NEWS RELEASE — CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR “The MisMatch Game” AT LOS ANGELES LGBT CENTER 8/29 & 8/30

CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR
The MisMatch Game
WITH HOST DENNIS HENSLEY

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

TWO NIGHTS ONLY!
Saturday, August 29 at 8pm
Sunday, August 30 at 7pm

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, Saturday, August 29 at 8pm and Sunday, August 30 at 7pm.

The cast on Saturday 8/29 will include (in alphabetical order) Patrick Bristow (Tim Gunn), Rachel Butera (Rosie O’Donnell), Tom Lenk (Zooey Deschanel), and Felix Pire (Ricardo Montalban). On Sunday 8/30 the cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Jackie Beat (Bea Arthur), Drew Droege (Tanya Roberts), Maile Flanagan (Danny Bonaduce), Nicol Paone (Arianna Huffington), and Marc Samuel (Prince). 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.

# # #

08-17-15

NEWS RELEASE — THE BLANK THEATRE PRESENTS “THE BOOK OF LIZ” BENEFIT STAGED READING ON MONDAY 7/20 AT 8PM

THE BLANK THEATRE
ANNOUNCES A ONE NIGHT ONLY BENEFIT EVENT

A STAGED READING OF
THE BOOK OF LIZ
BY DAVID SEDARIS AND AMY SEDARIS
DIRECTED BY DARIN ANTHONY

PROCEEDS WILL BENEFIT THE BLANK’S ANNUAL
YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL

ONE NIGHT ONLY
MONDAY, JULY 20 AT 8PM
AT THE LOS ANGELES LGBT CENTER’S
RENBERG THEATRE

Hollywood’s Blank Theatre has announced a one night only staged reading of The Book of Liz by David Sedaris and Amy Sedaris, directed by Darin Anthony. The benefit event, which will raise funds for The Blank’s Young Playwrights Festival (currently completing its 23rd year) is set for Monday, July 20 at 8pm at the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Renberg Theatre.

This staged reading of The Book of Liz will celebrate the 10th Anniversary of The Blank’s long-running hit and will be performed by members of the original Blank cast (in alphabetical order): Tisha Terrasini Banker (Chastity Bites), Brian Carpenter (Superhero Movie), Matt Crabtree (Failing Upwards), Warren Davis (Yesterday Was A Lie), Bonita Friedericy (Chuck), Tom Lenk (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Johanna McKay (Yesterday Was A Lie), David St. James (iCarly), Kirsten Vangsness (Criminal Minds), Deborah Van Valkenburgh (Too Close for Comfort), Jeff Witzke (Vampires Suck), Sam Zeller (Kinky Boots National Tour), and Tamara Zook (Sons of the Prophet).

In 2005, The Blank Theatre’s production of The Book of Liz, originally slated for a six-week engagement, became a year-long runaway hit. At the conclusion of its run, 22 different actors had played 15 different characters over the course of 192 performances. This benefit reading is produced for The Blank Theatre by Sarah Allyn Bauer, Stacy Reed Payton, and Jeff Witzke.

The Book of Liz follows the hilarious, sweaty journey of Sister Elizabeth Donderstock and her amazing cheese balls. She feels under-appreciated among her traditional Squeamish brethren and decides to leave the quaint community of Custerhaven to try her luck in the outside world. Along the way she meets a cast of crazy characters, including the Cockney-speaking Ukrainian immigrants who take her in and the wait staff of a pilgrim themed restaurant called Plymouth Crock. Is all of this any better than her old life? Can the Squeamish survive without her? Will the cheese balls ever taste good again? The answers to these and so many other questions are found in this quirky comedy by David Sedaris and Amy Sedaris.

Ticket prices for the 10th Anniversary staged reading of The Book of Liz on July 20 at 8pm range from $50—$125 and are on sale now. To purchase online go to www.TheBlank.com or call (323) 661-9827. The LALGBT Center’s Renberg Theatre is located at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N. McCadden Place (one block east of Highland, just north of Santa Monica Boulevard), in Hollywood. Free onsite parking is available.

# # #

06-24-15

NEWS RELEASE — THE KINSEY SICKS AT LALGBT CENTER — ONE SHOW ONLY — WEDS 6/10 AT 8PM

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

THE KINSEY SICKS:
America’s Next Top Bachelor Housewife
Celebrity Hoarder Makeover Star Gone Wild!

ONE NIGHT ONLY
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10 AT 8PM
at The Renberg Theatre

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center has announced the one night only appearance of The Kinsey Sicks: America’s Next Top Bachelor Housewife Celebrity Hoarder Makeover Star Gone Wild! at the Renberg Theatre on Wednesday, June 10 at 8pm. The quartet described by the Washington Post as, “uproarious … brilliant … authentically joyful” will kick off LA’s 2015 Pride Season.

From their beginnings singing on street corners in San Francisco to performing Off-Broadway, in Las Vegas, in two feature films, in more than 40 states, in Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Australia, and on eight albums, The Kinsey Sicks have established a devoted international following. For more than 20 years the award-winning a cappella drag quartet has served up a feast of music and comedy to audiences at performing arts centers, music venues, and comedy festivals in every kind of town imaginable with shows such as Sicks Appeal, The Balled Sopranos, Everything But the Kitsch ‘n’ Synch, GreatesTits, Oy Vey in a Manger, and Electile Dysfunction.

The Boyz Behind The Girlz: Kinsey Sicks member Ben Schatz (“Rachel”) is a Harvard-trained civil rights lawyer, former Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, and one-time presidential advisor on HIV issues. Schatz created the first national AIDS legal project and authored President Clinton’s HIV policy during the 1992 presidential campaign. Actor/singer/designer Jeff Manabat is responsible for Trixie’s inordinate glamour and soaring counter-tenor, as well as the entire group’s hot couture. The hilarious and talented Spencer Brown (“Trampolina”) is a Kansas City-based actor and singer already known for his famous drag character Daisy Buckët (pronounced, of course, “bouquet”), who has worked tirelessly to help raise tens of thousands of dollars at local AIDS fundraisers. The newest member of the group, the comedically and musically gifted Nathan Marken (“Winnie”), hails from The Kinsey Sicks hometown of San Francisco.

General admission tickets for The Kinsey Sicks: America’s Next Top Bachelor Housewife Celebrity Hoarder Makeover Star Gone Wild! are $20 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. Free onsite parking is available.

# # #

05-26-15