Release: Brimmer St. Theatre Company presents “Black Tie Salon” During Hollywood Fringe Festival

BRIMMER STREET THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS
A HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL SPECIAL EVENT
BLACK TIE SALON
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22 AT 7:30PM
AT ARENA STAGE IN HOLLYWOOD

As part of the 2011 Hollywood Fringe Festival, the Brimmer Street Theatre Company has announced Black Tie Salon, an interactive evening of parlor games and champagne cocktails, for one night only on Wednesday, June 22 at Arena Stage at Theatre of Arts, in Hollywood. The event is set to begin at 7:30pm.

Black Tie Salon brings together artists and audience to develop a one-of-a-kind artistic experience. Attendees have the opportunity to participate in a series of carefully selected exercises designed to awaken the creative spirit and collaboratively explore visual art, writing, performance, and everything in between. M Cafe de Chaya will provide catering for the event, which is suited for 21 years of age and over. Formal or business attire is requested.

Inspired by the surrealist salons of Hugo Ball and Tristan Tzara, which were orchestrated at Cabaret Voltaire in the early 1900s, Black Tie Salon combines Dada-style gameplay and traditional storytelling techniques to create a truly immersive experience which blurs the line between artists and audience. This is the third incarnation of Black Tie Salon, which was originally produced in the living room of a private residence with an intimate group of invited guests. Now, growing to a public audience of 50, the product of each event is completely unique to its attendees.

Black Tie Salon will take place on Wednesday, June 22, from 7:30-11:00pm, at Arena Stage, 1625 Las Palmas Avenue, in Hollywood. Admission is $20. For more information and to purchase tickets, go here: www.BrimmerStreet.org/BlackTieSalon.

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05-27-11

Release: Stars of “Defenders,” “Modern Family,” “Dexter,” and More to Act in the Blank Theatre Company’s Young Playwrights Festival

STARS OF THE DEFENDERS, MODERN FAMILY,
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, GENERAL HOSPITAL,
DEXTER, AND NURSE JACKIE
SET TO PARTICIPATE IN THE BLANK THEATRE COMPANY’S
19TH ANNUAL YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL

Jerry O’Connell (The Defenders, Crossing Jordan), Jennifer Stone (Wizards of Waverly Place, Harriet the Spy), Lenny Jacobson (Nurse Jackie), Ariel Winter (Modern Family), Michael J. Willett (United States of Tara), Scott Lowell (Queer as Folk), and Larry Poindexter (The Hard Times of RJ Berger on MTV) will join soap opera stars Billy Miller and Greg Rikaart (The Young and The Restless), and Megan Ward (General Hospital) in The Blank Theatre Company’s 19th Annual Young Playwrights Festival. Twelve winning plays by teen playwrights aged 15 -19, from five different states, will be presented during this year’s festival at The Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood, running from June 2 – 26, 2011.

Among the 70 actors who will appear in this year’s festival, WEEK ONE (June 2-5) will feature Larry Poindexter and Greg Rikaart, along with Gale Harold (Hellcats, Queer As Folk, Desperate Housewives), and Susan Park (The Unusuals). WEEK TWO (June 9 –12) will feature Jennifer Stone, Megan Ward, and Ariel Winter, along with Dale Dickey (My Name Is Earl, Breaking Bad). WEEK THREE (June 16—19) will feature Lenny Jacobson and Jerry O’Connell, along with Julia Campbell (Dexter), Scott Lowell (Queer As Folk), Eric Nenninger (Generation Kill, Glory Days), and Marcia Wallace (The Simpsons). WEEK FOUR (June 23—26) will feature Billy Miller, along with Parvesh Cheena (Outsourced), and Tessa Thompson (Detroit 1-8-7).

Winners were chosen by a panel of theatre professionals from plays submitted by teenagers from across the nation. Winning playwrights were next assigned a mentor and then a professional director who has helped them hone their scripts for four public performances. In the past 17 years, The Blank has produced 196 plays by teenaged playwrights. Eleven of those plays or playwrights have gone on to be presented on The Blank’s mainstage, including Speech & Debate by Stephen Karam, a three-time winner in The Blank’s YPF. Additionally, many past plays have been nominated for LA theatre awards, including an Ovation Award for Best Writing—World Premiere, and a LA Weekly Award for Best One-Act Playwriting.

The Blank Theatre Company’s 19th Annual Young Playwrights Festival plays Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm, beginning June 2 and running through June 26 at The Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Boulevard, in Hollywood. Each week’s program includes three plays. Tickets are $17 for adults and $12 for students. Festival Passes, which include one ticket for each week, are $56. Tickets may be purchased online at www.TheBlank.com, or by calling (323) 661-9827.

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05-27-11

Announcing: The Good Boy Extends One Week at LATC through Sunday 5/29

THE GOOD BOY
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY MICHAEL BONNABEL
DIRECTED BY DARIN ANTHONY
NOW PLAYING AT LOS ANGELES THEATRE CENTER
THROUGH MAY 29

The Latino Theater Company, in association with Ken Werther, has announced an extension of The Good Boy. This new solo show, written and performed by Michael Bonnabel and directed by Darin Anthony, is now running at the Los Angeles Theatre Center.

The Good Boy is set in Pasadena in the 1960s, telling the humorous and heartwarming tale of Michael Bonnabel’s struggle to gain independence from his large, loving, and complicated family, which also happened to be led by deaf parents. Told in sign, speech, and song, Bonnabel explores the weight of the adult responsibilities the young boy must face, as well as his yearning to bond with his emotionally distant father. An earlier version of The Good Boy ran at The Bootleg Theater during the later summer and early fall of 2010, garnering audience and critical acclaim.

Writer/Performer Michael Bonnabel is a Los Angeles based performance artist with a wide range of theatre, film and television credits, including award-winning performances in Philip Littell’s No Miracle: A Consolation at Playwrights’ Arena and the ADA Best Revival signed and spoken production of Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story at the Actor’s Workout Studio. He has appeared in Ken Roht’s 99¢ Only Calendar Girl Competition, Route 99: Orange Star Dinner Show, Peace Squad Goes 99, and in Robert Prior’s colorful adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, Project: Wonderland at The Bootleg Theater. Other local stage work include productions with Long Beach Opera, West Coast Ensemble, Tiffany Theaters, Highways, the Odyssey Theatre, the Colony Theatre and the Meta Theatre.

Director Darin Anthony has become one of LA’s most sought after stage directors. His ever-expanding list of credits includes the critically acclaimed productions of Heads, A Hole in the Dark, and The Book of Liz for The Blank Theatre Company, Talley’s Folly, My Thing of Love and Smudge for Syzygy Theatre Group, Lanford Wilson’s Burn This (Amalgam Theatre), The Boarding House by Ann Noble (Interact Theatre), and Richard Greenberg’s The Violet Hour (Hollywood Food Chain Productions at the Lillian Theatre). Specializing in new works, Anthony has also helmed premiere productions of Sidhe by Ann Noble at the Road Theatre and London’s Scars at the Odyssey Theatre. Other credits include Bach at Leipzig (Odyssey) and US Drag for the Furious Theatre Company, which garnered seven LA Weekly Award nominations, winning one for Production Design.

Scenic design for The Good Boy is by John Burton, lighting design is by Brandon Baruch, sound design is by Joseph “Sloe” Slawinski, Rita Cofield serves as production stage manager, and Flori Schutzer is production consultant. Early development of The Good Boy took place under the auspices of The Menander Theatre.

The performance schedule for The Good Boy is Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm.  General admission is $30, with a discounted price of $20 available for students and seniors. Every Thursday night, all seats are $10. Tickets are available now by visiting www.thelatc.org or by calling (213) 489-0994. The Los Angeles Theatre Center is located at 514 S. Spring Street in downtown LA.

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05-18-11