Announcing: Parasite Drag

ELEPHANT THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS THE WEST COAST PREMIERE OF
PARASITE DRAG BY MARK ROBERTS, DIRECTED BY DAVID FOFI
SECOND PLAY OF 2010 SEASON
OPENS AUGUST 13 AT THE ELEPHANT SPACE
FOR A LIMITED ENGAGEMENT

Following the much lauded world premiere production of Timothy McNeil’s Supernova, the critically acclaimed, award-winning Elephant Theatre Company continues its 14th season with the west coast premiere of Parasite Drag by Mark Roberts, directed by Elephant Artistic Director David Fofi.  Performances begin Wednesday, August 11, and opening night is set for Friday, August 13. Parasite Drag will play a limited engagement through September 18.

Parasite Drag is a darkly comic play about a small town Illinois family and the stories that haunt them. Estranged brothers Gene and Ronnie are forced together to make arrangements for their runaway sister, whose years of drug addiction have finally taken their toll. At first glance, the two men, driven apart years ago, seem to be polar opposites. But as their sister’s tragedy forces open old wounds, we see that they are very much alike, united forever by a dark, tragic past. Playwright Mark Roberts began his career as a stand-up comic and actor. His credits include appearances on Seinfeld, Friends, The Practice, The Larry Sanders Show, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and The Naked Truth. Now a producer on the CBS television series Two and a Half Men, Mark’s other plays include Couples Counseling Killed Katie, Welcome to Tolono, Where the Great Ones Run, and Rantoul and Die, which, after receiving its world premiere in Los Angeles last year, will open in Chicago this fall. He is currently the creator and Executive Producer of Mike and Molly, which premieres this fall on CBS.

The cast of Parasite Drag will feature (in alphabetical order) Mim Drew, Robert Foster, Boyd Kestner, and Agatha Nowicki. The design team for Parasite Drag includes Danny Cistone (set), Joel Daavid (lighting), Peter Bayne (original music and sound) and Louis Douglas Jacobs (costumes). Shannon Simonds is the production stage manager, and Parasite Drag is being produced by Elephant Producing Director Lindsay Allbaugh, in association with Don Foster.

There will be two lower-priced preview performances of Parasite Drag on Wednesday, August 11 and Thursday, August 12 at 8pm, and opening night is set for Friday, August 13 at 8:00. THE MEDIA IS INVITED AND ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND THE OPENING NIGHT PERFORMANCE ON FRIDAY 8/13, BUT IS ALSO WELCOME AT ANY OTHER PERFORMANCE AFTER THAT DATE. Opening night seats are available to the public for $30, which includes a reception with the cast following the performance. The regular running schedule is Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8pm through September 18 only. All tickets for regular performances are $20 (previews are $15). To purchase tickets, call (213) 614-0556 or reserve online: www.elephanttheatrecompany.com. Also, visit the Elephant on Facebook and follow us on twitter @ElephantTheatre.

The Elephant Space is located at 6322 Santa Monica Boulevard, just west of Vine, in Hollywood.
Street parking is available.

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07-20-10

Announcing: Supernova

ELEPHANT THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS FIRST PLAY OF 2010 SEASON
WORLD PREMIERE OF
SUPERNOVA
BY TIMOTHY McNEIL

PERFORMANCES BEGIN MAY 20 AT THE ELEPHANT SPACE

The critically acclaimed, award-winning Elephant Theatre Company will begin its 14th season with the world premiere of Supernova by Timothy McNeil, with performances beginning on Thursday, May 20.  Opening night is set for Saturday, May 22, and Supernova will play a limited engagement through June 27.

Supernova tells the story of Mabel Davies, a not-so-simple housewife in Des Moines, Iowa, who has spent years living for everyone else.  Following the appearance of a magazine with a dog-eared page on her kitchen table, and the events that follow, Mabel finds her life changing in extraordinary ways.  A ‘supernova’ is defined as an extremely luminous stellar explosion that briefly outshines an entire galaxy before fading from view. Supernova ponders fate, destiny, love, and radicalism.

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Micah Cohen, Kelly Elizabeth, Gina Garrison, Tony Gatto, Bonnie McNeil, Tim McNeil, James Pippi, Edward Tournier, and Joe Wiebe. The design team for Supernova includes Elephant Stageworks (set), Joel Daavid (lighting), Jack Arky (sound) and Louis Douglas Jacobs (costumes).  Edgar Landa is fight choreographer, Shannon Simonds is the production stage manager, and Supernova is being produced for the Elephant by David Fofi.

Playwright Timothy McNeil is a member of the Stella Adler Academy faculty, and his play Anything had its world premiere at the Elephant in 2008.  That production received four LADCC Award nominations, winning three, and was also nominated by GLAAD as best production of the year.  Three of McNeil’s other plays have been produced locally:  Los Muertos, Margaret, and Crane, Mississippi.

There will be two lower-priced preview performances of Supernova on Thursday, May 20 and Friday, May 21 at 8pm, and opening night is set for Saturday, May 22 at 8:00. THE MEDIA IS INVITED AND ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND THE OPENING NIGHT PERFORMANCE ON SATURDAY 5/22, BUT IS ALSO WELCOME AT ANY OTHER PERFORMANCE AFTER THAT DATE. The regular performance schedule is Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 7pm through June 27.  All tickets for regular performances are $20 (previews are $15). To purchase tickets, call (323) 960-4410 or reserve online: www.plays411.com/supernova.  For more information on the Elephant Theatre Company, visit www.elephanttheatrecompany.com.

The Elephant Space is located at 6322 Santa Monica Boulevard, just west of Vine, in Hollywood.  Street parking is available.

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04-30-10

Announcing: Block Nine

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED, AWARD-WINNING ELEPHANT THEATRE COMPANY
TO STAGE WORLD PREMIERE OF
“BLOCK NINE” BY TOM STANCZYK

ROTATING CASTS OF NINE MEN AND NINE WOMEN WILL PERFORM IN REP
OPENING AUGUST 14 & 15 AT LILLIAN THEATRE

The critically acclaimed, award-winning Elephant Theatre Company will continue its 13th season with the world premiere of Block Nine by Tom Stanczyk, it was announced today by Elephant artistic director David Fofi.  Preview performances of Block Nine begin on Saturday, August 8 for a limited engagement through Sunday, September 20.  Two casts, one fellas and one dames, will perform the play in rotating rep. Opening nights are set for Friday, August 14 (dames) and Saturday, August 15 (fellas), both at 8:00.

Block Nine is an unapologetically same-sex, retro-noir 1930s gangster homage.  An exploration of sexuality, gender, stereotype, romance and aggression, this new dark comedy tells the story of an undercover cop’s journey into an underworld full of guns, jail breaks, booze and bodies.

The cast of dames will feature (alphabetically) Kerry Carney, Amy French, Laura Hess, Alexandra Hoover, Cheryl Huggins, Dylan Jones, Nikki McCauley, Marisa O’Brien, Maya Parish and Julie Weidmann.  The cast of fellas will feature (alphabetically) Darryl Armbruster, Josh Breeding, Colin Michael Day, Jeremy Glazer, Louis Douglas Jacobs, Ryan Radis, Dominic Rains, Matthew Rimmer, Kenny Suarez and Max Williams.  The multiple award-winning design team for Block Nine includes Danny Cistone (set), Joel Daavid (lighting), Jack Arky (sound) and Sara Ryung Clement (costumes).

Tom Stanczyk is an actor, director and writer whose other plays include Close, The Ceremony and Fertile Ground (coming soon).  Emilie Beck (Chicago ‘Jeff’ Award-winner for Because They Have No Words, which was originally produced in Los Angeles at the Lounge Theatre), directs the dames; Pete Uribe (North American tour of The Who’s Quadrophenia) directs the fellas.  Block Nine is being produced by David Fofi and Lindsay Allbaugh (who also serves as producing director of the Elephant Theatre Company).

Preview performances of Block Nine will run as follows:  the dames on Saturday, August 8 and Thursday, August 13 at 8pm; the fellas on Sunday, August 9 at 7pm and Wednesday, August 12 at 8pm. THE MEDIA IS INVITED TO ATTEND OPENING NIGHTS ON FRIDAY 8/14 AND SATURDAY 8/15 AT 8:00, AND IS STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO SEE BOTH GENDERS PERFORM THE PLAY. The regular performance schedule is Thursday through Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm and 7pm through September 20.  All tickets for regular performances are $25 (previews are $15) with a special $35 ticket available for viewing both versions of the production.  To purchase tickets, call (323) 960-4410 or reserve online:  www.plays411.com/blocknine.  For more information on the Elephant Theatre Company, visit www.elephantstageworks.com.

The Lillian Theatre is located at 1076 Lillian Way (off Santa Monica Boulevard, just west of Vine), in Hollywood.  Street parking is available.

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07/24/09