NEWS RELEASE ▪︎ WEST COAST PREMIERE OF “EXIT STRATEGY” BY IKE HOLTER OPENS AT LOS ANGELES LGBT CENTER on FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 at 8pm

FROM THE PLAYWRIGHT AND PRODUCERS OF
Hit the Wall
COMES THE WEST COAST PREMIERE OF
EXIT STRATEGY
By Ike Holter
Directed by Deena Selenow

From the playwright and producers of Hit the Wall comes the West Coast premiere of Exit Strategy by acclaimed Chicago playwright Ike Holter. First produced in Chicago in 2014 and then off-Broadway in 2016, this fiery and poetic play will be directed by Deena Selenow. Three preview performances are scheduled for September 26, 27, and 28, and opening is set for Friday, September 29 at 8pm. The run will continue through November 5 in the Davidson/Valentini Theatre.

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) LaNisa Renee Frederick, Jane Macfie, Remy Ortiz, Maria Romero, Darrett Sanders, Adam Silver, and Luke Tennie.

A fierce and funny new work from the playwright and producers of Hit the Wall about the chaotic final days of an urban public high school, Exit Strategy is a riveting, edge-of-your-seat drama from a vital new voice in American playwriting. Ike Holter was voted Chicagoan of the Year in Theatre by the Chicago Tribune and recently received the nation’s most lucrative award for playwriting, the Windham-Campbell Prize for Drama.

The scenic design is by Se Oh, lighting design is by Matt Richter, costume design is by Lena Sands, and sound design is by Jesse Mandapat. The stage manager is Margaret Marx. Producers for the Los Angeles LGBT Center and Sixth Avenue are Jon Imparato and Adam Silver.

There will be three preview performances of Exit Strategy on Tuesday, September 26; Wednesday, September 27; and Thursday, September 28; all at 8pm. Opening is set for Friday, September 29, at 8pm. The engagement will run through November 5 with performances on Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 7pm. Preview seats are $20 and admission for regular performances is $30. Tickets are available online at www.lalgbtcenter.org/theatre, or by calling (323) 860-7300.

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.

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09-06-17

NEWS RELEASE — LOS ANGELES LGBT CENTER PRESENTS “BLACKBIRD” BY DAVID HARROWER ▪︎ FRINGE FESTIVAL PRODUCTION ▪︎ JUNE 1 – 25

Los Angeles LGBT Center’s

Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center

Presents

As Part of the 2017 Hollywood Fringe Festival

BLACKBIRD

By David Harrower

Directed by Anna Stromberg

Featuring

Charlotte Gulezian and Bradley Fisher

Los Angeles LGBT Center has announced that as part of the 2017 Hollywood Fringe Festival the Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center will present Blackbird by David Harrower. Featuring Charlotte Gulezian and Bradley Fisher, the production will be directed by Anna Stromberg.  There will be 12 performances only, beginning June 1 and running through June 25 in The Center’s Davidson/Valentini Theatre. [The complete performance schedule is at the end of this release.]

Scottish playwright David Harrower’s drama won the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and had a critically acclaimed run on Broadway last year. Inspired in part by the crimes of sex offender Toby Studebaker (though in no way a literal dramatization of actual events) the play depicts a young woman meeting a middle-aged man 15 years after being sexually abused by him when she was 12 years old.

Actors Charlotte Gulezian (winner of LADCC, BroadwayWorld, and StageSceneLA Awards for her performance in last year’s Hit the Wall) and Bradley Fisher were both seen in the LGBT Center’s production of Fool for Love in the 2016 Fringe Festival. (That production is currently a StageRaw nominee for Best Revival of a Play). The design team includes multiple award-winner Matt Richter(lighting and sound), and Brooke Gerson (costumes). The stage manager is Margaret Marx.

There will be four previews and eight regular performances of Blackbird, beginning on June 1 and running through June 25. The complete schedule:

PREVIEWS  

Thursday 6/1 at 8:30pm

Saturday 6/3 at 4:30pm

Sunday 6/4 at 6:30pm

Wednesday 6/7 at 8:30pm

REGULAR

Friday 6/9 at 8:30pm [OPENING NIGHT]

Sunday 6/11 at 4:30pm

Monday 6/12 at 6:30pm

Wednesday 6/14 at 10:30pm

Wednesday 6/21 & at 8:30pm

Thursday 6/22 at 8:30pm

Saturday 6/24 at 4:30pm

Sunday 6/25 at 4:30pm

Preview seats are $10 and admission for regular performances is $15. Tickets are available online at www.lalgbtcenter.org/theatre or by phone at (323) 860-7300.

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Davidson/Valentini Theatre is located at the 1125 N. McCadden Place (one block east of Highland, just north of Santa Monica Boulevard), in Hollywood, 90038. During construction of the Center’s new facility, free parking is limited. Please allow extra time to find parking, or choose public transportation or a ride service such as Lyft.

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05-03-17

NEWS RELEASE ▪︎ 27th ANNUAL OVATION AWARDS NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED

27TH ANNUAL LA STAGE ALLIANCE

OVATION AWARDS NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS LEADS WITH 22,

CENTER THEATRE GROUP FOLLOWS WITH 20,

GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE HAS 18,

CELEBRATION THEATRE GETS 16,

THE THEATRE @ BOSTON COURT WITH 11,

LOS ANGELES LGBT CENTER RECEIVES 10

Nominees for the 27th Annual LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards were announced on Wednesday, November 2 on @ This Stage Magazine [ThisStage.la]. The ceremony will take place Tuesday, January 17, 2017 at the Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center. The curtain will rise at 7:30pm.

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts leads the pack with 22 nominations for their productions of American Idiot (7), First Date (7), Dreamgirls (4), and Empire (4). Center Theatre Group follows with 20 nominations for their productions of Endgame (10) and Women Laughing Alone with Salad (1) at the Kirk Douglas Theatre; Father Comes Home from the Wars, Parts 1, 2 & 3 (6 noms) at the Mark Taper Forum; and Grey Gardens (2) and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (1) at the Ahmanson Theatre. Geffen Playhouse received 18 nominations for their productions of Guards at the Taj (7), Barcelona (6), Outside Mullingar (2), These Paper Bullets! A Modish Ripoff of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing (1), Big Sky (1), and Best Season. Celebration Theatre garnered 16 nominations for their productions of The Boy from Oz (10), Bootycandy (3), Dream Boy (2), and Best Season. The Theatre @ Boston Court has 11 nominations which break down as follows — Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles (co-production with The Getty Villa), 4 noms; The Golden Dragon (3), Colony Collapse (3), and Seven Spots on the Sun (1). The Los Angeles LGBT Center received 10 nominations for their productions of Hit the Wall (5) and HAM: A Musical Memoir (4), as well as Best Season.

Ovation Honors, which recognize outstanding achievement in areas that are not among the standard list of nomination categories, have been awarded to Gregory Nabours (Music Composition for a Play, The Sparrow at Coeurage Theatre Company); Edgar Landa (Fight Choreography, Son of Semele Ensemble’s That Pretty Pretty; or, The Rape Play); and Greg Ballora, Sean Cawelti, Christine Papalexis, Jack Pullman, and Brian White (Puppet Design, Woody Boy Long Fish at Bootleg Theater).

For the 2015-2016 voting season, there are a grand total of 214 nominations for 70 productions presented by 45 companies. There were 280 total productions registered from 116 companies. Of those productions registered, 56 were Ovation Recommended, identified during their runs as scoring in the top quarter of all productions in the Overall Production categories. [A COMPLETE LIST OF NOMINEES IS AVAILABLE AT ThisStage.la.]

Founded in 1989, the LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. Voters are Los Angeles theatre professionals who are chosen each year, through an application process, by the Ovation Rules Committee. This year’s Ovation Awards eligibility period ran from August 31, 2015 through August 28, 2016.

LA STAGE Alliance is a nonprofit arts service organization dedicated to building awareness, appreciation, and support for the performing arts in Greater Los Angeles. This year’s Ovation Awards ceremony is sponsored in part by Wells Fargo, Bakers Man Productions, Time Out Los Angeles, Performances Magazine, and Ken Werther Publicity.

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11-02-16