Press Release — Queer Classics Presents ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ at HWD Fringe Festival – Five Perfs Only

QUEER CLASSICS PRESENTS

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
BY OSCAR WILDE
DIRECTED BY CASEY KRINGLEN

AT 2014 HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL
FIVE PERFORMANCES ONLY
JUNE 7, 14, 15, 19, 22
LET LIVE THEATRE AT THE ACTORS COMPANY

The Importance of Being Earnest - Queer ClassicsQueer Classics re-imagines one of the most popular comedic plays ever written — Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest by presenting the four lovers in the story as dashing gay men. Director Casey Kringlen brings this sassy comedy to the Hollywood Fringe Festival for five performances only at the Let Live Theatre at The Actors Company beginning Saturday, June 7 at 8:30pm.

Two couples fight for the right to be engaged in this masterful satire written by Oscar Wilde, arrested in 1895 for “gross indecency with men.” This timeless story galavants through a world obsessed with appearances, money and social-status. The parallels with today’s Hollywood culture make for searing fun, and by presenting the four lovers as gay men, Queer Classics presents the play in a more hysterically fabulous fashion than Wilde could have imagined possible in his lifetime.

Performance dates and times are as follows — Saturday 6/7 at 8:30pm (press preview); Saturday 6/14 at 3:30pm; Sunday 6/15 at 5:30pm; Thursday 6/19 at 8:30pm; and Sunday 6/22 at 11am. Running time is 90 minutes.

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Eric DeLoretta, Jeff Elam, Grant Jordan, Nancy La Scala, Mason McCulley, Philip Orazio, Boone Platt, and Megan Soule. The production lighting designer is Dan Weingarten.

Director Casey Kringlen most recently conceived and directed an “Equal Love” version of Romeo and Juliet, a production that workshopped in New Orleans and premiered in downtown LA this past February. Among other projects, he directed LA’s first production of Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol at six01 Studios in December 2012, and The Hereafter, a movement piece exploring death, burial rites, and earthly release at The Satellite and in the 2012 Hollywood Fringe.

Queer Classics is dedicated to sharing classic stories re-imagined through a queer lens — art for the LGBTQ community and its supporters. This production of Earnest is part of the City of West Hollywood’s One City One Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival, which this year celebrates marriage equality and runs May 22 — June 30. To see a full roster of events please visit www.weho.org/pride.

The Hollywood Fringe Festival is an annual, open-access, community-derived event celebrating freedom of expression and collaboration in the performing arts community. Each June during the Hollywood Fringe, the arts infiltrate the Hollywood neighborhood: fully equipped theaters, parks, clubs, churches, restaurants and other unexpected places host hundreds of productions by local, national, and international arts companies and independent performers.

Tickets for the Queer Classics production of The Importance of Being Earnest are $10 for all performances and may be obtained online at www.hollywoodfringe.org or by phone at (323) 455-4585.

The Let Live Theatre at the Actors Company is located at 916 N. Formosa Avenue in Los Angeles, 90036. Street and lot parking are available.

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05-05-14