Archived entries for Lyric Theatre

“Donna/Madonna” Set For 2 Perfs (July 24 & 25) in LA, 2 Perfs in Anaheim (August 6 & 13)

DONNA/MADONNA
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY JOHN PAUL KARLIAK
SET FOR LYRIC THEATRE IN LOS ANGELES, JULY 24 & 25
AND CHANCE THEATRE IN ANAHEIM, AUGUST 6 & 13

Donna-Madonna GraphicRizzo 39 Productions has announced two night only engagements of Donna/Madonna at the Lyric Theatre in Los Angeles (July 24 & 25), and at the Chance Theatre in Anaheim (August 6 & 13). Written and performed by John Paul Karliak, Donna/Madonna is directed by Tiger Reel and Matthew Craig. Curtain time for all performances is 8pm.

In this autobiographical one-act, writer/performer John Paul Karliak wants desperately to be the perfect son for his adopted mother, a doting Catholic housewife from Scranton, PA. But realizing he will never be the ideal local boy, he seeks answers from a very different source: his fashion-writing, married-to-a-British-pop-star birth mother. Donna/Madonna is a tale of motherly love and finding acceptance, told through stories, songs and characters like Darth Vader, Carol Channing and John Paul’s unforgettable mothers. Hilarious and poignant, this cross-country journey from Scranton to Los Angeles shows that sometimes you have to meet a “Material Girl” to truly appreciate “America’s Sweetheart.”

Donna/Madonna was the winner of the Best One Man Show Award (2010 United Solo Theatre Festival in New York), Best of Fringe Award (2011 New York International Fringe Festival), Overall Excellence in Solo Performance Award (2011 San Francisco Fringe Festival), and Best Solo Performance (2011 StageSceneLA.com Awards). Last year, the show enjoyed a successful run at Hollywood’s Lounge Theatre. Said the LA Weekly, “GO! Karliak’s execution is top-drawer. His delivery is brisk but unrushed, his sense of humor, contemplative but unsentimental. Inhabiting the skin of his drastically different mothers, Karliak’s range is gleefully apparent.”

John Paul Karliak’s recent film and TV projects include Ringer (opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar), Marvel Mash-Ups for Disney XD, Dante’s Inferno and Little Black Dress for AFI. LA theatre credits include The Mistakes Madeline Made, The Girl, the Grouch & the Goat, Into the Woods, Inherit the Wind, Women and Wallace, Whatever, and Sexual Perversity in Chicago. A graduate of the USC School of Theatre, iO West and Second City Training Center, John Paul has written numerous short films and plays which have been produced in various locales around the country, including Donna/Madonna, which is his first full-length solo production.

Tickets for the Lyric Theatre performances of Donna/Madonna are available online at http://bit.ly/DMinLA, or by calling (800) 838-3006. Tickets for the Chance Theatre performances are available online at www.chancetheatre.com, or by calling (714) 777-3033. All seats are $20. The Lyric is located at 520 N. La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles, 90036. The Chance is located at 5552 E. La Palma Avenue in Anaheim, 92807. For more info, visit www.donnamadonnashow.com.

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07-03-12

Announcing: “Aftershocks” by Doug Haverty Opens at Lyric Theatre on Friday, May 11

THE LYRIC THEATRE FOUNDATION PRESENTS
AFTERSHOCKS BY DOUG HAVERTY
DIRECTED BY JC GAFFORD
OPENING SET FOR FRIDAY, MAY 11

Aftershocks PosterThe Lyric Theatre Foundation concludes its 2012 season with a newly revised version of Aftershocks, written by Doug Haverty, and directed by JC Gafford. There will be two preview performances on Wednesday, May 9 and Thursday, May 10, and opening night is set for Friday, May 11 at 8:00. The limited engagement will continue through June 16.

In Aftershocks, two escaped housewives from Ohio are having the time of their lives residing in a Valencia trailer park, and being extras in the movies. Everything is great until someone’s past shows up on their aluminum doorstep. Doug Haverty’s award-winning plays and musicals have been presented around the world. Several of his plays are published, including Could I Have This Dance? (chosen by the American Theatre Critics Association as Best New Play to be produced outside NYC). His musical (co-written with Adryan Russ) iGhost had its world premiere at the Lyric Theatre in the spring of 2011.

The cast of Aftershocks will feature (in alphabetical order) Dorrie Braun, Summer Harlow, and Julia Silverman. The lighting design is by Ryan Schull, costume design is by Hunter Wells, and sound design is by Craig Jessen. The stage manager is Holly Wolfstein, and Dorrie Braun produces for the Lyric Theatre Foundation.

Aftershocks will play two preview performances on Wednesday, May 9 and Thursday, May 10, at 8pm. Opening night is set for Friday, May 11 at 8:00, and the engagement will continue through June 16 only. The running schedule is Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00. Aftershocks tickets are on sale now ($20 for general admission), and may be purchased by visiting www.plays411.com/aftershocks, www.Goldstar.com, www.LAStageAlliance.com, or by calling (323) 960-1055.

The Lyric Theatre is located at 520 N. La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles, 90036. Street parking is available. For more information on Aftershocks, and the Lyric Theatre, visit www.LyricTheatreLA.com.

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04-17-12

Announcing: Lyric Theatre on LaBrea Announces 2012 Season of Plays

THE LYRIC THEATRE ON LA BREA
ANNOUNCES 2012 SEASON OF PLAYS

FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE
WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF BY NTOZAKE SHANGE,
WORLD PREMIERE OF JUPITER ZOOM BY CALLIE KIMBALL,
WORLD PREMIERE OF FEEDBACK BY JANE MILLER,
AND AFTERSHOCKS BY DOUG HAVERTY

Lyric Theatre of Los Angeles logoThe Lyric Theatre on N. La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles, Dorrie Braun, Founder and Executive Director, JC Gafford, Artistic Director, has announced a season of four plays for 2012, which will kick off February 10 with a new production of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf by Ntozake Shange, followed by two world premieres, Jupiter Zoom by Callie Kimball, and Feedback by Jane Miller, and concluding with Aftershocks by Doug Haverty.

The 2012 season begins with a new production of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf by Ntozake Shange. The Tony Award nominated and Obie Award-winning play weaves lush movement and graceful verse into a truly stirring portrait of seven amazing black women trapped in their sex, color and consciousness. Each woman’s journey is unique, yet each seamlessly blends with the stories of the other six women to form one, united voice of pride and power. The play, which premiered on Broadway in 1976, was the inspiration for Tyler Perry’s recent film For Colored Girls. Directed by Lyric Artistic Director JC Gafford, the show begins previews on February 8 with an official opening night scheduled for Friday, February 10. For Colored Girls … will run through March 4.

Family breeds contempt in Jupiter Zoom, a comedy-drama by Callie Kimball that traps a chiropractor, a baked snowboarder, two sets of sisters, and a guy named after a planet, in a posh DC townhouse for three whole days. At a family gathering to celebrate one of the sisters’ 50th birthday, a long-buried secret is exposed, revealing how a violent night 25 years ago fractured the family forever. Callie Kimball’s plays have been produced and developed at Washington Shakespeare Company, Project Y Theatre, the Kennedy Center, Electric Pear Productions, and the Capital Fringe Festival. She has received a MacDowell Fellowship, a Ludwig Vogelstein grant, the Rita and Burton Goldberg Prize at Hunter College, and she has been nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn award. Jupiter Zoom, directed by Richard Tatum, begins previews on March 14, with opening set for Friday, March 16, and runs through April 8.

Jane Miller’s Feedback is the tale of Holly, who, trying to cope with the loss of her mother, spends her inheritance on a PR firm that specializes in rebranding people. Her entire life is put under a microscope by a hard-nosed professional and a free-wheeling eccentric who dissects every facet of her appearance, behavior, and relationships to create a new and improved version of Holly. Jane Miller is a playwright and screenwriter living in Brooklyn, NY, whose work has been produced by Aporia Theatre, Looking Glass Theatre, The Wellesley Project, Squeaky Bicycle Productions, and The Network. She is a contributing artist in the developmental group, The Pack, part of Packawallop Productions. Feedback, directed by Craig Jessen, starts previews on April 18, opens Friday, April 20, and runs through May 13.
Concluding the season will be Aftershocks, a newly revised version of a play by Doug Haverty. In this play, two escaped housewives from Ohio are having the time of their lives living in a Valencia trailer park and being extras in the movies. Everything is great until someone’s past shows up on their aluminum doorstep. Doug Haverty’s award-winning plays and musicals have been presented around the world. Several of his plays are published, including Could I Have This Dance? (chosen by the American Theatre Critics Association as Best New Play to be produced outside NYC). Doug’s musical (co-written with Adryan Russ) iGhost had its world premiere at the Lyric Theatre in the spring of 2011. Aftershocks, directed by JC Gafford, will begin previews on May 23, open on Friday, May 25, and close on June 17.

For more information on the Lyric Theatre, the 2012 season of plays, and purchasing tickets, visit www.LyricTheatreLA.com. The Lyric Theatre is located at 520 N. La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles, 90036. Street parking is available.

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12-13-11