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Anchor 1

illustration by Marc Kolder & design by Mischa Blevins

& art direction by Ron Canada

ABOUT SPIN OFF

The play is set within the world of a network television series and weaves a surrealistic tale of characters attempting to "immigrate" from the world of fiction into the reality beyond the soundstage. Figures from television's seemingly endless stream of cop shows have been mysteriously awakened to the narrow limits of their existence as stereotypes. They devise a plan to "cross over" in order to find fully dimensional lives. In preparing to escape the confines of their artificial world, they make discoveries about the nature of memory, aspiration, identity, loyalty and, most importantly, love.

 

The play swings from moments of sardonic comedy to metaphysics as the characters prepare for a climactic confrontation with the individual who seems to hold power over their futures. Ultimately, the decisions they make on how to deal with the Faustian bargain offered by their TV masters, lead them to essential questions about what it means to be real Americans and what it means to be truly human.

SPIN OFF   

Previewed September 21 & 22

Opened September 23

Closed  October 13

The Riverside Theatre

91 Claremont Avenue 

New York, NY 10027​

Getting to the Theatre

1 Train to 116th St & Broadway @ 

Columbia University

Entrance is on Claremont

between 120th & 121st

Parking available at theatre.

CREATIVE TEAM

Anchor 2

BERNARD POMERANCE

Playwright (1940-2017)

Bernard was born and raised in New York City and educated at the University of Chicago; Mr. Pomerance moved to London in 1968. His first play, High in Vietnam, Hot Damn was performed at the Interaction Almost Free Theatre in 1972 and directed by Roland Rees. Along with Rees and David Aukin, Bernard helped to found the theatre company Foco Novo in 1972. The name was taken from Pomerance’s play of the same title, the company’s inaugural production (Oval House, 1972). Others include Someone Else is Still Someone (Bush Theatre, 1974), Melons (RSC 1985-86) and an adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s A Man's A Man (Hampstead Theatre, 1975). His best known play The Elephant Man premiered at Hampstead Theatre in 1977. It was performed in repertory at Britain’s National Theatre and several times off and on Broadway. For The Elephant Man, Bernard Pomerance won a Tony Award, the New York Drama Critics’ Award, an Obie Award, a Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics’ Circle Award. Of the many revivals worldwide this play has enjoyed, the most recent, directed by Scott Ellis and starring Bradley Cooper, transferred to Broadway from Williamstown in 2014 to great acclaim. The production subsequently transferred to the West End in 2015 and garnered 4 Tony Nominations including Best Revival, Best Leading Actor and Best Featured Actor and Actress.

RON CANADA

Director/Executive Producer

Also born and raised in NYC, Ron's directing credits include The Invested (4th Street Theater, NY); Lights Up on the Fade Out (Lillian Theatre, CA); The Maids (CAP Theatre Company, CA); Split (Independent Production/Elephant Asylum); Nobody (Ace Theater Company, CA); Soap Opera (Poet & Peasant Theatre Company, Wash., DC); Beyond Your Command and Mash Note to an Old Codger (New Playwrights Theater, Wash., DC); Bus Stop (The Old Opera House, Charleston, West VA); Guido Girl (TADA Theatre, NY); and Associate Director of Divinity of Hell  (Theatre for the New City, NY).

A noted actor, Ron has been working on stage, in film and television for over 47 years.

Ron was Iago to Patrick Stewart’s Othello at The Shakespeare Theatre in DC and Ron is the second man in the country to play Troy Maxson in August Wilson’s Fences. His most recent turn in the theatre was Simon in The Whipping Man at The George Street Playhouse.

Ron has guest starred on scores of television series. Recently, Ron completed episodes of "The Orville" "Seven Seconds", "Jack Ryan", "Madame Secretary" and the "spin off" "The Good Fight".  Ron's film credits include The Discovery with Robert Redford and Rooney Mara, Wedding Crashers, Cinderella Man,The Human Stain, The United States of Leland, The American President, and The Hunted.  Ron received the Dallas Film Critics Award and significant national attention for his performance as “Otis Payne” in Lone Star. Ron has worked twice with director Chris Columbus in Adventures in Babysitting and Home Alone 2. Ron is also an Emmy winning television newsman. Founder and Director, The Acting Department NYCRon Canada on IMDB

CAST

Kevin Rico Angulo

Kevin Rico Angulo  (Detective Jimmy Marks) Off Broadway: Othello (The Public Theater-Shakespeare In the Park) Regional: As You Like It (San Francisco Shakespeare Festival), The San Patricios (PCPA Theaterfest); Romeo & JulietCyrano De Bergerac, As You Like It, Macbeth, She Stoops to Conquer, (Independent Shakespeare Company); A Christmas Carol, Cymbeline (A Noise Within Theater Co.) TV/FILM: The Last O.G. w/ Tracy Morgan.  Training:  California State University, Chico

Thomas Hildreth* (Carlos) is an actor/producer and owner/founder of Sternman Productions. He seeks out original material from screenwriters and playwrights for Film/TV development. He is currently producing new scripts by director Eddie Alcazar (Tapia (HBO) Perfect (Steven Soderbergh exec prod) and Hildreth and Alcazar are developing Alcazar’s Vandal and Jeff Johnson’s The Kinjiku. Sternman is producing several scripts by acclaimed Amazon #1 crime noir novelist Jeff Johnson (Deadbomb Bingo Ray, Knottspeed, Lucky Supreme) including Short Bus, Millinocket and The Kinjiku as well as a new feature film,  Santer, with exec producer Sienna Miller. Thomas played the lead role John Johnson in Sternman’s latest feature, award winning Child of Grace (Lifetime premiere) with Ted Levine and the lead role of Eben Cole in Islander (Showtime) nationwide theatrical release with Philip Baker Hall. Hildreth played lead roles in the world premieres The Invested (NYC) and Lights Up On The Fade Out (LA). Theatre credits include over a dozen productions with The Williamstown Theatre Festival including the world premiere of The American Clock directed by Austin Pendleton and Caucasian Chalk Circle directed by Michael Greif. Thomas appeared extensively with The Classical Theatre Lab (LA) in productions and readings of Shakespearean, Greek and contemporary classic texts. He received an MFA in Theatre Arts from Rutgers University and lives in NYC and LA with his wife Noël and their five small curled darlings.

Megan McQueen

Megan McQueen (Rosie Ramirez) is thrilled to be part of the Spin Off family and honored to be working with wonderful Ron Canada.  Born and raised in Southern California, she moved east to attend NYU and went on to receive her MFA from the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University.  Megan has played roles from Shakespeare to John Patrick Shanley, working both on stage and in front of the camera.  Film: Christmas Camp, Noise, Brilliant Mistakes.  Theatre: Almost Finally, Gruesome Playground Injuries, Eurydice.

Tricia Mancuso Parks* (Dr. Chloe Allen) is an actor, theatre director and creative professional. Tricia is so happy to be part of this Spin Off  production with Ron Canada directing. Selected TV and film credits include: “The Blacklist,” “Law & Order: SVU,” ShuffleThe Family Fang, and June. Selected theatre credits: Elizabeth Barrett Browning in Tribeca Lab's POE House (live and new media), Tricia was a principal in the long running Los Angeles production of Tamara and an original member of The Actors' Gang.  Selected theatre directing credits include: Divinity of Hell, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello, an adaptation of Jean Paul Sartre's short story, Intimacy, and original theatre/dance pieces CageDancers  and The Kollwitz Project. Tricia is the founding director of Creative Women. She is also the founding President of BurritoBoards Creative, Inc.  ( mancusoparks.nyc )

Chad Restum*  (TV ) is an actor, director and playwright. He is happy and proud to be returning to New York to work with Ron Canada and the rest of the Spin Off team.  Los Angeles: Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra,  Anthony and Cleopatra, World Premiere of the musical Jack; with the Classical Theatre Lab:  The Libertine (the Strasberg), Hamlet (Actors' Gang), Dumas (the Hudson Guild), Deaf West Theatres' Romeo and Juliet (the Odyssey), Twelve Angry Men (the Complex), Double Play (the Matrix) and Girders (Coast Playhouse). NYC:  From the Neighborhood (Irish Arts Ctr.), Chantecler (47th St. Theatre), The Wisteria Trees (York Theatre Co.).  Regional: Working (American Stage Festival), Malice Aforethought (Bristol Riverside), Brigadoon (McCarter Theatre). Television:  "Relativity", "In the House" and "Days of Our Lives", and sundry commercials, Film:Only in L.A., TNT’s James Dean.  He is a graduate of Princeton University and the Circle-in-the-Square Professional Actor’s Program. He has a Masters degree in Theatre Arts from California State University, Los Angeles.

Najla Said

Najla Said* (Yara) is an actress, playwright, and author.  Selected theatre credits: A World I Loved with Vanessa Redgrave (Public Theater; Brighton Festival), Nine Parts of Desire (Seattle Rep), Palestine (NY Theater Workshop) and Prophecy (New End Theatre, London; NY Theatre Workshop), Broken Stones (Interact), Passengers (Second Stage), The Merchant of Venice (Fractured Atlas), Salome (Lincoln Center Directors Lab), The Beekeeper’s Daughter (TNC), and Divinity of Hell (CWNY/UnShout the Noise Theatre).  She is one of New York Theatre Workshop's "Usual Suspects.” Film/TV:  Noora Saadi in “NCIS:NOLA”, “Party of Five” Conversations with My Ex, The Contestant, and The Siege. Her memoir, Looking for Palestine: Growing Up Confused in an Arab-American Family was released by Riverhead Books in 2013.  Najla studied at the Actor’s Center Conservatory, The Shakespeare Lab at The Public Theatre, and graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University. 

*Member Actors' Equity Association [AEA]

Madeline Austin (Producing Consultant) is the Creative Development Director for Creative Women New York.  She is the former Executive Director of The Shakespeare Society and for over a decade worked with the legendary Jerry Schoenfeld, Chairman of The Shubert Organization.  Producing credits:  Maybe, Baby, It's You (Soho Playhouse) The Invested with Sue Wagner and Carrie Schoenfeld (4th Street Theatre), Stealing Sweets and Punching People (NY Summer Play Festival).  She consults for theatre and film.  More information can be found at www.madelineaustin.com.

Jack Benedict (Composer, "Spin Off  Theme") Second Piano, My Fair Lady (Annapolis Shakespeare Theatre); Lead Keyboard, Rock n Roll XXIV, Rock n Roll XXVIII, Oklahoma, School of Rock, “Winner, Best Band, 2017 Cappies Awards” (Severna Park HS); Music Conductor, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Benfield ES); Arranger/Keyboardist for Rock the Rattle.  "Spin Off theme” recorded with Jack Benedict on keyboards, Carolyn Hong on saxophone, Warren Louie on bass and Josh Ohler on drums.

Carey Campbell (Production Stage Manager) is a playwright, screenwriter and photographer. Her passion for the arts has taken her from being a Dresser, Stage Manager and Prop Master for theatre productions in Los Angeles and New York to set costuming in film, music videos and commercials.  She has worked as a dramaturge for published playwright Joe Keyes and the Actor’s Studio West and has helped develop new works for the Loose Monsters writing group.  She worked for the award-winning creative writing non-profit WriteGirl, which included playwriting and screenwriting workshops with notable writers and performers, as well as a Coordinator for the film studio Miramax, in the Distribution and Servicing wing.  She is working on a photo essay book about her trips through small town and rural Mississippi and one of her screenplays is currently in development with a director attached.  Carey feels very fortunate and excited to be a part of the incredible Spin Off family.  

Anthony Escoto (Videographer) is a filmmaker, recently published photographer and U.S Army veteran.  Recent work includes: music video of international Latin artist El Cuapue (SI TE VAS), photographer of Latin American billboard award winner Amarfis, the lead singer for the band “Amarfis y la Banda de Attake.”  More information can be found on Instagram:  A.Escoto_Films 

 

Sarah Weber Gallo (Choreographer) is a dancemaker, performer, and dance educator based in Hoboken, NJ, where she is Dance Director for Mile Square Theatre and head of MST Dance Academy.  Sarah’s recent evening-length work for MST, The Magic Hour was lauded as “stunning” (Dance Enthusiast) and “better than Charlie Brown” (Jake, age 7).  Other works have been presented and supported by Roulette Intermedium, The Iron Factory, Center for Performance Research, Art House Productions, Indy Convergence, and Danceworks Milwaukee, where she won the 2015 New Work Award.  Sarah is a senior member of the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, where she has been featured in the work of such choreographers and directors as Phillipe Gerard, André Serban, Doug Varone, Mary Zimmerman, Julie Taymor, Graciela Danielle, Benjamin Millepied, Christopher Wheeldon, and Robert Lepage. She holds an MFA in Dance from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and a BA in Psychology from Goucher College, and is very pleased to be working on her second project with this company of artists.

 

Sean Hagerty  (Sound Design) is a composer, sound designer, and violinist based in NYC. He has worked extensively with Third Rail Projects, creating environmental soundtracks and systems for large-scale immersive projects such as Then She Fell (Bessie Award), Ghost Light (LCT3, Lincoln Center), The Grand Paradise, Sweet and Lucky (DCPA), Behind the CityRoadside Attraction (Brookfield Plaza), and music for the forthcoming film with Dance Film Association, Between Yourself and Me. Other shows include Hit the Body Alarm (Performing Garage), the off-Broadway revival of Around the World in 80 Days (Davenport Theater), The Wild Party (DCPA), The Fall to Earth and The Collector (59 E 59), The Anthem (Lynn Redgrave Theatre), Symphony of Shadows (Dixon Place), Hound of the Baskervilles (Penguin Rep, Weston Playhouse, Florida Rep, Hangar Theatre, Virginia Rep, Theatre Squared), and 57 one act plays with the Actors Studio Drama School (Gibney Dance, 3LD). 
www.seanhagerty.com

 

Anna Kovacs (Stage Manager) Born in Cincinnati Ohio, Anna moved to the Big Apple just two months ago. This being her first stage management gig on island proper, she’s more than ecstatic to be a part of the Spin Off team! Some of her credits include: Stage Manager for the Miles Square Theatre summer dance concerts (2018), Stage and Production Manager for Celebrity cruises (2016-2018), Production Intern for Chicago Shakespeare Theatre’s original production of Tug-Of-War:Civil Strife (2016), Production Manager for the Monomoy Theatre in Cape Cod MA (2014, 2015).  Anna graduated with her BFA in Stage Management from Ohio University (2016). 

 

Kathryn Murphy (Backstage Crew) is a Sophomore at Fordham University and is studying Theatre and Spanish. She has performed in various productions throughout her high school career and her last internship was with the Avalon Players. She is currently the Publicity Chair for Fordham's Theatrical Outreach Program and has been the Assistant Director on their productions of Metamorphoses and As You Like It. Kathryn would like to thank the entire creative team and company of Spin Off for this unbelievable experience. 

Ann Osmond (Singer/Co-Composer, Original Music for "Yara's Theme") is an actor, singer and voice-over artist.  Favorite theatre roles include Carlyle in The Stonewater Rapture by Doug Wright (Edinburgh Festival Fringe), the title role in Tamara (Los Angeles production) and Marie in Pains of Youth (Broome St. Theatre, NYC). 

Recent films include Last Vermont ChristmasDeparturesDianeA Bread Factory, Part II, and Peace, Love & Misunderstanding. She enjoys narrating audiobooks and performs in jazz and cabaret venues in the NYC region.  www.annosmond.com

 

Eve Pomerance (Casting Consultant) Major Motion Pictures, LLC, (MMP) was formed in 2008 by indie filmmakers, Eve Pomerance and Jonathan Mossek.  Films TV and Video games work includes:  As Good as Dead, Writer/Director Jonathan Mossek, Festival of Light, Writer/Director Shundell Prasad, Casting/Executive Producer Eve Pomerance,  Bombays Most Wanted, Director/Producer Aditya Bhattacharya, Tim Maia (2014) and Joao, O Maestro (2017), Director Mauro Lima and Producer Chris Bongirne, Until Dawn for Supermassive Games and Sony, "Pilgrims"  for Ric Burns (2016), The God Who Fell From Grace for Alex Ewen, The Mimic  for Director Thomas F. Mazziotti (2018) and Louisiana Caviar for Director Cuba Gooding Jr. (2018). Theater credits include: HamletKiss Me Kate, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are DeadTo Kill a MockingbirdAnnie Get Your GunThe Time of Our Lives and Sinners (Mirror Theater).  

 

David Shocket (Lighting Design) Selected designs: SUDS (Bluelaces Theatre Co.); Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast (Actor’s Conservatory Theatre, NC); 13 The Musical (Actor’s Temple); The Maids (Williamstown Theatre Festival); The Pajama Game (Schimmel Center); The Light in the Piazza (Sheen Center, dir. Victoria Clark); Some Girl(s), Middletown, Look Back in Anger (Pace University). Resident lighting designer for Packer Collegiate Institute, Gaston Day School, and Friends Academy. Associate: Dangerous House, Lempicka, Actually  (Williamstown Theatre Festival); Tick, Tick…BOOM!, Travels With My Aunt, John and Jen (Theatre Row); Wringer (City Center); Disenchanted (Westside Theatre, Straz Center); Kunstler, The Road to Damascus (59E59); Love Linda: The Life of Mrs. Cole Porter 

(York Theatre Co). www.dshocketdesigns.com

 

Jonathan Slaff (Press Representative) Jonathan Slaff & Associates

Paul Smithyman (Scenic Designer) Paul is a 25-year veteran of Off-Off, Off and Broadway. He was the Co-Artistic Director of The Interart Development Series and is a founding member of Psycho Clan creators of Nightmare as well as Production Manager at Lincoln Center Theater. Paul has numerous credits as a designer, director, producer, actor and author. Viva Patshiva, This Is Real, Triggers, Lapis Blue Blood Red are just a few…

Matsy Stinson (Costume Design) is a Brooklyn based designer who specializes in costumes and fashion. Recent design credits include an untitled feature-length horror film produced by James Franco, a children’s musical called SUDS at A.R.T., and an immersive piece with company members from The New York City Ballet. She also was the featured designer for a series of videos for Seventeen Magazine's digital platforms called Fashion to D.I.Y. For.  From August-October, she will be showing an installation art piece on Governors Island called | clothe | as Part of Exquisite Corpse Company’s ‘Memory House’. (More at matsystinson.com or @matsine)

​Dennis Yerry (Musician/Co-Composer, Original Music for "Yara’s Theme", Composer/Musician, "The Plight of the Far Away Moon" - copyright 2018 - Noyen-Ongeh Music Publishing - ASCAP ) is a Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) composer, musician and founder of The Hawk Project. He was musical director, composer and performer for the American Indian Dance Theatre, the theatrical production of Black Elk Speaks, Denver Center Theatre; Mark Taper Forum (Los Angeles), the Native American Day of Thanksgiving at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (NYC), and the outdoor drama Unto These Hills (Cherokee, NC). He is featured on the Native American flute in the Ken Burns documentaries, “Lewis and Clark” and “The West”. He is also an accomplished jazz composer, arranger and educator and is co-director of the Sitka Jazz Fine Arts Camp (Sitka, AK).

CREATIVE TEAM CONTINUED

PRODUCERS' CIRCLE

Joe Campanelli makes his living in front of a TV camera, but in a very different way than most on-air TV professionals. Joe is and has been developing and selling his own products on both HSN and QVC Home Shopping Channels. However, his first love has always been movies. When the opportunity presented itself for Joe to actually produce his own movie, he took some time out of a very busy schedule to write his first screenplay and with the help of his son Santino, they, without any prior experience, set out to produce "BULLY", a coming of age, heart felt serious comedy (www.facebook.com/LazyRacerProductions). The movie to date has won several prestigious awards. Joe cast Ron Canada to play an aging ex-boxer who takes a bullied boy to learn self defense from his long time friend and gym owner, Manny, played by Danny Trejo. Joe and Ron have been good friends ever since. When offered the opportunity to be involved with Spin Off, Joe was honored and jumped on board having a love for the theatre.  Joe's favorite quote..."It's never too late to be who you might have been" - George Eliot  

Susan Canada was born in Passaic, NJ. After attending The College of New Jersey, she moved to NYC, and worked at NBC-TV as a promotion and publicity writer for NBC-International. She relocated to Washington D.C., in 1972. She retired from The Washington Post after working there for 34 years as Executive Assistant to one of The Post's Vice Presidents. Susan has always loved theater from a young age, and is very pleased to be one of the Producers of Spin Off.

 

Creative Women New York is a non-profit performing arts organization and producing entity, powered by women, and inclusive of all. CWNY is dedicated to creative development, training, and the production of theatre and film. CWNY empowers creative work through co-production and fiscal sponsorship.​ Creative Women founder and VP of CWNY’s theatrical division, Tricia Mancuso Parks, and CWNY’s Creative Development Director Madeline Austin are two of the principal producers of SPIN OFF.

 

Carrie Schoenfeld is a Producer, Director and Screenwriter.  She wrote and directed Asockalypse, a Sci-Fi comedy feature film (Asockalypse.com) released through Amazon.com; and wrote, directed and animated internet video show pilots, “Animals Vs Battlebots” and “Dis n’ Bitz” for ABC’s Digital Stage 9.  Producing credits include The Invested, 4th Street Theatre, NY. Carrie is also a singer /songwriter for Energy Whores, an indie folk electronic band (Energywhores.com) whose songs are currently on iTunes, Amazon, Apple Music and other digital music websites as well as Jango international music radio.  In addition to working with the University of Hartford Engineering School to develop a Magnetic Turbine Generator, Carrie has been involved with Internet video and website design for more than 15 years. As an artist, Carrie’s work has been shown internationally and at LaMama Galleria, Gershwin Gallery, Susan Cooper Fine Art, Montserrat Gallery and Kent Fine Art Gallery (carrieschoenfeld.com). She is also the Vice President of Marketing and Publicity with Creative Women New York. 

 

Sternman Productions, founded by actor/producer/writer Thomas Hildreth, seeks out original material from emerging screenwriters and playwrights for development/production in film and theatre including the 2015 Award-Winning feature film Child of Grace, a crime thriller with Emma Myles ("Orange Is The New Black"), Ted Levine (The Bridge, Silence Of The Lambs), and James Parks ("The Son," The Hateful Eight). The film is distributed worldwide by Mission Pictures International and is now available on iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play. Sternman also produced the feature film Islander, filmed on coastal Maine, with Amy Jo Johnson ("Felicity", "Flashpoint"), Larry Pine ("House Of Cards"), and Philip Baker Hall (Magnolia). The award-winning film opened in film festivals nationwide in 2006 and played in theaters in major markets throughout the U.S. in 2007, receiving great reviews from leading publications including the Washington Post, Seattle Times, Boston Globe, Variety, and Hollywood Reporter. Next in development are several film and TV projects with screenwriter Jeff Johnson to be shot on location in Maine.  Theatre includes the world premieres of Padraic Lillis’ Lights Up On The Fade Out in Los Angeles and Sharyn Rothstein’s The Invested in New York.

Thank You FOR YOUR SUPPORT

PRODUCER'S CIRCLE  #SPINOFFTHEPLAY

  • Joe Campanelli

  • Ron Canada

  • Susan Canada

  • Creative Women

  • Carrie Schoenfeld

  • Sternman Productions

 

FRIENDS OF CWNY   #CHANGINGTHEWORLD

  • Annonymous

  • Eric & Kris Brewer 

  • Julie Daugherty & Angus Vail 

  • Cari DeBlasio

  • Stuart Howard & Judy Waters

  • Tracey Ilgner

  • Frances Middendorf

  • MJMG

  • Eve Pomerance

  • Alfonso Ramos

  • Georgianna LaBella-Saracco & John Saracco  

  • Richard Squires

  • Wagon Driver Productions​

Support

THE ACTION​​​​

Be a producing partner on this exciting new play.

Donations are 100% tax-deductible.

PRODUCERS' CIRCLE

$5,000 +

  • Small bio in Playbill

  • Acknowledgement in CWNYI/SPIN OFF website

  • Two house seats for every performance​

ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS’ CIRCLE​

$2,500 to $5,000

  • Acknowledgement in Playbill

  • Acknowledgement in CWNYI/SPIN OFF website 

  • Two house seats 

FRIENDS OF CREATIVE WOMEN

Up to $2,500

  • Acknowledgement in Playbill

  • Acknowledgement in CWNYI/SPIN OFF website

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