NEWS RELEASE — COEURAGE THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS “THE SPARROW” — WEST COAST PREMIERE OPENS SATURDAY 10/24

COEURAGE THEATRE COMPANY
LA’S PAY WHAT YOU WANT THEATRE COMPANY
PRESENTS
THE WEST COAST PREMIERE OF
THE SPARROW
BY CHRIS MATHEWS, JAKE MINTON, AND NATHAN ALLEN
DIRECTED BY JOSEPH V. CALARCO

OPENS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24
AT THE HISTORIC LANKERSHIM ARTS CENTER

Coeurage Theatre Company, LA’s Pay What You Want Company, has announced the final production of its 2015 season, the West Coast premiere of The Sparrow by Chris Mathews, Jake Minton, and Nathan Allen. Directed by Joseph V. Calarco, there will be one preview performance on October 23 at 8pm and opening is set for Saturday, October 24 at 8pm. The Sparrow will play through November 21 at the Historic Lankershim Arts Center.

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) David Crane, Audrey Flegel, Katelyn Gault, Joel Gelman, Nardeep Khurmi, Jane Lui, John McKetta, Jeffrey Nichols, Katie Pelensky, Lillian Solange, Danni Spring, Cyrus Wilcox, and Malika Williams. Scenic design is by Kristin Browning Campbell, lighting design is by Benoît Guérin, costume design is by Rebecca Guzzi, and sound design is by Joseph V. Calarco. Choreography is by Tasheena Medina, fight choreography is by TJ Marchbank, and original music is by Gregory Nabours. The stage manager is Emily Goodall.

In The Sparrow, a small-town girl returns home 10 years after a tragic accident that claimed the lives of her entire class. As the town struggles to move on from the loss and accept her, she must hide the special powers that make her different and come to terms with her past. The Chicago Sun-Times called The Sparrow, “A three-dimensional graphic novel about the passion of family and community life, the importance of myth, and the pain of exile.”

There will be one preview performance on Friday, October 23 at 8pm and opening is set for Saturday, October 24 at 8pm. The regular running schedule is Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8pm through November 21. All seats are available on a Pay What You Want basis, and may be reserved online at www.coeurage.org/sparrow or by calling (323) 944-2165.

The Historic Lankershim Arts Center is located at 5108 Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood, 91601.

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09-24-15

NEWS RELEASE — WORLD PREMIERE DRAMA “CAGED” OPENS FRIDAY 10/16 AT THEATRE BANSHEE

MEAN MACHINE PRODUCTIONS
AND GEORGANNE ALDRICH HELLER
IN ASSOCIATION WITH THEATRE BANSHEE PRESENT
A WORLD PREMIERE PLAY
CAGED
BY DERMOT DAVIS
FEATURING ELIZABETH LANDE AND JOHNNY O’CALLAGHAN
DIRECTED BY TIM BYRON OWEN

OCTOBER 15 — NOVEMBER 22
OPENS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16 AT 8PM

Mean Machine Productions and Georganne Aldrich Heller in association with Theatre Banshee have announced the world premiere production of a new drama, Caged by Dermot Davis. Featuring Elizabeth Lande and Johnny O’Callaghan and directed by Tim Byron Owen, Caged will play one preview on October 15 at 8pm and opening is set for Friday, October 16 at 8pm. The engagement will run through November 22 only at Theatre Banshee in Burbank.

In Caged, two strangers find themselves trapped together in the elevator of a deserted high rise building late at night. Their worlds are turned upside down in a desperate struggle against the raw, primal animal that lives just below the surface in all of us.

Elizabeth Lande has been seen in many stage productions in Los Angeles and around the country. Credits include Remembrance, Kin, and American Wee-Pie (Theatre 40), As You Like It (Yale Repertory Theatre), A Knife in the Heart (New Dramatists), Look Back in Anger (Williamstown Theatre Festival), and King Henry IV, Part 2 (New Jersey Shakespeare Festival). She is a graduate of The Yale School of Drama.

Johnny O’Callaghan most recently appeared in Remembrance at Theatre 40. His Ovation Award-nominated solo show Who’s Your Daddy? in LA launched a move to Off-Broadway, Edinburgh, and Toronto. Other Off-Broadway successes include Howie The Rookie, Ladies and Gents in the toilets of Central Park at The Irish Arts Center, and The Hostage at The Irish Repertory Theatre. His critically acclaimed solo performance in Conor McPherson’s Rum and Vodka followed in New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto.

Dermot Davis is an award-winning playwright and author. He was formerly a child actor in Dublin, Ireland and he is the co-founder of Laughing Gravy Theatre (which performed the best of Irish and European theatre as well as some original plays by Davis). He has had plays performed in Dublin, Boston, Los Angeles, and at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, NC. He is a recipient of the O.Z. Whitehead Award for Playwriting and his novels so far have won total of seven literary awards to date.

Tim Byron Owen has produced, directed, or appeared in over 60 productions with theatre companies in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, London, Dublin, Edinburgh, and Cardiff. He co-founded The Sarah Fulton Group in Sherman Oaks which has produced numerous theatre projects as well as several short films. Some of Owen’s directing credits include A Night In November, Fighting Words, The Walworth Farce, Love Me Deadly, Falling Upward, Jimmy & Sam, Spoken Words, and Remembrance, among many other award-winning productions.

There will be one preview performance of Caged on Thursday, October 15 at 8pm and opening is set for Friday, October 16 at 8pm. The regular running schedule is Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 3pm through November 22 only. General admission tickets are $20 and may be obtained online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2181781 or by calling (800) 838-3006. Theatre Banshee is located at 3435 W. Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank, 91505.

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09-18-15

NEWS RELEASE — WORLD PREMIERE COMEDY “TELL MR. POULOS” OPENS SAT 10/3 AT 8PM — DORIE THEATRE AT THE COMPLEX

WILDTOWN PRODUCTIONS
ANNOUNCES A LIMITED ENGAGEMENT OF
THE WORLD PREMIERE COMEDY

TELL MR. POULOS
BY DONALD WOLLNER
DIRECTED BY PAGE BURKHOLDER

FOUR WEEKS ONLY
OCTOBER 1 — 25
OPENS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3 AT 8PM

WildTown Productions has announced a limited engagement of the world premiere comedy TELL MR. POULOS by Donald Wollner at the Dorie Theatre at the Complex in Hollywood beginning October 1. Directed by Page Burkholder, the play will begin previews on October 1 at 8pm and opening is set for Saturday, October 3 at 8pm. The limited engagement will run through October 25 only.

The cast of Tell Mr. Poulos will feature (in alphabetical order) Lindsey Andersen, Beresford Bennett, Kina Bermudez, Yetta Gottesman, and one more actor to be announced. The design team will include Rebecca Raines (lighting) and Bill Campbell (sound).

When Jimmy Meadows loses his job after 10 years of loyal service, his once stable life spirals into ridiculousness. Job interviews lead only to degradation. Aloof from his wife, he takes up with an admiring, beautiful, but deeply disturbed young woman. Jimmy’s lonely wife, a nurse, enters into a bizarre relationship with a 90-year-old patient under her care. Into this turmoil comes the enigmatic Mr. Poulos, who rents a room in the Meadows’ apartment. Is he a seer? A spy? Or is he just an old guy who reads Greek language newspapers all day?

Playwright Donald Wollner is a two-time recipient of an NYFA grant for playwrighting. Some of his other plays include Kid Purple, Badgers, Lone Deer, The Harvard Club, Men in Waiting, and Bavarian Humor. Tell Mr. Poulos was workshopped at Labyrinth Theatre’s 2013 Summer Intensive, and Kid Purple is scheduled for a production by The Never Wonder Players in Sherman Oaks this month.

In New York City, Page Burkholder has directed for The Women’s Project, HERE, Clubbed Thumb, Theater for the New City, The Flea Theater, Dixon Place, and New Dramatists. In Tucson, AZ she has worked with The Invisible Theater and Shakespeare Under the Stars.

Preview performances of Tell Mr. Poulos are on Thursday, October 1 at 8pm and Friday, October 2 at 8pm. Opening is set for Saturday, October 3 at 8pm. The regular running schedule is Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 5pm through October 25 only. General admission tickets are $10 and may be obtained online at http://wildtown.org/ or by calling (866) 811-4111. The Dorie Theatre at the Complex is located at 6476 Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood, 90038.

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09-08-15