PRESS RELEASE — SIXTH AVENUE’S TOWN HALL READING SERIES BEGINS WITH “THE AVENUE OF SAINTS” TUESDAY 8/12

SIXTH AVENUE
KICKS OFF TOWN HALL:
A BACK ROOM PLAY READING SERIES
WITH THE AVENUE OF SAINTS BY WILLIAM NEDVED
AT AKBAR IN SILVER LAKE
TUESDAY, AUGUST 12 AT 8PM

Sixth Avenue has announced that its Town Hall: A Back Room Play Reading Series will begin with The Avenue of Saints by William Nedved. The play will be read one night only, Tuesday, August 12 at 8pm at Akbar in Silver Lake.

Directed by Casey Kringlen, the cast will include (in alphabetical order) Christian Levatino, Scott Victor Nelson, and Melissa Stephens. In The Avenue of Saints, Brett returns home to rural Iowa and befriends his enigmatic childhood classmate Kami. He is shame-spiraling. She is soaring the heights of excess. Welcome to their Field of Dreams.

Sixth Avenue was founded by Adam Silver in 2011 with a focus on creating bold and boundary-pushing theatre experiences that continue the conversation long after the event. Past productions include the world premiere of William Nedved’s Fact & Fiction directed by Dámaso Rodriguez, and the Los Angeles premiere of Adam Szymkowicz’s Nerve directed by Michael Matthews.

Town Hall is Sixth Avenue’s new monthly play reading series and will take place on the second Tuesday of every month at Akbar. Following The Avenue of Saints, readings are currently scheduled for September 9, October 14, November 11, and December 9. The plays to be read will be announced soon.

Akbar, Silver Lake’s “neighborhood oasis,” is located at 4356 W. Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. Admission is free, but reservations are suggested at www.6avenue.org. For more information on Sixth Avenue and Town Hall, visit www.6avenue.org.

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08-07-14

PRESS RELEASE — LOS ANGELES LGBT CENTER PRESENTS EDWARD ALBEE’S “THE GOAT OR, WHO IS SYLVIA?” — OPENS FRIDAY, SEPT. 19

LOS ANGELES LGBT CENTER’S
LILY TOMLIN/JANE WAGNER CULTURAL ARTS CENTER
PRESENTS
THE GOAT OR, WHO IS SYLVIA?
BY EDWARD ALBEE
DIRECTED BY KEN SAWYER

DAVIDSON/VALENTI THEATRE IN HOLLYWOOD
OPENING SET FOR FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 AT 8PM

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center is set to present Edward Albee’s The Goat or, Who Is Sylvia?, with opening set for Friday, September 19 at 8pm. (There will be two preview performances on September 17 and 18 at 8pm.) Directed by Ken Sawyer, the production will run through November 23.

The cast of The Goat or, Who Is Sylvia? will feature (in alphabetical order) Matt Kirkwood, Spencer Morrissey, Ann Noble, and Paul Witten. The set design is by Robert Selander, lighting design is by Matt Richter, costume design is by Paula Higgins, and sound design is by Ken Sawyer. Assistant director is Shaunessy Quinn, fight choreographer is Edgar Landa, and the stage manager is Kathleen Jaffe. The Goat or, Who Is Sylvia? is produced by Jon Imparato, artistic director of the Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center.

Winner of the 2002 Drama Desk and Tony Awards for Best Play and a 2003 Pulitzer Prize finalist, The Goat or, Who Is Sylvia? is the tale of a married, middle-aged architect, Martin, his wife Stevie, and their son Billy, whose lives crumble when Martin falls in love with a goat. The play focuses on the limits of an ostensibly liberal society, challenging audience members to question their own morality in the face of other social taboos including infidelity, pedophilia, and incest.

Said Jon Imparato, artistic director of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center, “I’ve been haunted by this play ever since I saw it on Broadway more than a decade ago. It is without question Albee’s most daring, brave, and thought-provoking work. We are honored that Mr. Albee has allowed the Center to produce this play.”

Since 1969 the Los Angeles LGBT Center has cared for, championed, and celebrated LGBT individuals and families in Los Angeles and beyond. Today, its health center, shelters, performance stages, and classrooms serve more LGBT people than any other organization in the world. The Center is an unstoppable force in the community’s fight against bigotry and the struggle to build a better world — a world in which LGBT people can be healthy, equal, and complete members of society. For more, visit at www.lagaycenter.org.

There will be two preview performances of The Goat or, Who Is Sylvia? on Wednesday, September 17 and Thursday, September 18 at 8pm. Opening is set for Friday, September 19 at 8pm. The engagement will run through November 23 with performances on Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 7pm. Preview seats are $20 and admission for regular performances is $30. [All tickets purchased online before August 19 receive a $5 discount.] Tickets are available online at www.lalgbtcenter.org/theatre, or by calling (323) 860-7300.

The Davidson/Valentini Theatre is located at the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Village at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N. McCadden Place (one block east of Highland, just north of Santa Monica Boulevard), in Hollywood. Free onsite parking is available.

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08-07-14

Broadway STARS! (LAArtsOnline.com)

Jennifer Holliday performs at the John Anson Ford Theatre

Broadway STARS!

By KEN WERTHER
Photo Courtesy of Chris Isaacson Presents

The lights of Broadway will be shining brightly at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood on Saturday, August 16 as legendary Tony Award-winner Jennifer Holliday headlines, and she will be joined by Erich Bergen (Jersey Boys), Rogelio Douglas, Jr., (In the Heights), Danny Gurwin (Little Women), and Chad Kimball (Tony Award nominee for Memphis). And if all of that isn’t enough, yet another Tony Award nominee (also for Dreamgirls), Obba Babatundé, has been set as host for Broadway Under the Stars 2014!

Jennifer Holliday possesses one of Broadway’s greatest voices. Her immeasurable range and artistry have long stood in a class by themselves. She won her Tony Award in 1982 for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for her history-making portrayal of Effie Melody White in Dreamgirls. I remember seeing the show during its pre-Broadway tryout in Boston in 1981 and being left speechless. And I’ve always gotten a kick out of the fact that Dreamgirls opened on Broadway on my birthday (December 20) in 1981.

Broadway Under the Stars will feature songs from some of the most beloved musicals of our time, including Cabaret, Jersey Boys, Pippin, The Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, Les Misérables, and Wicked, along with new favorites from the 2013-14 season, including Aladdin, Rocky, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. Who says you have to be in New York to experience the thrill of Broadway?

Broadway Under the Stars takes place Saturday, August 16 at John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, located at 2580 Cahuenga Blvd East.