NEWS RELEASE — THE BLANK THEATRE PRESENTS “SOMETHING TRULY MONSTROUS” — WORLD PREMIERE PLAY OPENS SAT 10/3

CAST & DESIGNERS SET
FOR THE BLANK THEATRE’S
WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION OF
SOMETHING TRULY MONSTROUS
BY JEFF TABNICK
DIRECTED BY DANIEL HENNING

PERFORMANCES BEGIN SEPTEMBER 26
AT THE BLANK’S 2nd STAGE THEATRE

The cast and designers have been set for The Blank Theatre’s world premiere production of Something Truly Monstrous by Jeff Tabnick, directed by Daniel Henning. Preview performances begin September 26 with opening night set for Saturday, October 3, and the engagement will run through November 8.

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Jason Paul Field, Amir Levi, and Jilon VanOver. Set design is by Chad Dellinger, lighting design is by Jeremy Pivnick, costume design is by Allison Dillard, and sound design is by Warren Davis. The stage manager is Samantha Else, and Something Truly Monstrous is produced for The Blank Theatre by Daniel Henning, Noah Wyle, and Sarah A. Bauer.

Something Truly Monstrous is based on the Hollywood rumor that on the night John Barrymore died, Peter Lorre and Humphrey Bogart stole his body and went joy riding. On the day Hollywood finally killed John Barrymore, Jack Warner offers a studio contract to Peter Lorre, who is currently shooting Casablanca. Saddled with expensive tastes and a nasty drug habit, Lorre is tempted to sign. However, Humphrey Bogart explains the contract will force Lorre to play monsters in the B-unit forever. To ensure that Lorre will never give into this temptation, he decides to do something truly monstrous. Something Truly Monstrous was presented in The Blank’s Living Room Reading Series in 2013.

During the run of Something Truly Monstrous The Blank Theatre will be partnering with the George Hurrell Estate. Hurrell was a photographer who made a significant contribution to the image of glamour presented by Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s. Special activities will include a lobby display, discounts on purchases from the Hurrell Estate website, and a raffle for one of Hurrell’s famed photos.

Preview performances begin on Saturday, September 26 at 8pm and continue on Sunday, September 27 at 2pm, and Tuesday through Friday, September 29—October 2 at 8pm. Opening is set for Saturday, October 3 at 8pm. The regular performance schedule will be Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm through November 8. Tickets are $25 for previews and $30 for regular performances and may be purchased online at www.TheBlank.com or via phone at (323) 661-9827.

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

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08-19-15

NEWS RELEASE — CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR “The MisMatch Game” AT LOS ANGELES LGBT CENTER 8/29 & 8/30

CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR
The MisMatch Game
WITH HOST DENNIS HENSLEY

Presented by the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s
Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center
and Dennis Hensley

TWO NIGHTS ONLY!
Saturday, August 29 at 8pm
Sunday, August 30 at 7pm

Casting has been announced for the upcoming edition of Dennis Hensley’s The MisMatch Game, the show the Los Angeles Times calls, “witty, ribald … an adventure in surrealist era bending.” The side-splitting parody of the 70s game show returns to the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Renberg Theatre for two nights only, Saturday, August 29 at 8pm and Sunday, August 30 at 7pm.

The cast on Saturday 8/29 will include (in alphabetical order) Patrick Bristow (Tim Gunn), Rachel Butera (Rosie O’Donnell), Tom Lenk (Zooey Deschanel), and Felix Pire (Ricardo Montalban). On Sunday 8/30 the cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Jackie Beat (Bea Arthur), Drew Droege (Tanya Roberts), Maile Flanagan (Danny Bonaduce), Nicol Paone (Arianna Huffington), and Marc Samuel (Prince). Visit www.lalgbtcenter.org/theatre for updates.

The MisMatch Game regularly fills the house at its irregularly scheduled gigs at the Renberg Theatre. Audiences keep coming back for the razor’s-edge improv and the racy, anarchic, and decidedly un-PC wit and wildness. The Advocate honored The MisMatch Game with a “10 Best Theatre” citation that said, “This recurring Los Angeles happening re-imagines the ‘70s TV game show The Match Game with full-camp press and excellent sub-lebrity impersonations.”

General admission tickets are $15 and may be purchased online at www.lalgbtcenter.org/theatre or by phone at (323) 860-7300. Net proceeds from all ticket sales will support the full range of free and low-cost programs and services offered by the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

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, 90038. Free onsite parking is available.

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08-17-15

NEWS RELEASE — Australian Singer/Songwriter SHELLEY SEGAL Set For The Hotel Cafe — SUNDAY 8/9 at 9pm

CHRIS ISAACSON PRESENTS
CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED AUSTRALIAN
SINGER/SONGWRITER
SHELLEY SEGAL

IN HER LOS ANGELES DEBUT
THE HOTEL CAFE IN HOLLYWOOD
SUNDAY, AUGUST 9 AT 9PM

Australian folk/pop star SHELLEY SEGAL will make her Los Angeles debut on Sunday, August 9 at The Hotel Cafe in Hollywood, it was announced today by Chris Isaacson Presents. There will be one show only at 9pm. Tickets are $15 and available now.

Raised in Melbourne, Australia, Shelley Segal learned to sing at age 11 in her father’s popular wedding band. Soon after, she would lead that band and then, armed with her guitar, began to write songs. Desirous of all expressions, Segal flirts with elements of jazz, folk, pop, blues, reggae, and electronica, imparting a pure joy about music and its power. Leona Devaz of Weekend Notes said that Segal has been, “creating a ripple effect with her melodic vocals, heartfelt passion, and thought-provoking lyrics.” Segal’s first single, the folk protest song ‘Saved’ has become an anthem for grass-roots secular activists. She is a genre-defying artist that creates space for her listeners in which they can engage with ideas and question and reflect on the everyday — to see its layers, its depth, its meaning. An artist, activist and an explicit storyteller, Segal uses her music not only to express the way she sees the world, but to create the world that she wants to see. Since her recording debut in 2009 she has toured throughout Australia, Hong Kong, China, England, and the United States.

Celebrating the release of her latest EP ‘Strange Feeling,’ Segal will be touring between now and October to various venues in Everett, Kennewick, and Seattle, Washington; Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, Texas; New York, NY; Harrisburg, PA; Myrtle Beach, SC; and Alberta, Canada.

Tickets for Shelley Segal’s one-night-only appearance in Los Angeles are $15 and are available at www.hotelcafe.com. The Hotel Cafe is located at 1623½ Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood.

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7-30-15