NEWS RELEASE — WORLD PREMIERE OF “SALOME” BY CHRISTOPHER ADAMS-COHEN OPENS FEBRUARY 5 AT MACK SENNETT STUDIOS

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Lunar River
in association with Mack Sennett Studios
presents
the World Premiere of
SALOME
A Play by Christopher Adams-Cohen
Directed by Patrick Kennelly

JANUARY 31 — FEBRUARY 28 NOW THRU MARCH 6
THE BASEMENT AT MACK SENNETT STUDIOS

OPENS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5 AT 8PM
NO PERFORMANCES FRIDAY 2/12, SATURDAYS 2/13 & 2/27, SUNDAY 2/28

Lunar River in association with Mack Sennett Studios has announced the world premiere of Salome, a radically queer reinvention of the ancient tale, written by Christopher Adams-Cohen and directed by Patrick Kennelly. Salome will run for four weeks only with two preview performances on January 31 and February 4 at 8pm. Opening is set for Friday, February 5 at 8pm. Salome will run through February 28 March 6 at The Basement at Mack Sennett Studios.

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Christopher Adams-Cohen, Matthew Raich, Rachel Rivera, Soren Royer-McHugh, and Jacqueline Wright. The scenic design is by John Iacovelli, lighting design is by Pablo Santiago-Brandwein, costume design is by Lauren Oppelt, and music and sound design is by Jonathan Snipes. The stage manager is Kelly Egan.

In this radically queer reinvention of the ancient tale of Salome, the playwright takes spiritual inspiration from the transgressive sexuality of Oscar Wilde’s poetic study of the ultimate femme fatale, igniting a militantly erotic epiphany for the 21st Century.

Playwright Christopher Adams-Cohen is also an actor and director. He first appeared on stage as a disembodied angel head in Achim Freyer’s Faust. A Los Angeles native, he played roles as a child vocalist at the LA Opera, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Hollywood Bowl. He apprenticed at New York Stage & Film’s Powerhouse Theatre, and returned there in the summer of 2015 to act in their workshop series. Adams-Cohen is currently producing new work at Montserrat, a performance space in the DTLA Industrial District (www.montserratdtla.com), serves as literary manager for TinyRhino LA, and is a frequent writer and performer with Play Collaborative Arts (www.playcollaborativearts.com). He is a graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. More at www.cadamscohen.com.

Director Patrick Kennelly writes, produces, directs, designs, and curates for film and video, theatre, and for the performance and visual arts. His recent projects include the experimental short-form documentary ten minutes in two hours, shot in South Sudan, a music video for the single “Body & Blood” on noise-rap group Clipping’s debut album, and the feature film Excess Flesh which had its world premiere at SXSW in the spring of 2015. Kennelly is the Co-Artistic Director at Highways Performance Space.
There will be two preview performances of Salome on Sunday, January 31 at 7pm and Thursday, February 4 at 8pm. Opening is set for Friday, February 5 at 8pm. The engagement will run through February 28 with performances on Thursday and Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 9pm, and Sunday at 7pm. Admission for previews is $28 (students $20) and for regular performances $32 (students $25). Tickets are available online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2488224 or by calling (800) 838-3006.

The Basement at Mack Sennett Studios is located at 1215 Bates Avenue, LA, 90029 (on the corner of Fountain, one block east of Sunset).

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01-21-16

^{L to R — Christopher Adams-Cohen, Jacqueline Wright, Matthew Raich.
PHOTO BY GAIL HOWLAND.}

NEWS RELEASE — ONE TIME ONLY READING (TUESDAY 1/12 at 8pm) of “BYHALIA, MISSISSIPPI” by EVAN LINDER as part of NATIONAL EVENT ‘A WORLD PREMIERE CONVERSATION’

SIXTH AVENUE
PRESENTS A READING OF
BYHALIA, MISSISSIPPI
BY EVAN LINDER

ONE NIGHT ONLY READING IS PART OF
THE NATIONAL EVENT
A WORLD PREMIERE CONVERSATION

AT AKBAR IN SILVER LAKE
TUESDAY, JANUARY 12 AT 8PM

Sixth Avenue has announced a one time only reading of Byhalia, Mississippi by Evan Linder on Tuesday, January 12 at 8pm at Akbar in Silver Lake. This reading is part of a national event called ‘A World Premiere Conversation’ — an event simultaneously connecting audiences attending the world premieres of Byhalia, Mississippi at theatres in seven North American cities. A digital conversation on Monday, January 18 will connect creative teams and audiences from all participating cities.

The play is making its world premiere simultaneously in Chicago (The New Colony and Definition Theatre Company), Memphis (Playhouse on the Square), Toronto (Cue6 Theatre), and Charleston (The Village Rep) on January 8, followed by readings in Boulder (Square Product Theatre), Birmingham (Theatre Downtown), and the Sixth Avenue reading in Los Angeles on January 12.

The Los Angeles cast will include (in alphabetical order) Frances Fisher, Charlotte Gulezian, Kristy Johnson, Zhalion Levingston, and Adam Silver.

Byhalia, Mississippi tells the story of Jim and Laurel Parker, a white Mississippi couple whose newborn black baby uncovers a secret affair and ignites racial turmoil in the town. The play is the 2015 winner of the NewWorks@The Works Playwriting Competition at Playhouse on the Square in Memphis and has been short-listed for numerous awards including the Theatre503 Playwriting Award.

Akbar, Silver Lake’s “neighborhood oasis,” is located at 4356 W. Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. Admission is free and reservations are not required. For more information on ‘A World Premiere Conversation” visit wpconvo.com and for more on Sixth Avenue, visit www.6avenue.org.

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01-07-16

NEWS RELEASE — TRAVIS MICHAEL HOLDER JOINS CAST OF “TELL MR. POULOS” AT DORIE THEATRE IN HOLLYWOOD

TRAVIS MICHAEL HOLDER
HAS JOINED THE CAST OF
THE WORLD PREMIERE COMEDY
TELL MR. POULOS
BY DONALD WOLLNER
DIRECTED BY PAGE BURKHOLDER

DORIE THEATRE AT THE COMPLEX
OPENS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3 AT 8PM

Travis Michael Holder has joined the cast of the world premiere comedy Tell Mr. Poulos, written by Donald Wollner and directed by Page Burkholder at the Dorie Theatre at the Complex in Hollywood. Previews begin on October 1 at 8pm and opening is set for Saturday, October 3 at 8pm. The limited engagement will run through October 25 only.

Holder will play the title role and joins the previously announced cast of (in alphabetical order) Lindsey Andersen, Beresford Bennett, Kina Bermudez, and Yetta Gottesman. The design team will include Rebecca Raines (lighting) and Bill Campbell (sound).

Travis Michael Holder received a LA Drama Critics Circle Award for his performance in Nasty Little Secrets at Theatre/Theater, and a second LADCC Award last season as part of the ensemble cast of Stupid Fucking Bird at The Theatre @ Boston Court, where he has also appeared in Summertime and The Good Book of Pedantry and Wonder. Holder has received a Drama-Logue Award, five Back Stage Garland Awards, NAACP, GLAAD, two Ovation Award nominations, and six LA Weekly Award nominations. Other productions in which Holder has appeared include Fifth of July, Equus, Oscar & Speranza, Bye Bye Birdie, Chicago, Lament for the Moths, The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore, among many others.

When Jimmy Meadows loses his job after 10 years of loyal service, his once stable life spirals into ridiculousness. Job interviews lead only to degradation. Aloof from his wife, he takes up with an admiring, beautiful, but deeply disturbed young woman. Jimmy’s lonely wife, a nurse, enters into a bizarre relationship with a 90-year-old patient under her care. Into this turmoil comes the enigmatic Mr. Poulos, who rents a room in the Meadows’ apartment. Is he a seer? A spy? Or is he just an old guy who reads Greek language newspapers all day?

Playwright Donald Wollner is a two-time recipient of an NYFA grant for playwriting. Some of his other plays include Kid Purple, Badgers, Lone Deer, The Harvard Club, Men in Waiting, and Bavarian Humor. Tell Mr. Poulos was workshopped at Labyrinth Theatre’s 2013 Summer Intensive, and Kid Purple was recently presented by The Never Wonder Players in Sherman Oaks.

There will be two preview performances of Tell Mr. Poulos on Thursday, October 1 and Friday, October 2 at 8pm, and opening is set for Saturday, October 3 at 8pm. The regular running schedule is Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 5pm through October 25 only. General admission tickets are $10 and may be obtained online at http://wildtown.org/ or by calling (866) 811-4111. The Dorie Theatre at the Complex is located at 6476 Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood, 90038.

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09-28-15