Greenway Arts Alliance presents THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET, adapted for stage by award-winning playwright Amy Ludwig (2006 LA Weekly Theater Award for “Best Adaptation” of The House on Mango Street) and directed by Alexandra Meda (Artistic Director of Chicago’s Teatro Luna). Based on the New York Times best-selling book of the same name by Sandra Cisneros.

Performances begin September 29, 2017 and play through October 28, 2017. Performance schedule is Fridays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Note: There will be no matinee performance on September 30.

HE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET centers around the life of young Latina Esperanza Cordero, as she undergoes her personal journey into adulthood. As she matures, Esperanza encounters the harsh realities of puberty as well the hardships witnessed in her family and her Mango Street neighborhood. Despite all she witnesses and endures, Esperanza seeks hope and persists toward a better future.

Ludwig’s adaption of THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET received national critical acclaim. The Chicago Tribune said, “Some plays open up their world so completely they cast a thick spell. That’s the triumphant case with director Amy Ludwig’s joyous and generous adaptation of The House on Mango Street.” And, “Amy Ludwig’s respectful stage adaptation honors Cisneros’ eloquent writing,” said the Los Angeles Times.

“THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET is currently banned from Tucson, Arizona schools. Why? Sandra Cisneros’ powerful words take us to the heart of how it feels to grow up as an outsider. In today’s climate, that’s a story we need to share and celebrate, not to silence,” said THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET adaptor Amy Ludwig.

Director Alexandra Meda said, “The story of Esperanza, her young desire to shake the sky and soar above her ‘House on Mango Street’ and the special kind of fear and hate that is directed at immigrant families, is a very personal touchstone for so many readers over the last 20 years — including this cast and creative team. The isolation, violence, and limitations that surround Esperanza feel all too familiar in the current state of affairs we find ourselves in today in the United States. I am thrilled to be working with this exciting talented cast in exploring the contemporary relationships we have as a society to this family and neighborhood that was brought to life over 25 years ago.”

THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET is presented in celebration of Greenway Arts Alliance 20th Anniversary year, which kicks off on October 8, 2017. For two decades, the nonprofit GAA has been uniting communities through art, education and social enterprise. Greenway, a community leader and role model in social enterprise, runs the Greenway Court Theatre (a professional 99-seat theater), the Greenway Institute for the Arts (an arts education program at Fairfax High School, Title 1 high school in Los Angeles) and the Melrose Trading Post (a weekly open-air arts based marketplace). An all-day community celebration of Greenway Arts Alliance’s 20th Anniversary will take place at the world famous Melrose Trading Post on Sunday, October 8.

The cast of THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET features Elizabeth Nungaray as Esperanza, Estella Garcia as Older Esperanza, Alex Alpharoah as Ensemble, Franceli Chapman as Ensemble, Christine Mantilla as Ensemble, Graciela Lizet Rodriguez as Ensemble, Miebaka Yohannes as Ensemble.

Joining Alexandra Meda’s creative team are choreographer Ysaÿe McKeever (Teatro Luna’s Generation Sex), projection and environment designer Corwin Evans, costume designer Beryl Brachman, lighting designer Azra King-Abadi, and sound designer Jesse Mandapat.

For more information call 323-673-0544 or visit GreenwayCourtTheatre.org.

SOCIAL DARWINISM by Angela Gant
Saturdays @ 8pm , Sundays @ 7pm

Social Darwinism is a socio-political absurdist comedy that follows a familial group as they move through several different social classes as viewed by a Field Scientist and his Assistant. The play looks at racism, homosexuality, and the subjugation of women, which changes as the play evolves.

Produced for Loft Ensemble by Bree Pavey & Adam Chambers
http://www.loftensemble.org

f/t/ig: @loftensemble

Griot Theatre presents Lydia Stryk’s poignant An Accident, Directed by Kate Jopson

Plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 3 p.m.

An Accident follows the story of a woman who is struck by a car, leaving her severely injured and with little memory of her past. Her sole visitor is the man who hit her. Critically acclaimed, this powerful drama explores how small decisions can change the course of a life and how the body and mind heal in unexpected ways.

“My goal is to get inside the experience of trauma recovery,” said director Kate Jopson. “where fear and boredom battle for dominance; a minute can be an eternity and days can disappear like seconds.  Recovery isn’t a simple, sentimental story of will-power and ‘stick-to-it-ness.’ It’s messy. My hope is that this story will cause people to question that everyone’s recovery should follow the same path.”

Jopson is the Associate Artistic Director of Circle X Theatre Co. and has directed plays for Santa Cruz Shakespeare, Greenway Court Theatre, Coeurage Theatre Co, as well as La Jolla Playhouse’s site-specific Without Walls Festival among others.

This is Griot’s first time producing a play from Stryk, a Berlin-based playwright whose work has been produced across the United States, Germany and Canada including at the Denver Center Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Victory Gardens, HB Studios, The Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Magic Theatre and 7 Stages. She is the recipient of a Berrilla Kerr Playwright Award and a Rella Lossy Playwriting Award and is an artistic associate at the English Theater Berlin.

Captioned performances for guests with hearing loss will take place on October 15 and October 21. There will be a talkback after the October 22 show. The show also features nudity and patrons must be 18 and older to attend. More information can be found at www.griottheatre.org

Red Sand conceived and directed by ​Serena Dolinsky, devised and performed by Ali Cesur, Dolinsky, Alexander Karavay, Diana Shield, Brenann Stacker, Jordann Zbylski.

Friday nights at 8 pm Oct. 6 – Nov. 17, 2017

An Innovative, unusual new piece of movement theatre with heart, humor and a touch of absurdity: Red Sand is at once non-linear, chaotic, cathartic, and undeniably relatable. Presented through a series of revolving stories and using an evocative dreamscape of sights, sounds, and sensuality, this new piece of physical theatre journeys through the capricious stages of loss and hope, walking on the edge of the thin line between the sensations, real or imaginary, true or false, of what frees and fetters us.

Tickets are $25 at 310-394-9779 x1 or online at http://www.santamonicaplayhouse.com/red-sand.html

Boston Court proudly produces the West Coast premiere of With Love and a Major Organ. Written by Julia Lederer and directed by Jessica Kubzansky.

Plays Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00pm; Sundays at 2:00pm

Whimsical, quirky, and wildly original, With Love and a Major Organ pushes on the ever-stranger phenomenon of physical human interaction in the age of technology. Why is it that we are ever more connected and yet we have never felt more alone?  During her morning commute, a young woman falls in love with a total stranger she meets on the subway. After giving the man her actual beating heart, he disappears —leading this unlikely heroine on a quest to retrieve her heart, accidentally cracking open those of others she meets along the way. With Love and a Major Organ is an eccentric, edgy comedy about what it costs to give your heart away, and what happens when you discover you actually have one.

The cast for With Love and a Major Organ is Bonita Friedericy (Futura at Boston Court, NBC’s Chuck) as Mona, Daisuke Tsuji (American Night at Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Kirk Douglas Theatre) as George and Paige Lindsey White (Heisenberg at Mark Taper Forum) as Subway Rider.

NOW Magazine said of Lederer, “A brash, poetic and fiercely original voice that is equal parts pee-your-pants funny and get-out-the Kleenex poignant.”  The Chicago Stage Standard adds, “Lederer has a deliciously twisted way with words…[she] transposes the magical realism of Gabriel García Márquez and Salvador Plascencia onto a 21st century romantic comedy…genuinely original.”

Specially Scheduled Performances:

Understudy Performances: Monday, October 16 at 8:00pm and Wednesday, October 18 at 8:00pm

No Performance Friday, October 13

Saturday Matinee, October 14 at 2:00pm

BostonCourt.com

@bostoncourt

The world premiere of Rogue Artist Ensemble’s Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin — produced in association with East West Players — an immersive theatrical experience inspired by Japanese ghost stories, written by Lisa Dring and Chelsea Sutton, directed by Rogue’s Artistic Director Sean T. Cawelti.

Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin is performed at a secret, Mid-City six-story warehouse built in 1927 (address revealed after tickets are purchased) Oct. 13 through Nov. 5 on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, with up to six performance times per evening every 20 minutes beginning at 7:30 p.m. There will be added matinee performances on Saturday, October 21; Saturday, October 28; and Saturday, November 4, with four performances starting at 2 p.m., with the 2 p.m. performance being modified for guests with mobility concerns. Previews take place on Thursday, October 5; Friday, October 6; Saturday, October 7; and Thursday, October 12.

You receive a letter from your childhood friend who is haunted by a mysterious event in your shared past—and she needs your help. When you arrive at her family’s warehouse, you ascend to the fifth and sixth floors in a creaking freight elevator, followed by a voice that calls out through the shadows, drowning you in echoes of wells and engines and graveyards, in tangles of hair and snow, in sharp reflections of your darkest moments—a voice that may not be human. A small group of 12 enters a room alone, the walls begin to thin, and a dark spirit stirs within you—will you ever escape it?

An immersive experience in 10,000 square feet of warehouse space, Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin features masked and unmasked actors, highly expressive physical performance, interactive sets, multiple puppetry traditions, projected media, sophisticated special effects, and illusions. It is not recommended for audience members that are not comfortable with walking, ducking, navigating small spaces, standing for periods of time, loud noises, moments of complete darkness, or being alone. Because of its nature, the show is not wheelchair accessible, and audience members must be able to navigate stairs on their own, however Rogue Artists Ensemble will be offering special modified matinee performances that are wheelchair accessible.

Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin stars Kamran Abbassian, Dawn Anderson, Yiouli Archontaki, Tyler Bremmer, Tom Dang, Lara Thomas Ducey, Eric Fagundes, Julia Garcia Combs, McCristol Harris, Heidi Hilliker, Steve Jun, Tane Kawasaki, Joleen Kim, Amir Levi, Thomas Isao Morinaka, Jasmine Orpilla, Ricky Pak, Robert Paterno, Sarah Kay Peters, Jonathan Reich, Anthony Rutowicz, Miles Taber, Randi Tahara, Paul Turbiak, Kiki Yeung, and Reggie Yip.

The creative team includes Adrien Prévost (Music Composer); Keith Mitchell (Scenic Designer); Karyn Lawrence (Lighting Designer); Lori Meeker (Costume Designer); Matthew Hill (Video Designer); Steve Swift and Gilly Moon (Sound Designers); Glenn Michael Baker (Props Designer); and Sean T. Cawelti, Jack Pullman and Brian White (Puppet and Mask Designers)

@Rogue_Artists   #KaidanProject

www.rogueartists.org

Theatre of NOTE announces its production of the world premiere of HELLO STRANGER, written by Sharon Yablon and directed by Sarah Figoten Wilson.

HELLO STRANGER will preview on Friday and Saturday, October 13 and 14, at 8pm and will open on Thursday, October 19 at 8pm. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 7pm.

HELLO STRANGER, is about a man who has mixed feelings about returning to his hometown in the Inland Empire after having been away for many years. He is there to attend his 30-year high school reunion, but finds he is drawn to stay after encountering a strange girl in the yard of the house he grew up in with his mother. The house has since gone through many owners and his mother is long dead but the man has been haunted by things that happened here in his childhood. He meets the woman who now lives in his old house who is covering up a tragedy that also connects to him, which has colored the whole town. The man then embarks on a journey through his past, dreams, and memories to uncover dark secrets about his mother and the town, and along the way he meets other characters of mysterious origins who may or may not be helping  him, and who may or may not be part of the ghost world of the Day of the Dead Festival, which is when the play takes place.

The cast of HELLO STRANGER features: Aliyah Conley, Alexis DeLaRosa, Elinor Gunn, Reamy Hall, Christopher Neiman, Trevor H. Olsen and Maren O’Sullivan.  Ms. Conley and Ms. O’Sullivan will be alternating performances in the role of Audrey.

HELLO STRANGER features the talents of an impressive array of designers, including set designer Fred Kinney; costume designer Kathryn Wilson, sound designer Marc Antonio Pritchett, lighting designer Martha Carter and, prop design Michael O’Hara. The production is stage managed by Kelly Egan.

For more info: www.theatreofnote.com

Connect @TheatreOfNOTE

Open Fist Theatre Company’s ‘First Look Festival’ offers staged readings of 5 new plays, all written by women.

• Tuesday, Oct. 17 and Wednesday, Oct. 18, both at 8 p.m.: Goose-Stepping with Bound Feet, written and directed by Amanda Weier

• Tuesday, Nov. 14 and Wednesday, Nov. 15, both at 8 p.m.: Last Call, written by Anne Kenney and directed by Lane Allison

• Sunday, Nov. 19 and Monday, Nov. 20, both at 8 p.m.: Thanksgiving Clog, written by Laura Campbell and directed by Ben Martin

• Sunday, Dec. 3 and Monday, Dec. 4, both at 8 p.m.: Exit Wounds, written by Wendy Graf and directed by Elina De Santos

• Tuesday, Dec. 5 and Wednesday, Dec. 6, both at 8 p.m.: Radio Island, written by Liza Birkenmeier and directed by Martha Demson

For more info visit openfist.org 

A deep, painful, joyful story about one extended California family with roots in different parts of the world, who make their home on the same plot of Southern California land over 150 years. Los Angeles native and Mexican-American playwright, Evangeline Ordaz, crafts a rich and complex web of diverse characters from Los Angeles’ Latino, African-American, Anglo, and Native American communities who co-exist as if time were a wheel that constantly doubles back on itself. Through triumph and despair these families discover how deeply they are rooted in the dreams of their ancestors and the land on which they stand. Directed by Company of Angels artistic director, Armando Molina, This Land debuts on October 20, at Company of Angels, Los Angeles’ oldest professional theater.

A host of old curses and blessings, traditions and recipes, loves and betrayals, conspire to threaten successive displacements. As the story unfolds, each successive generation grapples with their claim to the land on which they live. This Land takes place through the years; 1843, 1848, 1949, 1965, 1992, on what is now a residential street in Watts. “What’s so exciting about this play is that it’s not your typical history play. The stories are intimate and small yet they seem to whisper a big question so pertinent to Los Angeles today – “Is gentrification just another form of manifest destiny?” comments Artistic Director, Armando Molina.

Richard Azurdia (My Mañana Comes at Fountain Theatre, Backyard at Echo Theater Company, Bill & Joan at Sacred Fools, one of 54 “fascinating Angelenos” profiled by LA Weekly’s 2015 People issue) stars as Tomas and Fidel Avila. Niketa Calame (voice of young Nala in Disney’s Animated Feature The Lion King, The Color Purple at Celebration Theater, Ain’t Misbehavin at ICT) portrays Leslie Parker/Mel Miller/Pepe, Ian Alda (Lieutenant of Inishmore at Mark Taper Forum, Broadway Bound at La Mirada and Odyssey Theater) takes on the role of Patrick Dalton/James and Dalton Hill, LeShay Tomlinson Boyce (Hellcab and Seven Red Neck Cheerleaders at Elephant Theater Company, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at Mark Taper Forum, Nominated for a NAACP Theater Award for Insurrection Holding History) plays Leola Parker/Sharon Curtis. Jeff Torres (Theatre: Henry IV, Love’s Labour’s Lost, TV: Criminal Minds, Telenovela) plays Enrique Avila/Ricardo Reyes, Cheryl Umana (Latino Theatre Company, Artists at Play at LATC, Kaiser Educational Theatre) plays Toya/Della, and Johanna McKay (performed in several productions at Circle X, and The Rubicon Theatre) plays Maeve Hilman. Scenic and Lighting Design by Justine Huen, Costume design by Manee Leija, Sound Design by Becca Kessin, and Video Design by Benjamin Durham. Heather McClane is the Assistant Stage Manager/Props and the Production Stage Manager is Daniel Munoz.

Ordaz is a UC Berkeley-trained attorney who practiced public interest law before becoming a full-time playwright and television writer. As an attorney she has practiced immigration, fair housing litigation, criminal appeals, and human rights law both in the United States and Mexico. Ordaz’s play This Land was first commissioned by the Center Theater Group which produced a public reading in February 2015. Her play Visitors’ Guide to Arivaca was featured at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ New Play Summit and was the subject of a December 2006 cover story in American Theater Magazine. Borderlands commissioned Visitor’s Guide, which also saw production by Teatro Vision in San Jose and Company of Angels Theater in Los Angeles. Company of Angels also produced Ordaz’s play Bordering on Love. Evangeline is currently a writer on the Starz drama Vida, the Netflix drama Seven Seconds, and the BET drama In Contempt. She recently completed a film about the underground music scene in East L.A. for Odd Lot Entertainment.

Molina is a director and writer with a background in theater development. His recent directing credits include The Long Road Today by Jose Cruz Gonzalez at South Coast Repertory, Distracted by Lisa Loomer at TheaterWorks, in Palo Alto, California, Visitors Guide to Arivaca by Evangeline Ordaz at Teatro Vision, San Jose, California and Company of Angels. Hippie Mexicana aka Digging Rios by Evangeline Ordaz at Borderlands Theater; Sissy by Ricardo Bracho at Company of Angels in Los Angeles, Anna In The Tropics by Nilo Cruz at PCPA Theaterfest in Santa Maria California; Living Out By Lisa Loomer at TheatreWorks and at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis, The Waiting Room by Lisa Loomer at Company of Angels in Los Angeles, Conjunto by Oliver Mayer at Borderlands Theater Company in Tucson, Arizona, Rocio by Oliver Mayer at King King in Hollywood. Armando received national recognition from the NEA and the Theater Communications Group as a recipient of their Career Development Program for Directors. Before leaving to freelance as a director, Armando was a member of the Cornerstone Theater ensemble. Armando co-founded Latins Anonymous, the critically acclaimed Latino Comedy Group, whose plays were published by Arte Publico Press and continue to be performed nationally.

Founded in 1959 by a group of television and film actors that included Richard Chamberlain, Leonard Nimoy and Vic Morrow, Company of Angels is the oldest professional theater in Los Angeles. As such it has a revised mission to provide a space for the voices and audiences neglected by the major regional theaters.

Company of Angels now produces original work by professional theater artists who reflect the communities that make up the City of Los Angeles and engages residents from low-income communities including Boyle Heights and Skid Row to develop original theater pieces for performance. In this way CoA re-envisions theater to reflect and respond to the richness, diversity, and complexity that is Los Angeles, entertaining new audiences and serving the City of Angels.

Details for Calendar Listings
‘This Land’

WHAT:
A deep, painful, joyful story about one extended California family with roots in different parts of the world, who make their home on the same plot of Southern California land over 150 years. Los Angeles native and Mexican-American playwright, Evangeline Ordaz, crafts a rich and complex web of diverse characters from Los Angeles’ Latino, African-American, Anglo, and Native American communities who co-exist as if time were a wheel that constantly doubles back on itself. Through triumph and despair these families discover how deeply they are rooted in the dreams of their ancestors and the land on which they stand. Directed by Company of Angels artistic director, Armando Molina, This Land debuts at Company of Angels, Los Angeles’ oldest professional theater.

WHO:
• Written by Evangeline Ordaz
• Directed by Armando Molina
• Starring Ian Alda, Richard Azurdia, Niketa Calame, Johanna McKay, Leshay Tomlinson, Jeff Torres, Cheryl Umana
• Scenic and Lighting Design by Justine Huen
• Costume Design by Manee Leija
• Sound Design by Becca Kessin
• Video Design by Benjamin Durham
• Assistant Stage Manager/Props by Heather McClane
• Production Stage Manager by Danny Munoz
• Presented by Company of Angels

WHEN:
Performances October 20 – November 13
• Fridays at 8 p.m.: Oct. 20, 27; Nov. 3, 10
• Saturdays at 8 p.m.: Oct. 21, 28; Nov. 4, 11
• Sundays at 7 p.m.: Oct. 22, 29; Nov. 5, 12
• Mondays at 8 p.m.: Oct. 23, 30; Nov. 6, 13

WHERE:
Company of Angels
1350 San Pablo Street
Los Angeles, CA 90033

HOW:
• Go to www.companyofangels.org
• Email us at info@companyofangels.org
• Visit us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/billberrymusic
• Follow us on Twitter: @CoAngels

TICKET PRICE:
$25; senior $15; students $12; Monday performances are Pay-What-You-Can

PARKING:
Free parking in lot and ample street parking.

Inspired by true story, Tania Wisbar’s The Red Dress explores politics, art, romance in Germany between two wars.

Performances of The Red Dress take place Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Wisbar’s fictionalized account of her parents’ marriage and their forced divorce by the Nazis begins in 1924 Berlin.  Alexandra Schiele (Laura Ligouri) is a famous film actress from a prominent Jewish family who falls in love with a down-on-his-luck World War I vet, Franz Weitrek (J.B. Waterman). Franz is able to parlay his wife’s connections into work as a film director. But when his career takes off making Nazi propaganda films, his wife suddenly becomes a liability. Also in the cast are Rebecca Larsen, Shanti Reinhardt and Dylan Wittrock. Kiff Scholl directs.

In addition to the enormous social and political changes that took place in Germany between 1924 and 1936, those years bridged the history of film — from silents, to black and white, to color. The Red Dress also touches on the Eugenics Movement, which originated in the U.S. but was perfected by the Nazi regime.

The creative team includes set designer Pete Hickock, lighting designer Kelley Finn, projections designer Nick Santiago, sound designer Dave B. Marling, costume designer Shon LeBlanc and casting director Ferne Cassel. The production stage manager is Danny Crisp, and Victoria Watson and Racquel Lehrman, Theatre Planners produce for Argyle Road Productions.

Tania Wisbar’s novel, “Last Cemetery in Berlin,” was optioned for film by producer Jonathan Sanger. In 2011, Sanger directed a critically acclaimed production of her play Birthday Present 2050, which starred Salome Jens. The LA Weekly called it “beautifully detailed and elegiac… GO!” Tania is the founding president and CEO of B.E.L.I., a day program for developmentally disabled adults with a large dance troupe that performs throughout Los Angeles. For 14 years she was the editor and reporter of a weekly newspaper in Imperial Beach, CA. She holds degrees in Theater Arts, Speech Pathology and Special Education.

www.Plays411.com/reddress

“The Radiant” by Shirley Lauro. Fri. & Sat. at 8:00, Sun. at 2:00. The Radiant depicts the story of scientist Marie Curie after the death of her partner in marriage and science, Pierre Curie, in a horrific accident.

She shared the Nobel Prize in physics with her husband and a colleague in 1903, becoming the first female awardee. In 1911, she won the Nobel Prize in chemistry, being the only woman to win twice.

Following her husband’s death in 1906, she is alone with two children to raise, simultaneously continuing her vital and pioneering scientific work. She finds herself increasingly drawn to her lab partner, the younger, married Paul Langevin. The two become lovers, and when news of their clandestine affair is leaked to the Paris tabloids, she is the focus of a scandal that threatens her life and career and the safety of her children. A naturalized French citizen, she had been born in Warsaw to an atheist father and a Catholic mother. Nonetheless, the xenophobic and anti-Semitic press of the time attack her for being a foreigner and, supposedly, a Jew. She is forced to flee from home after it is attacked by an angry mob.

She returns to Paris to advance her research and, as the years pass, it is evident that she is becoming affected by the radioactive nature of her materials.
The Radiant is the story of an exceptional individual who was not only a brilliant scientist but a passionate woman who experienced love and romance. She broke down barriers in many areas previously closed to women, and risked her life to prove that her science was right. Madame Curie’s achievements affect humanity profoundly to this day.

Directed by Jane Edwina Seymour. Starring Nina Sallinen, Andrea Flowers, Conrad Cecil, John Moschitta Jr.

www.Plays411.com/radiant

THE LOS ANGELES PREMIERE OF “NAKED IN ALASKA” OPENS AT BOOTLEG THEATER SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28, AT 7:30 P.M.

Valerie Hager’s Award-Winning Solo Show Will Play Through November 19 (showtimes and dates vary) www.nakedinalaska.com

After three sold-out, award-winning runs in international Fringe Festivals (New York City, Edinburgh, and Chicago), a critically acclaimed Off-Broadway run, and a featured performance at the The Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez, Alaska, Valerie Hager’s autobiographical solo-play about her years stripping in the Alaskan frontier will open at Bootleg Theater on Saturday, October 28 at 7:30 p.m. Directed by Scott Wesley Slavin, who also serves as dramaturg, “Naked In Alaska” runs through November 19, 2017. This is the first time Valerie will perform her story in the very city where her life as a stripper violently collapsed.

“Naked In Alaska” follows Valerie, a latchkey teenager with a meth addiction and an eating disorder as she fights to break through into her own coming-of-age story. When her new start spirals out of control shortly after becoming sober, she runs to her childhood best friend Raven for help. An evening that begins at a strip club to make some easy cash turns into a 10-year career that tests the limits of friendship and her will to survive. Told with a rockin’ 90s playlist, live pole dancing, and over a dozen characters played by Hager herself, “Naked In Alaska” is “unflinching… a funny, fierce, and physically impressive solo show.” (Edinburgh Spotlight)

The recipient of the 2013 Award for Outstanding Solo Performance from the New York City International Fringe Festival, 2013 Audience Favorite Award from the Chicago Fringe Festival, 2014 Pick of the Fest Award from Edinburgh’s The New Current Magazine, and Time Out New York’s four-star Critic’s Pick and Recommended Show, “Naked In Alaska” is a visceral, fire-hot experience not-to-be-missed.

Valerie Hager is a former exotic dancer and an award-winning actor, writer-performer, teacher, and movement artist. She is a graduate of The School for Mime at Kenyon College, Emmy Award-winner Matt Hoverman’s Go-Solo Workshop, and acting and improv programs in Los Angeles and New York City. She is currently in training at The Actors Gang. Hager has performed at Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum, 59E59 Theaters, Symphony Space NYC, and The Barrow Group MainStage; her television and film credits include Warner Brothers’ The Invention of Lying, Comedy Central’s Mind of Mencia, Discovery Channel’s Guilty or Innocent, and the award-winning short film The Harshest Place. She is the founder of SOLOfire Workshops through which she teaches movement-based story-creation to individuals and groups across the U.S., including at The Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival and currently at Artworx LA, Greenway Court Theatre and Theatre of Hearts. Experience SOLOfire Workshop Nov. 4th, 1-3pm at Bootleg Theater! Her earliest training began with her father, mime artist and Professor of Mime Jerry Hager, when she was five—performing as his silent sidekick Punky the Clown.

Tickets are $15 Stud/Sen, $20 GA, www.nakedinalaska.com
(for group discounts plz contact valerie@valeriehager.com).

ALL Sunday matinee have FREE childcare provided by RED ROSE CO. Contact Valerie for more information.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValerieHagerRocks/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mynakedinalaska/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MyNakedInAlaska

Bootleg Theater is located at 2220 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90057. Street parking and a free lot is available at the church across the street at the intersection of Beverly and Roselake.