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Announcing: “The Cost of the Erection” by Jon Marans Begins Previews at Blank Theatre on Sat 2/4/12

THREE-TIME DAYTIME EMMY AWARD WINNER
MICHAEL E. KNIGHT (ALL MY CHILDREN) SET TO STAR
IN THE BLANK THEATRE’S PRODUCTION OF
THE COST OF THE ERECTION
A NEW PLAY BY JON MARANS

WEST COAST PREMIERE WILL FEATURE KNIGHT,
ROBIN RIKER, KAL BENNETT, AND JAMES LOUIS WAGNER
DIRECTED BY DANIEL HENNING

PREVIEWS BEGIN FEBRUARY 4, 2012
AT THE BLANK’S 2nd STAGE THEATRE IN HOLLYWOOD

The Cost of the Erection posterRenowned daytime television stars Michael E. Knight (All My Children) and Robin Riker (The Bold and the Beautiful), along with Kal Bennett and James Louis Wagner are set to star in The Blank Theatre’s production of The Cost of the Erection by Jon Marans, directed by Blank Founding Artistic Director Daniel Henning. The West Coast premiere begins previews on February 4, and opening night is set for Saturday, February 11 at 8:00. The engagement will run through Sunday, March 18.

In The Cost of the Erection, wealthy Susu Ziegler has purchased an exclusive Manhattan raw space apartment overlooking the Hudson. She hopes to have her architect husband design this tricky space, but with their marriage on the rocks, she forces him to compete against a younger, hotshot architect. This sexy, funny tale is told in a heightened theatrical style, compressing and playing with time and space, and ultimately examines what makes a marriage work. Or not work. The Cost of the Erection will have its world premiere under the title A Raw Space at the Bristol Riverside Theatre in Bristol, Pennsylvania on February 3.

Playwright Jon MaransOld Wicked Songs was a 1996 Pulitzer Prize finalist for Drama, the winner of a New York Drama League Award, a Los Angeles Drama Logue Award, and it was included in Otis Guernsey’s Best Plays of 1996-97. Marans’ other plays include A Strange and Separate People, Jumping For Joy, Legacy of the Dragonslayers (based on Studs Terkel’s Coming of Age), the musical Irrationals (Book & Lyrics by Marans, Music by Edward Thomas), and The Temperamentals, which had a successful run at The Blank Theatre in the spring of 2011.

Set and lighting design for The Cost of the Erection are by Cameron Zetty, costume design is by Rachel Engstrom, and sound design is by Warren Davis. Casting is by Scott David, Erica Silverman, and Bob Lambert. Nicki Gannon is stage manager.

Started in 1990 by Founding Artistic Director Daniel Henning, The Blank Theatre is Hollywood’s resident theatre, consistently offering some of the most high quality and entertaining productions in the area. Over its 20 year history, The Blank has won hundreds of awards, including every major award in Los Angeles for Outstanding Production, such as the LA Drama Critics Circle, Ovation, LA Weekly, NAACP, and Back Stage Garland. The Blank continues to be at the forefront of providing high quality productions with a risk taking sensibility and entertaining experiences for theatregoers. With programs such as The Living Room Series and its annual nationwide Young Playwrights Festival, The Blank Theatre is committed to developing excellence in artistic talent and providing the opportunity for artists to take bold risks. For more information, please visit www.TheBlank.com.

Preview performances of The Cost of the Erection are Saturday, February 4 at 8pm, Sunday, February 5 at 2pm, and Tuesday, February 7 – Friday, February 10 at 8pm. The Friday 2/10 performance is available for press review, and opening night is set for Saturday, February 11 at 8:00. The regular performance schedule is Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm through March 18. All preview seats are $26; regular performance prices are $26 on Thursday and Sunday, $30 on Friday and Saturday. Tickets are on sale now, and may be purchased online at www.TheBlank.com or by calling (323) 661-9827.

The Blank’s 2nd Stage Theatre is located at 6500 Santa Monica Boulevard (at Wilcox), in Hollywood. Secured valet parking is available.

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12-16-11

Announcing: Echo Theater Co. Presents “God’s Ear” at Zephyr Theatre Beginning January 12

ECHO THEATER COMPANY PRESENTS THE LOS ANGELES PREMIERE OF
GOD’S EAR
BY JENNY SCHWARTZ
DIRECTED BY RORY KOZOLL

OPENS JANUARY 14, 2012 AT THE ZEPHYR THEATRE

God's Ear posterThe Echo Theater Company has announced it will present the Los Angeles premiere of God’s Ear, a play by Jenny Schwartz, directed by Rory Kozoll. God’s Ear will play two preview performances on January 12 and 13, and is set to open on Saturday, January 14 at 8:00pm. The engagement runs through Sunday, February 19.

In God’s Ear, a couple suffers a tragic accident, and their grief propels them into a fantastical world where the Tooth Fairy sings, their flight attendant is a cross dresser, and GI Joe offers family counseling. It’s a lyrically absurd journey of love, loss, and laughter. Playwright Jenny Schwartz is a New York-based playwright and a graduate of Juilliard, where she received a fellowship in the Lila Acheson Wallace Playwrighting Program. God’s Ear premiered at New Georges in 2007, was subsequently produced by the Vineyard Theatre in 2008, and was a finalist for the 2007 Susan Smith Blackburn Award.

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Troy Blendell, Paul Caramagno, Alana Dietze, Andrea Grano, Tara Karsian, Amanda Saunders, and Jeremy Shranko. The design team includes set by Melissa Ficociello, lighting by Kristie Roldan, costumes by Jordan Bass, and sound by Drew Dalzell. Music direction is by Alex Mackyol, and Leia Crawford is the production stage manager. God’s Ear is produced for the Echo Theater Company by Lauren Bass and Chris Fields.

The multiple award-winning Echo Theater Company has presented 47 Los Angeles premiere productions, 37 world premieres, and 22 commissions. These productions introduced Los Angeles to the work of David Lindsay-Abaire, Sarah Ruhl, Adam Rapp, Adam Bock, Cusi Cram, Gary Sunshine, Ron Fitzgerald, Tanya Barfield, and Mike Batistick, among many others. Most recently, the Echo was nominated for three Ovation Awards including Best Ensemble and Best Play for its West Coast premiere of Mark Schultz’s Everything Will Be Different. The company also received seven LA Weekly Award nominations for its world premiere production of Matt Benjamin and Logan Brown’s Wirehead. The West Coast premiere of Jessica Goldberg’s Body Politic garnered Ovation nominations for Best Play and Best Ensemble. The Echo also engages in community outreach programs including a free public reading series, ActOut, an educational outreach program dedicated to helping at-risk youth, and PlayTime, an outreach program in which Echo members perform fairy tales, nursery rhymes and theater pieces for sick children of all ages in a number of facilities and hospitals in Los Angeles.

God’s Ear will play two preview performances on Thursday, January 12, and Friday, January 13 at 8pm, and opening night is set for Saturday, January 14 at 8:00. The six-week only engagement will end on Sunday, February 19. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays at 7:00pm. Tickets are $25 and may be purchased by visiting www.echotheatercompany.com or by calling (877) 369-9112. The Zephyr Theatre is located at 7456 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, 90046. Street parking is available.

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12-15-11

Announcing: Lyric Theatre on LaBrea Announces 2012 Season of Plays

THE LYRIC THEATRE ON LA BREA
ANNOUNCES 2012 SEASON OF PLAYS

FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE
WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF BY NTOZAKE SHANGE,
WORLD PREMIERE OF JUPITER ZOOM BY CALLIE KIMBALL,
WORLD PREMIERE OF FEEDBACK BY JANE MILLER,
AND AFTERSHOCKS BY DOUG HAVERTY

Lyric Theatre of Los Angeles logoThe Lyric Theatre on N. La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles, Dorrie Braun, Founder and Executive Director, JC Gafford, Artistic Director, has announced a season of four plays for 2012, which will kick off February 10 with a new production of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf by Ntozake Shange, followed by two world premieres, Jupiter Zoom by Callie Kimball, and Feedback by Jane Miller, and concluding with Aftershocks by Doug Haverty.

The 2012 season begins with a new production of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf by Ntozake Shange. The Tony Award nominated and Obie Award-winning play weaves lush movement and graceful verse into a truly stirring portrait of seven amazing black women trapped in their sex, color and consciousness. Each woman’s journey is unique, yet each seamlessly blends with the stories of the other six women to form one, united voice of pride and power. The play, which premiered on Broadway in 1976, was the inspiration for Tyler Perry’s recent film For Colored Girls. Directed by Lyric Artistic Director JC Gafford, the show begins previews on February 8 with an official opening night scheduled for Friday, February 10. For Colored Girls … will run through March 4.

Family breeds contempt in Jupiter Zoom, a comedy-drama by Callie Kimball that traps a chiropractor, a baked snowboarder, two sets of sisters, and a guy named after a planet, in a posh DC townhouse for three whole days. At a family gathering to celebrate one of the sisters’ 50th birthday, a long-buried secret is exposed, revealing how a violent night 25 years ago fractured the family forever. Callie Kimball’s plays have been produced and developed at Washington Shakespeare Company, Project Y Theatre, the Kennedy Center, Electric Pear Productions, and the Capital Fringe Festival. She has received a MacDowell Fellowship, a Ludwig Vogelstein grant, the Rita and Burton Goldberg Prize at Hunter College, and she has been nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn award. Jupiter Zoom, directed by Richard Tatum, begins previews on March 14, with opening set for Friday, March 16, and runs through April 8.

Jane Miller’s Feedback is the tale of Holly, who, trying to cope with the loss of her mother, spends her inheritance on a PR firm that specializes in rebranding people. Her entire life is put under a microscope by a hard-nosed professional and a free-wheeling eccentric who dissects every facet of her appearance, behavior, and relationships to create a new and improved version of Holly. Jane Miller is a playwright and screenwriter living in Brooklyn, NY, whose work has been produced by Aporia Theatre, Looking Glass Theatre, The Wellesley Project, Squeaky Bicycle Productions, and The Network. She is a contributing artist in the developmental group, The Pack, part of Packawallop Productions. Feedback, directed by Craig Jessen, starts previews on April 18, opens Friday, April 20, and runs through May 13.
Concluding the season will be Aftershocks, a newly revised version of a play by Doug Haverty. In this play, two escaped housewives from Ohio are having the time of their lives living in a Valencia trailer park and being extras in the movies. Everything is great until someone’s past shows up on their aluminum doorstep. Doug Haverty’s award-winning plays and musicals have been presented around the world. Several of his plays are published, including Could I Have This Dance? (chosen by the American Theatre Critics Association as Best New Play to be produced outside NYC). Doug’s musical (co-written with Adryan Russ) iGhost had its world premiere at the Lyric Theatre in the spring of 2011. Aftershocks, directed by JC Gafford, will begin previews on May 23, open on Friday, May 25, and close on June 17.

For more information on the Lyric Theatre, the 2012 season of plays, and purchasing tickets, visit www.LyricTheatreLA.com. The Lyric Theatre is located at 520 N. La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles, 90036. Street parking is available.

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12-13-11