Announcing: LA Stage Alliance Announces LA Stage Day, Saturday 5/18

LA STAGE ALLIANCE ANNOUNCES
LA STAGE DAY
A DAY-LONG COMMUNITY EVENT
FOR PERFORMERS, DESIGNERS, ADMINISTRATORS,
STUDENTS, VENDORS, AND PATRONS OF THE ARTS
ON THE CAMPUS OF
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY LOS ANGELES
SATURDAY, MAY 18

LA STAGE Alliance has announced LA STAGE DAY, a day-long community event for the greater Los Angeles performing arts community. Generously hosted by California State University Los Angeles, the activities will take place on the campus of CSULA on Saturday, May 18, from 8:30am – 7pm.

LA STAGE DAY is set to include provocative inspirational presentations from engaged community members; interactive sessions centered on what’s working and what’s next; a midday bazaar expo with staffed information tables of LA STAGE Alliance and Dance Resource Center member companies, partners, and affiliates; and artistic workshops led by a diverse group of local artists. As an added bonus, coordinated trips to see shows and performances will be available in the evening. The more than eight hours of performing arts community building will also include coffee and pastries (during morning check-in), several food trucks, and cocktails.

“Our aim with LA STAGE DAY is to come together to inspire and inform one another through provocative conversations and the exchange of ideas and information,” said LA STAGE CEO Terence McFarland. He continued, “Our performing arts community is filled with brilliance; LA STAGE DAY hopes to shine a light on the best of what we have to offer.”

A multitude of discussions, workshops, and sessions designed to inspire and exchange creative ideas will be offered throughout the day. Some of the categories scheduled to be explored are: Engaging with High School and College Audiences, Career Paths in LA Performing Arts, Social Media Stories, and Blue Skying – What’s Your Big Artistic Idea? Artistic workshops will be led by Ryan Heffington (Dance), Debbie McMahon (Melodrama), Che’Rae Adams (Playwrighting), and Johanna Smith (Puppetry), and more.

Among the speakers currently scheduled to share and inspire are DJ Kurs, Chris Anthony, Alice Tuan, Craig Fleming, Erin Quill, Yosi Sargeant, Yuval Sharon, Evelina Fernandez, Michelle Ramos-Burkhart, Thor Steingraber, Tim Carpenter, and Mark Seldis. Additional activities and speakers will be added to the schedule in the coming days.

LA STAGE Alliance, a non-profit organization empowering artists and engaging audiences since 1975, is dedicated to building awareness, appreciation, and support for the performing arts in Greater Los Angeles by strengthening the sector through community building, collaborative marketing, audience engagement, professional development, and advocacy.

LA STAGE Alliance programs are sponsored, in part, by Actors Equity Association, The Angell Foundation, Bakers Man Productions, California Arts Council, California Community Foundation, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, DatabaseWorks, DEW Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Entertainment Lighting Services (ELS), Goldstar, Ken Werther Publicity, the James Irvine Foundation, Los Angeles County Supervisors through the LA County Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

For up-to-the-minute information and schedule of activities for LA STAGE DAY, visit http://www.lastagealliance.com/lastageday/.

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05-10-13

Announcing: Listing Info & Play Descriptions – The Blank Theatre’s 21st Annual Young Playwrights Festival

THE BLANK THEATRE
21ST ANNUAL YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL

Professional actors and directors present 12 winning plays by young playwrights from across the nation during this prestigious four-week
festival. Three different plays are presented each week. For complete list of plays and performance dates, see schedule below. For complete list of play descriptions, mentors, and directors, visit www.TheBlank.com or www.youngplaywrights.com.

DATES: June 6 – 30

TIMES: Thurs/Fri/Sat at 8pm; Sun at 2pm

ADMISSION: Adults $20 Students $14. Festival Pass (one seat each week) $64

TICKET INFO: Available online at www.TheBlank.com, or by calling (323) 661-9827.

LOCATION: The Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Boulevard (at Highland), in Hollywood.

WEEK ONE June 6 – 9

THE GATES
By Margaret Abigail Flowers (age 17), Interlochen, MI

MOM, PUT YOUR FLASK AWAY
By Eliana Pipes (age 16), Altadena, CA

DOWNSIZING
By Nick Mecikalski (age 19), Madison, AL

WEEK TWO June 13 – 16

SOX
By Spencer Emerson Opal-Levine (age 10), Sarasota, FL

EVE
By Patric Verrone (age 17), Pacific Palisades, CA

SURVIVAL STRATEGY
By Nicole Acton (age 19), Galesburg, IL

WEEK THREE June 20 – 23

SAM’S BIRTHDAY PARTY
By Tanner Laguatan (age 17), Coto de Caza, CA

REVE D’AMOUR
By May Treuhaft-Ali (age 17), Jackson Heights, NY

BLACK ICE
By Max Friedlich (age 18), New York, NY

WEEK FOUR June 27 – 30

NOT A GOOD TIME
By Hanel Baveja (age 16), Ann Arbor, MI

GAY MEANS HAPPY
By Rachel Kaly (age 17), Forest Hills, NY

THE EMPTY MAN
By Danny Rothschild (age 19), Interlochen, MI

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05-10-13

Announcing: 2Cents Theatre Group Presents ‘RENT’ and ‘Private Eyes’ at Hudson Theatre, Opening on May 24

2CENTS THEATRE GROUP PRESENTS
JONATHAN LARSON’S
TONY AWARD AND PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING
RENT, the musical
IN REPERTORY WITH
PRIVATE EYES BY STEVEN DIETZ

MAY 24 – JUNE 30
AT THE HUDSON THEATRE IN HOLLYWOOD

2Cents Theatre Group has announced its production of Rent, Jonathan Larson’s legendary Broadway smash hit, which is now celebrating its 20th anniversary. Directed by Kristen Boulé, with musical direction by Morgan Fitch, Rent is set to open on Friday, May 24. Private Eyes by Steven Dietz, directed by Shaunessy Quinn, opens on Thursday, May 30, and it will run in repertory with Rent, through June 30 at the Hudson Theatre Mainstage in Hollywood.

Based on Puccini’s La Boheme, Rent is a rock opera that tells the story of one year in the life of a group of bohemians struggling in East Village New York during the 1990s. The story centers around Mark and Roger, two roommates. While a former tragedy has made Roger numb to life, Mark tries to capture it through his attempts to make a film. In the year that follows, the group deals with love, loss, AIDS, and modern day life, all wrapped up in one powerful story.

Private Eyes is a play about deception and broken trust, labeled by the author as a “comedy of suspicion,” as the story is told in multiple layers and the audience is repeatedly tricked to believe that the current situation is real. It is sometimes considered an homage to The Real Thing (by Tom Stoppard, 1982), a play with the same theme and techniques. Although each layer by itself is deceptively plausible, the play takes several turns that make events in previous layers and sometimes even the overall story impossible.

Rent director Kristen Boulé is the founding artistic director of 2Cents Theatre Group currently in residence at the Hudson Theatres. She directs their 2nd Sundays Cabaret which appears monthly in the Hudson Café. Rent marks Boulé’s third show at the Hudson, following The Last Five Years in 2012, and her own Dreams in Variation in 2011. Boulé, a filmmaker from Baltimore, has worked on films including Eagle Eye, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Body of Lies, Live Free or Die Hard, State of Play, and The Green Hornet, as well as several network television series. Private Eyes director Shaunessy Quinn has directed readings and full productions in Illinois and Los Angeles, among them Toll, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, The Pilo Family Circus, Hassle Free Delivery, Parlour Games, and Feeling Up. He has also served as assistant director on Deathtrap, The Sonneteer, Lemon Durang Pie, and Equus in and around LA.

The cast of Rent will feature (in alphabetical order) Dedrick Bonner, Kate Bowman, Amber Bracken, Ariel Brooker, Cole Chapman, Brian Gamble, Lauren Joy Goss, Jonathon Grant, Michael Levine, Juan Lozano, Alli Miller, Tyler Olshansky, Reagan Osborne, Deondray Randolph, and Jessika Rowe. The cast of Private Eyes is (in alphabetical order) Philip Asta, Deigo Garcia, Mikayla Park, Tiffany Roberts, and Theresa Tilly. Both productions will feature set design by Anderson William, lighting design by Donny Jackson, and costume design by Abbey Hocker. Stage manager is Nick Acciani, and producers for 2Cents Theatre Group are Kristen Boulé, Cody Lyman, Kate Bowman, Tiffany Roberts, and Mike Abramson (producer of DOMA Theatre Company’s recent productions of Avenue Q and Dreamgirls, both which were designated as Ovation Recommended and LA Times Critics Choice).

Rent opens on Friday, May 24 at 8pm, with a red carpet gala beginning at 6:30, and will run Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 7pm through June 30. General admission tickets for Rent are $34, with student and senior tickets available for $25 with valid ID. Private Eyes opens on Thursday, May 30 at 8pm, and will play Thursday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm, also through June 30. General admission tickets for Private Eyes are $20, with student and senior tickets available for $15 with valid ID. To purchase tickets for Rent online, go to www.plays411.com/rent, and to purchase online for Private Eyes, go to www.plays411.com/eyes. To purchase by phone, the number to call for both shows is (323) 960-4410.

The Hudson Theatre is located at 6539 Santa Monica Boulevard, on Theatre Row in Hollywood, 90038. Parking is available across from the theatre on Hudson Avenue ($5).

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05-09-13