Archived entries for Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center

NEWS RELEASE – LOS ANGELES LGBT CENTER PRESENTS “THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE: REVISITED — OPENS SATURDAY 10/8 at 8pm

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s
Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center
Presents
The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe: Revisited

By Jane Wagner
Directed by Ken Sawyer

PREVIEWS BEGIN OCTOBER 4
OPENS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8 AT 8PM

Search for Signs of Intelligent Life: RevisitedFor the first time in the 35-year history of Jane Wagner’s iconic play The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, the author and her creative and life partner Lily Tomlin have given their approval for it to be reinvented as a fully staged production performed by a company of 12 actors as opposed to its original solo format. This first-ever fully cast production will be directed by Ovation Award-winner Ken Sawyer with previews beginning October 4. Opening is set for Saturday, October 8 at 8pm at the Davidson/Valentini Theatre at the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

Over the last four years, the Center’s Cultural Arts Program’s creative collaboration of Artistic Director Jon Imparato and director Ken Sawyer has presented the critically-acclaimed hits Deathtrap; The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later; The Goat or, Who Is Sylvia?; and Hit the Wall (which won Sawyer LADCC and Stage Raw Awards for Best Director and a Best Production of the Year Award for the Center). The new staging of Wagner’s play is titled The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe: Revisited. Said Imparato, “It was important to give our production a new name so that audiences are aware this is not a solo performance but a reimagined version of the play with different actors playing the many roles.”

In The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe: Revisited audiences will embark on a hilarious, tender, and profound journey through the streets, across the world, and far beyond. The cast will include (in alphabetical order) Julia Aks, Charlotte Gulezian, Joe Hart, Julanne Chidi Hill, Kristina Johnson, Kimberly Jürgen, Bellini Logan, Jeremy Luke, Ann Noble, Sasha Pasternak, Anny Rosario, and Rachel Sorsa.

The design team: Stephanie Kerley Schwartz (set), Matt Richter and Adam Earle (lighting), Paula Higgins (costumes), Matt Richter (sound), Nick Santiago (projection design), Anna Waronker and Charlotte Caffey (original music and underscore), Yusif Nasir (choreography), and Mo Gaffney (mime instruction). The producer for the Los Angeles LGBT Center is Jon Imparato, and Rebecca Schoenberg serves as stage manager.

Preview performances begin on October 4 at 8pm and continue on October 5, 6, and 7 at 8pm. Opening is set for Saturday, October 8 at 8pm. The engagement will run through December 11 with no performances over Thanksgiving weekend. General admission tickets are $30 and may be purchased online at www.lalgbtcenter.org/theatre or by phone at (323) 860-7300. Net proceeds from all ticket sales will support the full range of free and low cost programs and services offered by the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

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. Free onsite parking is available.

# # #

09-06-16

About the Los Angeles LGBT Center
Since 1969 the Los Angeles LGBT Center has cared for, championed, and celebrated LGBT individuals and families in Los Angeles and beyond. Today the Center’s more than 500 employees and 3,000 volunteers provide services for more LGBT people than any other organization in the world, offering programs, services, and global advocacy that span four broad categories: Health, Social Services and Housing, Culture and Education, and Leadership and Advocacy. The Center is an unstoppable force in the fight against bigotry and the struggle to build a better world — a world in which LGBT people can be healthy, equal, and complete members of society. Learn more at http://lalgbtcenter.org

NEWS RELEASE — “VARLA JEAN MERMAN’S BIG BLACK HOLE” — THREE NITES ONLY AT LALGBT’s RENBERG THEATRE APRIL 1, 2, & 3

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s
Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center
Presents
Varla Jean Merman’s
Big Black Hole
Written by Jeffery Roberson and Jacques Lamarre
With Gerald Goode on piano
Directed by Michael Schiralli

Friday & Saturday, April 1 & 2 and Sunday, April 3

Varla Jean Big Black HoleThe Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center has announced the return of the extraordinary Varla Jean Merman to the Renberg Theatre. Long a favorite with Renberg audiences, Varla (the drag persona of New Orleans native Jeffery Roberson) will take the stage again after a 10-year absence during which the acclaimed performer did extensive research in outer space. Her new solo show, the science fiction-themed Varla Jean Merman’s Big Black Hole, is the culmination of this long and grueling research. It will play for three nights only at the Renberg Theatre on April 1, 2 and 3.

Described as “a warp-speed, warped tour of outer space” (Provincetown Magazine), Big Black Hole combines story, song, and video in “an inventive night of theatre, full of high-class production, vaudevillesque low-brow humor, and the vocal prowess of a grand dame of the stage.” (ibid.) The show also features the piano stylings of accompanist and Varla-foil Gerald Goode.

As Varla Jean Merman, Jeffery Roberson has filled cabarets and concert halls across the world including the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, the New York Public Theater, London’s Soho Theatre, and the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Renberg Theatre. He wrote and starred in the short Improve Your History with Varla Jean: Stonewall for the launch of the MTV television network logo, and was also seen in their One Night Standup: Dragtastic special. Varla starred in the new musical Lucky Guy opposite Leslie Jordan in New York at the Little Shubert in the spring of 2011, receiving rave reviews. Roberson has also guest-starred on Ugly Betty, Project Runway Season 5, appeared as Mary Sunshine in the revival of Chicago on Broadway, and recurred as lady-of-the-evening Rosemary Chicken on the classic ABC soap opera All My Children. For his role in the cult camp hit Girls Will Be Girls, Roberson won both Best Actor and Best Actress awards (Outfest, Aspen HBO Film Festivals). For more information about Varla Jean Merman, visit varlaonline.com.

General admission tickets are $25 and may be purchased online at www.lalgbtcenter.org/theatre or by phone at (323) 860-7300. The performances on Friday 4/1 and Saturday 4/2 are at 8pm, and on Sunday 4/3 the curtain will rise at 7pm. Net proceeds from all ticket sales will support the full range of free and low-cost programs and services offered by the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Renberg Theatre is located at 1125 N. McCadden Place (one block east of Highland, just north of Santa Monica Boulevard), in Hollywood, 90038. Free onsite parking is available.

# # #

03-07-16

NEWS RELEASE — LALGBT CENTER PRESENTS SUZANNE WESTENHOEFER — TWO PERFS ONLY, MAY 30 & 31

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s
Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center
and Standout Productions
Present

SUZANNE WESTENHOEFER
THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR

TWO PERFORMANCES ONLY
Saturday, May 30 at 8pm & Sunday, May 31 at 7pm

Suzanne WestenhoeferThe Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center and Standout Productions have announced they will present one of the legends of queer comedy, Suzanne Westenhoefer, in her first Los Angeles appearance in seven years. Celebrating 25 glorious years in comedy, Westenhoefer returns to the Center’s Renberg Theatre on Saturday, May 30, at 8pm and Sunday, May 31 at 7pm.

Suzanne Westenhoefer in a word: candid. She’s refreshingly candid, disturbingly candid, and oh-my-god-she-just-said-that candid. Happily, she’s funny, too. For a quarter century this bold, brazen out lesbian comedian has been traveling the world, sharing her heart and soul with audiences. Whatever is going on in Westenhoefer’s life, you’ll get an earful of it. She doesn’t tell jokes. She tells the truth — or the truth as filtered through her uniquely twisted life experience. Every show Westenhoefer performs is original, as her candor problem leaves no room for scripting.

Raised by a single mom in Pennsylvania’s Amish Country, Westenhoefer knows what it’s like to stick out like a sore thumb. It made her even more daring and precocious. Her openness has blazed a trail of firsts, including being the first openly lesbian comedian with an HBO special and the first openly lesbian comedian on Late Night with David Letterman. Westenhoefer has recorded eight comedy DVDs, including the GLAMA Award-winning Nothing in My Closet but My Clothes, I’m Not Cindy Brady, and Guaranteed Freak. For more, visit www.suzannew.com.

Net proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the full range of the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s free and low-cost programs and services. General admission tickets are $25. On Saturday 5/30 only, VIP tickets are available for $50 and include preferred seating, a signed DVD, and a post-performance reception with Ms. Westenhoefer. All seats may be purchased online at www.lalgbtcenter.org/theatre or by phone at (323) 860-7300.

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Renberg Theatre is located at the Village at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N. McCadden Place (one block east of Highland, just north of Santa Monica Boulevard), in Hollywood. Free onsite parking is available.

# # #

04-21-15