PRESS RELEASE — “MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH” SET FOR INDUSTRY READING ON MONDAY 10/27 IN NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA

WARP GRAPHICS PRESENTS

MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH
A MUSICAL THRILLER

BOOK AND LYRICS BY WENDY PINI
MUSIC AND ADDITIONAL LYRICS BY GREGORY NABOURS
DIRECTED BY CALVIN REMSBERG

EXCLUSIVE WORLD PREMIERE INDUSTRY READING
SET FOR MONDAY, OCTOBER 27
IN NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA

Warp Graphics has announced a world premiere industry reading of Masque of the Red Death, a musical thriller with book and lyrics by Wendy Pini, music and additional lyrics by Gregory Nabours, and directed by Calvin Remsberg, on Monday, October 27 at 7:30pm at the NoHo Arts Center in North Hollywood, CA.

Epic in sweep and scope, Wendy Pini and Greg Nabours’ musical thriller Masque of the Red Death is based on Pini’s graphic novel of the same name (based on The Mask of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe) which employs a Japanese anime style of art, and this new musical expands on this adaptation. Set in a decadent, perfect future, Anton Prosper uses his vast fortune and scientific genius to seek the ultimate power of life over death. But when the stunning prodigy Steffan Kabala enters Prosper’s life, he unlocks a tempestuous passion that may send the entire planet hurtling into a bloody maelstrom of destruction.

Writer/Artist Wendy Pini has worked for nearly all of the major comics publishers such as Marvel, First Comics, Comico, DC Comics, and Dark Horse Comics. In 1977, she created the best-selling high fantasy comic series Elfquest, the first Japanese anime-influenced graphic novel series to be published in America. Pini’s adults-only graphic novel based on Edgar Allan Poe’s horror story The Mask of the Red Death (1842) serves as the foundation for this new musical thriller.

Gregory Nabours is a composer/lyricist and music director. Musical Direction credits include The Color Purple (2012 Ovation, LADCC, LA Weekly, and NAACP Awards), Thoroughly Modern Millie, Falsettos, Rent, The Wild Party, A New Brain, Spring Awakening, Into the Woods, Assassins, and The Full Monty. Nabours’ song cycle, The Trouble With Words, was awarded the 2011 Ovation Award for Best Music and Lyrics for an Original Musical, as well as Best Musical in the Hollywood Fringe Festival. This November, an evening of his work will be performed and broadcast at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Nabours is a founding member and resident composer of Coeurage Theatre Company.

Calvin Remsberg is known both as an accomplished actor and noted theatre director. His directing credits include the revival of Bare, the LA premiere of Glory Days, Into the Woods starring Anthony Geary, Hello, Dolly! for 3-D Theatricals, Sweeney Todd for Musical Theatre West, the 20th Anniversary production of Sweeney Todd for Reprise!, the West Coast Ensemble production of Sunday in the Park with George, and Interact Theatre Company’s Urinetown. For Musical Theatre Guild, Remsberg has directed Shenandoah, Parade, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Street Scene, Aspects of Love, Titanic, The Most Happy Fella, and Death Takes a Holiday.

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Heather Ayers, Benai Boyd, Rich Brunner, Emma Degerstedt, Tawny Dolley, Ben Gibson, Steven Good, Steve B. Green, Paulette Ivory, Ashley Jones, Jeffrey Landman, Tyler Ledon, Jamison Lingle, Jacob Lusk, Marco Ramos, Aaron Scheff, Rebecca Spencer, Zach Spound, and Zach Villa.

The reading will take place on Monday, October 27 at 7:30pm. For more information, contact kenwertherpr@gmail.com. The NoHo Arts Center is located at 11136 Magnolia Boulevard in North Hollywood, CA, 91601.

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10-03-14

Announcing: ‘L.A. Deli’ Opening Night (Sat 3/22) Will Benefit the Nancy Painter Home for Mothers with Children

OPENING NIGHT OF
L.A. DELI
A NEW COMEDY BY SAM BOBRICK
DIRECTED BY WALTER PAINTER

SET TO BENEFIT THE NANCY PAINTER HOME
FOR MOTHERS WITH CHILDREN

SATURDAY, MARCH 22 AT 8PM
MARILYN MONROE THEATRE

The opening night performance of L.A. Deli, a new comedy by Sam Bobrick, will benefit The Nancy Painter Home for Mothers with Children. L.A. Deli, helmed by award-winning director Walter Painter, will open Saturday, March 22 at 8pm at the Marilyn Monroe Theatre in West Hollywood. The limited engagement is set to run through April 27 only.

The Nancy Painter Home for Mothers with Children, operated by experienced Salvation Army staff, is a community-based grass roots transitional housing program devoted to single mothers and their children who are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless. Hundreds of single mothers with children in the Los Angeles area find themselves without any financial support and facing homelessness due to loss of a job, a medical emergency, spousal abuse, or lack of child support. The Nancy Painter Home provides a stable and loving home environment for mothers and their children who find themselves in this situation. For up to two years these moms and their children will have the opportunity to bring stability and peace of mind to their lives. For more information, visit www.nancypainterhome.org.

Tickets for the opening night benefit performance of L.A. Deli are $100, which includes the performance, parking, and a post-show reception with the cast and creative team. To purchase tickets for this special performance only, call (818) 985-0111 or send an email to danrothblatt@ aol.com. The Nancy Painter Home is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and a portion of the ticket price is tax deductible as allowed by law.

L.A. Deli is a series of comedic sketches that take place in a Hollywood delicatessen giving the audience a wicked and hilarious look inside show business. The cast of outrageous, shameless, and sometimes certifiable characters includes movie and TV producers, writers, directors, actors, their wives, ex-wives, and a very patient waitress named Kathleen. Some of the events portrayed actually happened to the playwright, some to his friends, and some to people he just happened to be sitting next to at lunch.

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Rachel Boller, Scott Kruse, Jeffrey Landman, Gail Matthius, Phil Proctor, and Darrin Revitz. The set design is by Jeffery P. Eisenmann, lighting design is by Michael Gend, costume design is by Michael Mullen, music is arranged and supervised by Larry Grossman, sound design is by Chris Moscatiello, and the stage manager is Liana Dillaway. L.A. Deli is produced by Theatre Planners.

For regular performances of L.A. Deli, general seating admission is $30. The running schedule is Friday and Saturday at 8pm with matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 3pm through April 27 only. Tickets for all regular performances may be purchased online at www.plays411.com/ladeli or by calling (323) 960-7738.

The Marilyn Monroe Theatre at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute is located at 7936 Santa Monica Boulevard (one block west of Fairfax), in West Hollywood.

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03-11-14

Announcing: ‘L.A. Deli’ – A New Comedy by Sam Bobrick – Opens March 22 at Marilyn Monroe Theatre

L.A. DELI
A NEW COMEDY BY SAM BOBRICK
DIRECTED BY WALTER PAINTER

ANNOUNCED FOR MARILYN MONROE THEATRE
SIX WEEKS ONLY
MARCH 21 — APRIL 27

L.A. Deli, a new comedy by Sam Bobrick, has been set for the Marilyn Monroe Theatre in West Hollywood, helmed by award-winning director Walter Painter. L.A. Deli will play two preview performances on Friday, March 21 at 8pm and Saturday, March 22 at 3pm, with opening set for Saturday, March 22 at 8pm. The limited engagement will run through April 27 only.

L.A. Deli is a series of comedic sketches that take place in a Hollywood delicatessen giving the audience a wicked and hilarious look inside show business. The cast of outrageous, shameless, and sometimes certifiable characters includes movie and TV producers, writers, directors, actors, their wives, ex-wives, and a very patient waitress named Kathleen. Some of the events portrayed actually happened to the playwright, some to his friends, and some to people he just happened to be sitting next to at lunch.

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Rachel Boller, Scott Kruse, Jeffrey Landman, Melinda Peterson, Phil Proctor, and Darrin Revitz. The set design is by Jeffery Eisenmann, lighting design is by Michael Gend, costume design is by Michael Mullen, music is arranged and supervised by Larry Grossman, sound design is by Chris Mosciatello, and the stage manager is Liana Dillaway. L.A. Deli is produced by Theatre Planners.

Sam Bobrick has written and co-written over 40 plays, many of them performed throughout the world, including Norman, Is That You?, Death In England, Passengers, Getting Sara Married, and without William Shakespeare’s blessing, Hamlet II (Better Than the Original). To date, 21 of his plays have been published by Samuel French with more to follow. In 2011, he won the prestigious Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for his play The Psychic. Bobrick’s extensive TV writing credits have earned him three Writers Guild of America awards and an Emmy nomination. Some of his television credits include Captain Kangaroo, The Andy Griffith Show, Get Smart, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and numerous musical variety specials. He created the Saturday morning hit series Saved by the Bell. Also a songwriter, his songs have been recorded by Elvis Presley, Brian Ferry, and Los Lobos. www.SamBobrick.com

Walter Painter’s theatre credits include direction for productions of Camelot, Hello Dolly!, Cabaret, Once Upon A Mattress, Annie Get Your Gun, I Remember You (a new comedy by Bernard Slade at Garry Marshall’s Falcon Theatre), Bad Habits, Biloxi Blues, A Few Good Men, Dancing in the Mirror (a new play with dance), and Moon Over Parador (co-director with Paul Mazursky). He created the musical staging for the Broadway, National, and London companies of City of Angels. Painter is a seven-time nominee and three-time Emmy Award-winner for outstanding choreography in television. Credits include Musical Comedy Tonight (PBS Great Performances), four Oscar telecasts, and Hit Record TV (with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tony Danza). He stages National Memorial Day Concert and A Capitol Fourth with the National Symphony Orchestra for live broadcast on PBS. www.WalterPainter.com

There will be two preview performances of L.A. Deli on Friday, March 21 at 8pm and Saturday, March 22 at 3pm. Opening is set for Saturday, March 22 at 8pm. General seating admission is $20 for previews and $30 for regular performances. The running schedule is Friday and Saturday at 8pm with matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 3pm through April 27 only. Tickets are on sale now, and may be purchased online at www.plays411.com/ladeli or by calling (323) 960-7738.

The Marilyn Monroe Theatre at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute is located at 7936 Santa Monica Boulevard (one block west of Fairfax), in West Hollywood. Street parking is available.

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02-28-14