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NEWS RELEASE ▪︎ MORE THAN 50 ACTORS SET TO PARTICIPATE IN THE BLNK THEATRE’S 25th ANNIVERSARY YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL

MICHAEL GRANT TERRY, JANINA GAVANKAR,
LENNY JACOBSON, JENNIFER STONE
AND MORE SET TO PARTICIPATE IN
THE BLANK THEATRE’S
25TH ANNIVERSARY
YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL
JUNE 1–25

More than 50 actors have been set to participate in The Blank Theatre’s 25th Anniversary Young Playwrights Festival, including Michael Grant Terry (Bones, NCIS, Grimm, CSI), Janina Gavankar (The Mysteries of Laura, The Vampire Diaries, Grey’s Anatomy), Lenny Jacobson (Nurse Jackie, Frequency, Big Time in Hollywood, FL), and Jennifer Stone (Wizards of Waverly Place). Twelve winning plays by young playwrights aged 17, 18, and 19 from six different states will be presented during this year’s festival at the Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood, running from June 1–25.

Other notable performers scheduled to appear are (in alphabetical order) Tess Aubert, Paris Benjamin, Luke Benward (Ravenswood, Good Luck Charlie), David Bloom (Wet Hot American Summer), Tor Brown, Elena Campbell-Martinez, Nick Cardiff, A.B. Cassidy, David Castaneda, Kate Connor, Kimberly Crandall, George Baron Dalton, Shannon Dang, Mark Daugherty, Cecile Del Rosario, Ming-Wei Cyprian Fasquelle, Lainnie Felan, Jessie Franks, Tim Gabriel, Evan Holtzman, Alyssa Jirrels, Tim Jo (The Neighbors, Glory Daze), Stephanie Jones, John F. Knight, Elizabeth Knoweleden, Bethany Joy Lenz (Dexter, One Tree Hill, American Gothic), Mallory Nakamura Low, Ross MacKenzie, Jamie McRae, Megan McGown, Madison McLaughlin (Arrow, Chicago PD, Modern Family), Kate McNeil (NCIS: Los Angeles, Mad Men), Jamie McRae, Eve Moon, Marguerite Moreau (Wet Hot American Summer, Parenthood), Toyin Moses, Kaori Neville, Gabriela Ortega, Lizzie Peet, Cait Pool, Hannah Prichard, Cameron Protzman, Laura Seay, Emma Shannon, Hojo Shin, Ben Stillwell, Wyatt Stromer, Debra Sullivan, Jack Terbush, Larry Van Buren, Roxy Wood, Jeff Witzke, and Bridger Zadina.

The Blank Theatre’s 25th Anniversary Young Playwrights Festival runs Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm, beginning June 1 and continuing through June 25 at the Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Boulevard (at Highland), in Hollywood. Each week’s program includes three plays. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for students. Festival Passes, which include one ticket for each week, are $80 for adults and $50 for students. Tickets may be purchased online at www.theblank.com 0r by calling (323) 661-9827.

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05-30-17

NEWS RELEASE ▪︎ THE BLANK SOIRÉE CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF THE YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL ▪︎ SUNDAY, JUNE 4 at 6pm

HOLLYWOOD’S BLANK THEATRE

CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF THE
YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL
THE BLANK SOIRÉE
A Benefit Reunion

HONORING CASTING DIRECTOR
APRIL WEBSTER
AND FIVE-TIME YPF WINNER AUSTIN WINSBERG

HOSTED BY BELLAMY YOUNG
Star of ABC-TV’s SCANDAL

SUNDAY, JUNE 4
PROJECT CLUB LA IN HOLLYWOOD

Hollywood’s Blank Theatre has announced The Blank Soirée, A Benefit Reunion celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Young Playwrights Festival, on Sunday, June 4 at 6pm. Hosted by Bellamy Young (star of ABC-TV’s Scandal), the event will honor casting director April Webster and five-time YPF winner Austin Winsberg for their ongoing and tireless efforts on behalf of the Young Playwrights Festival, an LA theatre institution. The event will take place at Project Club LA in Hollywood.

The Blank Soirée will feature a celebration of nearly 300 young playwrights and their amazing work over the last 25 years. Hollywood Councilman Mitch O’Farrell (13th District) will be on hand to present The Blank with a special citation. Past winners, cast members, and creative staff will be joined by special celebrity guests and other surprises. A short documentary on the Festival’s history will be shown and there will be presentations and readings from past Festival works featuring (in alphabetical order) Shawn Ashmore, Deborah S. Craig, Mark Feuerstein, Kat Foster, Nathan Frizzell, Nina Millin, Matthew Scott Montgomery, Eric Nenninger, and Lindsey Rosin. Food, drinks, and music will round out the evening. All celebrity appearances are subject to availability.

Casting director April Webster has worked on an eclectic mix of film, television, and theatre projects including Star Wars, Star Trek, Mission Impossible III, Super 8, Bates Motel, The Strain, Lost, and CSI. She is an Emmy Award-winner and has also received two Media Access Awards, several CSA Artios Awards, and the Hoyt Bowers Award for Excellence in Casting. Austin Winsberg is primarily a writer/producer for film and television. His credits include The Sound of Music Live, Jake in Progress, Gossip Girl, Wedding Album, Standing Still, and Glory Days. He wrote the book for the 2013 Broadway musical First Date which is currently playing around the United States and throughout the world. He is a five-time winner of the Young Playwrights Festival.

Ticket prices for The Blank Soirée are $125 for general admission and $250 for VIP tickets which include a private reception at 5pm, premium reserved seating, and a hosted bar. To purchase tickets online go to www.TheBlank.com or call (323) 871-8018. Project Club LA is located at 6356 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.

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05-30-17

NEWS RELEASE ▪︎ COEURAGE THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS WORLD PREMIERE of “NICKY” by BONI B. ALVAREZ ▪︎ OPENS JUNE 3 at 8pm

COEURAGE THEATRE COMPANY

LA’S PAY WHAT YOU WANT THEATRE COMPANY

 PRESENTS

NICKY

A WORLD PREMIERE PLAY

 BY BONI B. ALVAREZ

DIRECTED BY BETH LOPES

OPENS SATURDAY, JUNE 3

AT THE GREENWAY COURT THEATRE

Coeurage Theatre Company 2017 logoCoeurage Theatre Company, LA’s Pay What You Want theatre company, has announced the first production of its eighth season, the world premiere of Nicky, by acclaimed Los Angeles playwright Boni B. Alvarez. Directed by Beth Lopes, there will be two preview performances on June 1 and 2 at 8pm and opening is set for Saturday, June 3 at 8pm. Nicky will play through July 1 at the Greenway Court Theatre. 

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Chris Aguila, Jamie Barcelon, Ted Barton, Alexis Genya, Taylor Hawthorne, Mark Jacobson, Daniel Kaemon, Nardeep Khurmi, Jeremy Lelliott, Julia Silverman, Emily Swallow, Cyrus Wilcox, Sandy Yu,and Carolyn Zeller. Scenic design is by Benoît Guerrin, lighting design is by Azra King-Abadi, costume design is by Karen Curry, and sound design is by Michelle Stann. The stage manager is Summer Grubaugh.

Inspired by Anton Chekhov’s Ivanov, playwright Alvarez transforms the world of 1800s Russia into  present-day Palm Springs.  Under  the  piercing  desert  sun,  characters plod through the unforgiving heat, clinging to their self-described identities while chasing after and running away from their true desires. Nicky was developed in the Coeurage CoLab.

Boni B. Alvarez is a Los Angeles-based playwright whose plays have been produced and/or developed at Playwrights’ Arena, Skylight Theatre, Chalk Rep, Second Generation (2g), The Vagrancy, Los Angeles Theatre Center, Teatro Bravo, and Interact Theatre. His plays include Before We Do, Bloodletting, Dusty De Los Santos, Marabella, The Special Education of Miss Lorna Cambonga, Poke Back, Dallas Non-Stop, The Debut of Georgia, and others. His works have been finalists for the PEN Center USA Literary Award, the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Aurora Theatre’s Global Age Project, and Clubbed Thumb’s Biennial Commission. Alvarez has participated in Playwrights’ Arena’s New Pages Lab, the CBS Diversity Writers Mentoring Program, Skylight Theatre’s Play Lab, and Center Theatre Group’s Writers’ Workshop.

Director Beth Lopes received a BFA in Drama from New York University and an MFA in Directing from UC Irvine. Recent projects include the regional premiere ofGrand Concourse with Theatre Horizon, the world premiere of Alex Burkart’s Atlas Pit(LA New Court Theatre), and the development of a new rock musical, The Merry Lives of Windsor High, with LA company mediaV. Later this summer, Lopes will be directing The Taming of the Shrew at the New Swan Shakespeare Festival.

Coeurage Theatre Company exists to make impassioned theatre accessible for all audiences through Pay What You Want admission and fresh, challenging productions. The company’s name is inspired by a re–imagining of the word courage — coeur is French for heart, and rage, meaning fervor; on fire. Together, Coeurage (pronounced “courage”) is a heart enflamed with passion, which the company strives to bring to every production.

There will be two preview performances of Nicky on Thursday, June 1 and Friday, June 2 at 8pm and opening is set for Saturday, June 3 at 8pm. The regular running schedule is Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8pm through July 1. All seats are available on a Pay What You Want basis and may be reserved online at www.greenwaycourttheatre.org/nicky or by calling (323) 673-0544.

The Greenway Court Theatre is located at 544 N. Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles, 90036. Free parking is available in the lot adjacent to the theatre.

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05-10-17