Archived entries for God’s Ear

Announcing: February 11 Performance of “God’s Ear” Benefits “Peace Over Violence” Social Service Agency

NON-PROFIT ASSISTS NON-PROFIT
SATURDAY 2/11 PERFORMANCE OF THE ECHO THEATER COMPANY’S PRODUCTION OF “GOD’S EAR”
WILL BENEFIT PEACE OVER VIOLENCE, A SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCY
DEDICATED TO THE ELIMINATION OF SEXUAL AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
FRANCES FISHER IS HONORARY EVENT CHAIR

God's Ear posterThe Saturday, February 11 performance of God’s Ear, a play by Jenny Schwartz, directed by Rory Kozoll, is set to benefit Peace Over Violence, a social service agency dedicated to the elimination of sexual and domestic violence; dedicated to a world without violence. Theatre, film, and television actress Frances Fisher serves as honorary chairperson for the evening.

Peace Over Violence provides crisis intervention services and violence prevention education, along with one-on-one counseling and guidance to heal survivors of violence. Teens are taught about healthy relationships; girls are trained in self-defense, boys are taught conflict resolution, and all are given advice on public policy. The organization believes, above all, that violence is preventable. For more information, visit www.peaceoverviolence.org, or call (213) 955-9090.

In God’s Ear, a couple suffers a tragic accident, and their grief propels them into a fantastical world where the Tooth Fairy sings, their flight attendant is a cross dresser, and GI Joe offers family counseling. It’s a lyrically absurd journey of love, loss, and laughter.

Of the Echo Theater Company’s production, which opened on January 14, Back Stage said, “Director Rory Kozoll skillfully moves the action along and brings out every bit of dark (and light) humor.” Said the LA Weekly, “With a nod to the absurdist canon, and perhaps Lewis Carroll, Jenny Schwartz’s use of clichés, idiom and chatter is … brilliant and funny.” God’s Ear is produced for the Echo Theater Company by Lauren Bass and Chris Fields.

Tickets for the Peace Over Violence benefit performance on Saturday, February 11 at 8pm are $40, and are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased (as well as regular priced tickets for remaining performances of God’s Ear through February 19), by visiting www.echotheatercompany.com or by calling (877) 369-9112. The regular running schedule is Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays at 7:00pm, and tickets are $25. The Zephyr Theatre is located at 7456 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, 90046. Street parking is available.

The multiple award-winning Echo Theater Company has presented 47 Los Angeles premiere productions, 37 world premieres, and 22 commissions. These productions introduced Los Angeles to the work of David Lindsay-Abaire, Sarah Ruhl, Adam Rapp, Adam Bock, Cusi Cram, Gary Sunshine, Ron Fitzgerald, Tanya Barfield, and Mike Batistick, among many others. Most recently, the Echo was nominated for three Ovation Awards including Best Ensemble and Best Play for its West Coast premiere of Mark Schultz’s Everything Will Be Different. The company also received seven LA Weekly Award nominations for its world premiere production of Matt Benjamin and Logan Brown’s Wirehead. The West Coast premiere of Jessica Goldberg’s Body Politic garnered Ovation nominations for Best Play and Best Ensemble. The Echo also engages in community outreach programs including a free public reading series, ActOut, an educational outreach program dedicated to helping at-risk youth, and PlayTime, an outreach program in which Echo members perform fairy tales, nursery rhymes and theater pieces for sick children of all ages in a number of facilities and hospitals in Los Angeles.

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01-27-12

Review: “God’s Ear”

LA Weekly

“God’s Ear”

God's Ear - publicity photo

Pictured: Jeremy Shranko, Amanda Saunders,Alana Dietze, and Tara Karsian

GO! “He’s in a coma, hooked to a respirator.” With these simple words, Mel (Amanda Saunders) informs her husband, Ted (Paul Caramagno), via telephone, about their brain-dead son, a victim of an accidental drowning. It is one of the rare instances in Jenny Schwartz’s eccentric drama where words and meaning coalesce into sensibility. For the remainder of the play, Mel and Ted become immersed in the seductive discord of a surreal world where language is increasingly divorced from context and reality, time and place contract, and the weight of loss is, literally, spoken out of existence. It’s a bizarre mise-en-scene, compounded by the appearance of a tooth fairy (Tara Karsian), a transvestite flight attendant (Jeremy Shranko) and a curvaceous b-girl (Andrea Grano). With a nod to the absurdist canon, and perhaps Lewis Carroll, Schwartz’s use of clichés, idiom and chatter is at times brilliant and funny, though the verbal effusion obscures the searing emotional and psychological pain at the heart of the piece. There is an appropriately other-worldly resonance about director Rory Kozoll’s staging, nicely accented by Kristie Roldan’s lighting. Zephyr Theatre, 7456 Melrose Ave., Hlywd.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m., through Feb. 19. (877) 369-9112.

(Lovell Estell III)

Announcing: “Expecting to Fly” Begins Performances Jan. 21

WORLD PREMIERE OF
EXPECTING TO FLY BY MICHAEL HYMAN
BEGINS PERFORMANCES JANUARY 21

OPENS SATURDAY, JANUARY 28 AT THE ELEPHANT SPACE
FOR SIX WEEKS ONLY

The world premiere of Expecting to Fly by Michael Hyman, directed by Kiff Scholl, is set to begin preview performances on January 21 at the Elephant Space in Hollywood. There will be two additional previews on January 22 and 27, with opening night on Saturday, January 28 at 8:00. Expecting to Fly will play through March 4.

Expecting to Fly is a dark and sometimes humorous journey through the young minds and memories of Jared and his former lover, Sean. As the two men look back on their time together, they try to come to terms with what they lost, and experience that one last perfect kiss, to set each other free. Playwright Michael Hyman’s credits include Love Will Tear Us Apart at he Hudson Guild Theatre in Los Angeles, Ice In A Hot World at Bank Street Theatre in New York City, a workshop production of Happiness at Manhattan Theatre Club, and Jaye Sits at the Harold Clurman Theatre, among others.

Award-winning director Kiff Scholl most recently served as director of Hyper-Chondriac at the Asylum Lab. Other Los Angeles directing credits include Kill Me, Deadly and Shake at Theatre of Note, and Don Giovanni Tonight, Don Carlo Tomorrow at Sacred Fools, about which the LA Times said, “Director Kiff Scholl has few peers at keeping us intrigued.” The cast of Expecting to Fly, in alphabetical order, will feature Casey Kringlen (as Sean) and Justin Mortelliti (as Jared). The set design is by Keith Mitchell, lighting design is by Matt Richter, costume design is by Shannon Kennedy, and sound design is by Corwin Evans. The stage manager is Victoria Watson, and Expecting to Fly is produced by Racquel Lehrman and Theatre Planners. Expecting to Fly is a guest production at the Elephant Space.

General seating admission is $10 for previews, and $20 for regular performances. The regular running schedule is Friday and Saturday at 8pm, and Sunday at 7pm, through March 4 only. Tickets are on sale now, and may be purchased online at www.plays411.com/fly, or by calling (323) 960-5772.

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

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01-09-11