Right Now at Write Act

Celebrating 10 years!

The Freeway Series 2009

...Keep The Ball Rolling!

 

Friday June 26th – Saturday August 1st, 2009.  (dark July 4th weekend)

Press Opening Saturday June 27th, 2009

8:00 PM – Thursdays through Saturdays

 

 

…Keep The Ball Rolling! journeys through the familiar settings of any big city and reveals a glimpse into the lives of the people all around us. Their stories can be found in apartments around you, hotel rooms, local discothèques, the cafes down the street, on rooftops above you, in an unknown locale… a second later, or a moment sooner.  Life, and sometimes death, continues.

 

What happens when man’s best friend comes back as a man in Robert Beiderman’s Skipper directed by Susan Eiden, pass by a very dead sordid affair Dale Andersen’s Dead Angel directed by Rebecca L. Doppelt, savor sweet flirtations in Thomas J. Misuraca’s Cupidity directed by Bennett Cohon, stop for a bittersweet lunch in Hindi Brooks’ Table For One directed by Bennett Cohon, take a moment to question the great heights of love in Mark Harvey Levine’s Up On The Roof directed by Louise Kroot-Haukka, and plummet headlong into darkness in a profound play written and directed by Herman Poppe called Dear John.

 

With each vignette, this production explores what happens when people are willing to cross barriers, when artists choose to create bridges, and the freeways of Los Angeles lead us to each other here at Write Act Rep.

 

More info...

 

Note from Producing Artistic Director John Lant – Season 2009-2010 Season Continues

 

Greetings-

 

Attending a play is an essential collaboration between patrons and artists, and we appreciate you supporting Write Act Repertory during this economically turbulent time.  Your generosity helps us keep our doors open, and keeps live theatre thriving in Los Angeles.

 

I am excited to continue the 2009-2010 Season.  I encourage you to come with us as we venture deeper into our 11th Season. Write Act Rep continues to electrify the Los Angeles Theatre Community by developing excellent material written by and for our Write Act Rep artists.

 

I am proud of the great response to our 2009 Season Opener, the socially relevant Measure for Measure, which examined the sanctity of love, and the twisted nature of oppression.  Measure for Measure  was a daring fight against hate.  Characters fought passionately for a world where race and class, gender and sexuality, fear and boundaries no longer exist -- and all that’s left is the freedom to discover transcendent love.  As during Shakespeare's time, Measure for Measure still challenges us today, with its volatile characters, racy situations, magnetic relationships, and controversial themes.  The play remains powerful, heartbreaking, and ultimately profound.

 

Currently up is the second installment of The Freeway Series 2009 – Keep the Ball RollingThe Freeway Series is an innovative production showcasing the distinctive voices of Southern Californian Playwrights and the diverse talent of Write Act Rep artists.  We have created a provocative and impassioned evening, revealing glimpses into the lives of the people all around us.  Their stories can be found in the coffee shop down the street, in the apartment above you, in the park where you picnic… a second later, or a moment sooner.  Life, and sometimes death, continues.

 

We are honored by the Los Angeles theater veterans who will write and direct the 2009 installment of The Freeway Series. Dead Angel by Dale Andersen,  will be directed by Rebecca Doppelt; Cupidity by Thomas J. Misuraca will be directed by Bennett Cohon; Up On The Roof by Mark Harvey Levine will be directed by Louise Kroot-Haukka; Table For One by Hindi Brooks will be directed by Bennett Cohon; Dear John by Herman Poppe will be directed by Herman Poppe; and Skipper by Robert Beiderman will be directed by Susan Eiden.

 

Our 2009 season continues with acclaimed playwright JudiAnn Mason’s dramatic piece How Katrina Plays. This multi-media docu-play is a compilation of monologues about Hurricane Katrina. These stories were documented through letters, emails, phone calls, newspaper articles and personal family accounts of what has been termed the storm of the century. How Katrina Plays is dedicated to JudiAnn Mason's brother, BJ Mason, who died helping the victims of Hurricane Katrina. This is not only BJ Mason's story, but the story of a national calamity. We commemorate the bravery of those involved, observe their sacrifice, and try to understand, through their stories.  On the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Write Act Rep offers a special sneak preview of How Katrina Plays.

 

In November and December, Write Act Rep will feature the world premiere of Just A Song At Twilight, Willard Manus' autobiographical family drama about the challenges of growing up in a deaf household. To commemorate Black History Month, Willard Manus produced his musical Blues For Central Avenue earlier this year at Hollywood Civic Light Opera.

 

Just a Song at Twilight will star Lene Pedersen, whose performance in Winter made the L.A. Times' 2008 "ten-best" list.   Willard Manus is a Los Angeles-based novelist, playwright, and journalist. He is the author of Mott the Hoople, the novel from which the British 70s rock band took their name, and This Way to Paradise: Dancing on the Tables, a memoir of life in Lindos, Rhodes, Greece from the 1960s to the 1990s.  Manus has had a dozen other books published, most recently a young adult novel, A Dog Called Leka, about a boy sailing the Aegean islands in the company of an exceptional dog.  Over three dozen of Manus' plays have been produced in Los Angeles, regionally, and in Europe.

 

Autumn is filled with fright and danger, as Quoth the Raven: Edgar Allan Poe revels in the brilliant and twisted mind of the Master of Macabre, focusing on Edgar Allan Poe’s life and work, as seen through the eyes of today’s artists.  Write Act Rep reanimates Poe’s most infamous characters on stage, and turns the sinister on its head. This night of one-acts promises to tingle your spine and split your sides. Amidst the mirth, madness, and mayhem, you may even come to understand Poe’s belief that life itself “is but a dream within a dream.”

 

Start your Holiday Season with a bang and a shout as we present the courtroom drama Dr. Francinscence and the Christmas Monster, written by Sean Abely, based on the story, The Holiday Account of Dr. Frankincense by Ray Kampf.

 

Dr. Francinscence is a misunderstood mad scientist (not an evil scientist). With his trusted assistant Myrrh, he stands before the Christmas Supreme Court, on which sit the Jack Frost (the Chief Justice), and judges Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the Ghost of Christmas Past, Frosty the Snowman, and the Sugarplum Fairy.  Dr. Francinscence must convince the court that he is not trying to ruin Christmas by building a Christmas monster from the leftovers of Christmases past.

 

Dr. Francinscence's accusers are the Noels, the Evergreens, Santa and Mrs. Claus, and the townspeople who threaten him with pitchforks and torches, whenever he invents something, including his latest, an eggnog latte. “It’s totally delish!”

 

Can we all just get along, or will Santa hoard all of the Christmas Joy and Holiday Spirit?  Come see for yourself, in this thrilling court-room drama, with flashback laboratory sequences, and surprise last-minute witness for the defense.

 

Playwright Sean Abely spent the better part of the 90s in Chicago, writing, directing and producing theater for his company, The Factory Theater.  Some of Sean's long-running productions include Santa Claus Conquers the Martians: The Musical, Attack of the Killer B's (also produced here in Los Angeles), and Nuclear Family.  Sean moved to LA writing for children's television on So Weird (Disney Channel), Sabrina, The Animated Series (ABC), Mega Babies and Digimon (Fox Family).  He also wrote a bunch of pilots for Klasky-Csupo, including Bench Pressly, with Ahmet Zappa, starring Bruce Campbell and Tim Curry.

 

As Write Act Rep moves into 2010, we look ahead to the upcoming season and beyond, with a glimpse of a long-term future, and commitment to our actor members: the new 2x4 Series.  Not only do we want to give writers, directors, and designers opportunities to develop their work, we want our actors to have a chance to shine.

 

Ever wanted to produce your own play?  Here's your chance to stage the play you have always wanted to perform, and be completely in charge of the production, from gathering the rights, to the audition, to rehearsals, to opening night. 2x4 Series will feature an individually chosen production, so that the actor may find their full artistic voice.  This series of workshops to full productions of published plays will have a very limited run with limited production time and a limited budget.  

 

Two different shows will be staged each week, running four weeks in succession, for a total of eight separate productions of the best works imaginable. It is my belief that economic constraints enhance creativity, and by teaching artists cross-discipline theatrical skills, we will help them on this journey called show business.

 

Throughout the 2009 -2010 year, a troupe of Write Act Rep artists develop and perform a sketch and improv combination called Best In Show. Company member Grace Fraga will run the improv sessions, with company Dramaturge Ken Cosby running the sketch writing session. This ninety-minute show will focus on the writing aspects of our sketch comedy workshop sessions.  Ultimately, this will grow into a Comedy Festival hosted at Write Act Rep, where our comedy troupe will compete against other comedy groups in Los Angeles, such as Upright Citizens Brigade, Groundlings, and Second City. A panel of independent judges will determine which group is the Best in Show.

 

In addition to our exclusive programming, Write Act Rep collaborates with other artistic organizations, including Hollywood Civic Light Opera, Dungeon Master, 3rd Degree Burn, 800 Pound Gorilla, 2 Drink Minimum, Urban Legends, Traffic Jam, Arts and Reconciliation, The Burlesque Hall of Fame's Bodacious Burlesque -- and our new relationships with West of Broadway, Bobby Boone’s Productions, Nathan Murphy Productions, and the Duende Collective.

 

Write Act Rep and Hollywood Civic Light Opera will continue to produce new works in conjunction with LA composers and musical theatre artists, promoting and energizing the Los Angeles community with musical productions from writers west of the Mississippi. HCLO is a membership company of theatrical professionals, producing and performing a variety of new and rediscovered musical theatre works. HCLO presents musicals with innovative lyrics, staging, music, and dance.  Past productions include: Hollywood! Hollywood! with Book, Music and Lyrics by Lou Briggs, and Blues for Central Avenue with Book by Willard Manus and Music and Lyrics by Lou Briggs. For more information about HCLO, please visit www.hollywoodciviclightopera.com.

 

Upcoming events at Write Act Rep include Karma – the Musical, workshopping in July.  Karma tells the story of a middle-aged woman who travels through time to convince her younger self to change her karma by making different choices. The two are at odds as they move through the decades, but by the end they come to terms with the path they have chosen. 

 

Electric Youth – The Musical is a 1980s comedic romp, following the adventures of Tasha and Randy, a young couple who travel to the rural community of Fern Hill, Minnesota to announce their engagement to the Randy's parents. The couple discovers that the whole town is facing bankruptcy, thanks to the mean-spirited machinations of wealthy town spinster. Electric Youth features fourteen of Debbie Gibson's most-loved songs, including "Electric Youth," "Out of the Blue," "Only in My Dreams," and "Lost in Your Eyes."

 

Dungeon Master is a hybrid of theater and improv performed on a stage, using actors as the background… and starring YOU as one of the main characters.  For every show, a six-person party of adventurous audience members is chosen from a list of volunteers. The party is supplied with costumes, weapons (foam of course), and the use of ten spells (which must rhyme), and given a task which must be completed in the allotted time. Although each Dungeon Master is scripted and rehearsed, the audience members are always wild cards. For more information, visit www.dungeonmasters.com.

Best in Show - Next Competition Feb 15th!

Write Act Repertory Theater is proud to announce it's very first monthly sketch comedy competition show! Monthly what? Well the premise is quite simple: There are four teams consisting of five members. Each team is given 3 weeks to develop a sketch no longer than 15 minutes which use two props and three lines. On execution day, each team will perform their sketch in front of you: the audience and judges! You will then help decide which team split your sides in half with laughter the most and crown them: BEST IN SHOW! The next month that team will come back to defend their title using a new set of props and lines. Now remember: We only perform ONCE. So you can't miss it! You just can't! :)

Feb 15 at 8pm

Tickets:$10

323-469-3113 for Reservations

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please call 323-469-3113

DungeonMaster

Enter a world where nothing is at it seems.  Enter the world of DungeonMaster.

Los Angeles' best Interactive Fantasy Role-playing Company of over 20 years is back yet again for more adventuring at the Write Act Repertory Theatre. This year features even more opportunities to get out of the audience and kill a few Orcs. But beware…you might get killed yourself if you are not fleet of foot and quick-witted with thought and deed. Dungeon Master is a reference to the far more innocent role-playing games made popular in the 80s such as Dungeons and Dragons. Although the world of Atoll is wholly original, much of the creatures and denizens of the land have roots in the first edition D&D books. Any character you may have seen or used in a D&D game would fit in smoothly here. The major difference is of course that anyone can use magic and can cast any spell with just a grand gesture and an ability to rhyme. You don't have to play, but the adventure is a lot more fun if you are part of it.

RETURNING IN 2008


Tickets: $10 ($2 off if you come in costume)

 

more info...

www.the-dungeonmaster.com


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