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Review: “God’s Ear”

LA Weekly

“God’s Ear”

God's Ear - publicity photo

Pictured: Jeremy Shranko, Amanda Saunders,Alana Dietze, and Tara Karsian

GO! “He’s in a coma, hooked to a respirator.” With these simple words, Mel (Amanda Saunders) informs her husband, Ted (Paul Caramagno), via telephone, about their brain-dead son, a victim of an accidental drowning. It is one of the rare instances in Jenny Schwartz’s eccentric drama where words and meaning coalesce into sensibility. For the remainder of the play, Mel and Ted become immersed in the seductive discord of a surreal world where language is increasingly divorced from context and reality, time and place contract, and the weight of loss is, literally, spoken out of existence. It’s a bizarre mise-en-scene, compounded by the appearance of a tooth fairy (Tara Karsian), a transvestite flight attendant (Jeremy Shranko) and a curvaceous b-girl (Andrea Grano). With a nod to the absurdist canon, and perhaps Lewis Carroll, Schwartz’s use of clichés, idiom and chatter is at times brilliant and funny, though the verbal effusion obscures the searing emotional and psychological pain at the heart of the piece. There is an appropriately other-worldly resonance about director Rory Kozoll’s staging, nicely accented by Kristie Roldan’s lighting. Zephyr Theatre, 7456 Melrose Ave., Hlywd.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m., through Feb. 19. (877) 369-9112.

(Lovell Estell III)

Announcing: “Expecting to Fly” Begins Performances Jan. 21

WORLD PREMIERE OF
EXPECTING TO FLY BY MICHAEL HYMAN
BEGINS PERFORMANCES JANUARY 21

OPENS SATURDAY, JANUARY 28 AT THE ELEPHANT SPACE
FOR SIX WEEKS ONLY

The world premiere of Expecting to Fly by Michael Hyman, directed by Kiff Scholl, is set to begin preview performances on January 21 at the Elephant Space in Hollywood. There will be two additional previews on January 22 and 27, with opening night on Saturday, January 28 at 8:00. Expecting to Fly will play through March 4.

Expecting to Fly is a dark and sometimes humorous journey through the young minds and memories of Jared and his former lover, Sean. As the two men look back on their time together, they try to come to terms with what they lost, and experience that one last perfect kiss, to set each other free. Playwright Michael Hyman’s credits include Love Will Tear Us Apart at he Hudson Guild Theatre in Los Angeles, Ice In A Hot World at Bank Street Theatre in New York City, a workshop production of Happiness at Manhattan Theatre Club, and Jaye Sits at the Harold Clurman Theatre, among others.

Award-winning director Kiff Scholl most recently served as director of Hyper-Chondriac at the Asylum Lab. Other Los Angeles directing credits include Kill Me, Deadly and Shake at Theatre of Note, and Don Giovanni Tonight, Don Carlo Tomorrow at Sacred Fools, about which the LA Times said, “Director Kiff Scholl has few peers at keeping us intrigued.” The cast of Expecting to Fly, in alphabetical order, will feature Casey Kringlen (as Sean) and Justin Mortelliti (as Jared). The set design is by Keith Mitchell, lighting design is by Matt Richter, costume design is by Shannon Kennedy, and sound design is by Corwin Evans. The stage manager is Victoria Watson, and Expecting to Fly is produced by Racquel Lehrman and Theatre Planners. Expecting to Fly is a guest production at the Elephant Space.

General seating admission is $10 for previews, and $20 for regular performances. The regular running schedule is Friday and Saturday at 8pm, and Sunday at 7pm, through March 4 only. Tickets are on sale now, and may be purchased online at www.plays411.com/fly, or by calling (323) 960-5772.

The Elephant Space is located at 6322 Santa Monica Boulevard (one block west of Vine), in Hollywood. Street parking is available.

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01-09-11

Announcing: “God’s Ear” Begins Performances January 12, 2012

PERFORMANCES SET TO BEGIN JANUARY 12
ECHO THEATER COMPANY’S LA PREMIERE OF
GOD’S EAR
BY JENNY SCHWARTZ
DIRECTED BY RORY KOZOLL

OPENS JANUARY 14 AT THE ZEPHYR THEATRE

God's Ear posterThe Los Angeles premiere of God’s Ear, a play by Jenny Schwartz, directed by Rory Kozoll, is set to begin preview performances on January 12 at the Zephyr Theatre. The Echo Theater Company’s production of God’s Ear will play an additional preview performance on January 13, and will 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, Jeremy Shranko, and Jarrett Worley. 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.

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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01-03-12