NEWS RELEASE — D’Lo in “D’FunQT” at LOS ANGELES LGBT CENTER’S DAVIDSON/VALENTINI THEATRE — OPENS APRIL 3 AT 8PM

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s
Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center
Presents

D’Lo
in
D’FunQT
Written and Performed by D’Lo
Directed by Ken Sawyer

OPENS FRIDAY, APRIL 3 AT 8PM
FOUR WEEKS ONLY THRU APRIL 26
NOW EXTENDED THROUGH MAY 3
★ FINAL PERFORMANCES ADDED: SATURDAY 5/16 & SUNDAY 5/17 ★

At The Davidson/Valentini Theatre

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center has announced the LA premiere of D’Lo in D’FunQT (pronounced Defunct) at the Davidson/Valentini Theatre. Written and performed by acclaimed political theatre artist, writer, director, comedian, music producer, and queer transgender Sri Lankan-American D’Lo, and helmed by award-winning director Ken Sawyer (The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later/The Goat or, Who Is Sylvia?), D’FunQT will play two preview performances on April 1 and 2 at 8pm. Opening is set for Friday, April 3 at 8pm.

D’FunQT shares hilarious and poignant snapshots of the worlds that have shaped who D’Lo is today. Written and performed Leguizamo-style, D’FunQT celebrates the joy of survival in an often intolerant world. As a queer boy/stud/trans person, D’Lo unapologetically uses his fluidly morphing form and spot-on timing to bring the fierce with the funny.

D’Lo is also the creator of the Coming Out, Coming Home writing workshop series, which has taken place with South Asian and/or immigrant queer organizations nationally. D’Lo‘s poetry and short stories have been published in various anthologies and academic journals including, most recently Desi Rap: Hip Hop and South Asia America, Experiments in a Jazz Aesthetic, and Troubling the Line: Trans and Genderqueer Poetry and Poetics. Along with touring colleges and universities with D’FaQTo Life, D’Lo tours Ramble-Ations: A One D’Lo Show, directed by Adelina Anthony, which received the NPN Creation Fund Grant inclusive of residencies in nine US cities with additional support from the Durfee Foundation Grant. D’FunQT has toured internationally (SF, NY, Manchester, UK, and a seven-city tour in India and Sri Lanka).

Performing Girl, a documentary by Crescent Diamond based on D’Lo’s life and work, won the best short documentary award at Outfest 2013. D’Lo was a lead character in the short film LIT, currently appears in the new HBO series Looking as Taj, and performs in Mikki del Monico’s film Alto. For more information, visit http://dlocokid.com/.

D’Lo in D’FunQT is set to open on Friday, April 3 at 8pm. General admission tickets for are $15 for previews and $20 for regular performances and may be purchased online at www.lalgbtcenter.org/theatre or by phone at (323) 860-7300. The performance schedule is Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 7pm through April 26 only Now Extended Through May 17. Net proceeds from ticket sales will support the full range of free and low-cost programs and services offered by the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Davidson Valentini Theatre is located at the 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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03-09-15

Talking with Coco! (LAArtsOnline.com)

Allison Janney (Photo: Kate Romero)

Talking with Coco!

By Ken Werther
Photo By Kate Romero

Looking for a really cool way to spend a Saturday night? For the ninth installment of the L.A. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Center’s Conversations with Coco — Miss Coco Peru’s series of live, unscripted interviews with celebrated performing artists — the L.A. drag legend welcomes the much loved Allison Janney to the Renberg Theatre. Like previous visits with stars like Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Charles Busch, Bea Arthur, and Liza Minnelli among others, the evening will feature film highlights of Janney’s career along with casual yet in-depth conversation.

Allison Janney is perhaps best known for her seven seasons as C.J. Cregg on The West Wing (six Emmy Award nominations, four wins), but her work on television dates all the way back to 1991! She currently stars on the CBS sitcom Mom (another Emmy), and for a recurring role on Showtime’s Masters of Sex she garnered a sixth Emmy. Janney has appeared in countless feature films, and her work on Broadway has earned her two Tony Award nominations, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and a Drama Desk Award.

Says Miss Coco, “Conversations with Coco is sort of like Inside the Actors Studio only a lot more fun!” Proceeds support the LALGBT Center’s array of free and low-cost services. Is there any question about where you need to be on March 7 at 8pm?

Conversations with Coco, with special guest Allison Janney, takes place Saturday, March 7 at The Village of Ed Gould Plaza at 1125 N. McCadden Place.

Bravo Cinderella! (LAArtsOnline.com)

Cinderella plays at the Ahmanson Theatre March 17-April 26

BRAVO CINDERELLA!

By KEN WERTHER
Photo Courtesy of CTG

Well known fact: the story of Cinderella (the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical) is based on the classic fairy tale Cinderella, (here comes a lesser known fact) in particular the French version by Charles Perrault, called Cendrillon, ou la Petite Pantoufle de Verre. We all know the story — a young woman abused by her cruel stepmother and stepsisters, her Fairy Godmother arriving and turning her into a ravishing beauty so she can go to the Prince’s Ball…I’m guessing I needn’t continue.

The legendary Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II originally wrote the book and songs for a 1957 television broadcast starring Julie Andrews that was viewed by 107 million people. It was remade twice for television, most famously in 1965 starring Lesley Ann Warren (raise your hand if you saw the original broadcast so I’ll know your age), and adapted for the stage in various versions. The new production arriving at the Ahmanson Theatre this month opened on Broadway in 2013, racked up 769 performances, and was nominated for nine Tony Awards!

Perhaps the most interesting fact: the book for this latest stage version of Cinderella is by Douglas Carter Beane, the playwright responsible for, among many others, The Little Dog Laughed (one of my favorite plays of all time). A musical fairy tale—what could be better? Your lovely night awaits you.

Cinderella plays at the Ahmanson Theatre from March 17 to April 26.