Announcing: Blank Theatre Company’s ‘The Temperamentals’ Cast Set; Rehearsals Underway; Previews Begin April 9

CAST ANNOUNCED AND REHEARSALS HAVE BEGUN
FOR THE BLANK THEATRE COMPANY’S WEST COAST PREMIERE OF THE TEMPERAMENTALS BY JON MARANS
DIRECTED BY MICHAEL MATTHEWS

FINAL PRODUCTION OF THE BLANK’S 20TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON WILL FEATURE ERICH BERGEN, DENNIS CHRISTOPHER,
PATRICK SCOTT LEWIS, MARK SHUNOCK AND JOHN TARTAGLIA

PREVIEWS BEGIN APRIL 9; OPENING SET FOR APRIL 16
AT 2nd STAGE THEATRE IN HOLLYWOOD

Casting is complete and rehearsals have begun for The Blank Theatre Company’s final production of its 20th anniversary season, the West Coast premiere of The Temperamentals. Directed by Michael Matthews, The Temperamentals will begin preview performances on Saturday, April 9, 2011 and is set to open on Saturday, April 16 at 8pm. The engagement will run through Sunday, May 22.

The cast, in alphabetical order, is Erich Bergen (Jersey Boys, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum for Reprise, Venice at the Kirk Douglas Theatre), BAFTA Award-winner Dennis Christopher (Deadwood, Profiler, and returning to The Blank where his performance as Alan Turing in Breaking The Code won him LA Weekly and LADCC Awards), Patrick Scott Lewis (American Dreams, Zodiac), Mark Shunock (Timon in The Lion King), and John Tartaglia (Tony Award nominee for Avenue Q; the original cast of Shrek The Musical). Director Michael Matthews has worked extensively on Broadway, internationally, and in Los Angeles and Chicago. Recent highlights in Los Angeles include the critically acclaimed productions of Haram Iran!, The Women of Brewster Place, and Take Me Out at Celebration Theatre; Dead End at the Ahmanson Theatre, and The Cherry Orchard (starring Annette Bening) at the Mark Taper Forum. He has also directed The Jazz Age and The Santaland Diaries for The Blank.

In 1950s Los Angeles, tired of police harassment, back alley bars and living in fear, a few brave souls set out to change their world and claim their civil rights. In a time when nothing could be spoken in the open, notorious communist Harry Hay and cultural icon Rudi Gernreich fell in love while building a movement. This is their story. “Temperamental” was code for “homosexual,” part of a secret survival language created by gay men in the pre-Stonewall United States.

Of the recent smash off-Broadway production, The New York Times called The Temperamentals “Intellectual, emotional, and sexual.” “Combines savvy context and ascending flights of bittersweet fabulousness,” said New York Newsday. And the Associated Press called it, “Fascinating, entertaining, and emotionally affecting.” Playwright Jon Marans is well known for his play Old Wicked Songs, which was a 1996 Pulitzer Prize finalist for Drama, and has been produced throughout the United States and translated and produced in a dozen countries around the world. Other plays by Marans include A Strange and Separate People, Child Child, and Jumping for Joy.

The design team for The Temperamentals includes set by Kurt Boetcher, lighting by Cameron Zetty, costumes by Lauren Tyler, and sound by Warren Davis. Matt Wolpe serves as music director, and producers are Daniel Henning, Noah Wyle, Matthew Graber and Angel Parker. The production stage manager is Marcedes Clanton.

The Temperamentals begins previews on Saturday, April 9 at 8pm. Previews will continue on Sunday, April 10 at 2pm and Tuesday, April 12 through Friday, April 15 at 8pm. Opening night is Saturday, April 16 at 8:00. Admission is $26 for previews and ranges from $26-$30 for regular performances. Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased by visiting www.TheBlank.com, or by calling (323) 661-9827. A speakeasy-style bar will be open to ticket holders at the Dragonfly Club (adjacent to the 2nd Stage) before evening performances, as well as at intermission.

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

Photographs:
The cast of “The Temperamentals,” L to R: Erich Bergen, Dennis Christopher, John Tartaglia, Patrick Scott Lewis.  Missing: Mark Shunock. PHOTO BY MATTHEW GRABER.
L to R: Dennis Christopher, Erich Bergen and John Tartaglia during the first read-through of “The Temperamentals” (The Blank Theatre Company production) on Tuesday, March 1, 2011. PHOTO BY MATTHEW GRABER.

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03-02-11

Announcing: The Blank Theatre Company Announces Final Production of 20th Anniversary Season

THE BLANK THEATRE COMPANY ANNOUNCES FINAL PRODUCTION
OF ITS 20TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON
THE TEMPERAMENTALS BY JON MARANS
DIRECTED BY MICHAEL MATTHEWS

WEST COAST PREMIERE BEGINS PREVIEWS APRIL 9, 2011
AT THE BLANK’S 2nd STAGE THEATRE IN HOLLYWOOD

The Blank Theatre Company (Daniel Henning, Founding Artistic Director) has announced the final production of its 20th anniversary season, the West Coast premiere of The Temperamentals by Jon Marans. Directed by Michael Matthews, The Temperamentals will begin preview performances on Saturday, April 9, 2011 and is set to open on Saturday, April 16 at 8pm. The engagement will run through Sunday, May 22.

“Temperamental” was code for “homosexual” in the early 1950s, part of a created language of secret words that gay men used to communicate. The Temperamentals tells the story of two men – the communist Harry Hay and the Viennese refugee and designer Rudi Gernreich – as they fall in love while building the first gay rights organization in the pre-Stonewall United States.

Of the 2009 off-Broadway production, The New York Times called The Temperamentals “Intellectual, emotional, and sexual.” “Combines savvy context and ascending flights of bittersweet fabulousness,” said New York Newsday. And the Associated Press called it, “Fascinating, entertaining, and emotionally affecting.”

Playwright Jon Marans is well known for his play Old Wicked Songs, which was a 1996 Pulitzer Prize finalist for Drama, and has been produced throughout the United States and translated and produced in a dozen countries around the world. Other plays by Marans include A Strange and Separate People, Child Child, and Jumping for Joy. Director Michael Matthews is currently represented by the critically acclaimed, sold out hit Take Me Out at Celebration Theatre. Other L.A. credits include The Women of Brewster Place – The Musical, Haram! Iran!, Three Tall Women, Porcelain, Stupid Kids, Beautiful Thing, and The Bacchae (which was recently seen at the Edinburgh Theatre Festival). On Broadway, he served as assistant director on Butley. Previously for The Blank, Matthews directed The Jazz Age and The Santaland Diaries (in both 2009 and 2010).

Tickets will go on sale February 1 and may be purchased by calling (323) 661-9827 or online at www.TheBlank.com. The Blank’s 2nd Stage Theatre is located at 6500 Santa Monica Boulevard (at Wilcox), in Hollywood. Secured valet parking is available.

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01-04-11

Announcing: Mike Farrell and Jim Parrack Set to Star in Terre Haute Premiere

MIKE FARRELL AND JIM PARRACK SET TO STAR
IN LOS ANGELES PREMIERE OF EDMUND WHITE’S
TERRE HAUTE

PREVIEWS BEGIN OCTOBER 2, 2010
AT THE BLANK’S 2nd STAGE THEATRE IN HOLLYWOOD

Mike Farrell and Jim Parrack have been set to star in the first production of The Blank Theatre Company’s 20th  anniversary season, the Los Angeles premiere of Terre Haute by Edmund White. Directed by Kirsten Sanderson, Terre Haute will begin preview performances on Saturday, October 2, 2010 and is set to open on Saturday, October 9 at 8pm.  The engagement will run through Sunday, November 14.

Did you know that Timothy McVeigh and Gore Vidal were pen pals? What would their conversations have been like if they had ever met in person? Famed fiction writer Edmund White has imagined just that: four prison house conversations between the nation’s deadliest domestic terrorist and one of the world’s most famous and opinionated gadflies. The names have been changed, the ideas have not. This intimate and fascinating portrait of two men, both firebrands who say and do as they believe, delves deeply into the idea of what it means to be American and what one believes they must do for their country.  Said Charles Isherwood in The New York Times, “White has captured the amusingly constricted voices of the patrician novelist and the plebian terrorist cannily and cogently.”

Mike Farrell is perhaps best known for playing Captain B.J. Hunnicutt on television’s M*A*S*H.  During his eight years on the show, he also wrote and directed several episodes, earning him nominations for Director’s Guild and Emmy Awards.  More recently on television, Mike played veterinarian Jim Hansen on NBC’s Providence with Melina Kanakaredes.  Jim Parrack currently appears in HBO’s True Blood as Hoyt Fortenberry, a role he originated when the series made its debut in 2008.  He has also made guest appearances on Monk, ER, CSI, Grey’s Anatomy, Close to Home, NCIS, and Criminal Minds, among others.

The set design for Terre Haute is by Matt Turner, costume design is by Bethany Jane Bohatila, the lighting design is by Cameron Zetty, and sound design is by Warren Davis.  The production stage manager is Christopher Harrison, and the producers are Noah Wyle, Daniel Henning, and Stacy Reed Payton.

Preview performances of Terre Haute are Saturday, October 2 at 8pm, Sunday, October 3 at 2pm, and Tuesday, October 5 – Friday, October 8 at 8pm.  Opening night is set for Saturday, October 9 at 8:00.  The regular performance schedule is Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm through November 14.  All preview seats are $26; regular performance prices are $26 on Thursday and Sunday, $30 on Friday and Saturday.  Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased by calling (323) 661-9827 or online at www.TheBlank.com.

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

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09-01-10

TO ARRANGE INTERVIEWS WITH MIKE FARRELL, JIM PARRACK OR KIRSTEN SANDERSON, AND/OR TO MAKE PRESS RESERVATIONS,
CLICK HERE OR CALL (323) 845-9781.