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 “FOOL FOR LOVE” AT PART OF 2016 HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL

Los Angeles LGBT Center’s
Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center
Presents
As Part of the 2016 Hollywood Fringe Festival
FOOL FOR LOVE
By Sam Shepard
Directed by Will Bradley & Cecilia Fairchild
Featuring
Bradley Fisher, Burt Grinstead,
Charlotte Gulezian, and Roland Ruiz

Los Angeles LGBT Center has announced a new production of Fool for Love by Sam Shepard as part of the 2016 Hollywood Fringe Festival. There will be 11 performances only, beginning June 3 and running through June 26 in The Center’s Davidson/Valentini Theatre. [The complete performance schedule is at the end of this release.] This story of twisted lives and tormented loves will be directed by Will Bradley and Cecilia Fairchild, and the cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Bradley Fisher (In Bed with Roy Cohn, Aftermath), Burt Grinstead, (Hit the Wall, The Sexual Life of Savages), Charlotte Gulezian (Hit the Wall, Stupid Fucking Bird), and Roland Ruiz (Hit the Wall and the Oscar-nominated film Boyhood).

Fool for Love, winner of the 1984 Obie Award for Best New American Play and a Pulitzer Prize finalist, finds two former lovers holed up in a seedy motel on the edge of the Mojave Desert where they unpack the deep secrets and dark desires of their tangled relationship, passionately tearing each other apart. Beaten down by ill-fated love and a struggle for identity, they must decide whether it is ultimately possible to live with, or without, each other. The New York Times called it a “gut-clutching … full throttle cliffhanger.” Run time is 75 minutes.

The scenic design is by Burt Grinstead, lighting and sound design are by Matt Richter and costume design is by Brooke Gerson. The stage manager is Maggie Marx.

There will be four previews and seven regular performances of Fool for Love, beginning on June 3 and running through June 24. The complete schedule:

PREVIEWS
• Friday 6/3 at 8pm
• Saturday 6/4 at 8pm
• Sunday 6/5 at 7pm
• Tuesday 6/7 at 8pm

REGULAR
• Saturday 6/11 at 8pm [OPENING NIGHT]
• Sundays 6/19 & 6/26 at 7pm
• Wednesdays 6/15 & 6/22 at 8pm
• Thursday 6/16 at 8pm
• Friday 6/24 at 8pm

Preview seats are $10 and admission for regular performances is $15. Tickets are available online at http://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/3751, or by phone at (323) 455-4585.

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. Free onsite parking is available.

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05-10-16

 
^{L to R — Charlotte Gulezian, Burt Grinstead. Photo by Stan Mayer.}

NEWS RELEASE — LA LGBT CENTER/SIXTH AVENUE PRODUCTION OF “HIT THE WALL” WINS 7 STAGE RAW THEATRE AWARDS

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s
Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center
and Sixth Avenue production of
HIT THE WALL
By Ike Holter
Directed by Ken Sawyer
WINS SEVEN STAGERAW.COM
THEATRE AWARDS

Hit the Wall, a play by Ike Holter, which was presented from September 2015 through January 2016 by the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center and Sixth Avenue, took home seven StageRaw.com Theatre Awards from the second-ever awards ceremony on Monday, April 25 at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. It was the most wins for any nominated production.

The winners were Edgar Landa (Fight Choreography), Matthew Hancock (Leading Male Performance), Anna Waronker & Charlotte Caffey (Original Music), Ken Sawyer (Direction), Production Design, Ensemble, and Production of the Year.

The award-winning ensemble included (in alphabetical order) Jason Caceres, Burt Grinstead, Charlotte Gulezian, Matthew Hancock, Kristina Johnson, Kenneth Lopez, Maggie Marx, Dan Middleditch, Roland Ruiz, Shoniqua Shandai, Adam Silver, Donnie Smith, Jess Weaver, and Blake Young-Fountain.

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04-27-16