PAST SHOWS AT THE FOUNTAIN | |||||||||||||
Illustration Courtesy of SEPS licensed by Curtis Licensing Indianapolis, IN. All rights reserved. |
A National New Play Network Continued Life for New Plays Fund Rolling World Premiere
BAKERSFIELD MIST written and directed by Stephen Sachs - A World Premiere - FINAL WEEK! - must close December 18th
RAVES! - Goldstar Patron Reviews CRITIC'S CHOICE! - Los Angeles Times - "IT'S EXHILARATING IN THE EXTREME WHEN A WORLD PREMIERE STRIKES RICH ON EVERY CONCEIVABLE LEVEL. Such is the case with Stephen Sachs' “Bakersfield Mist” at the Fountain. Sachs, who also directs, has crafted a wry two-hander that handles highbrow artistic issues while zinging in plenty of uproarious one-liners. Sachs, the Fountain's co-artistic director, also proves canny in his casting choice. Husband and wife acting team Jenny O'Hara and Nick Ullett are the kind of polished pros that take charge of their characters from the get-go. THEIR PERFORMANCES ARE TANDEM TOUR-DE-FORCES... Sachs' play touches chords from the profoundly personal to the intensely intellectual – a perfect marriage of emotion and ideas that is rare indeed." - F. Kathleen Foley CRITIC'S PICK! - Back Stage - "A TRIUMPH!... Even though the year is but halfway through, Los Angeles seems unlikely to see a more deftly crafted item than writer-director Stephen Sachs' absorbing, hilarious two-hander about the nature of art and the vagaries of human perception. And only the suicidal would hold their breath waiting to see better joint performances than those given by Jenny O'Hara and Nick Ullett, magnificent as the central combatants... Sachs' economy of means, breadth of humor, and subtlety of tone deployed here are HUGELY GRATIFYING ... recalls the classic one-acts of Coward, O'Neill, and Rattigan." - David C. Nichols GO! - LA Weekly - "Sachs directs the two-hander with an abundance of spirit, smartly letting the OUTSTANDING ACTORS brawl and emote with delightful abandon. O'Hara brings a gleeful raunchiness to Maude throughout." - Amy Lyons PICK OF THE WEEK! - ReviewPlays.com - "The Fountain Theatre, no stranger to winning teams, BRINGS A KNOCK OUT PUNCH to the boards in the likes of Jenny O’Hara and Nick Ullett (real life partners) who team together in a story by Stephen Sachs which could easily notch another win in the Fountain’s vast trophy case... There is madcap slapstick, deep introspective conversation, sexual innuendo and physical attacks, all punctuated with super clever barbs from both sides. Their quips and put-downs keep the frenetic pace going and the audience howling with laughter. ... Jenny O'Hara and Nick Ullett are such excellent actors... the STANDING OVATION at the conclusion of the play is ample evidence." - Jose Ruiz RAVE! - BroadwayWorld.com - "EXQUISITE WORLD PREMIERE!... Both O'Hara and Ullett are magnificent under Sachs' loving direction. O'Hara's feelings are palpable at every turn; we can feel her every need and frustration. Sachs' brilliant monologue where Percy describes Pollock's rage in painting style is so orgasmic it allows Ullett to build to a climax as he delivers it, which he does breathtakingly. A thrilling moment!... GREAT WRITING, GREAT ACTING, GREAT DIRECTION! I CANNOT ADD ANYTHING ELSE. BRAVO!" - Don Grigware RAVE! - OnStageLosAngeles.com - "A BRILLIANT NEW PLAY... Sachs directs with a steady hand and the actors bring not only strong comedic touches to the story, but moments of tension, angst and drama... These professional actors mount the stage to create their own distinctive form of art. In the moment, O’Hara and Ullett, bring this quirky story beautifully to life. This is the Real McCoy. The Art of Theatre, when presented with such care, as this show is, is undeniable." - Michael Sheehan RAVE! - StageAndCinema.com - "A DELIGHT!... one of the breeziest comedies I’ve laughed my way through in far too long a time, and certainly not before we have seen some of the most trenchant observations on the nature of what art is and what its real value is. But its commentary on art is second to its even stronger reflections on class. And it all matters less than the human drama that brings Maude and Lionel to a deeper understanding of each other and of themselves. The writing is consistently witty and yet, in its exploration of the two characters, warm; even wise... There are times when a reviewer sees a play and all he wants to say is, hey folks, just go, take my word for it, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE A GREAT TIME, this is just plain good writing, handled beautifully, and acted by two pros who should not be forgotten when awards time comes around." - Harvey Perr RAVE! - Examiner.com/San Diego Jewish World - "SPECTACULAR!... If the Bakersfield Mists were a baseball team they’d be batting a thousand. And they’d be leading the league in home runs, Runs Batted In, foul calls, and lots and lots of balls. And they’d owe their success to consistently spectacular triple-plays from Sachs to O’Hara to Ullett. Instead, however, Bakersfield Mist is A BRILLIANT NEW PLAY written and directed by Stephen Sachs and starring the husband and wife team of Jenny O’Hara and Nick Ullett. Their ballpark: the always-wonderful Fountain Theatre... O’Hara and Ullett are IMPECCABLE ACTORS and they respond wholeheartedly to each other, to Sachs' keen direction, and to his INCOMPARABLE DIALOGUE AND HUMOR." - Cynthia Citron RAVE! - Park LaBrea News/Beverly Press - "ANOTHER PLUM FOR THE FOUNTAIN'S TREE OF GENERALLY LUSCIOUS ART... "O'Hara is the kind of actor you want to watch forever, and again and again - she's that brilliant and hilarious, and oh so authentic. One falls in love with her every time you see her on stage and wish, or just hope, that one day you might grow up to be her. Ullett is O'Hara's match in every respect - veddy British with a touch of the poet... TERRIFIC WRITING AND DIRECTING BY STEPHEN SACHS." - Madeleine Shaner RAVE! - WillCall.org - "ANOTHER TRIUMPH FOR THE FOUNTAIN THEATRE!... we get to know and love these diverse characters in this expertly written, superbly acted and directed play. A must see!" - Ingrid Wilmot RAVE! - Examiner.com (2nd review) - "A LAUGH RIOT!... The battle royal that ensues is an ingenious study in contrasts—she’s loud, coarse and profane, he’s erudite, conservative and urbane—and therein lies the fun... O’Hara and Ullett milk every ounce of comic gold under Sachs’ deft direction, as the play moves from sophisticated serio-comedy to knockabout farce and back. Inspired by true events and written with the pair (who are married in real life) in mind, “Mist” is NOTHING LESS THAN AN 85-MINUTE MASTER CLASS FOR ACTORS, and an unqualified joy for everyone else." - Jordan Young RAVE! - Buzzine.com - "ENTERTAINING AND PROVOCATIVE... Stephen Sachs’ sharp dialogue -- passionately delivered by Jenny O’Hara and Nick Ullett, husband-and-wife acting team -- is fast-paced and enormously clever." - Clare Elfman RAVE! - CultureVulture.net - "YUM. OR MAYBE I SHOULD SAY, WOW! Accomplished playwright and director Stephen Sachs has taken the bones of a true story and turned it into a sharp comedy with a sneaky social commentary subtext... In real life, Ullett and O'Hara have been married for years. Their onstage timing reflects the kind of chemistry that takes years to build. They are a dynamic pair and I would rush to see any performance featuring the two of them. Given any professional reading, Sachs's writing is strong and would certainly be enjoyable. However, it is hard to imagine it packing as much of a punch as the production with O'Hara and Ullett." - Karen Weinstein RAVE! - Larchmont Chronicle - "AN ABSOLUTE DELIGHT of a one-act play pitting these two opposites against each other over a bottle of Jack Daniels, while skewering the art world, and revealing what each values the most in their lives... It is a joy to watch these TWO PERFORMERS AT THE TOP OF THEIR GAME IN THIS GENUINELY FUNNY AND POIGNANT PLAY." - Patricia Foster Rye RAVE! - StageSceneLA.com - "ABSOLUTELY CAPTIVATING!... both actors are performing at the peak of their gifts.. Like Yasmina Reza’s Art, Bakersfield Mist poses questions about just what constitutes art, and you may well find yourself debating the topic with your fellow playgoers after O’Hara and Ullett have taken their bows. What you’re unlikely to be debating is what an absolutely captivating play Sachs has written. The definition of art may divide audience members, but on Bakersfield Mist, I’d venture to guess that sentiments are likely to be close to unanimous wows." - Steven Stanley RAVE! - PerformingArtsLive.com - "Now I know why ‘Bakersfield Mist’ has been selling out every night. Two gifted actors give SUPERB PERFORMANCES combined with a fascinating well crafted story in an intimate setting make this show one not to miss! It closes on September 3rd. You might be able to get a ticket if you are lucky." - Mike Napoli RAVE! - Examiner.com (3rd review) - "It is A WONDERFUL PIECE that explores the vagaries and vanities of the art world with great humor, energy and insight through the eyes of two distinctly different individuals... played to perfection by Jenny O’Hara... Ullett was riveting... What makes this play particularly powerful is the subtle (and not so subtle) ways dialogue and monologue reveal each character’s past... Excellence at the Fountain always includes the technical staff and Bakersfield Mist is no exception." - Candyce Columbus RAVE! - LongBeachComber.com - "A WORK OF COMEDIC ART!... Not only does “Mist” dare crack open such age-old conundrums as “What is art?” it also refreshingly and amusingly challenges expertise. “What,” Maude queries,” makes you an authority.” Good question, after all.... Interestingly, the two players, O’Hara and Ullett, are a married couple in real-life. To witness these two journeyman actors give his-and-her, tit-for-tat performances is a rare treat that for theater aficionados, OUGHT NOT TO BE MISSED." - Ben Miles RAVE! - The Tolucan Times - "I saw a FAST-PACED, EXCELLENT original comedy, as a guest of a friend on the weekend. Garnering rave reviews from every critic in town, it is now in its third extension. It was written and directed by Stephen Sachs, and stars two constantly “working” actors… Jenny O’ Hara and Nick Ullett. This is a hilarious battle of wits… between a brash trailer park woman and a highly respected but stuffy art appraiser. Try to CATCH THIS ONE … if you can manage to get a seat!" - Pat Taylor RAVE! - Los Feliz Ledger - "POIGNANT, LIVELY, AND THOUGHT-PROVOKING COMEDY... While filled with comedy, the action filled one act play has more serious undercurrents as it explores the differences of social class and questions the intrinsic value of a work of art. For Maude the painting has become a part of her self identity. Lionel is caught in the snobbism of the art world and fear for his reputation... Veteran actors Jenny O’Hara and Nick Ullett are fabulously convincing in their roles." - Marilyn Tower Oliver RAVE! - WorkingAuthor.com - "KUDOS!... Sachs provides an excellent arena for his two actors whose lively and meticulous performances are a celebration of that happy union of craft and talent." - Ernest Kearney
LA Times Interview with Stephen Sachs LAStageTimes Interview with Jenny & Nick Creative Current Interview w/Stephen, Jenny & Nick Reviews - Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre - August 2011 Maude Gutman, an unemployed bartender living in a trailer park, believes the painting she bought in a thrift store for three bucks is a Jackson Pollock, an undiscovered masterpiece worth millions. Is it real or a fake? When Lionel Percy, a renowned art expert from New York, arrives at Maude’s trailer to evaluate the painting, the two embark on a fiery debate over class, truth, and what we personally perceive as valuable. Inspired by true events, Bakersfield Mist is a lively and delightful serio-comedy about the meaning of art. Starring Jenny O'Hara Nick Ullett
Production and Design Team: Jeff McLaughlin (Sets), Ken Booth (Lights), Peter Bayne (Sound), Shon LeBlanc (Costumes), Misty Carlisle (Props), Terri Roberts (PSM), Doug Lowry (Fight Director), Scott Tuomey (TD), Lucy Pollak (PR), Ed Krieger (Photographer), Diana Gibson (Subscriptions), James Bennett (Box Office) Produced by Simon Levy and Deborah Lawlor FINAL WEEK! must close December 18th |
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CELEBRATING TENNESSEE WILLIAMS' CENTENNIAL, 2011 A House Not Meant to Stand West Coast Premiere! - EXTENDED! thru May 22, 2011 - (no show 5/19) Tennessee Williams 100th Birthday Celebration YouTube - Scenes from the Production
RAVE!- Los Angeles Times - "A MASTER PLAYWRIGHT STANDING TALL! - Williams’ caustic 1982 swan song is remarkably forward-looking in its outraged swipes at social ills: unaffordable medicine and healthcare costs, skyrocketing insurance rates and rapacious greed... Director Simon Levy emphasizes Expressionistic grotesquerie as Williams’ characters exploit one another with relentless glee, and A FINE CAST ENSURES THE GRIM LAUGHTER IS CONTAGIOUS. Alan Blumenfeld’s splendidly belligerent patriarch, Cornelius McCorkle, faced with his wife Bella’s (Sandy Martin) slide into dementia, is concerned only with getting her to reveal where she’s hidden her grandaddy’s moonshine profits before he has to put her away for good... Williams as late-career social satirist never equaled the inward-looking dramatist with uniquely poetic insights into fragile, sensitive souls trampled by a brutishly inhospitable world. Here, the focus is mostly on those doing the trampling (the only character with the stature of Williams’ classic protagonists — the McCorkles’ gay, alcoholic son — has already died before the play begins). Nevertheless, as the play eventually delves into Bella’s unraveling mind via Martin’s haunted performance and some nifty staging effects, Williams’ language, rhythm and imagery LEAVE HIS REPUTATION AS A MASTER PLAYWRIGHT STANDING TALL." RAVE! - Back Stage - CRITIC'S PICK! - "MUST VIEWING!... flashes of brilliance... An exceptional cast and astonishing design add to the rewards of this bracingly intelligent rendition... The performances of Blumenfeld and Martin are riveting, illuminating the craziness and torment within this toxic family, without lapsing into melodramatic clichés. As a character who's somewhat closer to sane, though hardly a beacon of class, Billet provides a good counterpoint to the adversarial parents. Newcomb has hilarious moments as the sexually liberal Bible thumper. The Fountain is to be commended for taking a chance on an imperfect but powerful piece that is MUST VIEWING FOR ALL WHO CONSIDER THEMSELVES WILLIAMS AFICIONADOS." RAVE! - BroadwayWorld.com - CRITIC'S PICK! - 5 OUT OF 5 STARS! - "Astutely directed by Simon Levy and PERFORMED BY A BRILLIANT ENSEMBLE, this House has the symbolism and lyricism expected of Williams with the addition of a few surprising features... As in many Williams plays, humor is a staple, and House's black comedy is one of its finest assets. There is nothing more heartbreaking or funny than watching various characters scramble desperately to pick up spilled meds or swill down a plethora of pills with beer. Tennessee Williams was an original whose poetic language and multi-layered imagery, both real and surreal, of the decaying South stand the test of time. ADD A House Not Meant to Stand TO HIS LIST OF CLASSIC MASTERPIECES!" RAVE! - StageAndCinema.com - "SUPERB!... The discovery of A House Not Meant To Stand makes this not merely AN IMPORTANT THEATER EVENT, but a revelation of just how potent Tennesee Williams’s talent was in a period that has been categorized as one of decline. And Sandy Martin’s great performance does for Bella McCorkle what one imagines Laurette Taylor did for Amanda Wingfield. What she is doing doesn’t even look like acting. What higher compliment can one pay an actor?... a career-transforming performance... House may or not come to be counted among his genuine masterpieces, but Levy has at least given us a chance to see how fecund and bountiful his talents continued to be right up to the end. He was still experimenting with structure and content; he could still create characters, with all his art at his command, who matter; he was still capable of writing those insanely beautiful arias that any actor, rising to the occasion, can take pleasure in singing... HILARIOUS... TRAGICALLY MOVING." RAVE! - CulturalCocktailHour.com - "MUST-SEE! - The Fountain Theatre’s “A House Not Meant To Stand” deserves A STANDING OVATION. The dynamic cast, its Gothic set spewing forth leaks, and the darkly wry barbs of Tennessee Williams added up to A RIVETING PERFORMANCE of Williams’ 'Southern Gothic spook sonata.' The Fountain Theatre’s “A House Not Meant to Stand” offers a rich and worthy tribute to a master playwright. Happy Birthday, Mr. Williams." RAVE! - Hollywood Reporter - "A Gothic tragicomedy that starts like a Tobacco Road for fallen genteelfolk, House is set in the gloriously decrepit McCorkle family home whose patriarch (Alan Blumenfeld) is out to find the hidden cash inheritance of his dementia-plagued spouse (Sandy Martin). There is an absent slatternly daughter, a dead gay son, rapacious and randy neighbors, all splayed out in conscious self-parody dedicated to the higher purpose of exposing human folly (not least the author's own) and finding transcendent values of love and fortitude without ever sentimentalizing the moral rot. Blumenfeld displays a daring brio that draws connections with his superb Father Ubu of a few seasons back, while Martin achieves the challenging catharsis from within the wife's fading consciousness. Lisa Richards makes an extraordinary original creation of an aging sensualist and, in the less demanding part of the pregnant fiancee of the sole surviving McCorkle offspring, Virginia Newcomb supplies magnetism without venturing beyond the banal... There are a great many unproduced Williams texts to be mined and, on the basis of the current offerings, they are likely to provide much of interest and beauty." RAVE! - ReviewPlays.com - "FANS OF WILLIAMS WILL LOVE THIS PLAY AND THOSE NEW TO HIS WORK COULD NOT FIND A BETTER PLACE TO GET INTRODUCED TO ONE OF AMERICA'S GREATEST WRITERS... Every nuance of the original presentation has been carefully captured by Director Simon Levy who leads a superb cast that makes the characters vibrant and believable... this play is a powerful denunciation of a type of life in the South and the Fountain Theatre’s production is another example of the EXCELLENT WORK that has become a trademark of the company." Variety - "THE FOUNTAIN PRESENTS CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE OF LIFE IN THE OLD BOY TO THE END IN HIS FINAL OPUS 'A HOUSE NOT MEANT TO STAND.'... Sandy Martin's shattering central performance counters any preconception that Williams' sweet bird of youth flew off with his talent in its talons... it's quicksilver Martin, playful even in distress, who's indelible here. At first Bella lurches about like Cornelius' marionette, but once the strings are cut she emerges as a worthy epilogue to all Williams' faded Southern belles bereft of hope at the end of the Camino Real. In their best tradition, the actress keeps her comical yet ever real... As battered in reality (a truck nearly flattens her) as those heroines were metaphorically, Bella dissociates into that fugue state of memory and grief with which so many Williams plays wind up. Behind a scrim, Martin's valedictory is like the author waving from the grave... VISUALLY SPLENDID PRODUCTION!" RAVE! - StageSceneLA.com - "WOW!... SIMON LEVY AND THE STERLING CAST HE HAS ASSEMBLED all do the kind of accomplished, multi-layered work that audiences have come to expect at the Fountain Theatre. For those willing to throw away preconceived notions of what a Tennessee Williams play ought to be, A House Not Meant To Stand is likely not only to entertain, but to spark many a discussion of just how his wild-and-crazy last produced play fits in with the rest of Tennessee’s much loved, much lauded body of work." RAVE! - Examiner.com - 5 OUT OF 5 STARS! - "A RARE COMEDY AND MEANT TO BE SEEN!... features a superb cast... Alan Blumenfeld deliciously portrays bombastic McCorkle patriarch Cornelius... Sandy Martin’s portrayal as matriarch Bella McCorkle was mesmerizing... The Fountain Theatre’s contribution to the Tennessee Williams Centennial is NOT TO BE MISSED and with a show this splendid and a limited run, it is sure to sell out, so don’t delay." RAVE! - StageHappenings.com - "YOU MUST RUN TO THE FOUNTAIN THEATRE!... Not only will you gain insight into the alcohol-soaked and pill-ravaged mind of one of the theatre’s greatest writers toward the end of his days, but you will witness what an amazingly beautiful production can be created with a script that is seemingly incapable of being produced... Thanks to Simon Levy’s luminous direction, however, this House is a Haunted Mansion I wouldn’t have missed for the world." RAVE! - Buzzine.com - "I thank Simon Levy and the award-winning Fountain Theater for bringing me Williams’ birthday centennial... A LIVELY AND BOISTEROUS ROMP!... Tennessee Williams was a writer who always laid his own open heart naked on the table. And with this “comedy” at the end of his life, he had done the same thing. I had been given the privilege of witnessing a STRONG PRODUCTION of what was a final cry (laugh?) of despair... A House Not Meant to Stand is a darkly comedic version of Tennessee Williams’ familiar themes: the yearning heart, the frantic heart, the damaged heart, and family cruelty... an amazing performance by Sandy Martin!" RAVE! - AssociatedContent.com - "THIS IS ONE NOT TO BE MISSED!...The Fountain Theatre HAS A MARVELOUS REPUTATION OF PROVIDING HIGH QUALITY THEATRICAL PROGRAMMING for the community it serves, and though it is a small theatre, it is more than capable of delivering excellence in theatrical productions. Its current run of A House Not Meant to Stand, BRILLIANTLY PRODUCED AND DIRECTED by Simon Levy (with assistant producers Deborah Lawlor and Stephen Sachs) is A SPLENDID EXAMPLE OF THIS KIND OF EXCELLENCE... a fabulous look at the lives of a family in the midst of turmoil... a cast that is more than superior... An engaging and powerful production that should not be missed." RAVE! - Examiner.com - 4 STARS OUT OF 5 - "IT IS WORTH SEEING AND SEEING AGAIN so as to fully grasp what was on Tennessee Williams' own ebbing mind... Bella is brilliantly portrayed by Sandy Martin. Her characterization is so nuanced, idiosyncratic and committed that I can’t imagine anyone else in the role. She is captivating!" Pat Taylor in Tolucan Times - "On Saturday, I went to the Fountain Theatre as a guest of my friend Andrea, another theater critic. We saw Tennessee William’s last written play, A House Not Meant to Stand, compellingly directed by Simon Levy. Having not visited this long respected theatre in ages… it was a joy to be reminded of the dedicated and high quality of work always offered here. Kudos to co-artistic directors Deborah Lawlor, Stephen Sachs, and Simon Levy." RAVE! - StageHappenings.com - "IT WOULD BE A SHAME, INDEED, TO MISS THIS TERRIFIC PRODUCTION!... It's a fun play... SUPERB CAST!" RAVE! - WeHoNews.com - "WHAT A HOOT! A BRIGHT, HILARIOUS HOOT SPOT-ON IN ALMOST EVERY WAY!... the only rowdy, broad and bawdy comedy (plus some darkness) I know of by Tennessee Williams... a funny but haunting and remarkable portrayal by Sandy Martin... a hilarious Alan Blumenfeld... done to perfection by Lisa Richards... Every part of this production by Simon Levy deserves praise; all the actors do fine jobs... ABSOLUTELY WORTH SEEING!" RAVE! - Los Feliz Ledger - "A POWERFUL PRODUCTION THAT DESERVES TO BE SEEN BY THOSE WHO LOVE AMERICAN THEATER AND APPRECIATE EXCELLENT ACTING... Sandy Martin is brilliant as the fragile yet wily Bella, a character based on Williams’ aunt Bella. Alan Blumenfeld’s portrayal of Cornelius Williams, drawn from Williams’ own father Cornelius Williams, is riveting. The character of the McCorkle’s son Charlie who provides a more human counterpoint to his sparring parents is well performed by Daniel Billet. Virginia Newcomb’s interpretation of his sexually emancipated, born again fiancée Stacey’ adds humor. The play is beautifully directed by Simon Levy who was recently honored with a lifetime achievement award by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle." RAVE! - EDGELosAngeles.com - "AS BEAUTIFUL AS ANY OF WILLIAMS' PREVIOUS WORKS... Director Simon Levy deftly navigates the many layers of this final effort of the great playwright... ALL PRINCIPLE ACTORS ARE FORMIDABLE IN THEIR ROLES, but it’s really Ms. Martin’s performance that centers the play. She balances dementia and confusion beautifully with her lucid determination to care for her remaining children... Even to the very end, the ghosts that haunted Tennessee Williams in his own life and work - his family- still resonated with him." RAVE! - CynthiaCitron.com - "THE ALWAYS WONDERFUL FOUNTAIN THEATRE!... under the inspiring direction of Simon Levy and BRILLIANT PERFORMANCES BY A STELLAR CAST... The patriarch, Cornelius, is a blustering bully, loud, offensive, and arrogant, and Alan Blumenfeld plays him exquisitely... it’s being presented at the Fountain, which is a house that, we believe, is meant to stand for a very long time." A theatrical event. The last full length play written by Tennessee Williams has never been seen in the Western United States until now! By special permission of the Williams Estate. Thirty years before Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County, Williams wrote this spellbinding play about the McCorkles -- a blazingly dysfunctional Mississippi family you’ll never forget. This outrageous, dark, expressionistic comedy, which Williams called a "Southern gothic spook sonata," reveals the fragile state of our world and the hope and desperation of the human heart. Directed by Simon Levy Produced by Stephen Sachs and Deborah Lawlor Starring:
Sandy Martin Alan Blumenfeld Robert Craighead Lisa Richards
Daniel Billet Virginia Newcomb Kevin High Chip Bent
Caroline Treadwell
Production and Design Team: Jeff McLaughlin (Sets), Ken Booth (Lights), Peter Bayne (Sound), Naila Aladdin-Sanders (Costumes), Misty Carlisle (Props), Keith Skretch (SFX), JB Blanc (Dialects), Elna Kordijan (PSM), Doug Lowry (Fight Director), Misty Carlisle (ASM), Scott Tuomey (TD), Lucy Pollak (PR), Ed Krieger (Photographer), Diana Gibson (Subscriptions), James Bennett (Box Office) EXTENDED! thru May 22nd (no show 5/19)
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United States Premiere!
EXTENDED THRU JANUARY 30TH! Final Week! The Train Driver by Athol Fugard
OVER A DOZEN RAVE REVIEWS!
GO! - LA Weekly - [Fugard's] POWERFUL NEW PLAY... Director Stephen Sachs' character-driven production is stunning, from the dusty squalor of Jeff McLaughlin's desolate, gravel-covered shanty set, to the dense, evocative acting work. Higgins' mingled rage and sorrow -- anger over being forced to kill someone he didn't know, along with his grief over the pair's death - is powerful, but it's Ward's slightly ironic, underplayed turn as the gravedigger that captures attention every moment he's on stage." - Paul Birchall CRITIC'S PICK! - Back Stage - "Director Stephen Sachs gives the piece A FINE AND METICULOUS PRODUCTION on Jeff McLaughlin's wonderfully evocative set, and the two actors bring the characters to vibrant life. Higgins vividly captures the desperation of the white man as he fights for clarity and understanding. And he is well-matched by Ward, whose role is often as listener, but he listens eloquently. And his wonderful face, etched with experience, can simultaneously suggest the naiveté of an uneducated man and the wisdom of the ages." - Neal Weaver Los Angeles Times - "A NATURAL-BORN STORYTELLER... The production, which brings Stephen Sachs' skilled directorial hand to the work of a dramatist he has served admirably in the past, has a stripped-down Beckettian ruthlessness to it... We’re close to the bone of existence, where cultural and class distinctions no longer carry any weight. Ward’s Simon — quietly watchful, full of natural grace and settled peacefully into his solitude — contrasts with Higgins’ Roelf, a frenzied being caught between worlds and at home in neither. Together they bear witness to a difficult truth: This unwelcoming stretch of South African earth ultimately makes brothers of all races... a fascinating tale." - Charles McNulty RAVE! - EyeSpyLA - "FUGARD'S FINEST... The two-hander play relies mightily on the shoulders of its Fugard-experienced cast, and WHAT A TRIUMPH! Adolphus Ward and Morlan Higgins perfectly compliment each other’s characters with an electric and tense chemistry... A MASTERFUL WORK BY A MASTER PLAYWRIGHT." - M.R. Hunter RAVE! - Steve Julian - "When I left the Fountain Theatre last weekend after seeing Morlan Higgins and Adolphus Ward in Athol Fugard’s work, I shook my head and thought more that I had just witnessed a master acting class than a clever, interesting story, though it was both." RAVE! - World of Stage - "Allow one of the world’s master playwrights to take you through a POETIC, HAUNTING AND BEAUTFUL JOURNEY into the world of one man’s inconsolable grief. We are a privileged city to have such an esteemed director (Stephen Sachs) and playwright offer the U.S. premiere of THE TRAIN DRIVER (Fugard directed a production in South Africa earlier this year). You would be foolish to miss the magic that comes from such lyrical dialogue; Fugard’s words reach your soul, reminding us that the human language, when constructed with such elegance, can achieve an evocative chill akin to the mournful, spiritual wailing of the dogs that howl their existence to the night." - Tony Frankel RAVE! - CurtainUp.com - "Another searing picture of South Africa today. IT'S THE BEST THING HE'S [FUGARD'S] DONE SO FAR... As Roelf, Morlan Higgins ranges from rage through confusion to peace at the last. It's a shattering performance and Higgins holds the stage with a desperate grip that widens into illumination. Adolphus Ward's wide-eyed stare adds a touch of humor to the production and, though he's short on words, what there are are choice. He's never short on a concentrated attention to the other man and, at the end, he knows what he has to do... Stephen Sachs directs with a keen ear for the playwrights's depth and humor." - Laura Hitchcock RAVE! - SoCal.com - "The two-man, one-act play is taut and compelling; A BRILLIANT MASTERPIECE ... Morlan Higgins plays Roelf Visagie, delivering one of the finest, most moving performances I've seen on an LA stage to date... Simon [is] depicted by Ward with elegance, grace and wisdom." - Sheryl Scarborough RAVE! - CynthiaCitron.com - "ANOTHER FACETED JEWEL... The train driver is played by Morlan Higgins - in my view the best actor currently pacing and gracing the Los Angeles stage. He is joined in this production by another charismatic actor: the majestic Adolphus Ward... The overall excellence of this production, however, must be credited to director Stephen Sachs." - Cynthia Citron RAVE! - LAStageTimes - "A Stephen Sachs staging of any new Fugard play, including this one, IS AN EVENT THAT SHOULDN'T BE MISSED ... the performances by Morlan Higgins and Adolphus Ward are big and glorious." - Don Shirley RAVE! - ParkLaBreaNews - "BRINGS HOME TELLING PERFORMANCES... Fine performances under Stephen Sachs' well-tuned direction... hew to the intention of one more telling piece of Fugard's continuing involvement with South Africa's past, present, and, one hopes, peaceful future." - Madeleine Shaner StageSceneLA - "BEAUTFULLY ACTED, DIRECTED, AND DESIGNED... The partnership of Athol Fugard and The Fountain Theatre has possibly led to more awards and award nominations than any ongoing collaboration between writer and theater in the Los Angeles area... Higgins and Ward give performances that transcend “acting” and enter the realm of simply being." - Steven Stanley RAVE! - StageandCinema.com - "Any play by Fugard is an important event in the theater and The Train Driver is HEART-STOPPINGLY BEAUTIFUL... The production is as good as it is because, in Stephen Sachs, Fugard has the director every playwright dreams of finding: one who totally understands every grace note, every signpost, every unspoken gesture, and, through care and sensibility, brings them to life; in short, Sachs’s direction is sublime." - Harvey Perr RAVE! - About.com - "Since I’ve been writing for About.com, I’ve been to almost every one of California’s regional Tony Award-winning theatres and after all of that, I'D RANK THE TRAIN DRIVER IN THE TOP HANDFUL OF PERFORMANCES I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED." - Betsy Malloy RAVE! - Buzzine.com - "A great bravo for a memorable performance. A MUST-SEE... The deeply moving encounter between these two men, excellently played by Morlan Higgins and Adolphus Ward, is touching and deeply affecting... 90 powerful minutes of theater." - Clare Elfman CRITIC'S PICK! - KCLA, KLAS, KPRO-AM, KMAX - "Director Stephen Sachs' 2 character production is so powerful and compelling from the squalor of Jeff McLaughlin's shanty set, to nuanced acting performances. This play is a must see, and my critics pick." - Gerri Garner RAVE! - TheaterTimes.org - "THIS IS A TRIUMPH FOR FUGARD AND A BIG FEATHER FOR THE FOUNTAIN, which Fugard has called, again according to press materials, his American home." - Cristofer Gross RAVE! - Actors Entertainment - "I highly recommend... The train driver is played by the memorable Morlan Higgins. Roelf’s transformation from the beginning of “The Train Driver” to the end is phenomenal. The role of Simon, performed by the fantastic Adolphus Ward." - Erica Mer RAVE! - LASplash.com - "A true testament of how a talented playwright and theatre company can come together to create a story about race, rage, and redemption... the fluid direction by Stephen Sachs is absolutely flawless. But it is the acting by the play’s two stars that provide the creative catalyst... Fugard was indeed correct when he stated that The Train Driver is “the most important play I’ve ever written,” not only for himself, but also for the audiences who continue to be in awe of his work as time goes on." - Peter A. Balakas RAVE! - Talkin' Broadway - "BEAUTIFULLY DIRECTED AND PEFORMED... Given Morlan Higgins's past remarkable work in Fugard plays at the Fountain, you can pretty much expect him to give an exceptional performance as Roelf, and he does not disappoint. It's an emotionally fearless performance." - Sharon Perlmutter directed by Stephen Sachs starring
Morlan Higgins Adolphus Ward A tormented train driver is haunted by a nightmare that has shattered his life -- until he is awakened by an extraordinary stranger. A mesmerizing, transforming and deeply personal journey into the human soul, Fugard calls The Train Driver, "The most important play I've ever written." Los Angeles Times Article, Oct. 15, 2010 (interview with Stephen Sachs)
Produced by Simon Levy and Deborah Lawlor Production/Design Team Tanya Apuya, James Bennett, JB Blanc, Ken Booth, Shannon Dedman, Diana Gibson, Elna Kordijan, Ed Krieger, David B. Marling, Jeff McLaughlin, Jack Newalu, Lucy Pollak, Terri Roberts, Scott Tuomey, Dana Rebecca Woods Box Office: 323-663-1525 Group Sales (Diana): 323-663-1098
EXTENDED THRU JANUARY 30TH! (performances in January Friday-Sunday only)
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FINAL WEEK! must close 9/26 Los Angeles Premiere OPUS
WINNER OF 7 StageSceneLA.com AWARDS: Best Production Comedy-Drama; Best Director Comedy-Drama (Simon Levy); Best Ensemble Comedy-Drama; Featured Actor Comedy-Drama (Daniel Blinkoff); Costume Designer of the Year (A. Jeffrey Schoenberg); Lighting Designer of the Year (Ken Booth); Best Sound Design (Peter Bayne) OVER A DOZEN RAVE REVIEWS! CRITIC'S CHOICE! - Los Angeles Times - full review - "THE FOUNTAIN THEATRE SCORES WITH ITS BRISK AND ENTERTAINING STAGING of Michael Hollinger's inside look at the passions and betrayals within a string quartet... BUOYANT PERFORMANCES... A romance set to music... Simon Levy's direction moves con brio, invisible yet exact, the rhythm of the line readings creating its own musicality. Each actor offers a specific tone: Cooper Thornton's Alan is a droll Lothario, while clear-eyed but reticent cellist Carl (Gregory G. Giles) holds secrets of his own. Lebano's vain Elliot makes the hard decisions but can't hear the exquisite musical shadings that obsess Blinkoff's tremulous, childish Dorian... ACCOMPLISHED CAST... It's the smaller moments that compel, creating an intimacy that make 'Opus' A STYLISH MIDSUMMER DATE NIGHT." - Charlotte Stoudt CRITIC'S PICK! - Back Stage - full review "Director Simon Levy's LOVINGLY CRAFTED production perfectly captures the tension and the aesthetic beauty that make this INTELLIGENT PLAY take flight... Startling plot reversals keep the play fascinating up to the final melodic fadeout... The five member ensemble is rock-solid... Levy's classy production delivers a symphony of harmonious pleasures." - Les Spindle RAVE! - BroadwayWorld.com - full review - "BRILLIANT!... What more can be said that has not already been extoled?... Sensational work from all five actors!... Levy's direction is impeccable... With an astounding cast and direction, THIS PRODUCTION IS ONE MORE CLASSIC FOR THE CLASS-A FOUNTAIN THEATRE." - Don Grigware RAVE! - CultureSpotLA.com - full review - "THE MUST-SEE PRODUCTION!... The characters are richly drawn, the dialogue true to life and the story compelling. The actors, all with exceptional credits in theater (and some having made recognizable TV appearances), make wonderful music together... Hollinger portrays human relationships with an accuracy and sensitivity that give it a universal appeal. That’s what makes “Opus” compelling and assures its longevity." - Julie Riggott RAVE!- LATheatreReview.com - full review - "I CAN SUM UP MY REACTION IN ONE WORD: 'BRAVISSIMO.' Opus is an all-around professional production, with artistry, craft and attention to detail that is not lost on the audience and has become the hallmark of Fountain Theatre productions... The acting is excellent all-around." - Joel Elkins RAVE! - ReviewPlays.com/Santa Monica Daily Press/San Diego Jewish World - full review - "MAGNIFICENT! - Exquisite play! - Impeccable timing... Gorgeous music... an altogether absorbing study of very real and very human individuals as they cope with their lives and prepare for the most important performance of their careers. A performance to which we, along with the president, can only shout “Bravo!” - Cynthia Citron RAVE! - Park LaBrea News/Beverly Press - full review - "THERE'S LITTLE TO SAY ABOUT PERFECTION. EXCEPT THAT THE FOUNTAIN THEATRE DOES IT AGAIN!... The play is not just about a string quartet; it's about relationships, commitment, connection, survival, ambition, the individuality and the plurality in harmony, life, love and every worthwhile endeavor... EVERY PERFORMANCE IN THIS UTTERLY DELIGHTFUL PLAY IS A GEM, DISTINCT AND PURE... And there is the hallmark of meticulous directing, which always abounds in Levy's work!... 'Opus' demonstrates how working together creates beautiful music." - Madeleine Shaner GO! - L.A. Weekly - full review - "CANNY SCRIPT... Because classical music can be such a sublime art form, one tends to regard those musicians as inhabiting a more celestial sphere than the rest of us. Playwright and classically trained violist Michael Hollinger confutes that notion with this PERCIPIENT DRAMA, which examines the political and emotional fracas within a string quartet... SOLID ENSEMBLE." - Deborah Klugman RAVE! - L.A. Weekly (2nd review) - full review - "What happens at play's end, after the White House appearance, could be Shakespearean, were it the story of a king rather than a little-known string quartet. But it's all there: The personal intrigue, democracy, hypocrisy and tyranny walking arm-in-arm. Sometimes in four or five people, you can see the whole world. And that Hollinger has pulled that off in a somewhat minor key is no minor accomplishment. Then again, HE'S WELL SERVED BY THE ENSEMBLE, AND THE DIRECTOR, not to mention music advisers Roy Tanabe and Larry Sonderling. Frederica Nascimento's set has a quasi-expressionistic backdrop, which captures the rich veneer of the instruments themselves, and Peter Bayne's crucial sound design is impeccable." - Steven Leigh Morris RAVE! - StageSceneLA.com - full review - "THIS IS L.A. INTIMATE THEATER AT ITS BRILLIANT BEST... Director Simon Levy adds Opus to the string of hits he’s directed at the Fountain, most recently last year’s equally gripping Photograph 51, and neither his work nor the cast he has assembled could be any better... The Fountain has a history of long-running, multi-award-winning productions, and Opus looks to be no exception." - Steven Stanley RAVE! - Buzzine - full review "SOMETHING WONDERFUL HAPPENS WITH A PLAY THAT WORKS... It's a theater experience that doesn't always happen. It happens in Opus... all excel in this small, well-crafted play." - Clare Elfman RAVE! - StageHappenings.com - full review - "A HELLUVA THEATRE EXPERIENCE! This is one high-toned evening that should be viewed by lovers of theatre and of classical chamber music... Director Simon Levy has worked his signature magic with the entire production and the five actors are to be congratulated on such intense individual and ensemble work." - Dale Reynolds RAVE! - CultureVulture.net - full review - "A GEM!... Sometimes it seems like the best way to review something terrific is to just lean back and say, "You must go, see for yourself. It's wonderful." "Opus" at the Fountain Theatre is just such a gem. It is 90 minutes of tightly written and meticulously acted theater, entertaining and thought provoking... Watching "Opus," it is hard to believe that the actors in front of you are not musicians, or for that matter, that they are not a real quartet performing before you... BEAUTIFUL!" - Karen Weinstein RAVE! - Santa Monica Mirror & Splash Magazine Worldwide - full review - "THE FOUNTAIN THEATRE IS ONE OF L.A.'S MOST RESPECTED VENUES having garnered over 200 awards for production, performance, and design in its 20-year history. Its latest production is certainly destined to be yet another notch on its belt. Working with a brilliant script by Michael Hollinger, Opus, a stirring look at the behind-the-scenes drama of a string quartet, award-winning director Simon Levy put together a fabulous ensemble and created a fascinating evening of theatre... Opus is a pitch-perfect production that is an extra special treat for classical music lovers, but you don’t have to love classical music to thoroughly enjoy the performances by this gifted ensemble... A THEATRICAL BREATH OF FRESH AIR." - Beverly Cohn RAVE! - LAStageBlog.com - full review - "A MINOR MASTERPIECE under Simon Levy's direction." - Don Shirley RAVE! - Hollywood Reporter - full review "THE ACTING, LIKE MOST STRING QUARTETS, EXCEEDS THE SUM OF ITS PARTS. There is real teamwork, whether as characters in the play or just actors on a stage doing battle and interacting with one another... Cooper Thornton as the second violin increasingly dominates the play with his resigned sense of humor, bringing a Jason Robards Jr. sense of pathos to his work along with a split-second sense of timing. Gregory G. Giles gets bad news and delivers it as only a cellist with his feet firmly on the ground could do. Between them, Christian Lebano as the controlling first violinist and Daniel Blinkoff as his ephemeral lover and rival capture the stilted, awkward rituals classical music relationships must go through in their final stages, like black holes of mortality. The set is cleverly designed to provide the labyrinth through which all touring ensembles must continually travel... Rips open the heart of classical music." - Laurence Vittes RAVE! - Los Feliz Ledger - full review - "HILARIOUS AND POIGNANT!... Director Simon Levy has skillfully drawn out the different personalities of the five characters... Classical music mavens and theater enthusiasts alike will savor “Opus,” an insightful look into the emotions and angst of a string quartet at the Fountain Theatre. The play was so successful in its July run that it has been extended through August." - Marilyn Tower Oliver RAVE! - StageHappenings.com - full review - "DROP WHAT YOU'RE DOING RIGHT NOW. MAKE RESERVATIONS FOR 'OPUS'... exquisitely directed by Simon Levy... five superb actors... the audience sits mesmerized... This intimate production is LIVING THEATRE AT ITS BEST." - Shirle Gottlieb
Sex, drugs and chamber music! Talent and temperaments collide in this amusing and compelling behind-the-scenes look at a high-strung string quartet. A world-famous ensemble threatens to unravel as it prepares for its highest-profile performance when its most talented member goes missing and a young woman is hired to take his place. Smart, funny, entertaining and insightful -- you'll never listen to a string quartet the same way again.
Produced by Stephen Sachs Co-Produced by Deborah Lawlor Directed by Simon Levy
Starring
Daniel Blinkoff
Jia Doughman Gregory G. Giles Christian Lebano Cooper Thornton
Creative and Production Team Frederica Nascimento - Sets Ken Booth - Lights Peter Bayne - Sound A. Jeffrey Schoenberg - Costumes Goar Galstyan & Elna Kordijan - Props Roy Tanabe - Music Advisor Larry Sonderling - Music Advisor Lucy Pollak - PR Ed Krieger - Photographer Mitzi Delgado - PSM Terri Roberts - ASM Tanya Apuya - Wardrobe Scott Tuomey - TD
Assigned Seating for all Shows Tickets can be purchased at: box office: 323-663-1525 group sales: 323-663-1098 subscriptions: 323-663-1098
thru September 26th (second and final extension)
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Another Special Flamenco Event starring Maria Bermudez and the Chicana Gypsy Project July 23rd & 24th, 2010 323-461-3673
The Ford is an historic outdoor theatre nestled in the Hollywood Hills across the 101 freeway from the Hollywood Bowl. The amphitheatre provides an intimate space for dance, music, film and family events. We are proud and happy to present Maria Bermudez - Flamenco in this beautiful venue, and hope you'll join us on Friday, July 23rd or Saturday July 24th when Maria and Company will perform under the stars. Group rates are available. Fountain Theatre Members get a 10% discount. |
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CRITIC'S CHOICE! Los Angeles Times CLOSED MAY 30, 2010 The Ballad of Emmett Till by Ifa Bayeza West Coast Premiere A true story. The now legendary tale of Emmett Till ignited the start of the civil rights movement. This west coast premiere, part history and part ghost story, is a poetic/lyrical//folk integration of past and present, the living and dead, factual accounts and storytelling. Chicago playwright Ifa Bayeza captures the powerful truths at the heart of the legend, creating a soaring work of music, poetic language and riveting theatricality.
A DOZEN RAVE REVIEWS! CRITIC'S CHOICE! - Los Angeles Times - "Warm and vibrant, with a surprising quotient of laughter... Director Shirley Jo Finney’s purposeful, precisely syncopated staging is impressively specific in both movement and meaning. In the title role, the hugely likable Lorenz Arnell captures the buoyancy of his doomed character. As Till’s mother, who so bravely insisted on an open casket so that the world could see her son’s appalling injuries, Karen Malina White exudes dignity and anguish in equal measure. Bernard Addison, Rico E. Anderson and Adenrele Ojo, who round out the cast, are all superb, as are the production elements, particularly David B. Marling’s sound design and Kathi O’Donohue’s lighting. Ameenah Kaplan’s first-rate choreography augments Finney’s near-balletic blocking. The reliably brilliant Finney took over when the play’s original director, Ben Bradley, was murdered. Her luminous staging stands as a fitting tribute to the beloved Bradley, whose own incandescent career was so shockingly extinguished." - F. Kathleen Foley RAVE! - BroadwayWorld.com - "You heard it here, folks. The Fountain Theatre is by the far the best and the brightest that Los Angeles has to offer. Local and tourist alike will be hard-pressed to find a more inviting, entertaining, or all-around enjoyable experience anywhere else in the City of Angels. First timers, it is highly recommended that you get to the theatre early and go upstairs to the charming little café and grab a table, relax, and settle in for a fantastic night (or afternoon) of entertainment... Bayeza's writing is both fluid and lyrical, a ballad in the truest sense. And director Finney makes marvelous use of the space and sounds to create a work that is very much the song of an unsung hero. The cast is, in a word, brilliant... be sure to catch Emmett Till and the amazing Fountain Theatre, for it really is the best ticket in Los Angeles to be found. No doubt the Fountain will be adding more tiers to their wall of accolades next fall." - Amber Cassell CRITIC'S PICK! - Back Stage - "Director Shirley Jo Finney elicits fine performances from her actors and crafts a brisk and lively production... In the hands of Bayeza and actor Lorenz Arnell, young Emmett emerges as good-humored, brash, sassy, irrepressible, and funny... This production commemorates two deaths: that of young Emmett Till but also that of the production's original director, Ben Bradley, whose life was cruelly taken away during the rehearsal period." - Neal Weaver RAVE! - EyeSpyLA and StageHappenings - "A compact, moving tribute integrated with lyrical movement, superimposed speech, and stunning tableaus... Ifa Bayeza and director Shirely Jo Finney skillfully avoid the trappings of an iconic martyr by creating a dynamic innocent whose unique perspective should not be so unique at all, but a march for a hero who dared to be nothing less than who he was. The majority of the play is an uplifting, comical biography of a young man who refused to let his spirit be broken, despite his hardships. Although, these lovable traits will be his ultimate undoing, the character of Emmett Till literally foreshadowing his own terrible conclusion, it’s impossible not to fall in love with Lorenz Arnell’s candid expressions and infectious exuberance... the whole of this work is vital and dramatically moving. The ensemble delivers outstanding performances." - M.R. Hunter RAVE! - Stage and Cinema - "Taken all together, The Ballad of Emmett Till not only sings, it soars with a special music, in this fine theatrical work of serious ambition in which every single artisan involved is working at the top of his/her game. It’s highly unlikely that you’re going to see anything better for a long while." - Harvey Perr RAVE! - CurtainUp.com - "The cast is splendid... In an incredible alignment, Ben Bradley, who loved the play and was its initial director, was murdered New Year's Day. Shirley Jo Finney, his long-time colleague, jumped in and brought the play to its seamless conclusion. Ben would be proud!" - Laura Hitchcock RAVE! - California Crusader - "The 'Ballad of Emmett Till' is not a play you can forget. The play takes you on such an emotional roller coaster, once it ends, you’re not sure if you want to cry, laugh or applaud at the same time. Everything about the “Ballad of Emmett Till” flows with such synchronicity... Writer Ifa Bayeza does a masterful job of telling Till’s story through his own voice." - Dennis J. Freeman RAVE! - PerformingArtsLive - “Much praise has been lavished on this production and now we know why. Playwright Ifa Bayeza provides the gripping details of this drama set in the days of the early civil rights movement. Shirley Jo Finney’s direction is on the mark and keeps you riveted to the story as told by this fine ensemble cast. The five person cast is exemplary. It doesn’t get much better! Go see this one for the story, but you will come out amazed and talking about the superb acting.” - Michael Napoli RAVE! - Park LaBrea News/Beverly Press - Bayeza’s star-crossed play, “The Ballad of Emmett Till”, will make you laugh, cry, suffer, burn and rejoice, separately and all at the same time... Bayeza’s script has a lovely, jazzy, hip-hoppy, extravagantly poetic, light-hearted, fun-loving Afro romp to it, so we’re connected to the story immediately... Superbly played - the ensemble is excellent." - Madeleine Shaner RAVE! - The Collective Magazine - "The cast itself is transcendent... Beyeza’s dialogue is unlike anything you’ll ever hear at the theatre; lyrical and rhythmic with a dynamism that you can feel down to your bones.... a story that will linger in your mind." - Laura Prudom RAVE! - Campus Circle - "The whole play is powerful. It’s an incredible showcase of the human spirit and its resilience." - Cesar Cruz RAVE! - Daily Trojan - "The grace with which the words flowed, the incredible changes that came over the characters and the ingenuity of the play’s musical aspects had the audience wondering if Ifa Bayeza, the playwright of The Ballad of Emmett Till, was more a magician than a writer." - Kristy Pyke Dedicated to the memory of Ben Bradley Starring:
Lorenz Arnell
Directed by Shirley Jo Finney Produced by Stephen Sachs Creative and Production Team: Naila Aladdin-Sanders (Costumes) Erinn Anova (Director's Asst.) JB Blanc (Dialects) Goar Galstyan (Props) Ameenah Kaplan (Choreographer) Elna Kordijan (PSM) Ed Krieger (Photographer) David B. Marling (Sound) Jack Newalu (Electrician) Kathi O'Donohue (Lights) Caitlin O'Hare (Costume Asst.) Lucy Pollak (PR) Jordann Richard (Costume Asst.) Terri Roberts (ASM) Scott Siedman (Set) Scott Tuomey (TD)
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CLOSED DECEMBER 19TH TOP TEN PRODUCTIONS OF 2009 "An absolutely glorious new play... as close to perfection as contemporary playwriting gets." - New York Times LOS ANGELES PREMIERE 2006 Tony Nomination for Best Play! SHINING CITY by acclaimed Irish playwright Conor McPherson directed by Stephen Sachs
RAVE! - Los Angeles Times - "Better acted than the play's 2006 Broadway premiere at the Biltmore Theatre. Credit the Fountain’s frighteningly good ensemble." - Charles McNulty RAVE! - GO! - LA Weekly - "This is a moving portrait, in every sense: delicate, comical, desolate and profoundly humane... Director Stephen Sachs' meticulous attention to detail manifests itself in the specificity with which Ian places his chair, in the sounds of offstage footsteps on the almost abandoned building's stairwell (sound design by Peter Bayne), in the ebbs and flows of verbiage and silence, in Higgins' hulking tenderness, and in the palate of emotions reflected in the slender Hurley's withering facial reactions... a production of such rare beauty." - Steven Leigh Morris RAVE! - ReviewPlays.com/Santa Monica Daily Press - "THIS IS DEFINITELY A MUST-SEE! Morlan Higgins is one of my favorite actors currently working in L.A. theater. I’ve never given him anything but a rave review. And this is another one. MESMERIZING... outstanding Fountain Theatre company... EXCELLENT." - Cynthia Citron RAVE! - CurtainUp.com - "IF YOU SEE ONE PLAY THIS YEAR, LET IT BE THIS ONE!... Stephen Sachs directs this production with his customary passion. Morlan Higgins plays John in A TOWERING PERFORMANCE underlined by its naturalness." - Laura Hitchcock RAVE! - BroadwayWorld.com - "PROFOUNDLY GOOD! - The play is deceptively rich and nuanced, excelling at every level of production. Arguably one of the best the west coast theater has ever seen... The performances are, in a word, spectacular... Obviously a tremendous amount of credit for the performances goes to director Stephen Sachs, but he must also be commended for his staging." - Amber Romina Cassell "ABSORBING!" - Los Angeles Times - "A good tale for fall’s slide into winter darkness, “Shining City” casts an eerie light on the human heart, caught between connection and loneliness... Director Stephen Sachs works his dependable magic in the Fountain’s intimate space." - Charlotte Stoudt RAVE! - Examiner.com - "GRIPPING!... Ghost story and more, as directed by Co-Artistic Director Stephen Sachs this tale is driven by Irish storytelling at its best, superb acting and a bravura performance by Higgins... Satisfying on many levels and offering a few surprises along the way, this show is bound to be one of the fall season's best." - Candyce Columbus RAVE! - LASplash.com - "A PLEASURE TO SEE AND EXPERIENCE!... Higgins' portrayal is dynamic, humorous, and heart wrenching... WONDERFUL DIALOGUE... SUPERIOR ACTING." - Peter Balaskas "SUBLIME AND LUMINOUS!" - StageHappenings.com - "... a shining example of The Fountain Theatre’s extraordinary talents and original staging to rival this play’s West End and Broadway productions. The infallible Stephen Sachs gently sets a solid pace... Morlan Higgins is pitifully sympathetic and William Dennis Hurley gives an electric performance... RIVETING!" - M.R. Hunter RAVE! - EyeSpyLA.com - "A shining example of the right way to do a play in the Los Angeles local theater scene... Director Stephen Sachs does a magnificent job breathing life into this modern ghost story. The cast is spectacular." - Mike Buzzelli RAVE! - Gerri Garner's Entertainment File - CRITIC'S PICK OF THE WEEK! - "Director Stephen Sachs does a fine job of getting INCREDIBLE PERFORMANCES out of his cast." - Gerri Garner RAVE! - Examiner.com - "Rich and layered... in assembling the play’s L.A. premiere at the Fountain Theatre, director Stephen Sachs has the great good fortune to reunite Morlan Higgins and William Dennis Hurley who spun such magic for the Fountain in Athol Fugard’s 'Exits and Entrances'... MARVELOUS." - Evan Henerson "HIGHLY ACCOMPLISHED ACTORS!" - Back Stage - "Hurley creates a convincing portrait of a therapist who's more emotionally blighted than his patients, and Blaisdell convincingly captures the pain and confusion of a woman whose marriage has inexplicably blown up in her face. Higgins, whose long monologue constitutes much of the play, eloquently embodies the tortured man whose absurd, unconsummated affair with another woman destroyed his marriage, and Keepers creates a touching vignette of a man driven to hustling because the accident that destroyed his hand made other employment impossible...SKILLFUL DIRECTION." - Neal Weaver RAVE! - EDITOR'S PICK! - BlogCritics.com - "INCOMPARABLE!... Director Stephen Sachs does a masterful job of getting the most out of this beautiful and riveting play. He has some terrific actors to help him achieve that end... The play is a gripping meditation on regret, guilt, and confusion told through McPherson's poetical and lyrical lens." - Robert Machray RAVE! - Buzzine.com - "A MUST SEE!.. intriguing and verbally amazing... remarkable play... Morlan Higgins - absolutely amazing... William Dennis Hurley - excellent performance... count on the Fountain Theater, which always solidly delivers." - Clare Elfman starring
Morlan Higgins (After the Fall, Exits and Entrances, Victory)
William Dennis Hurley (Exits and Entrances, The Accomplices)
Kerrie Blaisdell
Benjamin Keepers Creative Team Peter Bayne (Sound), Ken Booth (Lights), JB Blanc (Dialects), DJ Higgenbottom (Master Carpenter), Elna Kordijan (PSM), Judi Lewin (Hair & Makeup) Shaun L. Motley (Set), Kathi O'Donohue (Master Electrician), Caitlin O'Hare (Costume Asst), A. Jeffrey Schoenberg (Costumes), Scott Siedman (Graphics), Scott Tuomey (TD) Produced by Bennett Bradley and Deborah Lawlor A modern-day ghost story from one of Ireland's hottest and most important young playwrights. Set in Dublin, a middle-aged businessman seeks help from a new therapist, claiming to have seen the ghost of his wife who was recently killed in a car crash. What begins as an unusual encounter between strangers becomes a struggle between the living and the dead that will redefine both men for the rest of their lives. A haunting, amusing, and deeply moving new play about the fragile ache of the human heart. Assigned Seating Tickets can be purchased at 323-663-1525 group sales: 323-663-1365 thru December 19th Fri & Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm
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2nd Sunday of Every Month 7:30pm MEHFIL-E A Series of Intimate Performances of Kathak, Classical Dance & Music of India India Post - RAVE! - "MESMERIZED THE AUDIENCE with their unpredictable rhythmic exchange, storytelling, creative strengths and innovation... PASSIONATE... LUMINOUS... It was a feast for the senses... an explosive double bill, BRILLIANT!" - Prem Kishore Buzzine Bollywood - RAVE! - "THRILLING!... ENTHRALLING!... uncanny and intense display of percussive footwork and rhythmic storytelling... MESMERIZING!" - Parimal M. Rohit The Fountain Theatre expands its commitment to dance on the second Sunday of each month, partnering with Chitresh Das Dance Company and internationally renowned Kathak master and guru Pandit Chitresh Das.
"We are calling the series Mehfil-e, which literally translated means an evening of courtly entertainment in an intimate setting," explains Fountain Theatre co-artistic director Deborah Lawlor. "Audiences will be able to experience this thrilling art form in The Fountain's charming, up-close venue."
Kathak dance is characterized by lighting fast footwork and pirouettes, rhythmic interplay, and nuanced, graceful movements. Highly unpredictable and risky, the traditional performance is considered the highest level of mastery in Kathak and a deep physical, mental and spiritual undertaking. Years of direct training under a guru are required, as well as tremendous skill in each of the four elements of Kathak: tayari (stunning technique in footwork, pirouettes and movement); layakari (performing and improvising intricate rhythms); and khoobsurati and nazakat (beauty and subtlety of movement and expression).
Rotating group of 6 dancers: 2 of them will perform in each show. Additional guest musicians will sometimes join the core group of Ben Kunin on sarod, Javad Butah on tabla and vocalist Antara Bhardwaj. 2ND SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH 7:30pm Next Performance: December 13th Dancers will be: Rina Mehta & Seibi Lee
Produced by Deborah Lawlor & Ben Bradley Assigned Seating CALL 323-663-1525
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thru August 29th Closes This Saturday! CRITIC'S CHOICE! - Los Angeles Times from the theatre that brought you Exits and Entrances and Victory WEST COAST PREMIERE of ATHOL FUGARD'S NEWEST PLAY COMING HOME Stephen Sachs (Exits and Entrances, Victory, Miss Julie, After the Fall) RAVE! - CRITIC'S CHOICE! - Los Angeles Times - "The West Coast premiere of “Coming Home” at the Fountain Theatre showcases [Fugard's] artistry in an optimum production... Director Stephen Sachs has elicited pitch-perfect performances from his cast... [Fugard's] masterly contrast of simple lives and elemental struggle, however, is resonantly humanistic, and in keeping with that tone Sachs keeps things emotionally straightforward and laceratingly truthful." - F. Kathleen Foley - full review RAVE! - PICK OF THE WEEK! - L.A. Weekly - "masterfully drawn characters and deeply embedded humor. Under Stephen Sachs' direction, Henry shines, while Silcott is equally outstanding. As Mannetjie, whom we watch evolving into manhood, Taylor and especially Elam both impress; Adolphus Ward skillfully fashions the ghost of Veronica's grandfather... LUMINOUS!" - Deborah Klugman - full review RAVE! - Back Stage - ECSTATICALLY RENDERED! - Veronica Jonkers (Deidrie Henry) is coming home, as it turns out, to die in the village of her youth, where her beloved grandfather, Oupa Jonkers (the sensational Adolphus Ward), lived and died before her. As Veronica, Henry is totally stunning, in stature and in her singing, which chills the heart as it warms the soul in that heartbreaking way that gives one shiver-inducing foreknowledge of inevitable pain. Accompanying her is Mannetjie (a sweet Timothy Taylor), her 5-year-old son: a surprise for the neighborhood but a key reason for Veronica's return. In later scenes, the 10-year-old Mannetjie (a talented Matthew Elam) is feistily played for his anger at an unkind world. Greeting Veronica, with the past in his pocket, is Alfred (an adorable Thomas Silcott), her friend, neighbor, and local joke. Highly emotional, ecstatically rendered, this production is rare medicine for Los Angeles theater." - Madeleine Shaner - full review RAVE! - ReviewPlays.com; Santa Monica Daily Press; AirsLA.org - "ANOTHER WINNER FROM ATHOL FUGARD!... Once again, Stephen Sachs, co-artistic director of the Fountain, has taken on the pleasant task of directing Fugard’s play with one of the best teams of performers to be seen on any stage in a very long time... It’s a brilliant tour de force a trois right before your eyes... I CAN'T BEGIN TO TELL YOU HOW MUCH I LOVED THIS PLAY AND ITS PERFORMERS, and how emphatically I recommend it to you." - Cynthia Citron - full review RAVE! - Hollywood Reporter - "WONDERFUL! ... a powerful, eloquent performance [Deidrie Henry] - a daring tour de force [Thomas Silcott] - charismatic... magnificent [Adolphus Ward]... Markedly less controversial than the work that made Fugard famous, "Home" might signal a developing interest, in the manner of Shakespeare's Prospero, at reflecting on the alchemy of his art. Perhaps he, like his characters, also is seeking a new beginning." - Laurence Vittes - full review RAVE! - BC: Blog Critics - "GO SEE THIS ONE! - Stephen Sachs does a brilliant job of capturing just the right tone and look for telling this story. He has also assembled a REMARKABLE CAST. To denote the passage of time, two separate actors play Mannetjie: Timothy Taylor is the sweet-faced boy at five, while Matthew Elam plays the more serious intelligent Mannetjio at ten. Adolphus Ward is a kindly and moving presence as Oupa the grandfather. Thomas Silcott is terrific as Veronica's dimwitted but kind-hearted friend. Deidrie Henry is magnificent as the pretty Veronica who slowly descends into despair and death. Her performance stirs the heart." - Robert Machray - full review RAVE! - Edge Los Angeles - "Fugard’s latest play is a sweet, quiet, and deeply affecting play that reflects the sentiments of the playwright about his homeland, South Africa... Fugard is keen on chronicling the state of his homeland in his plays... the political issues brought to the fore are not imposed upon, but are clearly stated in the way they affect the daily lives of his characters. Veronica and Alfred remain stark contrasts to how dreams play out in a political context: Henry’s impressive singing attests to Veronica’s deeply rooted desire to make it on her own and the level of success she is capable of; while Alfred’s less lofty goals perhaps shielded him from the harsh realities of life. In any event, and in part by the careful and nuanced direction of Stephen Sachs, the play never becomes overwrought. It also maintains an ever-present theme of Veronica’s hope." - Obed Medina - full review RAVE! - EyeSpyLA.com - "COMPELLING PRODUCTION!... Fugard is on top of his game here. It’s a meticulously tight play. The writing is crisp, focused, funny and melancholy. He masterfully pulls at heart strings without making the audience feel manipulated...The cast is brilliant. Henry is a dynamic performer. She is strong as an actor and singer. When she sings it’s glorious. Silcott is marvelous as well. Luckily, the gifted actors are evenly matched, because the majority of the play rests on their talented shoulders... Fugard is a staple at the Fountain Theatre, probably because of the exceptional acting, directing and set designs. With luck, Fugard will always be coming home to the Fountain." - Mike Buzzelli - full review RAVE! - KCLA, KLAS, KPRO-AM, KMAX-AM - "OUTSTANDING!... Stephen Sachs captures the look and feel of this touching story. The cast is outstanding, and this is all played out on Laura Fine Hawkes acccurate squalor shanty setting." - Gerri Garner - full review RAVE! - Los Feliz Ledger - "The high level of acting lives up to the well-known standards of productions at the Fountain Theatre. Fugard’s use of language and metaphor make the play A MUST SEE for serious playgoers." - Marilyn Oliver - full review RAVE! - StageHappenings.com - "Manipulating time through his characters is one of Fugard’s brilliant abilities as a storyteller and commentator... Stephen Sachs proves once again to be up for the task that Fugard sets out for him. Seamlessly transitioning time and space, Sachs delves the text with feeling sensitivity while providing plenty of identifiable tension and moments of splendid release in Veronica’s songs... Two young actors play the dual role of Mannetije, irresistible Timothy Taylor at age five, and Matthew Elam at age 10 is strong and versatile, more than holding his own in his scenes with Alfred and Oupa. Thomas Silcott fleshes out the comic Alfred with enjoyable enthusiasm and layers of subtle complexity. Deidrie Henry is nothing short of extraordinary and is one of the best to play Fugard’s strong female roles. Oupa is the magic in both plays, and Adolphus Ward is mesmerizing." - Robert Machray - full review RAVE! - California Chronicle - "POWERFUL AND MOVING! - The script is beautifully written with every word designed to touch the watcher emotionally... Stephen Sachs´ direction draws exceptional performances from each of the actors. Henry is eloquent and haunting as Veronica. Her voice so enchanting, we wished for more songs. Silcott´s performance of Alfred is flawless...Ward´s portrayal of the old (and deceased) Oupa is both poignant and powerful... "Coming Home" is a play that will stay with you for days, as you mentally review scenes, catching nuances and meanings that you missed. You might even want to take a friend and see it again!" - Jackie Houchin - full review
Athol Fugard Winner of the Tony, Obie and New York Critics Circle Awards; hailed by TIME magazine as "the greatest active playwright in the English-speaking world." The Fountain Theatre continues its unique relationship with one of the world's greatest living playwrights (Exits and Entrances, Victory, Road to Mecca). Achingly beautiful, full of the humanity and wisdom we've come to expect from Mr. Fugard's work, his newest play exposes life in contemporary South Africa through the unforgettable love of a mother for her child and the promise of a new world. starring
Deidrie Henry (Yellowman)
Thomas Silcott (Master Harold & the Boys, Colony Theatre)
Adolphus Ward (Joe Turner's Come and Gone & Gem of the Ocean) with
Matthew Elam
Noah Murtadha
Timothy Taylor creative and production team Peter Bayne, JB Blanc, Christian Epps, Goar Galstyan, Laura Fine Hawkes, Ed Krieger, Shon Le Blanc, Liz McGavock, Scott Siedman, Scott Tuomey Produced by Simon Levy and Deborah Lawlor Previews begin June 13th Opens June 20th Closes August 29th
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LA Weekly Dance Pick of the Week! FOREVER FLAMENCO AT THE FORD LA Olé! all-star flamenco extravaganza Saturday, August 1st 8:30pm One Night Only! Ford Amphitheatre Los Angeles, CA The Fountain Theatre brings a taste of its popular series to the Ford for a night of intense Gypsy passion under the stars. Since 2003, Forever Flamenco! at the Fountain Theatre has been presenting a roster of world-class Flamenco dancers, singers and musicians drawn from the rich pool of Flamenco artists in Southern California, with additional guest artists brought from San Francisco, Albuquerque and Spain. Forever Flamenco: LA Ole will be an all-star performance with eleven great Flamenco artists representing both the new wave of young talent and seasoned, classic performers. Presented by The Fountain Theatre Produced by Deborah Lawlor and Ben Bradley Artistic Director: Antonio Triana. Guitarist: Antonio Triana Special Guest Guitarist: Ricardo Marlow Special Guest Artist Singers: Jesus Montoya and El Yiyi Special Guest Artist Dancer: Antonio Granjero Dancers: Roberto Amaral, Fanny Ara, La Genoveva, Timo Nunez, and Briseyda Zarate order tickets at: 323-461-3673 for more information please call 323-663-1525 (note: Fountain Subscribers receive a 10% discount - just mention you're a subscriber and give them your membership # on back of card) |
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a Guest Production at The Odyssey Theatre in association with The Israeli Leadership Council April 25 - June 14, 2009 Special $5.00 Discount for Fountain Subscribers! Nominated for the 2007 New York Drama Desk Award for Best New Play The Fountain Theatre's Production of THE ACCOMPLICES
ARTICLE - All About Jewish Theatre - April 18, 2009 ARTICLE - BroadwayWorld.com - March 31, 2009 RAVE! - LA Weekly - "GO! - A GRIPPING PRODUCTION! - Deborah LaVine skillfully melds a FINE CAST." RAVE! - Hollywood Reporter - "A POWERFUL PLAY that will get your blood racing and brain thinking, SKILLFULLY ACTED AND DIRECTED!" RAVE! - Reuters & MSNBC - "Former New York Times correspondent Bernard Weinraub tells the PROVOCATIVE STORY in a balanced but no-holds-barred manner that lets the uncomfortable facts speak for themselves... Director Deborah LaVine's cast does a SPLENDID JOB." RAVE! - LACityBeat.com - "Weinraub brings a seldom-dramatized chapter of history to VIVID LIFE. Director Deborah LaVine navigates the docu-dramatic details in a consistently lucid and FAST-PACED PRODUCTION." RAVE! - Santa Monica Daily Press & San Diego Jewish World - "POWERFUL AND GRIPPING! It is intelligent, emotionally charged and well constructed. What's more, the incidents ring true. Director Deborah LaVine has wrought STIRRING AND AFFECTING PERFORMANCES." RAVE! - American Radio Network - "STIRRING PLAY!... "Deborah LaVine's staging is superb with sharp interactions between the vividly drawn characters brought to life by this accomplished ensemble of brilliant actors... OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION!" RAVE! - Edge Los Angeles - "A DRAMATIC TOUR DE FORCE!... Director Deborah LaVine does an excellent job... Another particular strength of "The Accomplices" is the acting... EXPLOSIVELY DRAMATIC!" RAVE! - StageHappenings.com - "RIVETING!... Some plays are so powerful you can feel them in the pit of your stomach. Like timeless dramas of Greek tragedy, they become even more gut-wrenching when based on truth that has been hidden from the public... EMOTIONALLY-CHARGED!... The cast outdoes itself." RAVE! - StageHappenings.com (2nd) - "HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!... a gripping and emotional story. It is a lesson in history that everyone should know and never forget." RAVE! - Buzzine.com - "AN EXCITING AND ENLIGHTENING EVENING OF THEATRE! Steven Schub’s dynamic, empassioned portrayal of Bergson carries the action." RAVE! - RandomLengthsNews.com - "A UNIFORMLY GRIPPING CAST! Directed at white heat by Deborah LaVine bites into Bernard Weinraub’s unremitting dramatization of a painful chapter in American history." RAVE! - CultureVulture.net - "GRIPPING AND ENLIGHTENING!... Meticulously researched drama... disturbing, really interesting, and not well known. RIVETING!" Articles Video
(director of A Shayna Maidel and Kindertransport) produced by Stephen Sachs, Simon Levy and Deborah Lawlor President Roosevelt. Rabbi Stephen S. Wise. The State Department. American Jews. A conspiracy of silence and inaction. The true story of Hillel Kook (aka Peter Bergson). The FBI spied on him. The State Department wanted him deported. Jewish leaders tried to stop him. Yet despite this intense and sometimes frenzied opposition, firebrand activist Peter Bergson succeeded in shattering the wall of silence that surrounded news about Hitler's annihilation of the Jews. Jerusalem Post: U.S. Holocaust Museum starring Brian Carpenter, Dennis Gersten, Gregory G. Giles, James Harper, William Dennis Hurley, Elizabeth Karr, Annika Marks, KC Marsh, Stephen Marshall, Donne McRae, Steven Schub, Malachi Throne, Time Winters creative team JB Blanc, Dean Cameron, Christian Epps, Shon LeBlanc, Jeremy A. Levin, Judi Lewin, Dave Marling, Caitlin O'Hare, Virginia Parron, Scott Siedman, Scott Tuomey, Amy Weiss
Thursday-Saturday, 8pm Sunday, 2pm thru June 14th a Fountain Theatre Guest Production now performing at the Odyssey Theatre Odyssey Theatre Info & Directions All Seats are $30.00 For more information: 323-663-1525 Special $5.00 Discount for Fountain Subscribers! |
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FINAL WEEK!
WEST COAST PREMIERE Anna Ziegler's Photograph 51 Winner of the 2008 STAGE International Script Competition! (judged by theatre professionals and Nobel laureates) PICK OF THE WEEK! - L.A. WEEKLY - "Director Simon Levy efficiently orchestrates the manipulation of time and space, turning vast leaps into imperceptible segues, and inspiring POWERFUL PERFORMANCES from his actors. The entire cast sparkles behind Alpert, whose portrayal of Rosalind's ruthless efficiency, biting wit, and deep pain is a tour de force that brings to mind Meryl Streep's take on Anna Wintour. This tribute to a woman who helped crack the Pyrex ceiling reminds us of the need to reexamine "his"tory, and SHOULD NOT BE MISSED." - full review RAVE! - STAGE SCENE LA - "WOW! - fast-moving, funny, suspenseful, and ultimately deeply moving train ride of a play about the discovery of DNA’s double helix structure. As British scientist Rosalind Franklin, Aria Alpert gives an absolutely commanding, charismatic performance. Director Simon Levy deserves highest marks. Photograph 51 captures the joy and excitement felt by scientists on the verge of both discovery and the fame and financial gain that can come from it. IT IS AN ASBOLUTELY SMASHING 90 MINUTES OF SIMPLY GREAT THEATER!" - full review RAVE! - SANTA MONICA DAILY PRESS/SAN DIEGO JEWISH WORLD/AIRSLA.ORG -"ENTHRALLING! The fascinating story of Ms. Franklin’s grueling research, carried out in spite of the carping and ridicule of her male colleagues, is told exquisitely in Anna Ziegler’s new play “Photograph 51”, currently on stage at one of the very best theatres in Los Angeles: The Fountain. Impeccably directed by The Fountain’s Simon Levy, the play stars Aria Alpert as the driven, competitive, and morbidly secretive Rosalind Franklin, whose work, apparently, was all-consuming... an important slice of history, beautifully acted and intriguingly presented. AN EXCITING ADVENTURE ALL AROUND." - full review RAVE! - CURTAINUP.COM - "This STUNNING PRODUCTION of Anna Ziegler's prize-winning play is whipped into a tightly-paced 90 minutes by director Simon Levy at The Fountain Theatre... Ziegler superbly sculpts the humanity and emotional lives of these scientists into their race for the prize. The play was the winner of the 2008 Stage International Script Competition for Best New Play About Science and Technology. It well deserves the honor and this production does it justice." - full review RAVE! - BACKSTAGE - "IMPECCABLE! - Ziegler uses considerable ingenuity to explicate dense scientific information; create clever, credible characters; and tell a story that won't conform to standard notions of plotting. Director Simon Levy gives the piece an IMPECCABLE PRODUCTION, with an admirable young cast. Alpert combines Franklin's brusque authority with vivacity and charm." - full review RAVE! - STAGEHAPPENINGS.COM - "MAGICAL! - Anna Ziegler’s award winning play sharply focuses and brings to light the shadowy figure of a brilliant, female physicist... The cast is excellent with Alpert a shining star of subtle transparency that gives Franklin a heart and soul through her biting remarks and quietly assertive expressions. Daniel Billet makes Wilkins a likable misfit and Ian Gould is wickedly charming with eager energy and a smugness that sizzles... Simon Levy’s outstanding direction heightens the engrossing intimate moments that further fleshes out the characters. Mining scenes of their physical humor and wit, Levy makes the scientific inquiry magical and approachable." - full review RAVE! - SOCAL.COM - "INGENIOUS! - I marveled at playwright Anna Ziegler’s effective methods of showing different sides of Franklin [and] Ms. Alpert brought to life a multifaceted Franklin... Simon Levy’s perceptive direction captured the human being and the scientific history without losing the nuances of either." RAVES! - Goldstar Patron Reviews - Read Reviews RAVE! - PARK LA BREA NEWS/BEVERLY PRESS - "A BRILLIANT PLAY! - "Playwright Anna Ziegler has... produced a brilliant play that’s not so much about esoteric proofs and obscure equations, but about emotion, striving, and a laboratory of one’s own... THE WRITING IS SUPERB... Aria Alpert portrays Rosalind to perfection... What a great evening! Terrific play, formidable actors." - full review RAVE! - EXAMINER.COM - "EXCITING! -This play which is making its West Coast premiere, moves swiftly, concentrating on a great race and the failure of collaboration for an intermissionless 90 minutes. INTENSELY EXCITING AND PROVOCATIVE, the themes transcend gender and science and surely will fuel many probing conversations." - full review RAVE! - CALIFORNIA CHRONICLE - "OUTSTANDING! - Presented in the stark black & white reality of an X-ray image, "Photograph 51" is a play that will stay in the mind for some time. The drama of the race and the twist of circumstances that placed the honor of discovery into another´s hands is thought provoking... And after an hour and twenty minutes – which seems far shorter – they will rise with applause in appreciation for the OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE they have just witnessed." - full review VARIETY - "TERRIFIC! - Polished and entertaining... Director Simon Levy directs the show smoothly, segueing from straight drama to narration to the lead character's private imaginings with admirable clarity. Attention clearly has been paid to the actors' performances...Alpert is terrific as Franklin, full of astringent authority and tart humor, a woman in full control of herself, if not her world." RAVE! - LA CITYBEAT - "ABSORBING AND TOUCHING! - The no-nonsense Franklin is seen here not simply as a casualty of sexism but also, more dimensionally, as a woman whose loner obstinacy might even have irritated other women scientists – if any of them had been in the labs. Partially because of her premature death at age 37, from a cancer that Ziegler suggests might have been caused by her work in the lab, she assumes a tragic stature that elevates the play and Simon Levy’s staging into an absorbing and touching event."
Who Really Discovered the Secret of Life? The story of British biophysicist Rosalind Franklin, whose groundbreaking study led to the historic discovery of the structure of DNA. But did her male colleagues (including Watson and Crick) steal her data and claim credit for themselves? written by Anna Ziegler directed by Simon Levy starring Aria Alpert, Daniel Billet, Joe Delafield, Ian Gould, Kerby Joe Grubb, Ross Hellwig, Graham Norris creative team JB Blanc, Dean Cameron, Elna Kordijan, Shon LeBlanc, Judi Lewin, Travis Gale Lewis, Kathi O'Donohue, Scott Siedman, Peter Stenshoel, Scott Tuomey produced by Ben Bradley FINAL WEEK! must close May 31st Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun 2pm (No Thursday shows after May 3rd, except on May 28th) Tickets can be purchased at 323-663-1525 Special Ticket Discount Offers |
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EXTENDED AGAIN! THRU FEBRUARY 22ND! From the creative team of JOE TURNER'S COME AND GONE, and one of America's greatest playwrights, winner of the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize, we're proud to present the Los Angeles Revival of: AUGUST WILSON'S beloved play GEM OF THE OCEAN RAVE! - Talkin' Broadway - "A MASTERPIECE! - PERFECTLY REALIZED CHARACTERS! - In the hands of lesser actors, or a director with less vision than Ben Bradley, Gem of the Ocean could be two different plays—the living history lesson of African Americans of different ages and economic levels trying to make their way; and the unsettling dreamscape of Citizen Barlow's journey. But Bradley brings it all together in one sweeping theatrical whole. It's August Wilson's brilliant poetry and philosophy of the common man; it's history and your place in it; it's what you do with the hand you're dealt and what your responsibility might be to the other players. And it is a masterpiece." CRITIC'S CHOICE! - Back Stage West - "A CRI DE COEUR , jabs at the soul and cracks the heart open at this moment in history when the possibility exists of an African American becoming president... wonderfully staged by director Ben Bradley!" RAVE! - Los Angeles Times - "HEART, BUSTLE AND SWEAT!... Director Ben Bradley's appealing production achieves a tactile feel that earns its big metaphorical set piece: Citizen's spiritual baptism, a ritualistic sequence that puts him in anguished, liberating touch with his ancestors... Wilson was a giant, and his early death at 60 reminds us how precious it is to have a great artist around to write the rich, troubled language of American souls." RAVE! - Variety - "A SUREFIRE CROWDPLEASER!... A VIGOROUS REVIVAL!... keeps shifting smoothly into the rhythms and joys of life... a veritable acting class." RAVE! - Socal.com - "TRANSCENDENT PRODUCTION!... The relationships are rich, tense, and powerful, a strong credit to [Ben] Bradley's vision... My humble congratulations to Bradley, cast, crew, and venue for this SPECTACULAR PRODUCTION... You have honored Wilson's life... this show will add to your quality of life." RAVE! - Park LaBrea News/Beverly Press - "A 'GEM' OF A PLAY!... a stunning cri-de-coeur... THE ACTING IS SUPERB!" RAVE! - Buzzine - "A MUST-SEE!... EXCELLENT CAST... SPELL-BINDING! August Wilson died a few years ago. He was a “gem” of American theater. Catch all of his plays, if you can. But at least sample Gem of the Ocean — a really great evening of theater." RAVE! - Random Lengths - "OVERWHELMING!... Beautifully cast and pungently directed... DON'T MISS THIS!" BroadwayWorld.com, November 2008 KPFK Radio Interview, October 2008 Audience Reviews - Goldstar - October 2008 Audience Reviews - LA Times - October 2008 directed by Ben Bradley (OVATION Award Best Director and Best Production Joe Turner's Come and Gone) produced by Stephen Sachs Pittsburgh. 1904. Citizen Barlow, a tormented young man, appears at the home of Aunt Ester, a legendary 287-year-old healer and "soul cleanser." She sends him on an unforgettable journey in search of healing, love and hope for a new life. The masterpiece that begins August Wilson's 10-play cycle dramatizing, decade by decade, the African American experience in the 20th century. Wikipedia Entry on August Wilson starring Rico Anderson, Keith Arthur Bolden, Carlease Burke, Rodney Gardiner, Juanita Jennings, Stephen Marshall, Tene Carter Miller, Jeris Lee Poindexter, Adolphus Ward design and production team Nicki Aikire, Jenn Archuleta, JB Blanc, Dean Cameron, Tim Davis, Christian Epps, Ed Krieger, Jeremy A. Levin, Judi Lewin, Travis Gale Lewis, Mike Mahaffey, David B. Marling, Jack Newalu, Lucy Pollak, Katy Proietti, Marc Rosenthal, Naila Aladdin Sanders, Scott Siedman, Scott Tuomey EXTENDED AGAIN! THRU FEBRUARY 22ND! Friday-Saturday, 8pm Sunday, 2pm Tickets can be purchased at 323-663-1525 |
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EXTENDED! thru September 14th OVER A DOZEN RAVE REVIEWS! WEST COAST PREMIERE Nominated for the 2007 New York Drama Desk Award for Best New Play THE ACCOMPLICES
RAVE! - LA Weekly - "GO! - A GRIPPING PRODUCTION! - Deborah LaVine skillfully melds a FINE CAST." RAVE! - Hollywood Reporter - "A POWERFUL PLAY that will get your blood racing and brain thinking, SKILLFULLY ACTED AND DIRECTED!" RAVE! - Reuters & MSNBC - "Former New York Times correspondent Bernard Weinraub tells the PROVOCATIVE STORY in a balanced but no-holds-barred manner that lets the uncomfortable facts speak for themselves... Director Deborah LaVine's cast does a SPLENDID JOB." RAVE! - LACityBeat.com - "Weinraub brings a seldom-dramatized chapter of history to VIVID LIFE. Director Deborah LaVine navigates the docu-dramatic details in a consistently lucid and FAST-PACED PRODUCTION." RAVE! - Santa Monica Daily Press & San Diego Jewish World - "POWERFUL AND GRIPPING! It is intelligent, emotionally charged and well constructed. What's more, the incidents ring true. Director Deborah LaVine has wrought STIRRING AND AFFECTING PERFORMANCES." RAVE! - American Radio Network - "STIRRING PLAY!... "Deborah LaVine's staging is superb with sharp interactions between the vividly drawn characters brought to life by this accomplished ensemble of brilliant actors... OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION!" RAVE! - Edge Los Angeles - "A DRAMATIC TOUR DE FORCE!... Director Deborah LaVine does an excellent job... Another particular strength of "The Accomplices" is the acting... EXPLOSIVELY DRAMATIC!" RAVE! - StageHappenings.com - "RIVETING!... Some plays are so powerful you can feel them in the pit of your stomach. Like timeless dramas of Greek tragedy, they become even more gut-wrenching when based on truth that has been hidden from the public... EMOTIONALLY-CHARGED!... The cast outdoes itself." RAVE! - StageHappenings.com (2nd) - "HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!... a gripping and emotional story. It is a lesson in history that everyone should know and never forget." RAVE! - Buzzine.com - "AN EXCITING AND ENLIGHTENING EVENING OF THEATRE! Steven Schub’s dynamic, empassioned portrayal of Bergson carries the action." RAVE! - RandomLengthsNews.com - "A UNIFORMLY GRIPPING CAST! Directed at white heat by Deborah LaVine bites into Bernard Weinraub’s unremitting dramatization of a painful chapter in American history." RAVE! - CultureVulture.net - "GRIPPING AND ENLIGHTENING!... Meticulously researched drama... disturbing, really interesting, and not well known. RIVETING!" Articles Video
(director of A Shayna Maidel and Kindertransport) produced by Simon Levy and Deborah Lawlor
President Roosevelt. Rabbi Stephen S. Wise. The State Department. American Jews. A conspiracy of silence and inaction. The true story of Hillel Kook (aka Peter Bergson). The FBI spied on him.
The State Department wanted him deported. Jewish leaders tried to stop him. Yet despite this intense and sometimes frenzied opposition, firebrand activist Peter Bergson succeeded in shattering the wall of silence that surrounded news about Hitler's annihilation of the Jews. Jerusalem Post: U.S. Holocaust Museum starring Brian Carpenter, Cheryl Dooley, Michael German, Dennis Gersten, Gregory G. Giles, James Harper, Morlan Higgins, William Dennis Hurley, Elizabeth Karr, Kirsten Kollender, Stephen Marshall, Donne McRae, Steven Schub creative team Jennifer Archuleta, JB Blanc, Ken Booth, Dean Cameron, Aric Hendrix, Shon LeBlanc, Judi Lewin, Travis Gale Lewis, Dave Marling, Caitlin O'Hare, Scott Tuomey, Amy Weiss
Opens July 19 Closes September 14 Thursday-Saturday, 8pm Sunday, 2pm Tickets can be purchased at 323-663-1525 |
The 3rd Annual Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance Playreading Series August 25-27, 2008 Presenting... The Top Three Finalist Plays of the inaugural Join Us for Three Amazing Nights with the Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance's Finest Actors and Directors
Every year the ADAA Reading Series celebrates and promotes Armenian playwrights, directors, actors and like artists by presenting three fully staged readings of plays written by Armenian playwrights and/or about Armenian themes. Monday, August 25 directed by Debra DeLiso
Tuesday, August 26 THE LIVING AND THE DEAD directed by Michael Arabian
directed by Martin Bedoian 7:30pm at: The Fountain Theatre 5060 Fountain Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90029
Tickets $15/per night/per person. Order your tickets on line before August 14 and receive a 20% discount BUY ONLINE NOW at
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April 25 - June 15, 2008 FINAL WEEK - LIMITED SEATS! A NATIONAL NEW PLAY NETWORK WORLD PREMIERE And Her Hair Went With Her directed by Diane Rodriguez starring Tony Award Winner Tonya Pinkins
"One of ten women in America who will take your breath away." - Oprah Winfrey and Tracie Thoms
(star of "Rent" and Kat Miller on "Cold Case") Alternates: Pam Trotter - Website and Zina Camblin - Website Los Angeles Wave and Tonya Pinkins Part 1 Los Angeles The Wave and Tonya Pinkins Part 2 RAVE! - "If you want to catch two wicked talents get into trouble, head for the Fountain Theatre, where Tony winner Tonya Pinkins and "Cold Case" actress Tracie Thoms are tearing it up in And Her Hair Went With Her." - Los Angeles Times GO! - "Energetic, skillful portrayals by these fine performers under Diane Rodriguez’s astute direction." - LA Weekly CRITIC'S PICK! - "Pairing two versatile powerhouse actors -- veteran Broadway and TV star Tonya Pinkins and her younger, multicredited colleague Tracie Thoms -- elevates this enjoyable dramedy to a higher level, each scene more captivating than the preceding one. All their characterizations are impressive and distinctive." - Back Stage West RAVE! - "Two extraordinary actresses in a play that is original, intelligent, and hilarious. Could you spend a more delicious evening in the theatre? Not very often. Congratulations!" - CurtainUp.com CRITIC'S PICK! - "A must see! The range of both actresses is phenomenal. What an exciting production!" - American Radio Network WOW! - "Theatrical magic!... a darned fine piece of writing, directed to perfection." - StageSceneLA.com RAVE! - "A two-actor tour de force comedy that celebrates the African-American woman and their own perceptions of identity as expressed through their hair... played in top comedic form by Pinkins and Thoms." - Edge Los Angeles RAVE! - "Pinkins, a regular on “All My Children,” and Thoms are on their “A” game. They are exceptional as they effortlessly weave (pun intended) in and out, playing not only the salon owners, but also their overthe- top customers – with only the help of a wig." - L.A. Watts Times Producers: Stephen Sachs and Ben Bradley Director: Diane Rodriguez Asst. Director: Ben Bradley Playwright: Zina Camblin Set/Props/Costume Designer: Sandra Burns Lighting Designer: Tony Mulanix Sound Designer: Adam Phalen Publicist: Lucy Pollak - lucy@lucypr.com Performer Schedule: (this show is cast with alternates; if you're coming to see a particular performer, please check with the box office at 323-663-1525 for latest scheduling) May 9-11 (Tonya & Tracie) May 15-18 (Pam & Tracie) May 22 - June 15 (Tonya & Tracie) Performs Thursdays - Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 2pm Tickets can be purchased at 323-663-1525
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CLOSED Sunday, March 23rd
From the creative team and author of Exits and Entrances! THE U.S. PREMIERE OF ATHOL FUGARD'S NEWEST PLAY VICTORY Directed by Stephen Sachs Starring: Morlan Higgins (Exits and Entrances) Lovensky Jean-Baptiste Tinashe Kajese Produced by Simon Levy and Deborah Lawlor American Theater Magazine Article, March '08 L.A. Times Article, February '08
RAVE! - L.A. TIMES - "UTTERLY GRIPPING! What distinguishes "Victory" isn't the novelty of its engaging plot, but the all-encompassing humanity with which it is observed. It's a piece, in other words, for actors to bring to three-dimensional life, and that is exactly what Sachs' trio manages to trenchantly achieve." - Charles McNulty RAVE! - VARIETY - "Trio of superb performances and Stephen Sachs' exquisitely nuanced staging bring the play alive on three distinct levels of appreciation." - Bob Verini RAVE! - WALL STREET JOURNAL - "One of California's best drama companies! - supremely well acted... staged with relentless intensity... worth a trip from wherever you may happen to live." - Terry Teachout ***GO!*** - L.A. WEEKLY - "Three performances of ravishing subtlety, under Stephen Sachs' thoughtful and loving direction." - Steven Leigh Morris RAVE! - HOLLYWOOD REPORTER - "Profoundly intimate and rocked by emotional explosions. The play is a model of precise, efficient construction, calculated so carefully that the flow of the story and its mostly small twists and turns function as organically as fiction ever can, setting the stage for three outstanding performances." - Laurence Vittes ***RECOMMENDED!*** - L.A. TIMES - "COMPELLING! SHATTERING! Stephen Sachs directs a strong cast." - Charlotte Stoudt ***3 1/2 STARS!*** - DAILY NEWS - "Throat-clutcher of a production! Important play by an important playwright." - Evan Henerson ***CRITIC’S PICK!*** - BACK STAGE WEST - "Director Stephen Sachs achieves a brilliant ensemble effort. In a physically meticulous portrayal, Higgins expertly plays a man well beyond his own years. He also masters the regional accent (supported by dialect coach JB Blanc) and achingly conveys the tragedy of a once-powerful but now-broken-down individual. Jean-Baptiste is at once terrifying and pitiable in a performance brimming with intelligence and finely focused energy. Kajese is a heartbreaker as the good girl gone astray, giving a superbly nuanced characterization." - Les Spindle RAVE! - CURTAINUP - "Under Stephen Sachs' taut direction, the play singes with suspense and fear." - Laura Hitchcock RAVE! - PARK LABREA NEWS & BEVERLY PRESS - "A splendid work of art!... Superb dialogue and even better performances make this a document to be seen, and re-seen, and discussed, and thought about, and considered, and see again." - Madeleine Shaner RAVE! - ENTERTAINMENT TODAY - "Under the sharp directorial skills of the Fountain’s co-artistic director Stephen Sachs... once again this durable theatre venue has stepped up to the plate bigtime. The design elements, from Travis Gale Lewis’ gloriously detailed set to the precise regional dialects coached by JB Blanc, are exceptional and the acting is first rate - probably why Fugard refers in the program to the Fountain as “his home in America.” - Travis Michael Holder RAVE! - L.A. CITY BEAT - "Stephen Sachs is an expert at extracting every drop of drama from a racially charged script. Victory had me literally on the edge of my chair." - Don Shirley RAVE! - TALKIN' BROADWAY - "STELLAR! A taut and intense piece, and director Stephen Sachs never lets the tension lag. But more than being about three characters, a break-in and a gun, Fugard's script is about the experience of South Africa today. And, even more than that, Fugard's play transcends South Africa and is easily relevant to any society in which there is a racial or class divide." - Sharon Perlmutter SANTA MONICA DAILY PRESS - "Another emotional blockbuster from South Africa’s Athol Fugard." - Cynthia Citron RAVE! - CULTUREVULTURE.NET - POWERFUL! BEAUTIFULLY CAST! Victory is as tight and complete as the room where the post-apartheid tragedy plays out. This is a drama with story and character development leaving nothing that could be edited out, nor anything that need be added. It is rewarding to see such a meaningful subject handled with the dexterity of a surgeon. - Karen Weinstein RAVE! - WHAT THE BUTLER SAW - "SENSITIVE AND POWERFUL!...This ensemble cast is stupendous, top notch." - James Scarborough This is the U.S. Premiere of the new play by internationally acclaimed playwright Athol Fugard (Master Harold and the Boys, The Island, Blood Knot, Sizwe Bansi is Dead, Exits and Entrances, and the Academy Award-winning Best Foreign Film, Tsotsi). A powerful and moving drama about the betrayal of hope in the "New South Africa." L.A. Times Article 1/21/08 TheatreMania Article 1/22/08 Wikipedia Entry on Athol Fugard “Spellbinding!” – Johannesburg News Agency
“The play is at once a contained and savage thriller and a political microcosm. The sense of lives lived side by side yet worlds apart, and of the insidiousness of hierarchical social patterns, continually reasserts itself… fiercely beautiful.” – London Times
“A tight and fascinating look at captive and captor … all three characters share a chronic and enduring lack of understanding which perpetuates the divide between them. A political statement about the dichotomy between the privileged and the deprived in South Africa today.” – British Theatre Guide
“Thought-provoking and brutally honest … Fugard is still finding much to say about the ironies and divisions inherent in the birth of the ‘New South Africa’ … Stunning … a powerful and disturbing picture of a victim of political and cultural change.” – The Stage, UK
“Latest play shows true mastery of Fugard … This is vintage Fugard at his best, teasing Sophoclean debate and drama from a gritty human situation. In dialogue as sharply honed and pared down as his best.” – The Independent, UK “Fugard’s latest play erupts with emotion … goes right to the heart of contemporary South Africa’s impasse. Go and see this play!” – Cape Times
“South Africa is in denial about its problems, busy blaming the past while taking no responsibility for the present … South Africans want to cling to the moment when the miraculous happened, and not deal with the squalor and betrayal of the present.” – Athol Fugard, on Victory
Set Design - Travis Gale Lewis Lighting Design - Christian Epps Sound Design - WavMagic (David Marling) Costume Design - Shon Le Blanc Prop Design - John Minchin Makeup Design - Judi Lewin Fight Director - Doug Lowry Dialect Coach - JB Blanc Publicist - Lucy Pollak Production Stage Manager - Kerrie Blaisdell Technical Director - Scott Tuomey
Previews began 1/17 Opened 1/25 Closes 3/23 Running time is 70 minutes No Intermission Tickets can be purchased at: 323-663-1525 or online at http://fountaintheatre.com/buytickets.html |
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EXTENDED BY POPULAR DEMAND! MUST CLOSE 11/18 NOT SEEN IN LOS ANGELES IN OVER 25 YEARS! Tennessee Williams' THE MILK TRAIN DOESN'T STOP HERE ANYMORE L.A. Weekly - GO! - "SUPERB! - Director Simon Levy and a terrific cast headed by Karen Kondazian do a magnificent job of bringing this black comedy to life. In a passionate performance, Kondazian plays Flora Goforth, a drug-addled, wealthy widow holed up in an Italian villa. She’s ostensibly writing her memoirs with the help of her devoted secretary, Blackie (Lisa Pelikan), but it’s not going well and their work is interrupted when a young man trespasses on the grounds to deliver a book of poetry to Flora. His name is Christopher Flanders (Michael Rodgers), but as the Witch of Capri (Scott Presley in drag) warns Flora, the young man has been nicknamed The Angel of Death in light of his past visits to aging divas. The production design is as superb as the cast. Shon Le Blanc’s costumes evoke both the excesses and reserve of the early 1960s. Kathi O’Donohue’s gorgeous lighting suggests the beauty of the Italian coast as reflected on Travis Gale Lewis’ multi-functional set." - Sandra Ross
Back Stage West - CRITIC'S PICK! - "Fascinating production! - Karen Kondazian blows out the fenestration and lets the bats barrel-roll out of her belfry as she wrestles with the role of 'Georgia swamp bitch' cumfaded, oft-married international beauty Mrs. Goforth... If there's a bold choice Kondazian missed, I couldn't spot it. - Helpmate and secretary to the moribund Mrs. Goforth is the crisply efficient Blackie, brought to life by Lisa Pelikan in a most engaging way. She never once runs out of ways to react to the compounding weirdness around her. - Director Simon Levy skillfully manages to make this world of isolation, privilege, deception, lust, and hallucination work as a richly textured whole." - Wenzel Jones L.A. Times – “TALENTED CAST! – The Fountain Theatre’s new production lunges into this problematic play with energy and enthusiasm… the cast is deliciously game.” – David Ng CurtainUp.com - "Even in the sad last years of his life when drugs, drink and the death of his longtime companion Frank Merlo had blurred his focus, Tennessee Williams could craft wonderful lines. Nor had he lost his sense of theatre or his gift for creating full-blooded many-faceted characters. - It's getting the best performance it's likely to have at the Fountain Theatre under the direction of Simon Levy, whose intuitive understanding of the playwright has earned him exceptional privileges from the vigilant Williams estate. - Karen Kondazian as Sissy has the exceptional range to contrast the flamboyance, sensuality and power of an international celebrity with the vulnerability of a lonely child and Michael Rodgers catches the disillusioned spirituality of Christopher Flanders with dry gallantry. As Blackie, Lisa Pelikan , looking like a young Deborah Kerr, gives the play a sense of balance, playing the audience's advocate with a yearning delicacy." - Laura Hitchcock IN Magazine - "COURAGEOUS! - Levy's handsomely staged production (awesome set by Travis Gale Lewis, fine costumes by Shon Le Blanc, marvelous lighting by Kathi O'Donohue, superb sound effects by David B. Marling) is crisply professional. Kondazian is a consummate actress... Rodgers is superb... Pelikan brings welcome down-to-earth realism to her role... Rhino Michaels, Dominic Acosta and Lauren Silvi offer fine support. Valiant production under Simon Levy's assured direction." - Les Spindle
This is the Los Angeles revival of Tennessee Williams’ rarely-produced black comedy. Flora Goforth, immensely wealthy and outrageous and living high atop her Italian villa overlooking the Mediterranean and the Divina Costiera, dictates her memoirs to her secretary, Blackie, when they are disrupted by the violent and mysterious arrival of a handsome and charismatic poet known as the “Angel of Death.” Mrs. Goforth wants him as a lover, but he’s there for other reasons. Starring as Mrs. Goforth as Blackie
Scott Presley Michael Rodgers as The Witch of Capri as Christopher Flanders
and featuring:
Dominic Acosta Travis Michael Holder Rhino Michaels Lauren Silvi
Christopher Smith Travis Michael Holder will perform on 11/9-11/11 Scott Presley will perform on 11/16-11/18 Christopher Smith will perform on 11/9-11/18
The director, Simon Levy, is known for his acclaimed Fountain Theatre productions of Tennessee Williams’ Summer and Smoke, Orpheus Descending and The Night of the Iguana. Producers - Ben Bradley and Diana Gibson Set Design - Travis Gale Lewis Light Design - Kathi O'Donohue Costume Design - Shon LeBlanc Sound Design - David B. Marling Prop Design - John Minchin Hair & Makeup - Judi Lewin Technical Director - Scott Tuomey Dialect Coach - Larry Moss Publicist - David Elzer/Demand P.R. ASMs - Sheldon Patrick & Daniel Seidner & Scott Tuomey Production Stage Manager - Elna Kordijan & Nick Frumkin EXTENDED! thru November 18, 2007 (No Performances 11/8 & 11/15) Fri - Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm Box Office: 323-663-1525 Group Sales: 323-663-1365 To Buy Online: Purchase
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August 17 - 26, 2007 (7 Performances Only!) TAKING FLIGHT written and performed by Adriana Sevan Hollywood Reporter - "Sevan... an energetic, endearing, enthusiastic performer mixes comedy with tragedy as she craftily blends the art and power of the spoken word." CRITICS' PICK! - Back Stage West - "Sevan is a remarkable actor and storyteller!" CRITIC'S PICK! - San Diego Union Tribune - "Sevan joins the ranks of the best!" TAKING FLIGHT is a one-woman show exploring the depth of friendship in the face of disaster, and the restorative power of forgiveness and redemption. In the hilarious and powerful piece, actress/writer Adriana Sevan - herself a striking and passionate Armenian/Dominican hybrid - portrays a mixed ethnic variety of several unforgettable characters: the Latina Esperanza Middleschmertz (an outrageous mixture of Carmen Miranda and Dr. Phil "in the hood"), a Haitian cab driver, a hilarious Jewish fashion-maven from Long Island, and a 90 year-old sexy grandmother. In the midst of one of America's most cataclysmic events, the diverse central characters in TAKING FLIGHT are all forced to question and confront issues of friendship, loyalty, spirituality, and love. Tickets: 323-663-1525 Group Sales: 323-663-1365 To Buy Online: Purchase
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August 13 - 15, 2007 CELEBRATION OF BERGE ZEYTUNTSYAN: A Reading of 3 of His Plays Born and Died (directed by Bianca Bagatourian) The Saddest of Sad Men (directed by Martin Bedoian) Unfinished Monologue (directed by Michael Arabian) Translated by S. Peter Crowe Featured Actors Include: Vaz Andreas, Raffi Anoushian, Shant Bejanian, Michael Goorjian, Alex Kalognomous, Buck Kartalian, Karen Kondazian, Ludwig Manukian, Anoush N’Vart, Anahid Shahrik, Loraine Shields, Lory Tatoulian, Shake Tukhmanian, Landon Vaughn, Gregory Zarian
Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance
This is the Second Annual ADAA/Fountain Theatre Reading Series, and is the first time Berge Zeytuntsyan's plays are being presented in English in the U.S. Mr. Zeytuntsyan was born on July 18, 1938, in Alexandria, Egypt. In 1948, he repatriated to Armenia. Zeytuntsyan graduated from the Pyatigorsk Institute of Foreign Languages in Russia. He went on to also graduate from the Advanced Courses for Screenwriters in Moscow. In 1956, his inaugural collection of works, His First Friend, was published. From 1966-68, Zeytuntsyan worked as a script editor at Armenfilm, and then from 1968-75 he was the chief editor at the Yerevan Studio of TV films. He served as secretary of the Writer's Union of Armenia from 1975-86 and from 1990-91 as the acting Minister of Culture in Armenia. Berge Zeytuntsyan is the author of many plays, some of which have been translated into different languages and staged in countries around the world. Tickets: 323-663-1525 Group Sales: 323-663-1365 To Buy Online: Purchase |
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June 7 - July 29, 2007 20th Anniversary Revival of SOJOURN AT ARARAT Created by Gerald Papasian and Nora Armani Directed by Nora Armani Starring Korken Alexander Mary Kate Schellhardt For Reviews, please visit Press Los Angeles Times - "A labor of love!... The production, with chameleon-like grace and exquisite craft, achieves a vast scale with a lightness of being... [an] epic dramatic paean to the Armenian people." The Scotsman - "In this splendid show, Armenians light up their homeland, and with it, all humanity." The Armenian Observer - "A high caliber theatrical experience!" PICK OF THE WEEK! - LA Weekly - "Beautiful staging!" The international award-winning sensation seen on four continents and now returning to Los Angeles for a 20th Anniversary Revival. This beloved show brings to beautiful life the romance and soul of the Armenian people through its poetry and literature. It is the centerpiece of the Festival. Saturdays, 8pm Sundays, 2pm Tickets: 323-663-1525 Group Sales: 323-663-1365 To Buy Online: Purchase Ticket Prices: $25.00 - Saturday & Sunday $23.00 - Seniors (over 62) on Sundays $18.00 - Students with ID/All Shows |
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"Flamenco that sets the stage afire!" - L.A. Times The 2007 Sonidos Gitanos Southern California Tour! Sonidos Gitanos ("Gypsy Flamenco") returns from Jerez de la Frontera, Spain in a brand new show FlamenColores starring: dancer Maria Bermudez dancer Rafael Compallo singers Ani de los Reyes & Miguel Rosendo guitarists Jesus Alvarez & Nino Jero violinist Bernardo Parilla palmero/percussionist Luis de la Tota VENUES: Japan America Theatre, Los Angeles, July 21st Mandeville Auditorium, San Diego, July 22nd Majorie Luke Theatre, Santa Barbara, July 25th SEATING/DIRECTIONS/PARKING: Japan America Theatre Mandeville Auditorium Marjorie Luke Theatre Purchase Tickets for all shows: 323-663-3779 To Buy Online: Purchase Ticket Prices: $25, $40, $55, $75, $100 |
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SUMMER ARMENIAN FESTIVAL PART (one) ON THE COUCH WITH NORA ARMANI Directed by Francois Kergourlay 3 Weeks Only May 18 - June 3 A tour-de-force performed to worldwide acclaim! Rare L.A. appearance! Don't miss this funny and touching world-eye view of life from this enchanting Armenian-Egyptian-American actress, poet and storyteller. A woman's journey of belonging and not belonging, of being and discovering. "Superb! A truly fascinating theatre piece." - Talkin' Broadway. "Theatrical magic." - LA Weekly. "A spirited and spiritual journey." - Boston Globe Ms. Armani has performed the play in: This is a co-production of The Fountain Theatre and PEMART Productions. For more information about Ms. Armani, please visit www.noraarmani.com Thursdays-Saturdays, 8pm Sundays at 2pm |
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February 1 - May 6, 2007 CRITIC'S CHOICE! - Los Angeles Times August Strindberg's MISS JULIE Dangerous. Forbidden. Erotic. Set during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. (Real Life Emulates Art - see AP news article) AP Report on Mississippi Arrest See RAVE REVIEWS at CRITIC’S CHOICE! “A riveting new adaptation of Strindberg's classic about forbidden desire. Director-writer Stephen Sachs transposes the action to 1964 Mississippi, where stirrings of the civil rights movement threaten the Old South status quo … the actors seize hold of the play’s operatic emotional scale … Middendorf, a capricious seductress in a tight red dress, dominates the show, veering from imperiousness to despair, improbably turning self-hatred into an aphrodisiac … Chuma Gault is brooding and graceful … Judith Moreland strikes a strong counter note … As a trio, they lure us into Strindberg’s masterful liebestod, a dark ballad to the hungry forces within that both liberate and destroy. ” - Los Angeles Times CRITIC'S CHOICE! - "Adapter and director Stephen Sachs re-sets August Strindberg’s 1888 play in 1964 Mississippi. The tension in the original – in which a young, upper-class woman and her servant sexually cross the class divide – is multiplied by adding the racial divide. Miss Julie is white, and the servant is her father’s black chauffeur. For American audiences, the play is much more harrowing than usual. Tracy Middendorf (Summer and Smoke and After the Fall at the same theater) is a human lightning rod. Chuma Gault deftly parries her advances as the ambitious chauffeur, and Judith Moreland is superb at embodying the repressed rage of the household cook and would-be wife of the chauffeur." - Los Angeles City Beat GO! - RECOMMENDED! - "...an ensemble that’s sublime." - LA Weekly “EXCELLENT!” The talented Middendorf ably conveys Julie's enjoyment of power and manipulation … Gault is excellent, showing how the desire for Julie and a feeling of empowerment could cause John to put his life at risk, and he commands the stage with a smooth grace. Moreland is thoroughly convincing.” - Variety "FIRST CLASS! Smoldering ... a gripping piece of theater... Middendorf, with her painfully frail body, wilting beauty and halting sensuality ... she flings her body about carelessly as if she were a puppet on a perilously thin string, and her gaudy smiles are masks through which her terrible inner hopelessness and fear hauntingly glare...Gault is excellent as the chauffeur who is of two minds about rising out of his class, eloquently moving the story forward with both word and deed ... the wonderful Moreland uses her expressive body and beautiful voice to great effect ... The production is first class all around." - Hollywood Reporter “WOW! There’s no other word for Stephen Sachs’ new adaptation of the August Strindberg classic, “Miss Julie,” now having its world premiere at the Fountain Theatre. It is an intense and powerful play, flawlessly acted by Tracy Middendorf as Miss Julie, Chuma Gault as John, and Judith Moreland as Christine, the cook. Each of them goes from strength to strength under the sure hand of Stephen Sachs, who directed as well as providing this adaptation. Yet another triumph for the always-excellent Fountain Theatre.” – ReviewPlays.com “POWERFUL! The Fountain Theatre's Miss Julie is a dream come true! Sachs' adaptation breathes new relevancy into the story … Tracy Middendorf's Julie is brash, sultry, and seductive … It is Chuman Gault's John who drives the story and owns the stage as both protagonist and the most powerful presence on the small Fountain Theatre stage. He and Judith Moreland's Christine project a strength and longing that makes the transformation into simmering servitude in Julie's presence painful to watch. “ – Epinons.com a bold new adaptation written and directed by Stephen Sachs (Exits and Entrances, After the Fall) starring Chuma Gault Tracy Middendorf (After the Fall, Summer and Smoke) Judith Moreland (Ms. Middendorf's final performance is 4/20/07) alternates: Alexa Alexander, Jared Poe, Stephanie Stearns Set Design, Travis Gale Lewis Lighting Design, Kathi O'Donohue Costume Design, Shon Le Blanc Sound Design, David B. Marling Prop Design, Goar Galstyan Fight Director, Josh Gordon Voice Coach, Larry Moss Friday & Saturdays, 8pm (no Thursday performances) Sundays, 2pm Box Office and Group Sales: 323-663-1525 THERE IS NO LATE SEATING FOR THIS SHOW!
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RETURN ENGAGEMENT! ONE NIGHT ONLY! PART OF A WORLDWIDE READING MARCH 20, 2007 8:00 PM ALL SEATS $25.00 Call: 323-663-1525 for Reservations The Guardian (UK): "Every war has its antiwar classic, and here is Iraq's." WHAT I HEARD ABOUT IRAQ (A Cry for 5 Voices) adapted and directed by Simon Levy based on Eliot Weinberger's world-renowned article starring: Marc Casabani, Darcy Halsey, Tony Pasqualini, Bernadette Speakes & Ryun Yu WINNER OF THE PRESTIGIOUS FRINGE FIRST AWARD EDINBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL, AUGUST 2006! To See Information on 2007 Performances and Events, click here WHAT I HEARD ABOUT IRAQ - Future Productions & Events The performance is 75 minutes long and there will be a post-show discussion with Special Guest, Ivan Goldman, of MFSO (Military Families Speak Out) MFSO.org. Ivan Goldman, editorial writer and journalist, lives in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., and is a columnist for The Ring magazine. His son is serving in Iraq. |
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MASTER CLASS by Terrence McNally Revived for 4 Performances Only Lobero Theatre, Santa Barbara Produced by Santa Barbara Theatre January 4-7, 2007 directed by Simon Levy Winner of the L.A. OVATION Award for Best Production of the year. Beverly Hills Outlook Theatre Award: Stage Actress of the Year (Karen Kondazian). Back Stage West GARLAND Awards: Best Actress (Karen Kondazian), Best Direction (Simon Levy), Best Sound Design (John Zalewski). Reviews www.sbtheatre.org |
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West Coast Premiere! October 19 - December 3, 2006 TAXI TO JANNAH A Bumpy Ride to Paradise by Mark Sickman directed by Deborah Lawlor produced by Diana Gibson Los Angeles Times - " A kind of 'It's a Wonderful Muslim American Life'. Director Deborah Lawlor keeps the pace up, and the likable Jahan offers a committed, starry-eyed performance in keeping with the play's unabashedly sweet tone." Hollywood Reporter - "AN EXCELLENT CAST AND AN IMPRESSIVE PRODUCTION (director Deborah Lawlor is the Fountain Theatre's respected producing artistic director)... As the philosophical cab driver seeking to establish a user-friendly neighborhood mosque, Jahan mixes electric energy and a magnetic stage presence... As his wife, Anna Khaja is radiantly beautiful... The actors are obviously well served by director Lawlor's steady hand at the rudder as she steers them through the activity and dialogue with hardly a misstep or even a momentary lack of confidence. Working on a stage that makes good, imaginative use of the theater's tight space, LAWLOR AND HER CREW SHOULD BE VERY PROUD OF WHAT THEY HAVE DONE." - Lawrence Vittes The American Muslim - “Taxi to Jannah is unique. It’s a comedy with a Muslim hero, and presents a positive view of Muslims in America.”
An American comedy with a Muslim hero! This delightful and wise comedy/drama about a devout Muslim taxi driver, Nasrudeen, who dreams of creating his own storefront mosque, humanizes and honors Islamic culture and faith, as he encounters a wide range of eccentric urban characters who impact his life in wonderfully unexpected ways. featuring: Aclan Bates, Christopher David, Yaphet Enge, Avner Garbi, Alan Goodson, Mueen Jahan, Nicholas Kadi, Anna Khaja, Raqual Newton, Maggie Peach, Sloan Robinson, Archie Lee Simpson Set Design, Scott Siedman Lighting Design, Kathi O'Donohue Costume Design, Naila Aladdin Sanders Production Stage Manager, Nicholas Frumkin Assistant Director, Danielle Marie Holland Thursdays - Saturdays, 8pm Sundays, 2pm Low-cost Previews: October 19-27 Opens: October 28
Box Office and Group Sales: 323-663-1525
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READINGS OF 3 NEW PLAYS BY ARMENIAN PLAYWRIGHTS A Project of the Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance in collaboration with The Fountain Theatre NOVEMBER 13-15 The Scent of Jasmine By Bianca Bagatourian Directed by Michael Arabian Monday, November 13 8:00 PM A Citizen Kane type mystery about an Armenian immigrant who becomes one of the richest men in America and the measures he takes to regain the Happiness he felt as a child in the old country. Featuring: Shaunt Bejanian Karine Chakarian Magda Harout Buck Kartalian Karen Kondazian Eddie Mekka Sona Tatoyan
The Blackstone Sessions By Lisa Kirazian Directed by Ben Bradley Tuesday, November 14 8:00 PM When young African American executive Trevor leaves for the summer and hires a housekeeper for his elderly mother – retired & reclusive poet-activist Hannah Ruby Johnson & widow of the great civil rights leader Marshall Johnson – Hannah rebels by putting the uneducated Italian-American housekeeper, Gina, through the ringer. Their love-hate ‘friendship’ results in Hannah slowly introducing Gina to her world of literature and politics, but Gina’s thirst for the education she never had results in her uncovering more of Hannah’s past than anyone knew. Featuring: Bernard Addison Tene Carter Yaphet Enge Danielle Holland Alex Kalognomos Bart Myer Iona Morris Anoush NeVart Jeris Poindexter Sloane Robinson Push By Kristen Lazarian Directed by Martin Bedoian Wednesday, November 15 8:00 PM push(poosh) v. 1. to press forcefully in order to move. 2. to move illicitly. 3. Slang. to publicize or sell aggressively. 4 n. a tie between the dealer and the player in blackjack. A tense comedic drama about love, deceit, fidelity and manipulation. San Diego Arts Online calls Push a “doozy of a date night for married couples. After the proverbial curtain falls, let the what-if line of questioning begin.” Featuring: Andrea Ajemian Michael Goorjian Richard Horvitz Karen Kondazian Salli Saffiotti Anahid Shahrik Greg Zarian |
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California Premiere! New York Times "Ms. Orlandersmith is wholly original. Riveting!" 3-Week Limited Engagement! 15 PERFORMANCES ONLY! September 13 - October 1, 2006 DAEL ORLANDERSMITH (celebrated author of YELLOWMAN) in her one-woman play THE GIMMICK directed by Simon Levy CRITIC'S CHOICE! - Los Angeles Times "RIVETING AND INSPIRING! ELEGANT AND POETIC! This solo piece is guaranteed to touch the soul of anyone who's ever aspired to a better life. With understated supplemental music and lighting, Simon Levy's staging deftly showcases his performer's talents to best advantage... Orlandersmith's performance mines brutally honest anguish, longing and beauty that transcend time and place in a voice all her own. In the end, she leaves us heartbroken, stirred and above all GRATEFUL FOR LETTING US INTO HER WORLD." - Philip Brandes CRITIC'S PICK! - Back Stage West "INTENSELY INTIMATE AND POWERFUL! With pulsing physicality and a visceral embrace of language... Orlandersmith has such a strong connection to her material that it's impossible not to be completely drawn in; HER WORDS AND PRESENCE ARE INESCAPABLE... Simon Levy directs, and the production makes beautiful use of lighting by Kathi O'Donohue and sound by David B. Marling." - Jennie Webb Hollywood Reporter - "SPELLBINDING! POWERFUL! POETIC! Orlandersmith combines the riveting personal power of a Maya Angelou with the theatrical command of a professionally trained actress... Orlandersmith is more than a charismatic talker; she is physically gifted as well. BRILLIANT!" - Lawrence Vittes Los Angeles Sentinel - "WORDPLAY GENIUS! EMOTIONAL AND POIGNANT! Power, courage and brutal honesty are what playwright Dael Orlandersmith delivers in her one-woman show... Orlandersmith's MAGNIFICENT WAY WITH WORDS and bold expressions paint a vivid heartbreaking picture of a young black girl trying to find her way... A REMARKALBE SIGHT TO WITNESS AND EXPERIENCE!" - Mary E. Montoro LA Weekly - Writer/solo performer Dael Orlandersmith spins a UNIVERSALLY POIGNANT TALE of friendship and creative aspiration... Studded with character and detail, both the piece and performer reach a STIRRING CLIMAX in depicting one teenager’s first experience of raw betrayal." - Deborah Klugman ReviewPlays.com: "The formidable playwright is A POWERHOUSE OF AN ACTRESS. Under Simon Levy’s carefully nuanced direction, Orlandersmith becomes all the people in her world, and all the emotions as well... POWERFUL!" - Cynthia Citron
"I'm gonna be a word magician." Alexis in The Gimmick Ms. Orlandersmith populates her tale with a host of extraordinary, memorable, funny, and deeply moving characters as we journey with Alexis and her best friend, Jimmy, as they come of age on the streets of Harlem. Wednesdays - Saturdays at 8pm Sundays at 2pm MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS NOW! EXTREMELY LIMITED SEATING!!! Box Office and Group Sales: 323-663-1525
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World Premiere! August 4 - September 3, 2006 LITTLE ARMENIA written by Lory Bedikian, Aram Kouyoumdjian, and Shahe Mankerian directed by Armina LaManna produced by Deborah Lawlor and Armina LaManna starring: Maro Ajemian, Karine Chakarian, RB Dilanchian, Johnny Giacalone, Hunter Lee Hughes, Jade Hykush, Jack Kandel, Ludwig Manukian, Salem Mikhael, Anoush Nevart Associate Producer: Anahid Shahrik Assistant Director: Loraine Shields Production Stage Manager: Eleanor Wood Set Designer: Scott Siedman Lighting Designer: Henrik Mansourian Sound Designer: Shahen Hakobian Prop Designer: Goar Galstyan Costume Designer: Shon LeBlanc Photographer/Designer: Yvette Khalafian Los Angeles Times - "THE PRODUCTION IS LACED THROUGHOUT BY AN INVIGORATING HUMOR LEAVENED WITH A HEALTHY DOSE OF GENUINE SENTIMENT... Three major story lines, each crafted by a different playwright, vie for pride of place in this busy piece, which has been broadly but effectively directed by Armina LaManna, who keeps the action brisk... Larger issues - the Armenian genocide, the divide between the American dream and the American reality, and the fierce insularity of a beleagured but proud people - are touched upon, sometimes quite movingly." - F. Kathleen Foley LA Weekly - "INSIGHTFUL! APPEALING! AN HOMAGE TO THE COMMUNITY THAT SURROUNDS THE THEATER." - Steven Leigh Morris CityBeat - CRITIC'S CHOICE! - "Armina LaManna's staging is remarkably concise and consistent in tone. The text balances WARM EMOTION with a few less than flattering perspectives and a WEALTH OF LOCAL COLOR - the narrator's home is on a street only a half-block from the theater." - Don Shirley CurtainUp - "Little Armenia succeeds in giving a picture of the contemporary Armenian community and, as always, the production values at the Fountain are FIRST RATE... The dialogue is deft and director Armina LaManna integrates the stories DRAMATICALLY... SKILLFULLY WOVEN TOGETHER!" - Laura Hitchcock
In 2000, the Los Angeles City Council designated the area surrounding the Fountain Theatre as “Little Armenia." In 2005, the Fountain Theatre launched a yearlong development of a new play. Our community of Fountain Theatre writers, beginning in January 2005, went into the homes and businesses of Little Armenia to talk with and interview the citizens who live here. Based on those interviews, and their own experiences, our three writers have created a fictional play that reflects the lives of Armenians in Hollywood, what it means to be an immigrant in America, and how we define "home." Funded in part by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. Thursdays - Saturdays, 8pm Sundays, 2pm Low-cost Previews: August 4, 5, 6, 9, 10 Opens: August 11th Added Performances at 5pm on Saturday 8/26 and Saturday 9/2. LIMITED RUN. MUST CLOSE September 3rd. Box Office and Group Sales: 323-663-1525
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A Tribute to the Memory of August Wilson JOE TURNER'S COME AND GONE (nominated for the Tony Award; winner of the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play) EXTENDED THRU JULY 21, 2006! Los Angeles Times: CRITIC'S CHOICE! - "The Fountain Theatre's production resonates as a fitting memorial to a genius whose distinctive voice was stilled too soon... Director Ben Bradley and an EXCEPTIONAL CAST maximize the humor and the folkloric sweep of Wilson's vision in a RICH, LOVING AND FORMIDABLY naturalistic interpretation... an era MARVELOUSLY EVOKED." - F. Kathleen Foley L.A. Weekly: RECOMMENDED - GO! "Like many of Wilson’s plays, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone is rife with symbolism, the salient interplay of past and present, and razor-sharp dialogue. It takes a special director and cast to meld all these elements, and Ben Bradley does just that." - Lovell Estell III Back Stage West: CRITIC'S PICK! - "The Fountain's production, from start to finish, is an ELECTRIFYING REVIVAL of a powerful, unforgettable story... The Fountain is BURSTING WITH LIFE as director Ben Bradley keeps the dialogue flying and his actors in motion. Each of Wilson's plays deserves this type of treatment. And with any luck the Fountain will revisit his other works in the coming seasons." - Jeff Favre Daily News: **** (4 Stars!) - "A RARE AND SUPERB REVIVAL!... replete with spirit and magic, song and poetry, not to mention a TOP-FLIGHT CAST! Come see this fine 'Turner' before it's gone." - Evan Henerson L.A. City Beat: "STELLAR!... In the hands of director Ben Bradley, 'Joe Turner' has the stamp of a living, breathing MASTERPIECE!" - Don Shirley CurtainUp: "The production is given vitality and pace by director Ben Bradley who has assembled an OUTSTANDING CAST!" - Laura Hitchcock Orange County News Enterprise: "PICTURE PERFECT! Directed with storyboard precision by Ben Bradley... Sadly, August Wilson too has come and gone. Fortunately, he has left a singular and indelible mark on American Theater." - Ben Miles National Jewish News: "POWERFUL PRESENTATION... magnificently directed by Ben Bradley, features stunning performances by a superb cast. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION!" - Carol Kaufman Segal for full reviews, click here: Current Press and Reviews August Wilson (April 27, 1945 - October 2, 2005) was a multiple Pulitzer-winning playwright. His singular achievement and literary legacy is a cycle of ten plays, each set in a different decade, depicting the comedy and tragedy of the African American experience in the 20th century. "By writing about black people, you are not limiting yourself. The experiences of African Americans are as wide open as God's closet." - August Wilson This is the Los Angeles revival of the 3rd in Wilson's ten-play cycle. Set in a boarding house in Pittsburgh during August, 1911, African Americans from the deep and near south come north in search of loved ones and a cultural identity that was repressed by centuries of slavery, Jim Crow laws, discrimination, and Joe Turner's indentures. Estrangement and loneliness turn into connection and community in one of Mr. Wilson's most beautiful, moving and haunting plays. featuring: Bernard K. Addison, Da Shawn Barnes, Jordan Carroll, Tene A. Carter, Dele, Lorey Hayes, Nambi E. Kelley, Edwin Morrow, Adenrele Ojo, Henry G. Sanders, Scott Tuomey, Adolphus Ward, DeMont Washington, Crystal Williams Director: Ben Bradley Producer: The Fountain Theatre Production Stage Manager: Danielle Holland Set Design: Travis Gale Lewis Costume Designe: Naila Aladdin Sanders Lighting Design: Kathi O'Donohue Sound Design: David B. Marling Prop Design: Lisa Waters Dialect Coach: Larry Moss Technical Director: Scott Tuomey Publicist: Kim Garfield (kimgarla@aol.com) Thursdays-Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm EXTENDED thru July 21st Box Office: 323-663-1525 Group Sales: 323-663-1365 |
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"Occasionally a play arises that is so beautifully written and so compassionately staged that we say, 'This is what theatre is all about.' Yellowman is such a play." - NEW YORK POST NOMINATED FOR THE 2002 PULITZER PRIZE IN DRAMA YELLOWMAN by Dael Orlandersmith CLOSED ON AUGUST 28, 2005 CRITIC'S CHOICE! - Los Angeles Times PICK OF THE WEEK! - L.A. Weekly CRITIC'S PICK! - Back Stage West Previewed February 3 - February 10th Opened February 11th EXTENDED thru AUGUST 28th (this is the final extension!) Thursdays-Saturdays at 8pm Sundays at 2pm (Special ADDED SHOWS on Sunday, 8/21 & 8/28 at 7pm) directed by Shirley Jo Finney (Central Avenue, Mississippi Delta) (visit www.shirleyjofinney.com) starring Chris Butler and Deidrie Henry produced by Bennett Bradley SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PREMIERE! PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST! After acclaimed runs at Manhattan Theatre Club, Arena Stage, Long Wharf, McCarter, Wilma, Berkeley Rep, and other regional theatres... The Fountain Theatre is honored to be chosen to premiere Dael Orlandersmith's celebrated play in Southern California.
Come celebrate with us one of the most beautiful and controversial plays of our time! Box Office and Group Sales: 323-663-1525
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EXITS AND ENTRANCES CLOSED DECEMBER 19, 2005 Winner of Three 2004 L.A. OVATION Awards: World Premiere Play (Athol Fugard) Director (Stephen Sachs) Lead Actor (Morlan Higgins) The WORLD PREMIERE of a NEW PLAY by internationally renowned playwright Athol Fugard Time Magazine: "The greatest active playwright in the English speaking world." New Yorker Magazine: "A rare playwright, who could be a primary candidate for either the Nobel Prize in Literature or the Nobel Peace Prize." **** "CRITIC'S CHOICE!" L. A. TIMES **** "CRITIC'S PICK!" BACK STAGE WEST **** "PICK OF THE WEEK!" LA WEEKLY South Africa 1961. An idealistic young playwright and a fading middle-aged actor. One poised on the threshold of a promising new career. The other struggling against the shadow of being forgotten. The true story of a life-changing friendship. starring Morlan Higgins (After the Fall) and directed by Stephen Sachs (After the Fall) produced by Simon Levy May 13 - December 19, 2004 (no shows Thanksgiving weekend) ADVANCED RESERVATIONS AT |
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MASTER CLASS by Terrence McNally CLOSED ON July 25, 2004 |
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DAISY in the DREAMTIME Closed on MAY 23, 2004 Los Angeles Times - ****CRITICS' CHOICE! Back Stage West - ****CRITIC'S PICK! Enter a spirit world beyond time and place. In 1913, Daisy Bates abandoned the comforts of civilization, pitched a tent in the Australian outback, lived with the Aborigines for 30 years, and fought to save a unique and dying culture. She became the first white woman to enter the magic of the "Dreamtime". A true story. Live didgeridoo music! starring (in alphabetical order): Jay Bell, Eve Brenner, Lance Guest, Anthony J. Haney, Dallas Henry, Lisa Pelikan, Suanne Spoke, and Andjru Werderitsch (on didjeridu) (Master Class & Going to St. Ives) Closed on MAY 23RD A Fountain Theatre production at [Inside] the Ford in the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre - off the 101 Freeway, Performance venue at: 2580 Cahuenga Blvd East · Hollywood, CA 90068
Hot Properties is a collaboration of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and A.S.K. Theater Projects and is supported, in part, with a generous grant from The James Irvine Foundation. |
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