NEWS RELEASE — “VARLA JEAN MERMAN’S BIG BLACK HOLE” — THREE NITES ONLY AT LALGBT’s RENBERG THEATRE APRIL 1, 2, & 3

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s
Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center
Presents
Varla Jean Merman’s
Big Black Hole
Written by Jeffery Roberson and Jacques Lamarre
With Gerald Goode on piano
Directed by Michael Schiralli

Friday & Saturday, April 1 & 2 and Sunday, April 3

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center has announced the return of the extraordinary Varla Jean Merman to the Renberg Theatre. Long a favorite with Renberg audiences, Varla (the drag persona of New Orleans native Jeffery Roberson) will take the stage again after a 10-year absence during which the acclaimed performer did extensive research in outer space. Her new solo show, the science fiction-themed Varla Jean Merman’s Big Black Hole, is the culmination of this long and grueling research. It will play for three nights only at the Renberg Theatre on April 1, 2 and 3.

Described as “a warp-speed, warped tour of outer space” (Provincetown Magazine), Big Black Hole combines story, song, and video in “an inventive night of theatre, full of high-class production, vaudevillesque low-brow humor, and the vocal prowess of a grand dame of the stage.” (ibid.) The show also features the piano stylings of accompanist and Varla-foil Gerald Goode.

As Varla Jean Merman, Jeffery Roberson has filled cabarets and concert halls across the world including the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, the New York Public Theater, London’s Soho Theatre, and the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Renberg Theatre. He wrote and starred in the short Improve Your History with Varla Jean: Stonewall for the launch of the MTV television network logo, and was also seen in their One Night Standup: Dragtastic special. Varla starred in the new musical Lucky Guy opposite Leslie Jordan in New York at the Little Shubert in the spring of 2011, receiving rave reviews. Roberson has also guest-starred on Ugly Betty, Project Runway Season 5, appeared as Mary Sunshine in the revival of Chicago on Broadway, and recurred as lady-of-the-evening Rosemary Chicken on the classic ABC soap opera All My Children. For his role in the cult camp hit Girls Will Be Girls, Roberson won both Best Actor and Best Actress awards (Outfest, Aspen HBO Film Festivals). For more information about Varla Jean Merman, visit varlaonline.com.

General admission tickets are $25 and may be purchased online at www.lalgbtcenter.org/theatre or by phone at (323) 860-7300. The performances on Friday 4/1 and Saturday 4/2 are at 8pm, and on Sunday 4/3 the curtain will rise at 7pm. Net proceeds from all ticket sales will support the full range of free and low-cost programs and services offered by the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Renberg Theatre is located at 1125 N. McCadden Place (one block east of Highland, just north of Santa Monica Boulevard), in Hollywood, 90038. Free onsite parking is available.

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03-07-16

NEWS RELEASE — CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR ‘THE MISMATCH GAME’ AT LOS ANGELES LGBT CENTER ON MARCH 11 & 12

CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR
UPCOMING EDITION OF
The MisMatch Game

Presented by the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s
Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center
and Creator/Producer/Host Dennis Hensley

TWO NIGHTS ONLY!
Friday, March 11 & Saturday, March 12 at 8pm

Casting has been announced for the upcoming edition of Dennis Hensley’s The MisMatch Game, the show the Los Angeles Times calls, “witty, ribald … an adventure in surrealist era bending.” The side-splitting parody of the 70s game show returns to the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Renberg Theatre for two nights only, Friday, March 11 and Saturday, March 12 at 8pm.

Host Dennis ‘Gene Rayburn’ Hensley will be joined onstage by a panel of some of LA’s most creative, hilarious, and demented comic minds. The cast for Friday 3/11 is set to include Willam Belli as Jessica Simpson, Danny Casillas as Reba Areba, Dante as Jack Nicholson, Maile Flanagan as Danny Bonaduce, Rebekah Kochan as Pamela Anderson, and Amy Phillips as Teresa Guidice. On Saturday 3/12, the scheduled cast is Julie Brown (role TBA), Nicol Paone as Arianna Huffington, Felix Pire as Ricardo Montalbán, Chris Pudlo as Juliette Lewis, Tom Lenk as Zooey Deschanel, and Craig Taggart as Bette Midler. Cast members subject to change.Visit www.lalgbtcenter.org/theatre for updates.

The MisMatch Game regularly fills the house at its irregularly scheduled gigs at the Renberg Theatre. Audiences keep coming back for the razor’s-edge improv and the racy, anarchic, and decidedly un-PC wit and wildness. The Advocate honored The MisMatch Game with a “10 Best Theatre” citation that said, “This recurring Los Angeles happening re-imagines the ‘70s TV game show The Match Game with full-camp press and excellent sub-lebrity impersonations.”

General admission tickets are $15 and may be purchased online at www.lalgbtcenter.org/theatre or by phone at (323) 860-7300. Net proceeds from all ticket sales will support the full range of free and low-cost programs and services offered by the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Renberg Theatre is located at the Village at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N. McCadden Place (one block east of Highland, just north of Santa Monica Boulevard), in Hollywood, 90038. Free onsite parking is available.

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02-29-16

NEWS RELEASE — LOS ANGELES LGBT CENTER PRESENTS WELL-STRUNG, THE SINGING STRING QUARTET — ONE NIGHT ONLY — MARCH 13 at 7pm

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s
Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center
Presents

Well-Strung
THE SINGING STRING QUARTET

ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Sunday, March 13 at 7pm

The Los Angeles LGBT Center has announced a special one-night-only performance by the internationally acclaimed singing string quartet Well-Strung. The four performers, who specialize in pairing classical compositions by Mozart, Beethoven, and Dvořák with pop hits by Adele, Britney Spears, and Ke$ha, will make their Renberg Theatre debut on Sunday, March 13 at 7pm.

The New York Times recently raved about Well-Strung, calling them, “ … a talented quartet of men that sings and plays string instruments and brilliantly fuses pop and classical music from Madonna to Beethoven.” They made their second appearance on The Today Show this past October, and the foursome has quickly gained international attention playing in London, Rome, and Vienna, as well as selling out venues all across the United States. Well-Strung’s new CD, titled “POPssical,” debuted at #8 on Billboard’s Classical Crossover Chart and #9 on Billboard’s Classical Chart last fall.

Described as talented and seriously trained musicians, as well as hunky and gorgeous, Well-Strung is composed of first violinist Edmund Bagnell, second violinist Christopher Marchant, violist Trevor Wadleigh, and cellist Daniel Shevlin. The group was conceived by producer Mark Cortale and Christopher Marchant. They have received critical acclaim at New York’s prestigious Feinstein’s/54 Below and well beyond, from the House of Blues in New Orleans to the Leicester Square Theatre in London. They have performed recently at the TrevorLIVE Gala in New York City, appeared on Watch What Happens Live, and they have also performed with artists such as Kristin Chenoweth, Neil Patrick Harris, Audra McDonald, and Deborah Voigt. For more information about Well-Strung, visit well-strung.com.

General admission tickets are $30 and may be purchased online at www.lalgbtcenter.org/theatre or by phone at (323) 860-7300. Net proceeds from all ticket sales will support the full range of free and low-cost programs and services offered by the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Renberg Theatre is located at 1125 N. McCadden Place (one block east of Highland, just north of Santa Monica Boulevard), in Hollywood, 90038. Free onsite parking is available.

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02-12-16

^{Well-Strung. Photo courtesy of Los Angeles LGBT Center.}