Archived entries for Lillian Theatre

Announcing: “Glory Days” Opens Saturday 3/19 at Lillian Theatre for Limited Run

LOS ANGELES PREMIERE OF
GLORY DAYS
A MUSICAL BY NICK BLAEMIRE & JAMES GARDINER
DIRECTED BY CALVIN REMSBERG

PERFORMANCES BEGIN MARCH 17 AT THE LILLIAN THEATRE
OPENS SATURDAY, MARCH 19 FOR LIMITED ENGAGEMENT

Producers Anthony Gruppuso, Calvin Remsberg, Tricia Small Stabile, and Bella Vita Entertainment have announced the Los Angeles premiere of Glory Days, a musical by Nick Blaemire & James Gardiner, directed by Calvin Remsberg, at the Lillian Theatre in Hollywood for a limited engagement. There will be two preview performances on Thursday, March 17 and Friday, March 18 at 8pm, and opening is set for Saturday, March 19 at 8pm. Performances will continue through April 24 only.

Glory Days is a new musical with music and lyrics by Nick Blaemire and book by James Gardiner that premiered at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA, on January 15, 2008. The production opened to enthusiastic reviews, including a rave in The Washington Post. The show then moved to the Circle in the Square Theatre on Broadway, where after seventeen previews, it opened … and closed … on May 6, 2008.

Glory Days is the story of four high school friends who, after a year away at college, reunite on the bleachers of their high school football field. We soon learn the purpose of the midnight meeting: the boys are planning a prank seeking revenge on their high school football team, who tormented the four during their school years. Things do not go smoothly, as the boys find they have grown apart … and their friendship is not what it was. Said Peter Marks in The Washington Post, “Glory Days is a fresh and vivacious one-act musical … real, and surprisingly moving.”

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Alex Robert Holmes, Derek Klena, Matthew Koehler, Ian Littleworth, Jeffrey Scott Parsons, and Alex Martinez Wallace. The set design is by Andrew Hammer, lighting design is by Jeremy Pivnick, costume design is by Mara Bear, and sound design is by Joseph Slawinski. James May serves as musical director, and the production stage manager is Ronn Goswick.

Glory Days will play two preview performances on Thursday, March 17 and Friday, March 18 at 8pm, and opening night is set for Saturday, March 19 at 8:00. The limited engagement will continue through Sunday, April 24. Preview tickets are $20; all seats beginning March 19 are $32. Tickets may be purchased by visiting www.plays411.com/glorydays or www.brownpapertickets.com/event/159876 or by calling (323) 960-7792.

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

# # #

03-07-11

Announcing: Katherine Helmond to Star in West Coast Premiere of The Little Flower of East Orange

TONY AWARD NOMINEE AND SEVEN-TIME EMMY AWARD NOMINEE
KATHERINE HELMOND SET TO STAR
IN WEST COAST PREMIERE OF
THE LITTLE FLOWER OF EAST ORANGE
BY STEPHEN ADLY GUIRGIS
DIRECTED BY DAVID FOFI

FINAL PLAY OF ELEPHANT THEATRE COMPANY’S 2010 SEASON
OPENS NOVEMBER 6 AT THE LILLIAN THEATRE

Following the much acclaimed west coast premiere production of Parasite Drag by Mark Roberts,  the Elephant Theatre Company concludes its 14th season with the west coast premiere of The Little Flower of East Orange by Stephen Adly Guirgis, directed by Elephant artistic director David Fofi.  Performances begin Thursday, November 4, and opening night is set for Saturday, November 6.  The Little Flower of East Orange will play a strictly limited engagement through December 19.

The cast of The Little Flower of East Orange will feature Katherine Helmond and Michael Friedman, along with (in alphabetical order) LeShay Tomlinson Boyce, Kim Estes, Alejandro Furth, Kate Huffman, Timothy McNeil, Marisa O’Brien, Mark Adair-Rios, Tom Stanczyk, and Tim Starks. The production design is by Joel Daavid, costume design is by Louis Douglas Jacobs, and sound design is by Matt Richter.  Shannon Simonds is the production stage manager, and Little Flower is being produced for the Elephant by Lindsay Allbaugh and Tara Norris.

Katherine Helmond received a Tony Award nomination in 1973 for her performance in Eugene O’Neill’s The Great God Brown.  She then gained international recognition with her portrayal of the ditzy Jessica Tate on 1977’s most controversial sitcom, the much celebrated Soap.  Ms. Helmond received four Emmy Award nominations for her performance, one for each season  the  program was on the air.  She  went on to co-star with Judith Light and Tony Danza in Who’s the Boss? for eight seasons, receiving two more Emmy nominations along the way.  She starred in the ABC sitcom Coach for three seasons, and then from 1996-2004, she had a recurring role as Ray’s mother-in-law on Everybody Loves Raymond, picking up her seventh Emmy nomination.

The Little Flower of East Orange is part of the recently announced Elephant Theatre Company/LAByrinth Theater Company partnership. The Little Flower tale begins as Therese Marie (Helmond) arrives in the emergency room of a small hospital in the Bronx. The nurses and doctors assume she is just another faceless charity case; abandoned, elderly and unable to even tell them her name. But Therese Marie’s dementia is not all that it seems and when her prodigal son Danny returns to New York, Therese Marie must fight to maintain her dignity as he imposes upon her the ugly secrets of their past.  In this inter-generational ghost story, we observe a searing portrait of a mother and son who must face a long family legacy of abuse in order to find the true meaning of grace. Stephen Adly Guirgis is the co-artistic director of the LAByrinth Theater Company in NYC. His plays have been produced on five continents and throughout the United States.  Guirgis is the author of such plays as Our Lady of 121st Street, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, and In Arabia We’d All Be Kings, which was produced by the Elephant in association with VS. Theatre Company in 2008. That production won four LADCC Awards, two Back Stage Garland Awards, and received two LA Weekly Award nominations.

There will be two lower-priced preview performances of The Little Flower of East Orange on Thursday, November 4 and Friday, November 5 at 8pm, and opening night is set for Saturday, November 6 at 8:00. THE MEDIA IS INVITED AND ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND THE OPENING NIGHT PERFORMANCE ON SATURDAY 11/6, BUT IS ALSO WELCOME AT ANY OTHER PERFORMANCE AFTER THAT DATE.  Opening night seats are available to the public for $40, which includes a reception with the cast following the performance. The regular running schedule is Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 7pm through December 19 only.  All tickets for regular performances are $25 and $30 (previews are $15). To purchase tickets, call (877) 369-9112 or reserve online: www.elephanttheatrecompany.com. Also, visit the Elephant on Facebook and follow us on twitter @ElephantTheatre.

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

#   #   #

10-22-10

Announcing: School for Suckers

WORLD PREMIERE OF “SCHOOL FOR SUCKERS”
SET FOR LILLIAN THEATRE
FIVE YOUNG ACTORS PERFORM NEW COMEDY
OPENING AUGUST 25 FOR SIX WEEKS ONLY

Remember when your biggest concern was covertly passing notes in the back of class?  How many tater-tots the lunch lady gave you?  How much glue to feed the class hamster? Five twenty-somethings find themselves sucker-punched by real life, and the result is School for Suckers, a new comedy opening at the Lillian Theatre on Tuesday, August 25 and running through September 30.  All performances will be Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 8:00.

The days of spitballs, hopscotch and playdough are over, suddenly replaced by awkward dates, religious conflict, and identity meltdowns.  Five college grads have just enrolled in the toughest class of all … and nobody brought a pencil.  Featuring witty original comedy mixed with real-life reflections, School for Suckers promises to be a unique theatrical experience.  The show contains some profanity and adult themes.  Parental discretion is advised.

School for Suckers is written and will be performed by (in alphabetical order) Sascha Alexander, John Dardenne, Ben Giroux, James Robinson, and Juliana Tyson.  The cast of five, along with director Elissa Weinzimmer, are all graduates of USC.  Dan O’Brien will design lighting and Julianne Figueroa is the stage manager.

Opening night is set for Tuesday, August 25 at 8:00.  The regular performance schedule is Tuesday and Wednesday at 8pm through September 30. THE MEDIA IS INVITED TO ATTEND OPENING NIGHT ON TUESDAY 8/25, AND IS ALSO WELCOME AT ANY OTHER PERFORMANCE. All seats are $15, and tickets may be purchased by calling (323) 960-7822 or reserve online:  www.plays411.com/schoolforsuckers.   For more information on the show’s cast and creative team, visit www.schoolforsuckers.com.

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

#  #  #
08/03/09