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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 |
