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

Go See Bent! (LAArtsOnline.com)

^{Bent runs through August 23rd at the Mark Taper Forum}
GO SEE BENT!

By Ken Werther
Graphics Courtesy of Center Theatre Group

Since its London premiere in 1979, the play Bent by Martin Sherman has been described with words like, “powerful,” “thought-provoking,” and “a theatre classic.” The Guardian of London called Bent, “A work of considerable dignity and passion,” and The New York Times said, “it should not be missed.”

Sherman’s profound love story illuminates the deepest, darkest moments of one man’s fight to survive gay persecution in 1930s Germany immediately following Night of the Long Knives (a purge that took place in Germany from June 30 to July 2, 1934 when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political murders). The title of the play refers to the slang word used in some European countries when referring to homosexuals. When Bent was first performed, there was only a trickle of historical research or even awareness about the Nazi persecution of homosexuals. Many believe the play helped increase that historical research and education in the 1980s and 1990s.

This is not a happy play, but it is a decidedly important one. I saw Bent on Broadway in 1980 when I was 25 years old. Its stark images have never left my consciousness. Now, in the first major U.S. revival since then, the Mark Taper Forum is presenting this startling play that illustrates how love can transcend persecution no matter what the cost.