Announcing: Coeurage Theatre Company Presents ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’ October 12 Thru November 10

COEURAGE THEATRE COMPANY
LA’S ‘PAY WHAT YOU WANT’ THEATRE COMPANY
PRESENTS SHAKESPEARE’S
LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST
DIRECTED BY TED BARTON

OPENS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12
AT THE 2ND STAGE THEATRE IN HOLLYWOOD
FOR FIVE WEEKS ONLY THRU NOVEMBER 10

Coeurage Theatre Company, LA’s ‘Pay What You Want’ Company, has announced the final production of its 2013 season, Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost, directed by Ted Barton. There will be one preview performance on Friday, October 11 at 8pm and opening is set for Saturday, October 12 at 8pm. Love’s Labour’s Lost will play through November 10 only at the 2nd Stage Theatre in Hollywood.

Love’s Labour’s Lost abounds in sophisticated wordplay, puns, and literary allusions and is filled with clever pastiches of contemporary poetic forms. Three noble companions take an oath to devote themselves to three years of study, promising not to give in to the company of women – one somewhat more hesitantly than the others. He reminds the king that the princess and her three ladies are coming to the kingdom, and when the king and his men meet the princess and her ladies they all fall comically, instantly in love. There are numerous sub-plots and a play-within-the-play at the end of which there is a bitter twist in the story, which is an unusual ending for Shakespeare and Elizabethan comedy. The first recorded performance of Love’s Labour’s Lost was in 1597 followed by one in 1605, but it was not performed again until 1839.

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Brian Abraham, Jonas Barranca, Anthony Mark Barrow, Elitia Daniels, Julianne Donelle, Michael Faulkner, Madeline Harris, John Klopping, Jeremy Lelliott, Ian Littleworth, TJ Marchbank, Chris O’Brien, Emelie O’Hara, William Reinbold, Sammi Smith, and Patrick Wenk-Wolf. The production design is by Tito Fleetwood Ladd, costume design is by Mary Reilly, and sound design is by Joe Calarco.

Director Ted Barton returns to Coeurage, where he performed in Translations earlier this season. Barton has worked at the Mark Taper Forum, TheatreWorks, Berkeley Playhouse, Foothill Theatre Company, Ensemble Theatre Company, MainStreet Theatre Company, Sierra Repertory Theatre, International City Theatre, Theatricum Botanicum, Actors Theatre of Phoenix; California, Colorado, and Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festivals; Shakespeare Sedona, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and in the national tour of On Golden Pond.

Love’s Labour’s Lost will play one preview performance on Friday, October 11 at 8pm and opening is set for Saturday, October 12 at 8pm. The running schedule is Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 7pm through November 10 only. All seats are available on a Pay What You Want basis, and may be reserved online at https://coeurage.secure.force.com/ticket, or by calling (323) 944-2165.

The 2nd Stage Theatre is located at 6500 Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood, 90038. Street parking is available.

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09-24-13

**The Coeurage PAY WHAT YOU WANT Policy**
Pay What You Can is based on a person’s ability to pay.
Pay What You Want is based on a patron’s desire.
It is a value placement as well as an economic decision, designed to eliminate cost as a factor
in attending theatre. Each patron decides what a theatre experience is worth to him or her,
and some decide it is worth more than they initially paid.
For that reason, the box office is kept open during intermission and after performances.

Announcing: ‘Byron’s Theme,’ Short Film by Bennett Barbakow & Michael Grant Terry, Set to Screen at Four More Festivals

BYRON’S THEME
A SHORT FILM BY
BENNETT BARBAKOW & MICHAEL GRANT TERRY
SET TO SCREEN AT
RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL IN LONDON
CRESTED BUTTE FILM FESTIVAL IN COLORADO
SAN DIEGO FILM FESTIVAL
AND BENDFILM FESTIVAL IN OREGON

Byron’s Theme, a short film written by Bennett Barbakow and Michael Grant Terry and directed by Barbakow, has been set to screen at four prestigious film festivals — Raindance in London, Crested Butte in Colorado, San Diego, and Bendfilm in Oregon. This brings the number of film festivals at which Byron’s Theme has screened to ten.

Byron’s Theme is a dark comedy that tells the story of Nick, who lives his life inside his padded comfort zone. When he accidentally loses a tooth, and confuses his girlfriend for her twin sister, Nick finds himself stranded in the middle of nowhere … with nothing, and no one. Exploring what it means to be alone as a man, Nick goes on an existential journey in an attempt to quiet the chaos of his own life… with the help of his golden retriever, Byron. Byron’s Theme… a love story, with a tail.

Michael Grant Terry stars as Nick. Terry is perhaps best known for his recurring role as Wendell Bray on the FOX television series Bones. His other TV credits include The Closer, CSI, Criminal Minds, Castle, and most recently, a recurring role on NBC’s hit drama Grimm. Bennett Barbakow is a director and composer in Los Angeles, who works on a variety of projects from commercials and music videos to film, comedy series, and documentaries. Byron’s Theme also features Allison Paige, Jon Gries, and Byron the Dog (as himself). It is produced by Barbakow and Terry in association with Test Pattern, LLC, and Port Royale, Inc.

The Raindance Film Festival (www.raindance.org) in London runs September 25 thru October 6; the Crested Butte Film Festival in Crested Butte, Colorado (www.cbfilmfest.org) runs September 26—29; the San Diego Film Festival (www.sdfilmfest.com) runs October 2—6; and the BendFilm festival in Bend, Oregon (www.bendfilm.org) runs October 10—13. For specific Byron’s Theme screening times, please see individual festival websites.

For further information and to view a trailer of the film, please visit www.ByronsTheme.com.

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09-19-13

Announcing: MainStreet Theatre Company Presents ‘Aesop in Rancho Cucamonga,’ A World Premiere by Luis Alfaro

MainStreet Theatre Company
Presents the World Premiere of
By Luis Alfaro
Directed by Robert Castro

Three Weeks Only
October 26 — November 10

MainStreet Theatre Company has announced the first production of its 2013/2014 season, Aesop in Rancho Cucamonga, a world premiere play by Luis Alfaro and directed by Robert Castro. Now in its eighth season, MainStreet Theatre Company commissioned this adaptation of Aesop’s Fables with a generous grant from the James Irvine Foundation. The production, which is also supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, will play two school performances on October 25 and open to the public on Saturday, October 26 at 4pm. The strictly limited engagement will run through Sunday, November 10 only.

MainStreet’s first-ever world premiere, Aesop in Rancho Cucamonga is the tale of a California bear cub that wanders down from the foothills, gets lost in Victoria Gardens, and has to find her way back home. Away from her clan, she begins her journey and along the way she meets ants, lizards, and a cactus who tell her stories (Aesop’s Fables, adapted). During the cub’s extraordinary adventure, valuable life lessons are learned, not the least of which is the importance of family and community. Entertainment for the entire family, ages five and up.

The cast of Aesop in Rancho Cucamonga will feature (in alphabetical order) Amielynn Abellera, Joe Hernandez-Kolski, Justin Huen, Michael Manuel, Armando Ortega, and Tony Sancho. Scenic design is by Francois-Pierre Couture, lighting design is by Ben Zamora, costume design is by Raquel Barreto, sound design and original music is by John Zalewski, and Mary Michele Miner is production stage manager. Mireya (Murry) Hepner serves as producer for the City of Rancho Cucamonga’s MainStreet Theatre Company.

Playwright Luis Alfaro was born and raised in downtown Los Angeles, and he is a multi‐ award-winning Chicano writer/performer known for his work in poetry, theatre, short stories, performance, and journalism. Alfaro is the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant, and is the 2013 Joyce Foundation Fellow. He is the first Playwright‐in‐Residence in the 80 year history of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the largest repertory theatre in the United States. Alfaro’s plays have been produced at regional theatres throughout the U.S. and Europe.

Director Robert Castro is known for his stylized movement and highly visual approach, and is returning to direct his sixth production for MainStreet. Castro’s work has been mounted at some of the premiere regional theatres and performance schools in the nation, including the Santa Fe Opera, the Mark Taper Forum, and the La Jolla Playhouse. His distinctive interpretations of classic children’s stories for MainStreet include Dreams of Anne Frank, Ferdinand the Bull, Treasure Island, A Wrinkle in Time and Aladdin’s Luck. Aesop in Rancho Cucamonga will reunite Castro with Alfaro, two unique artists who last worked together at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2002.

The MainStreet Theatre Company produces creative, imaginative, high quality theatre productions especially for children and family audiences, usually based on contemporary or classic children’s literature. It is the resident professional theatre company at the Lewis Family Playhouse, an intimate 536-seat venue which is located in the 89,000-square-foot Victoria Gardens Cultural Center. The complex is located off the I‐15 at Foothill Boulevard, at 12505 Cultural Center Drive in Rancho Cucamonga.

Aesop in Rancho Cucamonga will play performances on weekends for family audiences (Saturdays at 1pm and 4pm and Sundays at 1pm, except for opening weekend when there is only one performance on Saturday, October 26 at 4pm), and on weekday mornings for school groups, through November 10. Supported by the Rancho Cucamonga Community and Arts Foundation, the opening performance on October 26 at 4pm is “Foundation Family Saturday,” and all tickets are $9.50. An Opening Night Party Package is available for $20, which includes a ticket to the show and the post-performance party. For regular performances, tickets are $18 for adults and $16 for children (age 12 and under), and for seniors (age 60 and up). New this season are the Foundation Family Flex Packs — tickets are $12 each if purchased in packs of four or more for the same performance. To purchase tickets, call (909) 477-2752 or go to www.LewisFamilyPlayhouse.com. The box office at the Lewis Family Playhouse is open Monday through Friday from noon to 6pm and Saturday from 10am to 6pm. Free parking is available.

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09-19-13