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 ▪︎ HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL AWARD-WINNING HIT COMEDY “THANKSGIVING” PLAYS FINAL TWO PERFORMANCES AT THEATRE UNLEASHED ▪︎ AUGUST 4 & 5

SAMOVAR SUBWAY ENSEMBLE PRESENTS
THANKSGIVING
A WORLD PREMIERE COMEDY
BY TIFFANY CASCIO
DIRECTED BY KITTY LINDSAY
✰UNLEASHED AWARD✰
FINAL ENCORE PERFORMANCES
AUGUST 4 & 5 at 8pm
AT THEATRE UNLEASHED IN NOHO

Samovar Subway Ensemble’s acclaimed Hollywood Fringe Festival production of Thanksgiving, a world premiere comedy by Tiffany Cascio, will play two final encore performances on Friday, August 4 and Saturday, August 5 at 8pm at Theatre Unleashed in North Hollywood.

Nominated for five awards and designated as Pick of the Fringe, Thanksgiving won the Beyond Bechdel–Wallace Award (sponsored by Broads’ Word Ensemble), the Unleashed Award (sponsored by Theatre Unleashed, which makes these two final performances possible), and the Encore! Producers’ Award. The show was also nominated for the ShoWorks Don’t Wait Create! Award (sponsored by ShoWorks Entertainment) and Best Comedy.
The cast features (in alphabetical order) Trip Langley, Susan Louise O’Connor, Asia Lynn Pitts, Gary Poux, Sharon Spence, and Allison Youngberg. The creative team includes Kit Whitten (set design), Brandon Baruch (lighting design), Sharon Spence (costume design), and James Ferrero (sound design). Fight choreography is by Dane Oliver, the stage manager is Taylor Jackson Ross, and Allison Youngberg is the producer for Samovar Subway Ensemble.

Thanksgiving is a not all-the-way true, but sometimes painfully so, dysfunctional family comedy. Chloe Patterson has invited her perfect fiancé to what she will make sure is the perfect Thanksgiving, despite her very imperfect family. She’s got a solid plan in place to combat any and all hints of dysfunction, providing for every possible contingency — except the unexpected dinner guest: a very unfiltered, Las Vegas stripper. Scabs are picked, secrets are revealed, and fights erupt as this group struggles to make it through another holiday unscathed. Running time is 90 minutes.

Tickets for the two final performances of Thanksgiving are $15 and may be obtained online at www.theatreunleashed.org. Theatre Unleashed is located at 11031 Camarillo Street in North Hollywood, 91602.

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07-27-17

L to R — Allison Youngberg, Asia Lynn Pitts, Susan Louise O’Connor. Photo by Cali Bloomfield.

NEWS RELEASE — CRITICAL MASS PERFORMANCE GROUP ANNOUNCES PANELS & EVENTS TO ACCOMPANY THE WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION OF “AMERYKA” OPENING SATURDAY 2/6

CRITICAL MASS PERFORMANCE GROUP
ANNOUNCES PANELS AND EVENTS TO ACCOMPANY ITS
WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION 0F
AMERYKA
OPENING FEBRUARY 6
AT SHAKESPEARE CENTER OF LOS ANGELES

Critical Mass Performance Group has announced a slate of panels and events surrounding and enhancing the audience experience of Ameryka, its world premiere play opening at Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles on Saturday, February 6. Written and directed by Nancy Keystone in collaboration with the company, the cast of Ameryka will feature Curt Bonnem, Russell Edge, Ray Ford, Lorne Green, Drew Stafford Harper, Danielle K. Jones, Christopher Salazar, Nick Santoro, and Valerie Spencer.

Throughout the run of Ameryka, in partnership with the Center for the Study of Political Graphics, an exhibition of political posters from the Solidarity and American Civil Rights Movements (www.politicalgraphics.org) will be featured in the theatre lobby. Additionally, The Richard Velzen Trio will perform live jazz on Saturdays 2/13, 2/20, and 3/5. For more information and activities schedule updates, visit www.criticalmassperformancegroup.com.

FRIDAY 2/12 — POST SHOW PANEL
Pawel Leszkowicz and Tomasz Kitlinski will lead a conversation about current civil rights issues in Poland, focusing on the LGBT community. Leszkowicz is a Polish art historian and art curator. He works as a lecturer and researcher at the Department of History of Art, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, is a member of the International Association of Art Critics and is an LGBT rights activist. Kitlinski is a lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and Sociology, Marie Curie University, Lublin. He is an activist on behalf of labor rights and the equality of women and minorities in Poland and is the author of “The Stranger Is Within Us” (co- written with Leszkowicz) and “Love and Democracy: Reflections on the Queer Question in Poland.”

SATURDAY 2/13 — POST SHOW PANEL
YOU’RE PRODUCING WHAT?! — Producing Theatre in Los Angeles
With Nancy Keystone (Artistic Director, Critical Mass Performance Group) and artistic leaders from the Los Angeles intimate theatre scene.

SUNDAY 2/21 — FOLLOWING 2PM PERFORMANCE
Professor Jody David Armour will speak about the international impact of American racial and social justice and the current Black Lives Matter movement. Armour is the Roy P. Crocker Professor of Law at USC, where he studies the intersection of race and legal decision making. A widely published scholar and popular lecturer, Armour is a Soros Justice Senior Fellow of The Open Society Institute’s Center on Crime, Communities, and Culture. His book Negrophobia and Reasonable Racism: The Hidden Costs of Being Black in America (New York University Press) addresses core concerns of the Black Lives Matter movement. Armour often appears as a legal analyst on a variety of national television and radio news programs.

SATURDAY 2/27 — 7PM (PRIOR TO PERFORMANCE)
Adam Michnik will speak before the 8pm performance. Michnik was a forceful leader of the Solidarity Movement, long-time dissident, writer, historian, and public intellectual. He was jailed multiple times during the Communist regime. He is the co-founder and editor of Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland’s leading newspaper. Michnik is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a laureate of many awards and honors including a Knight of the Legion of Honour. He has also received a Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, a Goethe Medal, and was named European of the Year.

MONDAY 2/29 — POST SHOW PANEL
YOU CALL THAT THEATRE?! — Devising Theatre in Los Angeles
With Nancy Keystone (Artistic Director, Critical Mass Performance Group), Sean Cawelti (Artistic Director, Rogue Artists Ensemble), Traci Kato-Kiriyama and Kennedy Kabasares (PULL Project), and Estela Garcia (independent artist).
Exploring the methods and madness of the collaborative creation process for new theatrical works. Ameryka is the product of five years of collaborative creation by Critical Mass Performance Group.

There will be one preview performance of Ameryka on Friday, February 5 at 8pm and opening is set for Saturday, February 6 at 8pm. The engagement will run through March 6 only with performances on Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm. There will be added performances on Sundays 2/14, 2/21, and 3/6 at 7pm, and on Mondays 2/22 and 2/29 at 8pm. Admission on Friday, Sunday, and Monday is $25; on Saturday it is $30. Student and senior discounts are available at all performances. Tickets are available online at http://critical-mass- performance-group.ticketleap.com/ameryka/ or by calling (323) 993-7263. Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles is located at 1238 W. 1st Street in LA, 90026.

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02-02-16