Annapolis Capital Punishment

Congratulations to loyal reader Anastasia Hopkinson who answered our contest and will get to bring a friend and see this weekend's production of  52 Card Pickup starring local husband and wife acting duo Dianee and Duncan Hood.

52 Pick-Up is an experiment in math as well as theatre.  After an entire deck of cards is thrown into the air (minus jokers), what mathematical expression would be used to determine the number of different ways the order of the play could be performed?

And this answer  was supplied to CP by Ms. Hopkinson. The answer is:

  "52!" ("52 factorial") or (52x51x50x49x48...etc...x1)  52! is the number of different ways you can arrange a single deck of cards. You can visualize this by constructing a randomly generated shuffle of the deck. Start with all the cards in one pile. Randomly select one of the 52 cards to be in position 1. Next, randomly select one of the remaining 51 cards for position 2, then one of the remaining 50 for position 3, and so on. Hence, the total number of ways you could arrange the cards is 52 * 51 * 50 * ... * 3 * 2 * 1, or 52!. Here's what that looks like:
80658175170943878571660636856403766975289505440883277824000000000000

WHICH LEADS ME TO SUGGEST THAT THIS WEEKEND'S PRODUCTION COULD TURN OUT ALMOST ANY NUMBER OF INTERESTING WAYS....SO GET YOUR TICKETS NOW: 410-647-8412  More info can be found on our website at www.standingoproductions.org

52 Pick-Up by Ritz Bozi and TJ Dawe - 52 cards, each with a different scene from a relationship written on them, are thrown high into the air. Thus begins the theatrical experiment of 52 Pick-Up.  The two actors then proceed to pick up a card and perform that scene. Sounds like a gimmick, yet the story is beautifully observed no matter how the cards fall and this spontaneous evening in the theatre is delightfully different every night.

Tickets are $18/$15

Shows:  March 26 and 27 at 8:00 PM & March 28 at 5:30 PM at Chesapeake Academy's Black Box Theatre in Arnold, MD.

We still have tickets to give away for The Parole Rotary's Reception and the Victor Wooten Concert...

LISTEN TO CP Publisher Paul Foer on 1430WNAV at 8:15 every weekday morning or click on the WNAV icon to the right. READ CP Publisher Paul Foer's "The Ninth Ward" every Wednesday in The Capital.www.capitalonline.com

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