NEWS RELEASE — WINNERS NAMED FOR THE BLANK THEATRE’S 23rd ANNUAL YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL

THE BLANK THEATRE’S 23RD ANNUAL
YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL CHOOSES WINNERS

12 PLAYS BY THE NATION’S BRIGHTEST YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS
WILL BE PERFORMED AT THE STELLA ADLER THEATRE IN HOLLYWOOD

JUNE 4 — 28, 2015

Now celebrating its 23rd Anniversary, The Blank Theatre’s Nationwide Young Playwrights Festival has chosen 12 plays by young playwrights aged 12—19 from seven different states. These plays will be presented by professional actors and directors in this year’s festival at The Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood, June 4—28.

Said Noah Wyle (star of television’s ER and Falling Skies), Artistic Producer at The Blank, “Each Spring for the past 23 years, The Blank has found the freshest, most original voices in the American theatre, invited them to Los Angeles, and promoted their work during a month-long festival in June. This thought provoking work, performed and directed by seasoned professionals, has entertained thousands of audience members over the years. While these authors are often as different as the states from which they come and the subjects with which they deal, they share something truly improbable. They’re teenagers.” Wyle continued, “These are not only the voices of today’s theatre — they are the voices of tomorrow’s as well.”

This year’s winning plays are: SUSPENDED by India Kotis, Brooklyn, NY, Age 17; INHERENTLY AMBIGUOUS by Dan Devine, La Grange Park, IL, Age 18; THREE STORIES by Alexa Derman, Westfield, NJ, Age 18; HERE WE ARE AGAIN by Ariella Carmell, Los Angeles, CA, Age 18; THE EXCEPTIONAL CHILDHOOD CENTER by Dylan Schifrin, Sherman Oaks, CA, Age 16; SPLOOSH by Frank Garland, Seattle, WA, Age 17; THE PARTING by Spencer Emerson Opal-Levine, Sarasota, FL, Age 12; BROMEO AND JULIUS by Sabrina Batchler, Sherman Oaks, CA, Age 18; THE COCKTAIL PARTY EFFECT by Aiyana White, Van Nuys, CA, Age 19; TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN by Jonah Rawitz, Buffalo Grove, IL, Age 17; THE ELEPHANT by Ruth Geye, Shaker Heights, OH, Age 16; and TEENAGE ANGELS by Honor Levy, Los Angeles, CA, Age 17.

A panel of theatre professionals chose from over 220 plays submitted by young writers across the nation. Winning playwrights are next assigned a mentor, and then a professional director who will help them hone their scripts for four public performances with professional actors. This year’s mentors include David Rambo (Revolution, Empire, CSI), Kelly Miller (Director of Development, New Neighborhood), Dave Holstein (Weeds, Raising Hope), Todd Milliner (executive producer, Grimm), Ellen Byron (Just Shoot Me, Wings), Gary Tieche (Medium), Michael Jung (Disney), Kit Steinkellner (four-time YPF winner), Austin Winsberg (five-time YPF winner), Beth Bigler (The Real Housewives of Atlanta and three-time YPF winner), Patrick Burleigh, and Brighde Mullins. This year’s directors are (in alphabetical order) Barbara Bain, June Carryl, Bjørn Johnson, Michael Matthews, Loni Peristere, Alina Phelan, Christopher J. Raymond, Michael A. Shepperd, Richard Tatum, April Webster, Jason Weiss, and Constance Zimmer.

Over the past 22 years, The Blank has produced 260 plays by young playwrights. Eleven of those plays or playwrights have gone on to be presented on The Blank’s mainstage. Additionally, many of the plays have been nominated for LA theatre awards, including an Ovation Award for Best Writing—World Premiere, and an LA Weekly Award for Best One-Act Playwriting. Other alumni playwrights are populating the nation’s theatres and sound stages with their work. Many YPF winners have gone on to successful writing careers on Broadway, created network TV shows, are filling regional stages, and one has even been a Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

This year’s festival is made possible by the Walt Disney Company, Rosenthal Family Foundation, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Los Angeles City Department of Cultural Affairs, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, William C. Bannerman Foundation, The Plum Foundation, The Hollywood Fringe Festival, and Biller Family Foundation.

The Blank Theatre’s 23rd Annual Young Playwrights Festival runs June 4—28 at the Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Boulevard, in Hollywood. The performance schedule is Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm. Each week’s program includes three plays, and admission is $20 for adults and $14 for students. Festival passes, which are good for one ticket each week of the festival, are $68 for adults and $48 for students. Tickets may be purchased in advance online at www.TheBlank.com, or via phone by calling (323) 661-9827.

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04-27-15

NEWS RELEASE — LALGBT CENTER PRESENTS SUZANNE WESTENHOEFER — TWO PERFS ONLY, MAY 30 & 31

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s
Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center
and Standout Productions
Present

SUZANNE WESTENHOEFER
THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR

TWO PERFORMANCES ONLY
Saturday, May 30 at 8pm & Sunday, May 31 at 7pm

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center and Standout Productions have announced they will present one of the legends of queer comedy, Suzanne Westenhoefer, in her first Los Angeles appearance in seven years. Celebrating 25 glorious years in comedy, Westenhoefer returns to the Center’s Renberg Theatre on Saturday, May 30, at 8pm and Sunday, May 31 at 7pm.

Suzanne Westenhoefer in a word: candid. She’s refreshingly candid, disturbingly candid, and oh-my-god-she-just-said-that candid. Happily, she’s funny, too. For a quarter century this bold, brazen out lesbian comedian has been traveling the world, sharing her heart and soul with audiences. Whatever is going on in Westenhoefer’s life, you’ll get an earful of it. She doesn’t tell jokes. She tells the truth — or the truth as filtered through her uniquely twisted life experience. Every show Westenhoefer performs is original, as her candor problem leaves no room for scripting.

Raised by a single mom in Pennsylvania’s Amish Country, Westenhoefer knows what it’s like to stick out like a sore thumb. It made her even more daring and precocious. Her openness has blazed a trail of firsts, including being the first openly lesbian comedian with an HBO special and the first openly lesbian comedian on Late Night with David Letterman. Westenhoefer has recorded eight comedy DVDs, including the GLAMA Award-winning Nothing in My Closet but My Clothes, I’m Not Cindy Brady, and Guaranteed Freak. For more, visit www.suzannew.com.

Net proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the full range of the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s free and low-cost programs and services. General admission tickets are $25. On Saturday 5/30 only, VIP tickets are available for $50 and include preferred seating, a signed DVD, and a post-performance reception with Ms. Westenhoefer. All seats may be purchased online at www.lalgbtcenter.org/theatre or by phone at (323) 860-7300.

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Renberg 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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04-21-15

NEWS RELEASE — LA STAGE ALLIANCE CEO TERENCE McFARLAND DEPARTS APRIL 30

LA STAGE ALLIANCE CEO TERENCE McFARLAND
DEPARTS FOR LEADERSHIP POSITION
AT VALLEY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY NORTHRIDGE

LA STAGE ALLIANCE BOARD LOOKS TO NEW LEADERSHIP
TO CONTINUE THE WORK OF THE 40-YEAR-OLD
ARTS SERVICE ORGANIZATION

LA STAGE Alliance Chief Executive Officer Terence McFarland will be stepping down effective April 30 after an 11-year tenure at the not-for-profit arts service organization, it was announced today by the LASA Board of Directors. On June 1, McFarland becomes Associate Executive Director at Valley Performing Arts Center, California State University, Northridge. He will join Executive Director Thor Steingraber in leading VPAC with multiple and varied responsibilities which include business development, institutional fundraising, box office, finance, community and campus engagement, and a variety of programming initiatives.

“Our thanks to Terence for his decade plus of service to our organization and to our community,” said Board Chair and La Mirada Theatre Producing Artistic Director Brian Kite. “He is an incredible leader and has guided us through many challenges and successes. I’m pleased that Terence is staying within the Southern California arts community and look forward to continued work with him as a colleague, artist, and friend.”

“What a thrilling time I’ve had leading this organization for the last eleven-and-a-half years,” said McFarland. “I want to thank the members of the board, the remarkable artists, administrators and leaders of our membership, and the tremendous staff I’ve had the extraordinarily good fortune to work with and learn from during my time at LASA. It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve this robust and dynamic community.” He continued, “I’m proud of the many partnerships we’ve developed during my years at LA STAGE Alliance and the nimbleness with which the staff and I have been able to address the shifting needs of the community with the resources at hand. My tenure has been dedicated to raising the floor for the entire community while focusing on building capacity for the ‘accidental arts administrators’ who lead so many of our cultural organizations. I’m most proud of our success at strengthening and diversifying our contributed income in service to the community and I thank the long list of funders who have enabled our programs to serve Los Angeles. What a joy to know that I depart having recently secured the single largest donation in LASA’s history — the gift from Bill Bordy — a gift that secures five years of operational support for the arts journalism program.” McFarland concluded, “I look forward to seeing the resilient LA STAGE Alliance organization adapt and thrive under new leadership.”

The LA STAGE Alliance Board has engaged Karen Constine, an arts/culture management consultant, to serve as the Consulting Interim Director. Constine provides strategic counsel and management consulting to entertainment and economic development nonprofits, government agencies and corporate clients, and has served in leadership capacities including Interim General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. Constine and the board will also draw upon the extensive resources of the LASA staff among others to help carry out the mission and programming of LA STAGE Alliance during the transition. Board Chair Brian Kite also announced a search committee will be formed immediately to identify the next Executive Director.

Since 1975, LA STAGE Alliance has empowered artists and engaged audiences through a series of programs, events, and advocacy efforts. All of its initiatives aim to serve and strengthen the sector — both at an individual and community level — providing resources that facilitate audience engagement, collaborative marketing, community building, and professional development. Among its accomplishments, LA STAGE Alliance produces the annual Ovation Awards, organizes LA STAGE Day to train and support arts administrators, offers convenient and clear access and pricing for rehearsal space, rents set and costume pieces to member and non-member companies and partners with technology firms such as Patron Technology and TRG for ticketing and database solutions for all member organizations. The major funders of LA STAGE Alliance include The Shari and Les Biller Family Foundation, Bill Bordy, California Arts Council, California Community Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, DEW Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, The Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Walt Disney Company, NBC/Universal, and RSF Social Finance.

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04-20-15