designer Christine Waxstein.

Tickets are $7 for students and $15 for general admission and can be reserved by calling (423) 439-7576 or emailing theatre@etsu.edu. Those needing to request special accommodations for persons with disabilities should contact that same number.