Archived entries for Premiere

Announcing: Kate Fodor’s ‘Rx’ Set for LA Premiere at Lost Studio on La Brea – Saturday, January 11 at 8pm

Rx LogoBY KATE FODOR
DIRECTED BY JOHN PLESHETTE

SET FOR LOS ANGELES PREMIERE
AT THE LOST STUDIO
JANUARY 10 — MARCH 2, 2014

Rx, a new comedy by Kate Fodor, has been set for its Los Angeles premiere January 10 through March 2 at the Lost Studio on La Brea. Directed by John Pleshette, there will be one preview performance on Friday, January 10 at 8pm and opening is set for Saturday, January 11 at 8pm. Rx will play a limited engagement through March 2 only.

Love and pharmaceuticals make for a strange cocktail in Kate Fodor’s piercing new comedy. Containing equally strong doses of satire and insight, Fodor’s play strikingly portrays our overmedicated society, which has a pill to alleviate every uncomfortable emotion. A winning combination of comedy and romance, Rx pokes gentle fun at our overprescribed culture. Said the New York Post, “If laughter is the best medicine, maybe health plans should cover the ticket price.”

The cast of Rx will feature (in alphabetical order) Mina Badie, K Callan, Michael Dempsey, James Donovan, Kirsten Kollender, and Jonathan Pessin. The set design is by John Pleshette, lighting design is by Nick Davidson, costume design is by Esther Rydell, and sound design is by Joseph “Sloe” Slawinski. The stage manager is David Rubin. Rx is produced by the Lost Studio and Lynn Pleshette.

Playwright Kate Fodor is a 2013 Guggenheim fellow in playwriting. Her other plays, including the much acclaimed and multi-awarded Hannah and Martin and 100 Saints You Should Know have been produced by Playwrights Horizons, Epic Theatre Ensemble, San Jose Repertory Theatre, London’s Courtyard Theatre, and Chicago’s TimeLime Theatre, among others. She has been a resident playwright at New Dramatists since 2008. Fodor’s work has been developed by Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Hartford Stage, and Center Theatre Group. She was named one of the “Eight to Watch” by the New York Times.

Director John Pleshette returns to the Lost Studio where he has previously directed The Grand Irrationality, Me, As a Penguin, Confusions, Mammals, No Man’s Land, and The Caretaker, which won an LA Weekly Award for Best Revival. At the Lex Theatre, he directed productions of Little Murders and The Arrangement, and at the Matrix Theatre, A Critic and His Wife. At the Manhattan Theatre Club Pleshette staged premieres of Jonathan Levy’s Marco Polo and The Pornographer’s Daughter. As an actor, he appeared as a regular on Knots Landing and Murder One, and in the title role of the ABC mini-series The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald. Guest appearances include Curb Your Enthusiasm, N.C.I.S., and The Sopranos. His film credits include featured roles in Blake Edwards’ Mickey and Maude and S.O.B.

There will be one preview performance on Friday, January 10 at 8pm, and opening is set for Saturday, January 11 at 8pm. The running schedule is Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 3pm through March 2 only. Tickets for the preview are $15 and for all other performances admission is $25. Tickets are available now, online at www.plays411.com/rx or by calling (323) 960-7780.

The Lost Studio is located at 130 S. La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles, 90036. Street parking is available.

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12-13-13

Announcing: MainStreet Theatre Company Presents ‘Aesop in Rancho Cucamonga,’ A World Premiere by Luis Alfaro

MainStreet Theatre Company
Presents the World Premiere of
Aesop in Rancho CucamongaBy Luis Alfaro
Directed by Robert Castro

Three Weeks Only
October 26 — November 10

MainStreet Theatre Company logoMainStreet Theatre Company has announced the first production of its 2013/2014 season, Aesop in Rancho Cucamonga, a world premiere play by Luis Alfaro and directed by Robert Castro. Now in its eighth season, MainStreet Theatre Company commissioned this adaptation of Aesop’s Fables with a generous grant from the James Irvine Foundation. The production, which is also supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, will play two school performances on October 25 and open to the public on Saturday, October 26 at 4pm. The strictly limited engagement will run through Sunday, November 10 only.

MainStreet’s first-ever world premiere, Aesop in Rancho Cucamonga is the tale of a California bear cub that wanders down from the foothills, gets lost in Victoria Gardens, and has to find her way back home. Away from her clan, she begins her journey and along the way she meets ants, lizards, and a cactus who tell her stories (Aesop’s Fables, adapted). During the cub’s extraordinary adventure, valuable life lessons are learned, not the least of which is the importance of family and community. Entertainment for the entire family, ages five and up.

The cast of Aesop in Rancho Cucamonga will feature (in alphabetical order) Amielynn Abellera, Joe Hernandez-Kolski, Justin Huen, Michael Manuel, Armando Ortega, and Tony Sancho. Scenic design is by Francois-Pierre Couture, lighting design is by Ben Zamora, costume design is by Raquel Barreto, sound design and original music is by John Zalewski, and Mary Michele Miner is production stage manager. Mireya (Murry) Hepner serves as producer for the City of Rancho Cucamonga’s MainStreet Theatre Company.

Playwright Luis Alfaro was born and raised in downtown Los Angeles, and he is a multi‐ award-winning Chicano writer/performer known for his work in poetry, theatre, short stories, performance, and journalism. Alfaro is the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant, and is the 2013 Joyce Foundation Fellow. He is the first Playwright‐in‐Residence in the 80 year history of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the largest repertory theatre in the United States. Alfaro’s plays have been produced at regional theatres throughout the U.S. and Europe.

Director Robert Castro is known for his stylized movement and highly visual approach, and is returning to direct his sixth production for MainStreet. Castro’s work has been mounted at some of the premiere regional theatres and performance schools in the nation, including the Santa Fe Opera, the Mark Taper Forum, and the La Jolla Playhouse. His distinctive interpretations of classic children’s stories for MainStreet include Dreams of Anne Frank, Ferdinand the Bull, Treasure Island, A Wrinkle in Time and Aladdin’s Luck. Aesop in Rancho Cucamonga will reunite Castro with Alfaro, two unique artists who last worked together at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2002.

The MainStreet Theatre Company produces creative, imaginative, high quality theatre productions especially for children and family audiences, usually based on contemporary or classic children’s literature. It is the resident professional theatre company at the Lewis Family Playhouse, an intimate 536-seat venue which is located in the 89,000-square-foot Victoria Gardens Cultural Center. The complex is located off the I‐15 at Foothill Boulevard, at 12505 Cultural Center Drive in Rancho Cucamonga.

Aesop in Rancho Cucamonga will play performances on weekends for family audiences (Saturdays at 1pm and 4pm and Sundays at 1pm, except for opening weekend when there is only one performance on Saturday, October 26 at 4pm), and on weekday mornings for school groups, through November 10. Supported by the Rancho Cucamonga Community and Arts Foundation, the opening performance on October 26 at 4pm is “Foundation Family Saturday,” and all tickets are $9.50. An Opening Night Party Package is available for $20, which includes a ticket to the show and the post-performance party. For regular performances, tickets are $18 for adults and $16 for children (age 12 and under), and for seniors (age 60 and up). New this season are the Foundation Family Flex Packs — tickets are $12 each if purchased in packs of four or more for the same performance. To purchase tickets, call (909) 477-2752 or go to www.LewisFamilyPlayhouse.com. The box office at the Lewis Family Playhouse is open Monday through Friday from noon to 6pm and Saturday from 10am to 6pm. Free parking is available.

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09-19-13

Announcing: Elephant Theatre Company Presents World Premiere of ‘Revelation’ by Samuel Brett Williams – Opens July 19

ELEPHANT THEATRE COMPANY
PRESENTS THE WORLD PREMIERE OF
REVELATION
BY SAMUEL BRETT WILLIAMS
DIRECTED BY LINDSAY ALLBAUGH

THIRD PLAY OF 2013 SEASON
OPENS JULY 19 AT THE LILLIAN THEATRE

Revelation posterThe critically acclaimed, award-winning Elephant Theatre Company continues its 17th season with the world premiere of Revelation by Samuel Brett Williams, directed by Elephant Co-Artistic Director Lindsay Allbaugh. Preview performances begin Tuesday, July 16, and opening is set for Friday, July 19 at 8pm. Revelation will run through August 25.

Revelation is an irreverent comedy that tells the tale of Brandon, whose father always taught him to be prepared for the Rapture. When people begin disappearing and the Hudson River turns to blood, Brandon convinces his atheist friend Rebecca to flee from New York to Arkansas in a quest to find the New Jerusalem. Faith, love, and the American landscape are all up for grabs in this pitch black comedy about the End of Days.

The cast of Revelation will feature (in alphabetical order) Zibby Allen, Ben Belack, Micah Cohen, Lawrence Dillard, Jennifer Etienne Eckert, Carolina Espiro, Tony Gatto, Larvell Hood, John Charles Meyer, Marco Naggar, Patrick Pankhurst, and Chloe Peterson. The design team includes Jeffery Eisenmann (set), Matt Richter (lighting), Michael Mullen (costumes), Corwin Evans (projections), and Peter Bayne (sound design and original music). Revelation is produced for the Elephant by David Fofi, Cheryl Huggins, Tara Norris, and Danielle Ozymandias.

Playwright Samuel Brett Williams is a winner of the Helen Merrill Emerging Playwright Award. His other plays include The Revival, The Woodpecker, and Derby Day. Williams’ plays have been developed and/or produced in such prestigious venues as the Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference, New York Theatre Workshop, Naked Angels, The Kennedy Center, Yale University, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and more.

There will be three lower-priced preview performances of Revelation on Tuesday, July 16, Wednesday, July 17, and Thursday, July 18 at 8pm, and opening is Friday, July 19 at 8pm. The regular running schedule is Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 7pm, through August 25 only. Tickets for previews are $15, regular performances are $25, and opening night tickets are $35 (which include a post-performance reception with the cast). Also, there will be an added ‘Play Care’ performance on Saturday, August 17 at 2pm, at which parents can bring their kids, who will be looked after by experienced child caregivers (at no extra charge), while the parents watch the show.

Tickets may be purchased online at www.ElephantTheatre.org, or via phone at (855) NO-FORGET [663-6743]. For more information on the Elephant Theatre Company, visit www.ElephantTheatre.org. Visit the Elephant on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter @elephanttheatre.

The Lillian Theatre at the Elephant Stages is located at 1076 Lillian Way, (off Santa Monica Boulevard, one block west of Vine), in Hollywood. Street parking is available.

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06-27-13

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