NEWS RELEASE — “GOD’S MAN IN TEXAS” BY DAVID RAMBO SET FOR LIMITED ENGAGEMENT AT 2ND STAGE THEATRE — OPENS SATURDAY 8/15 at 8pm

GOD’S MAN IN TEXAS
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY DAVID RAMBO

A GUEST PRODUCTION
AT THE BLANK’S 2nd STAGE THEATRE

FOUR WEEKS ONLY
AUGUST 13 — SEPTEMBER 5
OPENS SATURDAY 8/15 AT 8PM

A new production of the comic drama God’s Man In Texas by David Rambo has been announced as a guest production at The Blank Theatre’s 2nd Stage in Hollywood. Directed by Rambo, the engagement will run four weeks only with previews on Thursday 8/13, Friday 8/14, and opening set for Saturday, 8/15 at 8pm.

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Tom Costello, Ted Heyck, and Brian Letscher (currently seen as Secret Service Agent Tom Larsen on ABC-TV’s Scandal). Set design is by Chad Dellinger, lighting design is by Martha Carter, and sound design is by Tony Award-nominee Cricket Myers. The stage manager is Samantha Else.

A comic drama about the struggle for power in a Houston mega-church, God’s Man In Texas was hailed at its Humana Festival debut as “the pick of the litter” in 1999. Over the following two years, it became one of the 10 most produced plays in the country, including productions at The Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles and The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego.

Playwright/Director David Rambo is the author of the plays The Lady With All The Answers (Off-Broadway starring Judith Ivey, Lortel Award nomination), The Ice-Breaker, Babbitt, an all new book for Lerner and Loewe’s Paint Your Wagon, The Lifeguard: Ronald Reagan and His Story, and God’s Man In Texas. His work has been widely produced at regional theatres throughout the country, including Actors Theatre of Louisville, Geffen Playhouse, The Old Globe, Denver Center Theatre, Alliance Theatre, and The Pasadena Playhouse. He has adapted several classic screenplays for live performance, including All About Eve, Casablanca, Adam’s Rib, and Sunset Boulevard, which was produced at the Hollywood Bowl with John Mauceri conducting Franz Waxman’s Oscar-winning score. Rambo has written and produced hundreds of hours of prime time television, including Empire, Revolution, V, and seven seasons of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

There will be two preview performances of God’s Man In Texas on Thursday, August 13 at 8pm and Friday, August 14 at 8pm, and opening is set for Saturday, August 15 at 8pm. The regular running schedule will be Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm through September 5 only. Preview seats are $20 and seats for regular performances are $30. Tickets may be purchased online at godsmanintexas.bpt.me, or via phone by calling (800) 838-3006.

The Blank’s 2nd Stage Theatre is located at 6500 Santa Monica Boulevard (at Wilcox), in Hollwyood, 90038.

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08-03-15

NEWS RELEASE — JP Karliak’s DONNA/MADONNA returns for 4 performances only — SEPTEMBER 10—13

DONNA/MADONNA
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY JP KARLIAK
DIRECTED BY TIGER REEL AND MATTHEW CRAIG

RETURNS TO HOLLYWOOD’S LOUNGE THEATRE
FOUR PERFORMANCES ONLY
SEPTEMBER 10-11-12-13

Photo courtesy Rizzo 39 Productions

Donna/Madonna, the critically acclaimed, award-winning solo show written and performed by JP Karliak, will return to the Lounge Theatre in Hollywood for a special engagement of four performances only, it was announced today by Rizzo 39 Productions. Directed by Tiger Reel and Matthew Craig, Donna/Madonna is set to run Thursday, September 10 — Sunday, September 13 only.

In this autobiographical one-act, writer/performer JP Karliak wants desperately to be the perfect son for his adopted mother, a doting Catholic housewife from Scranton, PA. But realizing he will never be the ideal local boy, he seeks answers from a very different source: his fashion-writing, married-to-a-British-pop-star birth mother. Donna/Madonna is a tale of motherly love and finding acceptance told through stories, songs, and characters like Darth Vader, Carol Channing, and JP’s unforgettable mothers. Hilarious and poignant, this cross-country journey from Scranton to Los Angeles shows that sometimes you have to meet a “Material Girl” to truly appreciate “America’s Sweetheart.”

Donna/Madonna was the winner of the Best One Man Show Award at the 2010 United Solo Theatre Festival in New York and was recognized for Overall Excellence in Solo Performance at the 2011 New York International Fringe Festival. It won the Best of Fringe Award at the 2011 San Francisco Fringe Festival and StageSceneLA ‘Scenie’ Awards for Outstanding Production, Solo Performance, Best Direction of a Solo Performance, and Best Solo Performance (2010-11).

Of Donna/Madonna, the LA Weekly said, “GO! Karliak’s execution is top-drawer. His delivery is brisk … and … his sense of humor is contemplative but unsentimental. Inhabiting the skin of his drastically different mothers, Karliak’s range is gleefully apparent.” And Back Stage said, “Karliak has a startling skill for changing on a dime from flamboyant, extroverted, and stylized performance artist to a direct and sincere man. This breezily insightful presentation celebrates what his two maternal parents did for him. Critic’s Pick!”

JP Karliak hails from the “Electric City,” Scranton, PA. His voice-over credits include Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., Skylanders, Lego Marvel Avengers. On-Camera: Real Husbands of Hollywood, Ringer. Los Angeles theatre work includes The Mistakes Madeline Made; The Girl, the Grouch & the Goat; Into the Woods; Inherit the Wind; and Women and Wallace. Karliak is a graduate of the USC School of Theatre, iO West, and Second City Training Center. He has written numerous short films and plays which have been produced in various locales around the country.

Co-Directors Tiger Reel and Matthew Craig boast impressive credits in both theatre and television. Reel is the Founding Artistic Director of the Action! Theatre Company where his directing credits include the West Coast premieres of There Is a Happiness That Morning Is, Slaughterhouse-Five, and Cartoon, as well as his award-winning adaptation of The Merchant of Venice. Craig performed nationwide with The Second City Touring Company, worked as a writer on Saturday Night Live during the 2010-2011 season, and currently writes and produces Wabbit: A Looney Tunes Production for WB animation.

Donna/Madonna will play four performances only: Thursday, September 10 at 8pm; Friday, September 11 at 8pm; Saturday, September 12 at 8pm; and Sunday, September 13 at 3pm. Run time is 70 minutes. General admission seating is $20 and tickets are available online at https://www.plays411.com/donna or by calling (323) 206-6427. The Lounge Theatre is located at 6201 Santa Monica Boulevard (at El Centro), in Hollywood, 90038. For more info, visit www.donnamadonnashow.com.

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08-03-15

_{Photo Credit: JP Karliak. Photo by Jason B. Chen.}