NEWS RELEASE ✰ HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL HIT “DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE” SET FOR EXTENDED RUN ▪︎ JULY 12 – 29

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s
Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center and Blanket Fort Entertainment
Present
Hollywood Fringe Festival Breakout Hit
DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE
Written and Performed by Burt Grinstead and Anna Stromberg
Directed by Anna Stromberg
OPENS THURSDAY, JULY 12
FOR TEN PERFORMANCES ONLY

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center and Blanket Fort Entertainment have announced an extended run of the 2018 Hollywood Fringe Festival breakout hit Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Nominated for six HFF Awards including Best Comedy, winner of the 2CentsTheatre Award for Distinctive Voices, and winner of the SoHo Playhouse (NYC) Fringe Encore Series Award, this genre-bending thriller had its world premiere at the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Davidson/Valentini Theatre and returns for 10 performances only, July 12 through July 29.

Written and performed by Burt Grinstead and Anna Stromberg, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde is a dizzying, fast-paced, horrifying and hilarious extravaganza that leaves the audience questioning its own morality. Based on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the classic novella by Robert Louis Stevenson, this new adaptation takes place on the dismal streets of London in the 1860s, where societal pressures silence a gentle doctor’s questions about the nature of morality. As the pressure intensifies,  Dr. Jekyll takes matters into his own hands.  Will his efforts save the world, or will they destroy all that he holds dear? After all, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Burt Grinstead has starred in films and television shows including Roger Corman’s Death Race 2050, NCIS, Criminal Minds, and many more. This is Grinstead’s fourth role at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, following dynamic performances in Deathtrap by Ira Levin, Hit the Wall by Ike Holter, and Fool for Love by Sam Shepard. He was nominated for an Ovation Award for his portrayal of twins Peter and Craig in Dying City by Christopher Shinn at Rogue Machine Theatre.

Anna Stromberg lived and worked in New York City for 10 years performing in various off-Broadway theatres. She was a longtime member of the edgy Amoralists Theatre Company, originating roles in collaborations with Daniel Aukin, Adam Rapp, and Lyle Kessler. She won critical acclaim for her portrayal of Vanda in Venus in Fur by David Ives at The Cape Fear Playhouse. She also stars in Well Wishes on Netflix and in the indie horror feature The Lost Footage of Leah Sullivan. Last year, Stromberg directed a renowned production of David Harrower’s Blackbird at the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

The opening of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde is set for Thursday, July 12, at 8pm.  The running schedule is as follows — Friday, July 13 at 8pm; Saturday, July 14 at 8pm; Sunday, July 15 at 7pm; Friday, July 20 at 8pm; Saturday, July 21 at 2pm; Sunday, July 22 at 7pm; Friday, July 27 at 8pm; Saturday, July 28 at 8pm; and Sunday, July 29 at 2pm. General admission tickets are $20 and may be purchased online at www.lalgbtcenter.org/theatre or by phone at (323) 860-7300. The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Davidson/Valentini Theatre is located at 1125 N. McCadden Place (one block east of Highland, just north of Santa Monica Boulevard), in Hollywood, 90038.

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06/28/18

NEWS RELEASE — LOS ANGELES LGBT CENTER PRESENTS “BLACKBIRD” BY DAVID HARROWER ▪︎ FRINGE FESTIVAL PRODUCTION ▪︎ JUNE 1 – 25

Los Angeles LGBT Center’s

Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center

Presents

As Part of the 2017 Hollywood Fringe Festival

BLACKBIRD

By David Harrower

Directed by Anna Stromberg

Featuring

Charlotte Gulezian and Bradley Fisher

Los Angeles LGBT Center has announced that as part of the 2017 Hollywood Fringe Festival the Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center will present Blackbird by David Harrower. Featuring Charlotte Gulezian and Bradley Fisher, the production will be directed by Anna Stromberg.  There will be 12 performances only, beginning June 1 and running through June 25 in The Center’s Davidson/Valentini Theatre. [The complete performance schedule is at the end of this release.]

Scottish playwright David Harrower’s drama won the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and had a critically acclaimed run on Broadway last year. Inspired in part by the crimes of sex offender Toby Studebaker (though in no way a literal dramatization of actual events) the play depicts a young woman meeting a middle-aged man 15 years after being sexually abused by him when she was 12 years old.

Actors Charlotte Gulezian (winner of LADCC, BroadwayWorld, and StageSceneLA Awards for her performance in last year’s Hit the Wall) and Bradley Fisher were both seen in the LGBT Center’s production of Fool for Love in the 2016 Fringe Festival. (That production is currently a StageRaw nominee for Best Revival of a Play). The design team includes multiple award-winner Matt Richter(lighting and sound), and Brooke Gerson (costumes). The stage manager is Margaret Marx.

There will be four previews and eight regular performances of Blackbird, beginning on June 1 and running through June 25. The complete schedule:

PREVIEWS  

Thursday 6/1 at 8:30pm

Saturday 6/3 at 4:30pm

Sunday 6/4 at 6:30pm

Wednesday 6/7 at 8:30pm

REGULAR

Friday 6/9 at 8:30pm [OPENING NIGHT]

Sunday 6/11 at 4:30pm

Monday 6/12 at 6:30pm

Wednesday 6/14 at 10:30pm

Wednesday 6/21 & at 8:30pm

Thursday 6/22 at 8:30pm

Saturday 6/24 at 4:30pm

Sunday 6/25 at 4:30pm

Preview seats are $10 and admission for regular performances is $15. Tickets are available online at www.lalgbtcenter.org/theatre or by phone at (323) 860-7300.

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Davidson/Valentini Theatre is located at the 1125 N. McCadden Place (one block east of Highland, just north of Santa Monica Boulevard), in Hollywood, 90038. During construction of the Center’s new facility, free parking is limited. Please allow extra time to find parking, or choose public transportation or a ride service such as Lyft.

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05-03-17